"I'm sorry…" Eris whispers, still holding my hands. Her voice trembles, thick with emotion. "I lied to you. I kept such a big secret from you… even though you're my lover, even though you deserved to know everything from the start..."
I blink, stunned, but then I see it.
Tears.
Silent, glistening, they fall down her cheeks one by one.
Ah…
I see it now.
Eris has been carrying this burden alone for so long. She has always been so calm, so composed, so impossibly strong. She held herself together like stone, because she had to, because no one else could bear it for her.
And now… she's finally letting it go.
All of it.
And by her telling me everything, it's like a dam bursting open. The weight, the pressure, all of it flooding out at once.
"Eris…" I breathe, heart aching. I lean in and wrap my arms around her.
She pulls me into a hug, and squeezes me tight.
Tighter than I expected.
It hurts a little, because her grip is strong, almost desperate.
But I don't mind.
