broke the sweetest promise

A machine where your heart once was
Slowly takes the place of you

Perhaps to Liam's surprise, Flora didn't scoff or laugh or any of the other potentially negative reactions that he could imagine. Instead, she offered condolences, and even if he didn't know her that well, he could tell that she meant it. "I'm sorry about your twin," he said softly - a moment of shared grief, in the midst of an otherwise awkward brunch. And she was right - he often wondered what his wife would think of him now, what she might say if she knew how low he'd fallen, and how long it had taken him to pick himself up.

What she'd think of it being Maea that helped him to do it.

Clearing his throat, Liam sat his glass on the table. "We're not a thing," he agreed. "Not exactly." Not yet, he thought, and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "But she's... important to me. I just hadn't really... accepted that before you asked."

He watched as Flora traced the rim of her glass, her golden rings catching the light. He hesitated, then said: "It's drinking, for me. Although I guess that's less about feeling something and more about trying to feel nothing." He shrugged, unable to meet her gaze, feeling entirely more vulnerable than he'd expected and not sure that he liked it. "It's... not exactly the same, but... I get it."

Only hold the memories now
Of a love I thought I knew

Liam