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He had been distant from you for so long; even your missions had long drawn out silences until you gave orders. Paladin Danse was not the kind of person to ignore you like this, but he was anyway. This was not his style at all, and you certainly did not appreciate it.
"Danse," you firmly orated. You waited for him to turn around and face you, so you could meet eye to eye. With the corpse of a mutant resting at the bottom of your feet, you kicked it off while saying, "what's the matter?"
Danse had a grimacing expression drawn over his face, his brows furrowing. "I do not know," he said sternly, then turning back around and walking away with his gun in his fists. You sighed deeply, not welcoming his four word reply, but followed him.
You then threw a grenade swiftly into an infested area of mutants and hounds. As the grenade made impact with the concrete sending explosions into the sky, you looked over to Danse. He would usually look back when you did this, but not today. Today was...different.
You then lost all possible cares for the mutants that were trying to attack you, and walked up to him. The metal boots of your power armor clanked against the ground. "Danse, tell me what this is about. Is this about the mutants? I know that you had to--"
"This is not about the mutants."
"Oh."
Then, the dark haired man swiftly shot a gleaming red laser of a bullet to the left of you, taking down a legendary by the head. As that stole your gaze, he went on without you, farther into the abyss of creatures. You quickly regathered your attention to the matter at hands; which was not the fact you were on a mission.
"Paladin Danse, I demand that you tell me what is wrong. That is an order," you yelled, as you frantically stomped towards him. Then, he struck you by your heartstrings, throwing a chilled stare. You opened your mouth to gasp for air, taken by this cold action. Your chest ached, but more pain was added with his words, "I am not to take commands from a knight."
A knight.
No, you were not the person he loved for deeply. No, you were not the person he risked his life for countless numbers of times. No, you were not the person he spent nights cherishing. You were a knight. It felt like he just removed your worth with the click of his tongue. You were nothing.
You could sense Danse's tenseness as he saw your eyes droop. He was fighting with all his power not to show you sympathy, trying to figure out why he couldn't remain strong emotionally but could physically. Something in his eyes made you read that he wanted to apologize, but you couldn't bear to wait for that.
You didn't spare him a second glance as you threw your weapon onto the ground towards him. You then walked away, calm and collectively, but inside you were shattering more and more with every step. Pulling out of your inventory, you threw the special grenade Elder had given you, which would signal down a vertibird to pick you up. As you watched the smoke fade up to the clouds, you waited.
The gray airship then flew down to your side only moments later. "Hello Knight," said the pilot. You nodded and smiled, "hello. Take me to the ship." The pilot looked at you with uncertainty, "did you not request help with the mutants...?" You shook your head, "no. Just take me to the ship please." The pilot's face only grew with more uncertainty. "...alright. And what about Paladin Danse--" "He can figure it out. After all, he is a Paladin." The pilot shook away their expression and began to take flight. As you watched the ground become more distant, all you could see was Danse's sorry face. It almost made you want to cry.
You made your way to the main deck safely, and stomped your way to the power armor station. After removing it with haste, you made your way to the bar. You weren't in the mood to drink, after all, you only drank when you were on missions. You just sat at an empty table, with nothing but a blank expression. You didn't know why you were sitting there, maybe it was because you were unconsciously hoping for Danse to just waltz right through the corridor. That thought wasn't as much unconscious as it was conscious though.
As you waited there patiently, you weren't surprised that he didn't appear. Not only would it be a long, treacherous walk from where he was since you left, but also he was stuck with all those mutants too. Sure, you could agree that it wasn't fair to leave him like that, but at the time it felt right.
You decided to leave the bar and head down to your barrack to rest. It had been an eventful day, and a good night's rest could very well have positive effects for you. You removed your basic armor, and were left in a gray tank top followed by some worn-down shorts that would hug your hips. You pressed your sore back onto the not-so-soft mattress, resting over the blankets.
"Soldier."
That rusty voice ringed in your ears, it was the voice that would call out, 'Y/N' whenever it was afraid that they lost you. But yet again, you were not Y/N, you were some worthless title.
You didn't move a single bit, nor a single hair. Then, you heard the clattering of metal crunch against each other as he bent down beside you. Even though he was facing your back, he continued.
"Y/N, I must humbly apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you, but I'm assuming that you didn't mean to hurt me as well." Then his voice rang in your ears once more, did you hurt him somehow? He then answered your question as if he could read your mind,
"You lied to me."
You then shifted in the bed to face him. You looked at his eyes, searching for a spec of happiness, but the only thing you found in his eyes was sorrow. "I didn't know I did...how did I lie to you?"
"You didn't mean it when you said you loved me. I could tell. I don't know how to deal with these emotions of anger-- of sadness-- of--"
"What do you mean? Danse, I love you. I don't know how that could come across as untrue."
He then looked away from your eyes, trying to find an escape. "You were talking to Deacon, just the same way you would talk to me. I don't like to say these things, you know this, Y/N."
You smiled faintly, and got up from your laying position and into a sitting position. You then reached your finger tips out to his jaw, slowly bringing his attention back to you as your fingers traced down to his chin. "You should know, of all people you should know, that there is no one I could ever care about more than you."
His eyes looked deep into your soul as they switched from one to another. You really wanted to kiss him right then and there, but you know he would become too embarrassed in front of the others. You settled with holding his head in the palms of your hand, and placing your forehead against his.
"Danse, listen to me, I really love you. There is no way a person could ever get between that."