Chapter 78

• "I thought I did, yeah. I pushed any thoughts of remorse aside and told myself it was because I was doing something shameful. Going against my morals and nothing to do with you. Guilt, doubts... regret... I made excuses to myself to ignore all of it and yet only got angrier at you for having that kind of hold over my emotions." He runs one hand through his black hair, messing his styled bangs, so it flops over his forehead a little, and she glances away again. Unable to look at him when he's saying these things. It's hard enough to remember it all, let alone have him admit the details.
• "So, I found out... when? Midway? The end?" She picks at her natural long nails and stares at her lap, resting her hands on the cushion before her. Pulse racing and breathing getting shallower as her stress levels elevate.
• "You seemed to suspect real fast. Maybe two weeks after it started, maybe before. You confronted me around four weeks in, with pictures showing up at Celine's apartment." Leon rubs his face this time, making a noise like he's blowing out air, and rotates his shoulders. All his tells that he's finding this extremely stressful, yet she's bleeding inside. Why couldn't they have sat like this back then and done this before it all went to shit? This honesty and frankness. Laying it all out in the open with no blame and no excuses. They so needed to have this conversation before letting go of all of this to live somewhere else.