[ When Hilda's hands go to her face after the sputtered start of one sentence and then another, Claude reaches for them to pull them away after giving her a few seconds of composure. But nothing else from him follows since it feels important to wait for what she'll say without influencing it one way or another; it's not difficult to tell she's wavering between different thoughts as he traces his thumbs across the back of her hands and watches her expression.
What she admits in that soft voice hurts at first in an instinctive reaction and one Claude knows isn't rational. It's the same fear, in some ways, which kept him holding onto this and keeping it to himself. His expression softens as he looks at her. Though he doesn't respond right away, Claude doesn't have to question what to say. ]
How could I ever stop?
[ Rhetorical. It's a question to which Claude believes there's no answer when there is no question behind it; rather, it's an immutable statement. It's true that last year he had spent some time trying to bury it and force himself to forget, but all that had done was make the roots of it that'd formed years ago take hold that much more. There is no future in which he can imagine it not being there, not even in the years in which he'd become what he wants to believe was someone else entirely. Even then, that love never once wavered.
It's what Hilda deserves to hear. What's already been said was to open the door to it, and what waits is nothing but more honesty she should have heard long ago. ]
Fear made me selfish and kept me from telling you what I should have far too long before now, but I won't let that be the case any longer. When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time looking up at the stars every night. I felt less alone then, and everything that felt so big and insurmountable no longer felt impossible when they were there. The stars made it feel like everything was in reach if I only waited for them to appear.
You're the stars of my life, Hilda. Maybe that was just a silly nickname once upon a time when we were younger, but it became more than to me. It's still more than that to me now. It's a truth for how much you mean to me and for how much that'll never change. Not now, not ever, no matter what. You'll always be the stars to me.
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What she admits in that soft voice hurts at first in an instinctive reaction and one Claude knows isn't rational. It's the same fear, in some ways, which kept him holding onto this and keeping it to himself. His expression softens as he looks at her. Though he doesn't respond right away, Claude doesn't have to question what to say. ]
How could I ever stop?
[ Rhetorical. It's a question to which Claude believes there's no answer when there is no question behind it; rather, it's an immutable statement. It's true that last year he had spent some time trying to bury it and force himself to forget, but all that had done was make the roots of it that'd formed years ago take hold that much more. There is no future in which he can imagine it not being there, not even in the years in which he'd become what he wants to believe was someone else entirely. Even then, that love never once wavered.
It's what Hilda deserves to hear. What's already been said was to open the door to it, and what waits is nothing but more honesty she should have heard long ago. ]
Fear made me selfish and kept me from telling you what I should have far too long before now, but I won't let that be the case any longer. When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time looking up at the stars every night. I felt less alone then, and everything that felt so big and insurmountable no longer felt impossible when they were there. The stars made it feel like everything was in reach if I only waited for them to appear.
You're the stars of my life, Hilda. Maybe that was just a silly nickname once upon a time when we were younger, but it became more than to me. It's still more than that to me now. It's a truth for how much you mean to me and for how much that'll never change. Not now, not ever, no matter what. You'll always be the stars to me.