“Victor.”

“Because I—”

“Victor, wait.”

“—love you.”

No.
There would be no more waiting, no more leaving things half-finished, truths half-said. She needed to know, and he needed to say it, to finally accept a fact that had been hovering over him for months now, and he’d tried to ignore. It didn’t even matter anymore, if she forgave him or turned and ran the other way. He just needed to say it. To finally admit it. Holding back a truth like this had cost him severely only a few years back; he couldn’t make the same mistake again.

And now… what?
Victor examined the girl closely, his cold eyes taking in the surprise in her own, the expression on her face like she was some new specimen he’d just discovered and needed to learn everything about. She looked impossibly beautiful, and it had nothing to do with the sparkling dress, the loose waves of her hair, or the perfectly-applied red lipstick. It was… just her. Her in her Hogwarts uniform glaring up at him, her in her Wonder Woman costume smiling drunkenly up at him. She was beautiful just because she was the way she was; painfully naive, incredibly smart, and impossibly kind-hearted. And, most of all, she was honest. Every time she looked up at him, he knew the exact thoughts running through her mind, he knew the words she’d speak before they even left her lips. She was completely transparent, the complete opposite of him.

Without another word, the boy took another step toward her, blue eyes locked on her own brown ones before he leaned forward, pressing his lips to her cheekbone in a kiss so light, it was barely there. His lips lingered there for a moment before traveling to her ear and softly whispering, “I’m sorry.”