The word nothing hung in the air too long to mean what it should.
Velithra watched Kai carefully, her brows knit, her heart beating too fast for the silence that followed.He wouldn't look at her — just stared at the ground, his jaw tight, his breathing shallow.
"It doesn't look like nothing," she said softly.
Kai's head snapped up for a moment, his eyes dark and sharp — not angry, just raw. "You don't need to worry about it, Velithra."
"I already do," she murmured.
He let out a breath that was almost a laugh, but it broke halfway through. "You shouldn't."
Velithra turned away, staring at the shadows the sun cast across the pavement. "You keep saying that. That I shouldn't care. That I shouldn't ask. But you keep showing up, Kai. You keep making it harder not to."
The quiet between them stretched thin.
Kai closed his eyes. When he finally spoke, his voice was low — quieter than she'd ever heard it."There are things about me you wouldn't understand. Things that… don't belong in your world."
Velithra tilted her head slightly. "You don't get to decide that for me."
He smiled faintly, but it was sad. "If I told you everything, you'd leave."
"I wouldn't."
"You would," he said simply, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him.
Velithra hesitated, then reached out — slow, cautious — and rested her hand on his arm. His muscles tensed immediately, like her touch startled him, but he didn't pull away.
"I've spent most of my life pretending to be okay," she whispered. "So if you think you're the only one hiding, you're wrong."
Kai's eyes flicked to her hand. His expression softened — the walls he always carried flickering, just for a heartbeat."I don't want to hurt you," he said quietly.
"Then don't," Velithra replied.
Something in her tone made him go still. It wasn't pleading — it was steady. Certain.
He looked at her then — really looked — and something in his gaze shifted, like he was memorizing her face in that moment."You don't even know what I've done."
"Then tell me," she said. "Let me decide if it changes anything."
Kai's throat worked. His eyes glinted like wet glass. For a moment, it looked like he might actually say it — whatever he'd been carrying. But then, a voice from the courtyard broke through the quiet.
"Velithra! You're still here?"
The spell shattered.
Kai turned away quickly, standing before she could. His voice was flat again, almost cold."You should go."
Velithra frowned, rising to her feet. "Kai—"
"Please." He didn't look at her.
Something in his tone — the way his voice cracked at the edge of the word — stopped her.
She hesitated a moment longer before turning away, her footsteps slow, uncertain.
When she glanced back once, he was still standing there — staring at the ground, his shadow stretched long against the fading light.
And even from a distance, she could see the way his shoulders trembled — as if holding something in that wanted, desperately, to break free.