After All, I'm Your Secret Admirer~!!

Ch39 - Nighttime Talk

After what feels like a minute too long, Leaf sighs.

"Okay," they murmur, "Let's talk."

"I... don't know where to start..." Paige mumbles. "I guess I should apologize first..."

"For what?"

"I left you locked up for weeks!" Paige frowns. "I didn't mean to, but I did! I'm sorry..."

"It's whatever." Leaf shrugs, still cozy under their blanket, though now they're sat up. "Like I said, I deserved it."

"But..."

"Paige," Leaf sighs. "I almost seriously hurt us. ...I almost seriously hurt you."

"Yeah but..." Paige is quiet for a moment before frowning. "No... no, that was pretty bad of you."

"Exactly." Leaf groans and lets their head fall forward. "I keep doing stupid shit..."

Paige hums with worry, but doesn't actually say anything. He keeps nervously twitching and playing with his hands.

"What."

"C-can I ask what the... the snow storm and small cage were all about?" Paige asks pensively. "Sorry, it just keeps weighing on me. I thought I left way more room for you in there..."

Leaf looks off to the side. "I wasn't kidding before. The idea of the cold is worse to me than heat. So when I kept doing all that thinking, it was just... I was so convinced I had to go to hell. And I guess it manifested as whatever I thought hell would be."

"Oh..." Paige furrows his eyebrows. "And the cage?"

Leaf breathes heavily, eyes stinging. "...I don't like small spaces."

"I'm sorry..." Paige apologies again. "I shouldn't have—"

"You should have," Leaf stresses. "I... I can't say I know if I would've done anything. That scares me, Paige. I don't like being afraid of myself."

"I'm—"

"Say sorry one more time and this talk is over." Leaf huffs. Then, his expression falls. "See! I just... I just say stupid shit without thinking about it!"

"Well... we can work on it, can't we?" Paige says hopefully. "I know sometimes I don't know what to say to people. We can work on it together!"

"Work on it..." Leaf mumbles. "...I guess."

"See!" Paige smiles. "You're already doing great!"

Leaf blinks. "I... guess so." They curl up a bit. "But I wouldn't have if you didn't leave me in there."

"Leaf..." Paige mumbles. "There had to have been some other way..."

"Doesn't matter. It's done now." They sigh. "Thank god."

"We still have to talk about where we're gonna go from here," Paige reminds the other. "'Cause I don't wanna lock you away anymore! You're not... you're not a villain, Leaf. You're someone who came to my rescue when I needed it the most. How could you be a villain?"

"I fought that kid just 'cause I wanted to see them hurt." Leaf says without missing a beat.

"But you did it out of the love and justice in your heart!" Paige rebuts. "You wouldn't have done anything if you didn't love Kevin or you didn't have the want to see things be righted!" Paige calms down a bit. "Sure it's not the way I would've handled it, but you didn't know a different way. So, actually, doing what you did shows how good you are!"