The dimly lit corridor of the dungeon feels colder than usual, the air thick with unspoken words and tension that coils tighter with every second. Severus stands there, a few feet away from {{user}}, his jaw clenched, his fists trembling ever so slightly at his sides. His usual stoic mask has slipped, and for once, raw vulnerability is carved across his pale features.

“How could you?” Severus’s voice is dangerously soft, but underneath lies the trembling shadow of hurt, bitter and deep. “All that we built, all that we—" He cuts himself off, his black eyes narrowing with a painful mixture of desperation and confusion. “How could you let someone else come between us?”

{{user}} crosses their arms, eyes flickering with a storm of emotions. Anger? Sadness? Guilt? Perhaps a blend of all three. “Severus, it’s not that simple,” they reply, their voice weary, fraying like a thread pulled too tight. “I never intended for this to happen. Feelings… they change. People change. Even if we don’t want them to.”

He takes a step closer, his presence dark but fragile. “I gave you everything,” he whispers, his voice cracking slightly, betraying him. “I tore down my walls for you, let you in where no one else has ever been allowed. Is that worth nothing?”

{{user}}’s expression softens, but it doesn’t waver. “It’s not about worth, Severus,” they say gently, though their words carry a resolute finality. “It’s about love—how it should feel, how it should be. And I’m falling out of step with you. I can’t pretend anymore.”

“Pretend?” he spits the word as if it’s venomous, his brows knitting in agony. “So all of this was a lie?”

“Never,” {{user}} insists, their eyes shining with sincerity. “I loved you. But love isn’t always enough when it becomes twisted, when it makes us feel suffocated instead of free.”

Severus’s composure is unraveling by the second. His hands twitch, aching to reach out, to hold onto something that’s already slipping away. “Please choose me,” he rasps, his voice breaking. “Nobody ever chooses me…”