Eres didn’t know what he expected when he finally looked up. Disappointment maybe? Anger, certainly. At the very least, he thought he would see signs of broken trust and betrayal. However, for now, at least, both of his companions' faces were still neutral, seemingly thinking about what he had said.

  “So… the reason you freaked out on that guy was because it reminded you of this… other you’s death?” Freya said slowly, trying to wrap her head around the knowledge. Eres noticed her mouth was twisted slightly downward, but it didn’t feel like she was upset with him. It was something else he hadn’t worked out yet.

  “Y-yeah, pretty much,” Eres agreed, “but it was more than that. It wasn’t my memory of dying so much as the thought of everything I had now being taken from me in the same way as last time. I can’t even tell you why I reacted so strongly; it wasn’t a conscious choice. One minute, I was worried about dying and not being here anymore, and the next, I was beating that guy.

  “When Myla pulled me off him, I wasn’t thinking. I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you, either of you. It felt like I was surrounded and needed to fight my way out. It was… it was horrible, honestly.”

  “Eh, I knew you weren’t going to hurt me.” Myla shrugged it off with a smile. “As for the past life stuff, well. I don’t know about any of that, but I trust you. If you say it happened, then I believe that, but it doesn’t change anything about who you are. You got these memories back before we even met, and I get why you wouldn’t tell us about them until now.

  “Everyone has their secrets, Eres, and I’m not going to hold yours against you unless you keep hiding them even after it becomes a problem. If, like now, it becomes an issue and you come clean and ask for help? Well, that is what friends do, we help.” She walked over and hugged his head against her chest. He did his best not to notice how soft and comfortable it was and how safe it made him feel.

  “We are all good, but you should talk to Freya,” Myla whispered in his ear as she hugged him. “She is probably feeling all sorts of different ways, and I don’t know what she is thinking, but just… just hear her out and be honest, okay? You are always good about listening to people, so just channel that for her, okay?

  “I’m going to go back to the other room, and I best see you in the morning. None of that guilt or running-off nonsense, okay? You did good, I didn’t get hurt and we will help you heal. Remember that, and go help out the maid.”

  Myla slipped from the room with a smile, and Eres wondered what he had done in either of his lives to deserve friends this compassionate and caring. Myla stood and slipped out of the room as Eres turned his attention back to Freya.

  Her face was still pinched in worry, and her gaze had settled on a patch of floor at her feet. Eres wasn’t even sure if she had noticed Myla leave; she was so wrapped up in her own thoughts.` He took a moment to study her features, something he had been careful to avoid doing in recent years. He had caught himself doing it still, of course, but it had been a while since he allowed himself to look without fear of being caught.

  She still hadn’t let her hair down, something she usually did as soon as they were resting, even if only for a few minutes. It trailed down her back from a high ponytail, just a slight wave to the dark brown cascade that fell almost to the middle of her spine. It was the longest Eres had ever seen it, reaching down past the small of her back when she let it down and brushed it out. The light dusting of freckles across her nose stood out against her otherwise smooth and pale skin. Her lips, usually full and red, were rolling together as she chewed on one slowly in her thoughts. He couldn’t see them from where he was sitting, but he knew her eyes were a deeper green than they had been as they were growing up together. They had darkened over the years, just like her hair, but he still found them captivating.

  “What are you thinking, Freya?” He called out softly, almost cautiously. Nothing had changed yet, but he knew the next few minutes could change more than he was willing to admit.

  “Huh? Oh, where did Myla go?” She mumbled, shaking her head a little in confusion.

  “She headed back to the room to get some sleep. She seemed alright, but I want to check in with her again tomorrow and make sure she really is.” Eres smiled at her. She always was checking on others before worrying about herself. “What about you, though? You seem… pretty distracted, but you don’t seem to want to rip my head off. If I can, I want to help. I want to talk, and listen and understand where your head is at.”

  “Eres, no, don’t worry, I’m fine! I just-” Freya said quickly, her hands raised in denial, but paused as she looked into his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Sorry for going quiet earlier. Really, I’m mostly fine. It’s a lot to take in, but I… I do understand. I get why it took until now for you to tell us.”

  “Sure, but…” Eres stopped, thinking. She seemed to be working through it on her own, was it worth just letting that process happen? He shook his head, before continuing hesitantly. “Freya, I don’t want the people I care about to only be mostly fine. I want to be there for you and listen. I would rather you talk to me, even if you are mad at me, upset or sad, okay? I’m not going to be angry at you for ugly or negative emotions, they are just part of being alive. I can’t force you to talk to me about this, and if talking isn’t what you need I won't push the issue, but I just want to help, especially when I caused the problem.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Freya stared at him for a moment, eyes wide and mouth slightly open before she let out a little laugh. “You always know just what to say, don't you?”

  Eres moved his chair closer, so their knees were almost touching, and waited for her to continue.

  “Okay, um, how do I explain… I guess I should start by saying I get it. I understand why you wouldn’t want to tell us at first, and why it weighed on you more and more until you needed some sort of reason to come out and say it. For what it’s worth, I don’t have much to say about it. You are the same Eres I have always known, and your remembering some other life doesn't change that.

  “It does explain why you are so unusual sometimes, and why you aren’t at all like most nobles, as well as why you were so unlike other children growing up. I was older than you and I still felt like I was struggling to keep up with you half the time! So honestly, if anything, it explains a lot and helps me understand you more, which is… it’s good.

  “Just because I know all that though doesn’t change that… well, it hurts that you didn’t trust me until now, I guess. Which I know isn’t really true, that's just how it feels, and that sucks. Does that make any sense at all?”

  Eres nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense. Just because you know something logically doesn't change how you feel about it. Is there anything I can do to help? Any questions you want to ask? Or would you rather I just give you some space to work through-”

  “No!” Freya barely stopped herself from shouting as she grabbed for Eres’ hand, before quickly letting it go with a slight blush. “No. I don’t need space, Eres, I want to work through this and you are right, I want to listen and understand too. So… okay. Questions.

  “When you were young, some days you would seem really out of it and tired, and you never wanted me to wake you up in your room. Was that because of…?”

  “Ah.” Eres grimaced. “Yeah. When I first remembered it all, I had nightmares about it a lot. I still do, sometimes, but I thought I was mostly over it until today. That level of panic and reaction isn’t something I have had before, but I used to wake up in a cold sweat, crying. I didn’t know how to explain it without going into detail, so I just didn’t tell anyone. I knew you would want to help and I just wasn’t ready for that yet.”

  “Okay, makes sense. I guess that is also how you picked up fighting and magic so fast?”

  “Huh? Oh, no. That other world… I couldn’t fight and magic wasn’t real, to the best of my knowledge anyway. It was just something out of books and games. I guess it helped me study, but I didn’t already know how to do it or anything.”

  “Hmmm.” Freya hummed, hand on her chin thinking, before a smile slowly grew on her face. “So, if you are answering honest questions… You have been a bit fidgety around me and Myla the past few days. Haven’t seen you like that in a few years. Was it to do with this weighing on your mind? Or something else?”

  “That was… that was something else,” Eres murmured, breaking eye contact.

  You are really going to ask that now? He thought, feeling like his head was spinning. Both of you basically brushed off my biggest fear like it was nothing, and you feel like probing for answers now? Talk about loaded questions.

  “Something else? Care to elaborate there?” Freya teased, poking her finger to Eres' cheek. Seeing how he was reacting to her, how open he was with her, it felt like all her worries had been blown away. He was still just Eres. He was shockingly competent with strange priorities, and more kindness in him than almost anyone she had met. He scared her earlier, but not because she was afraid he would hurt them. She knew he would never do that.

  Looking at him now, she was more sure of her choices than ever. His worries had made sense, and clearly, there was damage there, but here he was, worrying about her. It made her heart swell.

  “Well, I- Um.” Eres stumbled. He knew she wasn’t going to let him get away with a non-answer, but he was still on edge. All his plans of gifts and slow flirting went right out the window when he looked up at her and saw the expectant look in her eye. He really never could tell her no, but he felt compelled to try. “Freya, we both know what it is. If I say it, out loud, it is out there and we can’t take it back. After everything you just learned, do you still want to push that button?”

  She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. “I don’t have any idea what you mean. So come on, Eres, spit it out.”

  “God, you are such a brat,” Eres whispered under his breath, before raising his voice as he looked at her. “Fuck it. The reason I have been so distracted around you recently is because of you. You are incredible, and beautiful, and amazing, and getting this far without you wouldn’t have been possible. So yeah, being around you when I want you so damn badly is hard, especially when I didn’t want to tell you until all this had come out, cause it would feel wrong.

  “So my whole plan to get gifts and explain everything might have something to do with wanting to get on your good side after it. There, that's the long and short of it. Happy?” Eres was breathing a little hard, the words having come out of him in a tumbling rush as soon as he started admitting what was going on in his head. He had watched Freya’s cheek go pink as he kept speaking and her eyes go wide.

  “Yeah, you could say happy works.” Freya laughed, and then she leaned over and pressed her lips against his, and suddenly he knew that everything would be just fine.