𝗙 𝗔 𝗟 𝗟 𝗜 𝗡 𝗚 （ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ）

13. 𝙧𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚

"You... love me?" I asked. Those golden eyes seemed to regain their shine for just a moment, a short laugh erupting from his throat.

"No, no," he began as one of his hands went to brush stray strands of hair away from my line of vision, then landing atop my cheek. "I'm in love with you..."

This is some sort of joke, isn't it? That's the only thing it could be. Maybe I was dreaming? I blinked a couple times, both to try to shoo away the tears that just seemed to keep building up, and also to make sure he wouldn't disappear before my eyes. I lifted my arm, pushing it against his chest.

"Don't get my hopes up like that..." I pushed him away a bit, fearful of being tricked into some false sense of security.

But, much as I may try, he was adamant. This time both of his hands were meeting my face, their unmeasurable warmth heating the apples of my cheeks. "I mean it, kid. God, I..." he looked all over my face, his fingertips expanding their horizons to my temples, and then to my chin, before retreating to their former position. "I have waited so long to tell you that." He smiled, not one that was sly or charmful, just a smile filled with pure, unwavering, genuine happiness.

He means it?

"Are you," I tried, but my chest failed me, feeling as though it'd buckle beneath the weight of just my own words. The only way I managed to squeak out the sentence was by staring down at his wrinkled shirt. "Are you sure you mean that?"

"Yes." The blond answered with zero hesitation. "Look I-I know you have lots of questions, and, look, I just- I can answer all of them later but please, can we just... go home? Let's go home, okay? Let's just go home..."

Home?

Does he mean...?

I gulped, trying to gather my thoughts, and more importantly, trying to not let my emotions get the best of me. I crept my own hands up to meet his by my face, softly grabbing them and placing them in front of me.

"I can't."

"Wha- what do you- why not?" He scrambled, his hands staying faithfully where I'd put them, so as to not make me uncomfortable. the water building up in his eyes still hadn't ceased.I just shook my head. "All of your questions have answers, I promise- please just give me a chance to explain... please."

Damn those puppy dog eyes, piercing right through every ounce of reason I had left in me . "I-" I was cut off.

"Baby bird... please." Hawks pleaded. He's only used that nickname once before, it was that night on the rooftop, just after he'd told me about falling.

I don't know if it was the nickname, or the way he'd held me. Maybe it was the tears in his eyes, or the way his voice was all over the place- but, I believed him. I had questions, so, so many questions. But, as he stood in front of me now, his pride in shambles, I couldn't help but want to forget about everything that happened three years ago. At this moment, I just wanted to be happy. Happy with him. I paused for a moment, racking my brain for something to say.

"How's your sister?" I spat, not sure why I had said that. It just seemed to flow out of me, and my brain didn't stop it. That has to be a sore spot, and why did I ask now of all times? He seemed shocked too, his eyes widening when he heard the question, then falling dull right after.

"She died," he told me. Oh god. "Two weeks ago, actually." Oh shit.

How insensitive of me, pouring salt into an unbearably fresh wound. Keigo didn't talk about his parents, so I could only imagine he didn't have a good relationship with them. Family in general seemed to be a tough thing for Hawks, but he and his sister seemed to be so close. I couldn't imagine having the one family member you're close with pass away.

But, maybe that's why he seemed so numb? Why he wouldn't look at me, why he wasn't always adding in his little comedic comments during his conversations with everyone. It all made sense now, it wasn't that he hated me, or didn't want to see me, maybe I just... reminded him of her.

"I'm so sorry," I didn't even know how to begin to apologize.

"It's fine, in fact, this is only a little bit worse than what I felt when I lost you, so I'm used to it." The blond said, almost too casually for comfort. His head fell, a small sniffle being heard as he looked down, interlocking our hands while he did so.

When he lost me...?

Even though he might not have been there when I needed him, that didn't mean I couldn't be there for him. I knew he was hurting, and I knew he's gone through this hurt all alone before. I couldn't leave him, I couldn't say no. Even if he would only need me for a day or two, I wanted to be there for him.

"Keigo," I said, my soft voice nearly a whisper. His head snapped up, and his teary eyes appearing in front of me again. "...Let's go home." I smiled, wiping away at the corners of my eyes. Just the sight of seeing Hawks, the former number two hero, now broken and weak before me, was enough to make me crumble right alongside him.

Hawks' newly hopeful eyes were like none I'd ever seen before, and he smiled as he scooped me into one last bone crushing hug, this time leaving room for me to wrap my arms around his neck. This time, I felt his warm relieved breath on my shoulder, and I was glad his tears had stopped. Even if it was for a moment, I'm glad I made him happy.

We suddenly flew straight up, shooting right into the air, which earned a loud yelp from me, along with grabbing fistfuls of Hawks' shirt. I forgot how eager he is when he gets excited...

"Keigo! What are you-!" I screamed.

"Hush hush." He cooed, easing away from our hug so he could brush his hand across my face again. "You'll get whiplash if you're not careful~" he flashed his charming smirk, though his eyes were still puffy from his emotional state earlier. "We'll be there in a bit... just hold on tight to me for now, angel."