"I feel like I should have a say in all of this, wouldn't you say?" Dylan was entirely awake now, and frustration and melancholy dripped from his voice. He glared at Eddie and Emmery both, though his ire was mostly for the Messenger. He could speak for himself, even injured as he was.

"Em ... I know why you never said anything. I'm..." He sighed and clutched ħis blankets hard. He lifted his eyes. Emmery deserved to be looked at after baring his heart like that. "I'm so sorry for being so dense. For ignoring your feelings like that. I just never thought ... I never thought they were real."

Emmery's throat closed tight. The words, all of them, kept hitting him like blows. "They were... are. But it's all kind of too late now, I know ... But I can't really move on without talking it out at least once." Now he looked at Edward, smiled a bit. "I held onto that sliver of hope for so long that it's hard to let go, and I need to ... because ... well for Oliver."