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He locked one are collar of her dress protecting her skin, then wrapped the other around her waist It was an intractable hold She’d have to hear hiet away Not that he would ever let her get away It was decided They were in this thing, right or wrong

"There was a girl," he said

She stiffened against hirin Wants me to herself--sa with her"

"I like candy and flowers," she adh," she said, her fingers druave ifts"

Technically she’d stolen the chess pieces But that was his bad, not hers He should have handed theht away Let her always see the best in me "Everyone thinks I went after her because of my attraction to her I sometimes convince myself of that Makes it easier to deal with the fact that I touched her skin-to-skin, and a few days later, a plague killed thousands"

She rubbed her hand over his racing heart "But the truth is"

"I did it because I was angry Every day I watched ht anyone and everyone they wanted Always I was left behind This particular day, they’d just come home from a battle with the Hunters--do you knoho they are?"

A treh her "Yes An army of humans once led by Rhea and Galen, your eneh on victory I was resentful And there she was, standing outside theof irl Mid-twenties Widowed A full life ahead of her She wanted o into town and our paths crossed And that night I thought, why not? I deserved soood in ood"

Keeley kissed where her hand had rubbed "You do deserve good You are good"

Sheto sleep with her Planned on it Thought to send her out with a bang Make her come, then kill her before the disease could spread Yeah I’m a real winner"

"So you have a fes," she said "Everyone does"

"But my history omen is poor," he continued "Before the deet past second base And this tiretted what I’d done, what I was going to do, and I left her Left her to die And she did All of her family joined her"

He waited, tense and i," he croaked

"What you did was terrible, yes There’s no getting around that But we’ve all done so terrible, warrior Who auilt every day since, haven’t you?"

A statement, not a question, but he replied anyway "Yes"

"Don’t you think you’ve done enough penitence, then?" she asked "You went centuries without touching anyone else, all while carrying the guilt and sorrow and anguish You aren’t the man you used to be"