Alias stood very still, his head tilted as he looked from the boy to Theo. His expression was one of profound, heartbreaking bewilderment. He was trying to reconcile the 'data' of the world he had built with the reality standing before him.
"I do not understand," Alias said, his voice small and trembling. "You told me you loved me for ten years. You told me you were mine. But… if you were mine, how is there this? Did you love someone else while I was gone? Did you lie to me?"
The hurt in his tone wasn't sharp; it was heavy and dull, like a weight pressing down on his chest.
He looked at the boy—the blue eyes, the familiar nose—and felt a hollow ache. He had thought their nights of kissing and touching were a sacred discovery they shared alone. To find out that Theo had shared himself with someone else felt like a star being extinguished.
