Julian's core shook, his belly churned, and his shoulders wouldn't stop trembling. Then, quieter, with a trembling voice, he added, "Your words, your actions, your loving, sweet assurance, for some reason… It does not change how insecure I feel, Lucien."
He gripped the fabric on his arm, as if it would settle his trembling body and shaking heart.
"Zane saw it. He mocked me. He said I didn't know how to love you... that I didn't properly understand the language of the heart, and it's true." A tear slid down his face. "I know it's true because I feel so insecure, so uncertain, so… lost." He looked up at Alaric through a blur of tears, his face pale.
The other eye let go of the tears welling up there and let them trace down his cheeks in heavy strides.
