Helios knew?
How?
Already?
'Since when…?'
"I know you care about him more than you want to admit," Helios said gently. "Maybe you're even fond of him. Like you see him as your own."
Ezra's expression shifted before he could stop it.
Helios continued, unaware of the storm that had just passed through Ezra's chest. "You keep saying he's just a child you're taking care of. But I know you. It's not just that."
So… he didn't know.
Relief came first.
Sharp. Immediate.
'I really should let him finish before panicking,' Ezra scolded himself.
But beneath the relief was something else. A strange disappointment. A flicker of something he didn't want to name.
'Did I want him to figure it out?' he wondered. 'Or am I just tired of hiding?'
"And I know," Helios added, drawing him back, "that the boy adores you. He looks at you like you hung the sun. He probably sees you as a parent."
Ezra's throat tightened.
