"I don't want to make this seem like an excuse, but honestly Jeremy, if I hadn't left that day, that person would've just caused more damage than he had already done," Axel says, exhaling slowly, the weight of everything he hasn't said settling behind his words.
"Damage?" Jeremy says, his voice lifting slightly with disbelief like the word doesn't seem big enough for what happened. "That wasn't just damage, Axel. You ruined Fenris. Even the small hope he had left was crushed."
Axel doesn't answer. He stays quiet, his posture drawn in, shoulders tense, his mind slipping back to that day even though he's trying not to let it.
But it's already there, he's already seeing it again. Fenris. The look on his face when Axel walked away. It presses against him, uninvited and heavy.
"Can I just see him?" Axel asks, his voice quiet. "Please."
