[It's good. It's what he wants. It's what he needs, now. This is not his place anymore. It was all he could imagine for so long, but now it hems him in like a too-tight glove. It makes him claustrophobic.]
[Ben has been his fresh air for months and months now, but Alex knows Ben can't be his everything. It's not fair to either of them.]
[He doesn't want to explain this, and won't. Instead he chews the inside of his cheek and is as brave as he can be, by not looking away.]
A few hours. [A few hours after he finishes speaking to Ben. However long that takes is however long it takes. He doesn't want to rush this. He wants it to hurt as little as it can hurt. But it's going to hurt.]
[Please don't run away from me, he doesn't say as Ben retreats into blankness. It's Ben's choice, he supposes, what he does, how he reacts. That is his right now.]
Spam alex is trying to be a grownup about this
[Ben has been his fresh air for months and months now, but Alex knows Ben can't be his everything. It's not fair to either of them.]
[He doesn't want to explain this, and won't. Instead he chews the inside of his cheek and is as brave as he can be, by not looking away.]
A few hours. [A few hours after he finishes speaking to Ben. However long that takes is however long it takes. He doesn't want to rush this. He wants it to hurt as little as it can hurt. But it's going to hurt.]
[Please don't run away from me, he doesn't say as Ben retreats into blankness. It's Ben's choice, he supposes, what he does, how he reacts. That is his right now.]