Break the endless curse

Chapter VII

I knelt down to his height, still with one hand on his shoulder and never broke eye contact with him, his eyes widened just a little bit, almost invisible, but you could see.

"Meliodas..." I said, I was surprised myself, I don't remember ever mentioning his name, I don't think he did either, because his eyes were now visibly widened, and his smile disappeared

"What's wrong?  You know you can talk to us, especially to me" I continued, I didn't get an answer for a while he just looked me in the eyes, I didn't think I would get one because I've been waiting for a while now, so I decided to sit down next to him

I was still waiting for an answer but when I heard him answer only in silence I wanted to break that uncomfortable silence

"You know, everybody worries about you...  The sins, the princess, master, and I'm even more worried about you now that I've seen you like this.

He did not answer, he just turned his head away from my path to look at the sea, I followed his example

This view is so reassuring

After this view had calmed me down enough, I took a deep breath and looked at him again, he still did not turn to me

"Look, I know you never talk openly about your feelings or your thoughts or anything about yourself, but maybe you should, even if it's just me, it's better than eating it all up." I spoke and maybe he'll change his mind, I don't want to force him to open up, but in the long run it can get really ugly.

It was now an eternity of silence, I still stared at him and waited for him to say something.

There was finally a sign that he had listened to me at all, even if it was only a little sigh, and finally a shake of the head, but he still did not look at me

"You know, you are not only my captain, but also my best friend and a family I never had, it makes me uncomfortable to see you like this, I would really like to know what's going on, even if it's just the basics, even if I can't cheer you up, at least I'll try, because I care about you" I spoke words that I never thought would come out of my mouth

I was a little more satisfied when he turned his head towards me afterwards, a little smile on his face until it disappeared

"I appreciate it, it's just I-I...  "Never mind...  forget it" my friend next to me sighed as he still looked into my eyes, but I couldn't read any emotions in his eyes, which worried me a bit, I started to answer

"No, please go ahead, I'm listening"

"You can trust me if that's the case, why you stopped," I added with a little smile to let him know it's okay.

He turned his head away from me again, and I wondered inside if I had said something wrong

"I- It's not that I don't trust you, I just I don't like to share it, it's just some things that's been bothering me lately, okay?" he said softly, while his eyes were drawn to the ocean

I now also looked back to the sea to calm myself down a bit, I took a few deep breaths in and out until my friend spoke again

"It's breathtaking, isn't it?" he said, his eyes still fixed on that.

I just nodded, assuming that he saw it, as a little reassuring smile adorned his lips

"Is there anything I can do to make it more convenient for you to share stuff?"  I asked with a small hope that there is something

But my hope was taken away when he shook his head again

"No, it's a habit, there's not much you can do about it" he said, I was a little surprised that he said that, I thought he was going to drop it again, I knew I shouldn't ask, but it made me curious