Chapter Text
“I mean, I’m getting married in three months, it’s not like it matters now, but—”
“Stede,” Ed says firmly. “It’s who you are. It matters.”
Stede smiles, wavering, grateful. He sighs and stretches his legs out, runs a hand through the grass.
“You know what’s funny? I kind of realized because of you.”
A chasm shudders open in Ed’s stomach.
“…Me?”
“I had a crush on you when we first met. Took me ages to figure out that’s what it was, but—” He half-shrugs and laughs, his eyes on the grass slipping under his fingers.
“Yeah,” Ed manages finally. “Funny.”