Yichen froze. Her words struck him harder than her fist had.
He searched her face, but she wasn't mocking him this time. Her eyes were too vulnerable for that.
"Anya…" His voice was hoarse, his throat dry. "I—"
She cut him off, her gaze steady, unflinching. "I like you, idiot. I liked you even when we were starving, when everything was falling apart, and I still like you now even when you're being a complete fool."
The silence that followed was suffocating. For once, even Bunnie stayed quiet.
Yichen blinked, his mind blank. He'd fought man eating factions, scavenged ruins, faced death a dozen times over yet somehow this single confession left him more rattled than all of it.
"I…" He swallowed hard, forcing the words past the lump in his throat. "I like you too. But I didn't want to admit it...because you're younger than me. Seven years may not seem like much, but you deserve someone better. Someone who isn't already worn down, already… tainted by all this."
