[Even though it's something he already knows, it's hard not to feel a slight twinge in his chest when Reign so casually says that he loves him.]

I wouldn't want you to stay single your whole life just because of how you feel about me. It's... not like you belong to me.

[He doesn't even need to be told, really. After hearing about Reign's time with Chuuya from the other man himself, it was easy to assume that indulging in things like that wasn't a one-time thing for Reign.]

[But as curious as he was, knowing that the lack of vampires left only one probable conclusion, it just didn't feel like his right to do so. Because Reign wasn't his.]

...but I belonged to One. So it feels different. He even told me once... that he wanted me to belong to only him.

[In a memory that's exceptionally unpleasant, for how much of a disaster that night ended up being.]

[But as much as that might sound like Shell rejecting that what-if... Reign knows how the story goes from there. Or at least, how it goes for this Shell. That despite loving him and wanting only him, One still decided to leave him. Looking at it logically, Shell had no reason to feel guilty for being with someone other than One.]

[But love was hardly logical.]

...I just wish I could talk to him. Maybe then... I wouldn't be so confused.