For a long while, the only sound that could be heard in the room was the faint rustling of the leaves outside.

"I did not immediately understand", Val then said. "I did not immediately understand what was happening to me... You would be in my first thought of the day, and in my last. In the mornings, I would find myself waiting for you to arrive... In the nights, you would be in my every dream. Something had started to break, and something else had begun to grow in my cracks... and before I knew it, it had become immense - overwhelming. Only then did I recognize... only then could I give it a name". Val's throat moved as he swallowed; and Adrien knew it was to fight back tears - he had been doing just the same. "I could not tell you. I could never tell you. I had accepted what would never be, but the dreams... the dreams never stopped. Every night, you would be at my side... a delightful vision - a cruel vision of a world I could not believe in".

"And do you believe in it, now?", Adrien asked - begged.

"As I have never believed in anything before".