#oif

Alonzo:

They weren't supposed to be so surprised.

They weren't supposed to be so speechless, unable to push their words out.

They weren't supposed to feel so hurt. Like their insides have been carved out. Like their world has just been turned upside down.

Like they've just lost something important.

Yet, their gaze is pulled towards the person before them. At those firm, unyielding eyes. So cold. So cruel.

Their hands tremble, wishing to touch the other's.

Their feet grow uneasy, yearning to step closer.

But when they regain their senses, when they feel in control once more, it is only their lips that move, uttering in a soft, grieving voice, "Why would you want that?"

Wesley:

"I know."

It's two simple words, and they don't trust themself to say more. They've been taught how to pretend, sure—look at the other person's eyes, straighten your back, pull the barriers up as you don the mask—but they know.

Wesley knows they can't trust themself. Wesley knows how close they are to the breaking point. That these are the only words they can say, lest they let themself turn back into their weak, pathetic self.

They can't trust themself, so they let their partner make the choice.

Leave. Stay.

They never let their sister make that decision before.

They'd make that mistake no longer.

Owen:

He searches their eyes, their movements, the very air that surrounds them. Looking for a sign. Looking for an answer.

"You don't really mean that, do you?" he asks shakily, a crack in his voice present as he pleads for what he wants to hear. "I know you don't mean it."

But he receives no answer. Only a glare full of hatred yet full of pain—a warning, meant for him and only him. Owen doesn't want to believe it, of course. How could he? After all, the others were meant to be wrong about their partner, weren't they?

"You'd be standing in front of a lynx," they said.

"The Ripper will never be whom you wish them to be," they added.

He never believed any of those, even after everything that has happened to him. To his family. To the life that was once his.

And yet here he is, blinking his tears away, looking at the person he loves, waiting for them to change their mind.

Jade:

It comes along like a cold water poured over her at first, the realization.

Jade prides herself in figuring out the possibilities. The things that could go wrong. The betrayals that could occur. Years of having to walk a thin line between life and death has done that to her, and she's never flinched in front of danger.

Today, she does.

Today, something she did not expect has occurred. Something she once feared but threw away, because why would she think that things would go this way? That the person she loved—loves—would believe that none of it has been worth it?

Was it her family? Was it her past? She can't figure it out, and that scares her.

"Think about it," she says, because there's nothing else she knows she could say. Letting out a deep breath, composing herself as much as she can, she grabs for her partner's clothes, pulling them close. "Think about it before you say that again."