I tried to sell my soul last night
Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite

His agitation runs deep. Far deeper than he truly understands. There is something more here and it infuriates him that he cannot quite grasp it. That he doesn’t know why or what. It’s that as much as her insistence that she would never give up on him fueling the anger inside him. The anger he knows how to release far too easily. That, far more than anything else, feels comfortable and familiar. As though he has been wallowing in it his entire life.

Her apology cuts him, his jaw tightening as the steely glint of his dark gaze grows even harder. A piece of him wants to throw the apology back at her, but he catches it before it leaves his tongue. There are some things that could not be unsaid, and something deep inside warns that perhaps there had already been too many of those kinds of words between them.

In any case, he cannot refute her words. They sound truthful, and though it stings to know she hadn’t tried in spite of not knowing, he cannot truly fault her for it. It is foolish to imagine there had ever been anything between them that might imply she would, regardless of her words.

It’s that realization that causes the bubble of rage to sink deep into the pit of his stomach. Some buried part of him knew not to expect it of her, even if he couldn’t remember anything about her. Why she would say the words, he’s not certain, but he knows beyond a doubt they aren’t true.

She wouldn’t come for him. Not ever.

“Stop apologizing,” he bites back sharply, his fury fading as something hollow replaces it. An empty he doesn’t wish to explore. “You don’t require forgiveness. You must know there’s nothing between us. I don’t know why you would pretend there is.”

Just as he had recognized his name, just as he had recognized hers, he knows it’s the truth. In the same way, he also knows it would serve no one to admit how much he hates it.