Xavier paused mid-step.
His fingers clenched tightly.
"I won't," he said before finally walking out of the room.
Liam lifted his eyes to watch him leave, but he didn't respond to Xavier's confidence.
Instead, he silently poured himself another drink before leaning back against the couch and taking a slow sip.
"Xavier ..." he murmured quietly, almost to himself. "I just hope you can hold on to that confidence until the very end. Because when truth finally reveals itself ... when realization truly hits... it breaks a person to the core."
He took another sip before slowly closing his eyes, allowing the weight of every regret to settle over his chest once again.
Those regrets were nothing new.
They had lived with him for seven long years.
Yet no matter how much time passed, he had never learned how to live comfortably with them.
They still weighed on him just as heavily as they had the day he lost Adelyn.
