Thoughts raced. Thoughts left lips without care. For once. Or not really for once. But that’s how Orion worked, simply. And hell, if in all these years he hadn’t learnt how to accept how he was, how his mind worked instead of trying to stop himself and change it all, what had he done? “Not planning on it. You’re being a fucking arse. You’ve been a fucking arse for days. No-wait, no, since my first damn day here? I’m not going to listen to your apologies. Much less accept them. I’m not even talking to you. You’ve abused my trust once. Hell, you’ve fucking abused me. A person. Do you not get that? And you know what? It’s been years now. But if I’ve decided one thing it’s that I’m not going to forgive you. I’m not going to think about it anymore. Wait, no, I can’t do that. But I can refuse to forgive you. I can stop being angry, that’s one thing, because I’ve decided to be happy. Because some people have taught me to be happy. To love myself before giving myself wholly to fucking assholes like you. And because of that I just-I won’t listen to you. Fuck you and everything you stand for, honestly.” He was exaggerating maybe. It’d only been four years since he left Hogwarts. Five since Tory. Five, eight months, two weeks, three days and a handful of hours since that night. Hell. He had time. But he was brave. He’d always been. “So, no, I’m not going to listen to you. I’m not going to even look at you. Go live your fucking life and don’t try to talk to me again. I’ve learnt how to live with the crap you’ve done to me, and so will you. Don’t take that for forgiveness. Take that for what it is and fucking leave. You won’t ruin it all again. Not even a second of it.” Thoughts were words. And words flew. Free. So was he now. Free, and brave, and all these things he once thought he lost, because of this very same man. His heart would never be a burden anymore, he promised that to himself. And his mind? Oh, his mind only belonged to himself.