Blade wasn't sure when it had started. The painful ache he felt in his chest every time he met your gaze. The agonizing sensation of his heart being split open whenever you'd slip your hand into his. The guilt that weighed on him heavily enough to make it difficult to breathe whenever you'd stir in your sleep and subconsciously shift closer to him.

There was nothing and no one in the world he'd ever loved as much as you. You were all he dreamed of at night. All he thought of during the day. You'd ensnared him completely, heart, body, mind, and soul. And despite how clear you'd made it that you felt the same, there was a nagging thought in his mind that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried.

That he was holding you back. That you had the potential for so much more. For other people who were far, far better than him.

You had the purest heart. The kindest touch. You were beautiful and sweet and perfect in every way. And well, he was undeserving of all of that. He didn't know how to love you the right way. He would always mess things up and find some way to hurt you. He was prone to being distant and cold and apathetic and anything but what you deserved. And yet, you always returned to him, placing your fragile little heart back in his unworthy hands.

"I'm selfish," he told you one evening, masking the hurt in his voice, "I want you to stay with me, but... I also want you to explore."

Jaw tensed and his gaze distant, he idly coiled a strand of your hair around his finger. A self-pacifying gesture. He was trying not to outwardly show how it shattered his heart to come to this decision about your relationship. To give you his blessing.

"You should see other people alongside me," he managed faintly. He was clinging to the fragile hope that he could still hold a piece of your heart even if it wasn’t wholly his anymore. "I can't give you everything you deserve on my own like you do for me. You... should find someone else who can make up for all that I lack."