“I—” Ezra swallowed. He was using all his willpower to keep his face intact, because if Ravi cried he would too. “Ezra, is it?” The man said, towering over him. It didn’t scare Ezra, not one bit. He didn’t look, just watched Ravi’s face as the man talked.
His jaw tightened as he finally looked up at the man, a stranger who had wormed his way into their lives for this brief, chaotic moment. “… well let me tell you that kiss meant nothing.” That genuinely made Ezra angry. She had kissed someone who didn’t really care about her? He knew how emotionally damaging that was, he practiced it religiously as soon as he moved out from home at eighteen. “I bet if the person who saved her was an elderly man she’d kiss him as well.” Ezra shook his head, turning away from Ravi. “And who are you to say that for her? You don’t know her. You don’t know what that kiss meant to her. Or how she felt in that moment. She’s not some object you can just belittle because it’s convenient for you.” The words spilled out bitterly, underscored by the weight of his jealousy. To smoothen the hard edges of his voice, he forced himself to take a deep breath.
“That’s a great idea. You guys do that, and I’ll go find my girlfriend. I’ve been trying to find her all night.” Ezra’s eyes widen as Dave backed away. “Oh goody, a girlfriend.” He muttered.
“That kiss… it wasn’t just fear or relief. It was real, Ezra. And I don’t know what that means yet, but I’m not going to stand here and lie about it.” Ezra felt the weight of her words settle heavily between them, each syllable wrapped in honesty. He wanted to recoil, to hide from the implications of what she was saying, but the truth in her gaze held him steady. She wasn’t backing down, and deep inside, something shifted—a flicker of admiration sparked within him.
“Ravi…” he started, but he found he didn’t know how to articulate the torrent of emotions swirling in his mind. Relief and worry went head to head; he was deeply troubled that she had indeed felt something during that kiss, but he was also thankful she was confronting it head-on instead of sweeping it under the rug. “I know we need to talk, but I’m not going to make excuses.”
“It’s like I’ve been going through the motions – being the wife, doing what’s expected – but I’ve felt so… disconnected.” Hearing the words really broke his heart. He let his mask come off, he let her see how tired and hurt he was. How angry he was for doing the exact same thing she had done. How sad of a man he was for being even remotely upset at her. He listened to her reasoning, analyzing her body language. “…can be fixed. But I don’t want to lie to you or myself anymore.” There was a break in her speech, and he looked at her. Really looked at her. “I know I haven’t been blameless either,” he admitted, the words falling from his lips like lead. He let her get her words in before his two cents came out.
“Not just tonight, but everything that’s led up to this.” Ezra could feel the tension in his chest begin to ease a fraction as they stood there, opening up to one another. “After I left India, I was… reckless. I flirted my way through life, not thinking about how it affected us. I let the distance between us fester. I thought I was navigating through freedom, but it was just a facade hiding my own insecurities.” He had nothing else profound to say—but the truth of it.
A part of him understood. She was right—they had danced around their feelings for too long, ignoring the growing chasm that had formed between them. “I never wanted to hurt you like this, but I think it’s time we both faced the truth.” But hearing those words spoken aloud, the reality that Ravi hadn’t been in love with him for some time, carved into his heart like a jagged knife.
Shame washed over him as he realized how deeply flawed his reasoning had been. “I—I’m going to start from my beginning. I thought, if I could just keep my distance—avoid emotional entanglement—I could prevent us from falling into the same traps I saw my parents live in. But in reality, I was doing nothing more than walking away from what we had. I equated distance with safety, but all it did was create a chasm between us.” Ezra looked away for a moment, memories flooding back; the escalating fights of his childhood echoing in the back of his mind, a constant reminder of the messiness of love. “I didn’t want to be the kind of person who stayed out of fear or obligation, who clung to someone while being unable to give them what they truly deserved. I thought that stepping back would be a noble choice, a way to protect you. But I see now that it was just as damaging, if not worse.” Ezra swallowed hard, the knot in his throat tightening as he continued.
“I had this misguided idea that to avoid becoming like them, I needed to cut ties before I got hurt or hurt you. But it was a cowardly choice, and I realize now that abandoning us just perpetuated the cycle of fear and avoidance. I thought I was being strong by not dragging you into my mess, but maybe I was being weak, too afraid to confront our problems head-on. I really,” he had to clear his throat, his voice had dipped into the abyss of nothingness. “I admire you, Ravi. In so many aspects. If this is what you truly feel, I can’t fight it.” Tears began welling in his eyes, burning with unspent frustration and love. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t hurt. I don’t want to say goodbye. But I will if you tell me too.”
@Jass | Ravi | sorry this is so… all over the place. I kinda knew what I wanted to say, but didn’t know where to fit anything in 
LOVED Ravi’s though!
@LunaticLeviTheSecond | Dave | If we wants to get some final words in 
I don’t like my character either 
