***Cassius***
"We?"
The word came out before I could stop it, confusion and something else I didn't want to examine making my voice sharper than I intended.
Aldrik looked at me with those dark eyes that had seen me crying, that had noticed the letter clutched in my hand, that were watching me now with an intensity that made my chest tight.
"You think I'm staying here while you go back to Ravenshollow?" he asked.
"You bought a house here."
"Because you were here," he said simply. "If you're leaving, there's no reason for me to stay."
My jaw tightened. "You can't just..."
"I'm not pretending this is anything other than what it is," Aldrik interrupted. "I came to Sailcrest without knowing you'd be here, but I stayed because of you. And now I'm leaving for the same reason."
