"Are you finished speaking?" Kaelis asks gently, leaning down slightly to look at Ezra, whose head was still lowered.
Ezra ended up stunned seeing Kaelis smile at him.
There was no teasing in it this time.
No smug amusement.
Just a genuine, grateful smile.
And somehow that felt more dangerous than Kaelis teasing him ever had.
"Uh…" Ezra's brain stopped working for a minute. "...yes?"
Kaelis' smile grew slightly at Ezra's obvious confusion.
"I accept your apology. It was long overdue." He says without any trace of a joke. "Lior is smart. He knew something you didn't notice in all the years I've known you."
Now this made Ezra even more surprised.
"You…were in pain?" Ezra asks carefully, not entirely sure how to interpret that.
"Mhm. In pain is an exaggeration." Kaelis hums softly. "Rather, I was hurt. He was right, I was hurt. Not really by what you did earlier because I understood your situation, but by how much you pushed me away."
Ezra stills slightly at the honesty.
