It was early in the morning. Corrin couldn't sleep, which surprised him. The day before had been a particularly challenging training session, which had been centered around giving him more control over his actions when he transformed. It had been successful, but it had also left him in a weird state of mind that was half primal instincts thanks to his dragon blood and half regular human brain. 

He wasn't sure what part of his brain was keeping him awake now, but he really wished he could just go back to sleep. Sighing softly, Corrin glanced away from the ceiling that he had been staring at for what felt like the past hour and down at Sheik, who was sleeping next to him. It was almost a miracle that the blond boy had stayed asleep for so long, seeing as he had long been haunted by nightmares. Several times, Sheik had described what he saw while he slept, his face pale and his shoulders shaking. 

"I see death. I watch you or Zelda die, tortured and beaten until you scream, but the Headmaster won't stop." 

"Sometimes I relive what happened to me. If I don't dream of your death, I dream of my own torture. I experience it as if it is happening again, and sometimes the memory of the Caretaker's hands on me lingers even after I wake."

Almost subconsciously, Corrin brushed Sheik's bangs out of his eyes, even though he was sleeping. A soft smile touched his face, and he almost couldn't believe this was real despite the fact that it had been- what, nearly a month now? Yes, that sounded about right. In any case, this still felt so surreal. Despite the fact of the war they were all about to enter looming over their heads, Corrin felt more at peace than he ever had. He didn't really want moments like these to end, because it felt more right than anything he could remember. 

So what if he couldn't remember his childhood before being taken? None of his friends could, and nobody seemed to miss it all that much. Of course, there were always moments when Corrin missed what he had lost. Usually, that was in the presence of his so called family. They all tried to tell him this was who he had been and who he should be now, but Corrin found it harder and harder to connect with them. His blood relatives couldn't understand him now. And as cheesy as it sounded, his friends were his family now. They at least understood him. They knew what he confronted with each day he existed. They might not always treat him well, but that was to be expected in a friend group. You can't get along with everybody all the time, unfortunately. He had realized that a long time ago. 

Eventually, his thoughts lulled him to sleep. It was a relief that he was well aware he needed, but his head had kept him awake. His head often got in the way of things. Sheik used to tease him about how he worried too much, but that was before things had changed. That was before he had been broken. Now, Sheik worried just as much as Corrin did. 

They had all changed. Thanks to the Headmaster and their cruel treatment, none of his friends were the same people they had been before. And while that may not have been the most pleasant thought to have as sleep whisked him away, it didn't bring any dreams along with it. 

././.

When Corrin woke up again, it was midmorning. A quick glance over at the clock told him that he had about an hour and thirty minutes before training would begin for the day. Sheik wasn't lying next to him when he woke up, which was a bit concerning. Usually, Sheik slept longer than he did, since it took him longer to get to sleep in the first place. He dismissed the brief worries that came to mind when he heard the sound of something sizzling in a pan. The sound came from the direction of the kitchen, so it was safe to assume Sheik was cooking breakfast. 

Corrin yawned and stood up, grabbing his favorite sweatshirt and slipping it on as he did so. He didn't really feel like getting dressed properly yet, since he did have some time to wait before he had to leave. Moving a bit slower than he usually did thanks to his brain still trying to wake up a bit, Corrin exited the bedroom and walked into the main room of the apartment. From here, he could see that Sheik was standing at the stove, cooking breakfast. 

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Sheik teased, looking over his shoulder as Corrin walked up behind him. He had a light smile on his face, which was quickly hidden as he turned his attention back to the pan. It looked like he was making omelettes. 

"Very funny." Corrin replied. Though his tone was sarcastic, he couldn't stop himself from grinning. He'd missed the light teasing that they did more than he had realized. 

"I'll be done with these in a couple minutes. Would you mind grabbing some plates?" Sheik reached for a spatula and flipped the closest omelette, causing an impressive hissing noise. 

"Of course." Corrin leaned in and kissed him briefly on the cheek, laughing when Sheik pushed him back and called him a dork. 

He turned and reached for the plates, grabbing two and setting them on the counter. Then, he opened the silverware drawer and retrieved two cheap forks. Once he was finished with his assigned task, he leaned back against the opposite counter and watched his boyfriend, a soft smile on his face. 

Shortly afterwards, Sheik turned off the heat of the small oven and transferred the now-finished omelettes to the plates that Corrin had laid out. He handed one of the plates to Corrin, then gestured over to the couch. "Shall we sit down?"

"Yeah." Corrin accepted the plate, then walked over to the couch. Sheik joined him shortly afterwards, but something felt... off about his boyfriend as he sat down. "Are you alright?" Corrin asked softly, momentarily forgetting about his omelette. 

"I didn't sleep well last night." Sheik murmured. His eyes looked troubled, but he sighed and forced a smile. "I'm fine now, though."

Corrin set his breakfast aside and rested his hands on Sheik's. His hands were sitting on his lap, his own breakfast seemingly forgotten. "Hey. You don't have to lie to me. Something is clearly bothering you."

"I'm fine, Corrin. Trust me." Sheik turned his hands and held Corrin's, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, Corrin saw a brief flicker of pain cross his face, but it was gone quickly. 

Unfortunately, the moment of pain in his eyes was accompanied by a sharp electric shock. Corrin jerked his hands away and hissed in pain, rubbing his hands together. Sheik's eyes widened, and he groaned. "Damn it. I'm sorry, Corrin."

"It's fine." Corrin replied. "It startled me, that's all." 

Sheik remained silent. Clearly he was frustrated, seeing as he'd been trying to get his Gift under control during moments of stress or overwhelming anxiety. 

"Look, something is bothering you. You wouldn't have shocked me otherwise, Sparky." Corrin pointed out, using the nickname he knew Sheik both hated and loved at the same time. 

"You worry too much." Sheik mumbled, rolling his eyes at the nickname and yet suppressing a smile. 

"Sheik. I'm serious." 

"Corrin. I'm telling you, I'm fine."

They stared at each other for a moment until Corrin finally raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, I believe you. You better not be hiding something from me, okay?"

"I'm not!" Sheik protested. 

"I've heard that before." Corrin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't want you to keep something a secret if it's hurting you. On that note, eat your breakfast. You'll starve." 

"Yes, Father." Sheik said, voice heavy with sarcasm. Still, he picked up his plate and his fork, then started picking at his omelette. 

Corrin shoved him playfully and picked up his own plate, because he was only now realizing how hungry he was. They ate in silence after that, which was a little awkward. He could tell that Sheik was frustrated, but he didn't really know how to ask what was wrong without risking upsetting him more. Something was definitely up with him, but Corrin knew that he'd have to wait until he was ready to explain. 

That only made this whole situation weirder and a little worrying. 

After they were both finished, Corrin stood and collected the dishes. He set them in the sink and then turned back to face his boyfriend. He saw the little orange bottle that Sheik tried to hide and sighed. "Sheik, you don't have to hide your pills from me." 

"I fucking hate these things." Sheik said, slamming the bottle down and running a hand through his hair. "They're supposed to help, but all they do is make me feel worse. They make it harder to keep myself in control." As if to demonstrate his point, he held up his left hand. It was visibly shaking, and sparks of electricity bounced from finger to finger. 

"Hey." Corrin took a step closer, holding out his hands in a placating way. "Take a deep breath. As soon as this prescription runs out, I'll help you talk to the pharmacist and get it adjusted, okay?"

Sheik did as he was told, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. The sparks disappeared, and slowly the tension in his shoulders eased. "I'm sorry. I'm being dramatic. Gods, these things fuck with my head." 

"You're alright." Corrin said, smiling reassuringly at him. "Do you think you can go to practice today?"

"I- Yeah. Yes, I think so." Sheik nodded hesitantly, then looked over at the clock. "We should get going, we're cutting it pretty close as it is."

"Let me get changed first, and then we can go." Corrin remarked, looking down at his boxers-and-sweatshirt combo that he was currently wearing. 

"Yeah, uh, that might be a good idea." Sheik laughed and scratched the back of his head. Corrin could have sworn he saw a light blush on his boyfriend's face, but he decided not to question it. 

With that, he re-entered the bedroom and changed, pulling on some athletic shorts and a grey t-shirt. He grabbed some white socks and tried to put them on while standing, which resulted in him nearly losing his balance with a surprised shout. "I'm fine!" Corrin yelled before Sheik could poke his head in to see what was wrong. 

"I doubt that, but okay!" Sheik replied. 

After the mishap with his socks, Corrin decided it would be smarter to sit down while he put the socks on. Once he did that, he walked out of the bedroom and went hunting for his shoes. They were sitting by the door where he had left them, but he didn't check there right away because he's kind of forgetful. At least when it comes to shoes, that is. Sheik already had his shoes on, and he was ready to go. Finally, Corrin located his tennis shoes and slipped them on. 

"Alright, let's go." Corrin said as he stood up. 

"You might need this." Sheik teased, handing him the Yato blade. It was in its sheath, thankfully, otherwise Corrin might have been without a limb at the moment. 

"You're lucky this wasn't unsheathed." Corrin grumbled playfully. "I'd be bleeding out if that was the case."

"That's why you pay attention, my dear." Sheik patted Corrin's head and laughed. 

"Okay, we really should get going now." Corrin cleared his throat and removed Sheik's hand from his head. 

So they were off. The area where the group was being trained was a bit of an odd place, as it wasn't anywhere near the Rebellion Headquarters. Instead, it was somewhere in the residential district, as odd as that sounded. The training room was essentially a large studio apartment, which was owned collectively by the combat professors. Immediately upon entering, the large sparring floor was visible. Racks of weapons, both real and wooden, lined the walls. Ike and Link were sparring, the sword combat professor Alm watching their battle intently. Celica was instructing Robin in the art of using a tome, like usual. That left Marth and Lucina receiving some extra pointers from the secondary sword professor, Eliwood. Zelda and Samus were practicing archery with a regular bow and arrow under the close supervision of Shamir, the archery combat professor. 

"Glad you could join us." Eliwood said, barely glancing up at the two boys. 

Suddenly, Sheik spun around, drawing his dagger and assuming a ready stance. Alarmed, Corrin looked behind him- 

Only to see Kaze, the mysterious self-defense and stealth combat professor, standing behind him with a dagger directed at Sheik. 

"Very good." Kaze remarked, sheathing his dagger. "Your reflexes are on point, as usual. However, you were unfortunately slow to realize I was following you." 

Sheik nodded. The scarf he'd slipped on as they left his apartment obscured most of his expression, but Corrin could tell that he was a little irritated by his minor failure. 

"Although you did much better than Corrin did." Kaze said, patting Sheik's shoulder as he walked past him. "Sorry." he muttered to Corrin, shrugging elegantly. "You're not quite as perceptive as he is."

Corrin sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm better suited to head-on combat. Never really had the patience for espionage anyway." he explained. 

"In any case, your battlefield awareness could use some work. You won't live very long if you can't tell when someone's following you." Kaze pointed out. 

"I'll keep him alive." Sheik said, nudging Corrin's shoulder playfully. "I'd be sad if you died because you were being an idiot."

"Aw." Corrin couldn't help but feel a goofy grin creep onto his face. 

Kaze cleared his throat. "Boys, there's a time and a place for romance. And this is neither the time or the place. Corrin, why don't you join Marth and Lucina? They're waiting for their turn on the sparring floor, but I'm sure they wouldn't object to you joining them." 

"Of course, sensei." Sheik replied, bowing his head slightly. The show of respect, coupled with the foreign word, was fairly jolting to see. An accent Corrin didn't even know Sheik had colored his voice as he spoke the last word, which was undeniably attractive. After realizing he was staring, Corrin felt himself blush. He cleared his throat and looked away, then remembered that he was supposed to go join Marth, Lucina, and Eliwood. So he walked away, shaking his head a bit to clear the rebellious thoughts from his head. 

Lucina noticed him first, and she smiled cheerfully at him. "Hey Corrin! Good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Lucina. Mind if I join you two?" Corrin asked. 

"Of course. We'll do a rotation and try to hurry these fights up a bit." Eliwood cut in, every bit the businesslike instructor. The most startling thing about him was his resemblance to his son, Roy. He literally looked like an older version of the lying bastard. 

Sometimes, Corrin had to do a double take when he glanced at Eliwood. Sometimes his kind blue eyes would morph into Roy's cruel blue eyes, and his red hair would turn into his son's messier red hair that was barely held back by a blue armored band. 

And if Corrin felt this way, who knew how Marth felt?

"Sounds good." Marth replied, once Lucina and Corrin had nodded in agreement.

"Perfect. Marth, why don't you and Lucina spar as planned, then Corrin can spar with Link." Eliwood said, noticing Ike and Link as they walked over while deep in conversation with Alm. 

"Man, that last strike... I definitely didn't see that one coming." Ike chuckled and patted Link on the back. Since his first assignment a week ago, Ike had been more upbeat than usual. It was quite odd, but it made more sense once Corrin caught sight of the soft glances Ike occasionally sent Samus's way. In all honesty, the way Ike looked at her reminded Corrin of the way he looked at Sheik. 

But now he was getting sidetracked. Ike and Link had joined the swordfighters circle, and Alm returned to the open space in the middle of the room with Marth and Lucina. 

"I'd like you three to pay attention to Marth's stance. Of all of you, he's the most balanced when he strikes. Would any of you like to tell me why a balanced stance is important?" Eliwood asked. After he spoke, he coughed slightly and winced. 

"Are you alright?" Link asked, looking puzzled.

Eliwood nodded. "My lungs don't work as well as they used to." he wheezed. "Sometimes just standing tires me out. I'll be fine, kid."

That was obviously a lie, but no one bothered to call him out on it. 

Marth and Lucina's sparring match had largely been forgotten by now, and Eliwood didn't seem to have the energy to bring their attention back to it. Corrin was trying to focus, but it was awfully hard when he could hear Ike and Link joking around about something that he didn't really care about. 

"Ike, my man, you've honestly got to get better at being subtle when it comes to what you and Samus do in your spare time." Link remarked. 

"I don't know what you mean." Ike replied, and Corrin couldn't quite tell if he was being oblivious on purpose or not. 

Corrin sighed and shook his head. "Could you maybe wait until I'm out of earshot to talk about that stuff?"

"What's the matter? Not comfortable joking around about getting laid?" Link asked casually. 

"Yeah, actually. I'm not." Corrin replied flatly. He looked past Ike, spotting Kaze and Sheik making their way over to the circle. 

"I mean, you haven't had any experience with it yet, have you? So I guess it makes sense that you wouldn't exactly want to joke about it." Ike raised an eyebrow at him while he spoke, seeming quite satisfied with his reasoning. 

Link shrugged. "I mean, I haven't technically slept with anyone yet, but that doesn't stop me."

"Can we just drop this, please? We're supposed to be watching Marth and Lucina spar, not talking about getting laid." Corrin said. 

"Speaking of that... when are you getting it from your boyfriend?" Ike asked, shifting the collar of his shirt ever so conspicuously. 

"What the hell?" Corrin exclaimed, turning to look at Ike with an incredulous look on his face. He could hardly believe what he'd just heard. Had Ike actually just said that? 

"Uh... Ike, not cool." Link said, looking a bit upset himself. "You do know what happened to him, right?"

"He wouldn't have asked such a dumb question if he did!" Corrin had to force himself to lower his voice, lest he catch the attention of Eliwood, who was still focused on trying to breathe properly. 

"Hey man, it was just a question." Ike raised his hands defensively and backed away a bit. 

"It was a stupid question." Corrin grumbled. "Look, you idiot, if you never ask me that again, it'll be too soon. Fuck you."

With that, Corrin walked off. He wasn't really sure where he was going, since there wasn't a whole lot of space to spread out and avoid the idiot he was friends with. Eventually, he settled on archery with Samus and Zelda. He didn't exactly enjoy archery, but the sound of an arrow hitting the target was pretty satisfying to hear. 

"Corrin. Shouldn't you be with the swordfighters?" Shamir asked, turning her head to look at him.  

"Ike pissed me off. Thought I'd try and brush up on my archery skills instead." Corrin responded. He picked up a bow and tested the draw weight, finding it to be a bit too light. Shamir noticed this, and she tossed him a tool to adjust the bow's draw weight. He nodded his thanks and adjusted the bow after a brief struggle, then tested it again. Now that it was adjusted, it was perfect. He grabbed some arrows and a floor quiver, then placed the arrows inside the quiver and placed it on the firing line. 

"What'd he do now?" Samus asked with a sigh. She nocked an arrow on the string of her bow and drew it back, aiming carefully and releasing after a moment. It ended up hitting the inner red ring, and she sighed in disappointment.

"Take more time to aim, Samus. You're a beginner, I don't expect you to have a quick aiming time yet." Shamir said. 

Corrin nocked an arrow and aimed at the target, giving himself time to collect his thoughts. He took a moment to double check and then triple check his aiming point, then released the bowstring. The arrow flew forwards and hit the outer yellow ring, which was quite good considering he wasn't very good at archery. 

"Very good, Corrin. Drop your aiming point down a little for next time." Shamir said. 

"To answer your question, Samus, he said some shit that I didn't exactly like. You can ask him about it later, I'm sure he'd love to tell you." Corrin replied, well aware that he sounded bitter. He didn't really care. 

Thankfully, Samus didn't ask any more questions. Zelda had been ignoring them and continuing to practice, which Corrin wished he could have done earlier with Ike and Link. The three teenagers practiced in silence until their practice was over. Corrin's fingers and upper arm muscles were aching, but it was worth it. He honestly felt like he'd improved his archery skills. 

"Hey, Corrin. I wanted to talk to you about something real quick." Zelda said as Corrin was returning his bow and arrows. 

"Yeah?" Corrin asked, standing up properly and looking at her. He wasn't quite sure what Zelda could want with him, since she'd already given him the whole "you hurt my brother any more than he's already been hurt, and you're fucking toast" speech. 

"Are you doing alright? You seem a bit down." Zelda looked tired herself, but also actually concerned about him. Weird, considering that not too many people would actually bother to see how he's doing. 

"I'm fine. Just frustrated with Ike." Corrin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Before you ask, he said some inappropriate stuff about Sheik and I. Specifically, he asked me when we were going to sleep together." 

The concern on Zelda's face morphed into shock and then anger. "I can't believe he'd actually ask something so stupid!" Zelda exclaimed after a long moment of silence. 

"I know! It's ridiculous!" Corrin agreed.

"Gods, I hate people sometimes." Zelda said, shaking her head in annoyance. "Anyways, are you sure that's the only thing bothering you?"

Corrin nodded. "Yep. Do I seem down or something?"

"Just a bit. I suppose it makes sense, though." Zelda replied. "You know that if you ever need to talk, you can trust me, right?"

The gesture of kindness and genuine concern for his well-being was actually really nice. Granted, Sheik was usually worrying about him for some reason or another, so he'd gotten used to it. One thing that he'd learned was that most of the other teens didn't honestly care too much about him. He was usually pushed aside unless he actively tried to involve himself in the conversation, and then things like what had happened with Ike earlier ended up killing his interest in socializing. 

"Of course, Zelda. I appreciate it." Corrin said, grinning halfheartedly at her. Normally he would have been a lot more awkward, but he was just tired. So that was kind of a blessing by itself- instead of spending a minute or two debating over how he was supposed to respond to something like that, he just said what any normal person would say and left it like that. 

Laughable, really. Neither he nor any of his friends were normal after what they'd gone through. 

Zelda returned the smile, then looked past him and said a quick goodbye. Corrin turned to see who she had spotted, then sighed mentally when he saw Link. Of course she would prefer Link's company over his. Oh well. It's not like he cared all that much. 

He really needed to find some people to hang out with outside of his current friend group. 

Suddenly, there was a soft tap on his shoulder. Startled, Corrin whirled around to see Sheik standing there, his arms crossed and his eyes alight with amusement. Corrin could tell that he was laughing at him, even if he couldn't see Sheik's smile due to his mask. 

"Come on, daydreamer. We should get going." Sheik said, sounding highly amused. 

"I need to tie a bell to your wrist or something. You're too quiet when you want to be." Corrin grumbled playfully, beginning the walk to the exit as he spoke. 

Sheik's only response was a small laugh. He seemed to be much happier than he had been this morning, which was good to see. 

././.

It wasn't until much later that evening that Sheik brought up the subject of Ike's question. They were just relaxing on the couch in Corrin's apartment, watching a movie. Movies were something that Shulk had been incredibly excited to show off to the teens, and the magic of seeing these different worlds come to life on a screen still hadn't quite worn off yet. When the movie that the two boys had been watching together ended, Sheik picked up the remote control and muted the television while the credits played. 

"I heard what Ike asked you earlier." Sheik said, his voice quieter than Corrin had ever heard it. 

"It was a stupid question. Ike had no right to ask me that question." Corrin responded. 

"I just- I can't help but feel like he was-" Sheik started saying, but Corrin cut him off. 

"No. Don't even go there." Corrin said forcefully. He took Sheik's hands, holding them in his own and taking a deep breath. "You know that I would never force you into something that you're not ready for, right? My own feelings on the matter aren't important, because I'd much rather see you happy rather than suffering because of something I did to you." 

Sheik didn't respond for a while. He stared at their intertwined hands, clearly thinking about something. Times like these were moments where he wished that Sheik would just talk to him, but the habits of the years they'd all spent in a place where admitting to weakness was seen as worse than the actual thing itself would be tricky to break. 

But until Sheik was ready to talk, Corrin would have to wait. Which was no problem, really. He was a patient guy. 

"I don't even know what I want anymore. My head says one thing, and my heart says another. I can't even trust myself sometimes. But I know that the memory of those hands on me overpowers anything my heart might have to say about this topic. I'm sorry, but I just don't-" Sheik cut himself off with an aggravated sigh. He released one of Corrin's hands to use his own hand to cover his face briefly, which was something he only did when he was really stressed out. 

"Hey. It's alright. You don't need to apologize to me. Really, I should be apologizing to you.  I shouldn't have even gotten involved in that conversation to begin with." Corrin said, squeezing his boyfriend's hand reassuringly. 

"This isn't your fault." Sheik whispered.

"Then it isn't yours either. Stop trying to take the blame for things you didn't do." Corrin raised his hand and brushed some of Sheik's hair out of his face. Sheik raised his hand and put it over Corrin's, leaning into the touch almost like a cat who wanted attention. 

"It's hard." Sheik whispered. "I can't help but feel like so much of the stuff that's happened to me is my fault, so logically this would be my fault too."

Before he responded, Corrin pulled Sheik into a hug. It was a bit awkward, due to their positions on the couch, but he managed to do it anyway. Sheik tensed up as he was pulled forwards, but he slowly relaxed as he realized what was happening. Tentatively, his arms slipped around Corrin's waist, returning the hug. 

"Nothing that has happened to you could possibly be your fault. You haven't done anything to warrant getting hurt this badly. You didn't choose to be tortured for who you are. I know it's hard to accept, but I believe in you." Corrin whispered. 

Sheik's arms tightened around his waist, and he rested his head on Corrin's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too, Sparky." Corrin murmured, a smile finding its way onto his face. 

Moments like these were what made Corrin feel truly at peace. Even though they hadn't been discussing a very comfortable subject prior to the hug, this was nice. Sheik wasn't very big on physical contact, which was totally understandable. That only made the rare hugs feel better, for lack of an easier description. 

"You know I hate that nickname." Sheik mumbled, but Corrin could hear the repressed laughter in his voice. 

"You're laughing. Don't deny it. You secretly enjoy being called Sparky." Corrin teased, not even bothering to keep his smile from turning into a smirk. 

"I'm not answering that." Sheik said. 

"You don't have to. I can read you like a book." Corrin said smugly. "Besides, if you really hate it that much, I'll stop."

"...No, you don't need to do that." The admission was barely audible, yet thanks to his subtly sharper hearing due to his Gift, Corrin heard every word of it. 

"I knew it!" Corrin exclaimed. "I told you so."

"Whatever." Sheik was trying to cover up his embarrassment, which only made his true feelings for the nickname plain as day. He let go of his hold on Corrin and returned to sitting on the couch itself, which was a bit of a disappointment. However, it did offer him a view of Sheik's bright red face. It was a small price to pay, really. Seeing Sheik all flustered like this wasn't exactly something that happened often. 

"You're adorable when you're flustered." Corrin laughed softly and ruffled Sheik's hair. 

"Be quiet." Sheik grumbled, though the smile on his face was hard to miss. 

Despite the way the day had begun and what had happened at today's training session, Sheik seemed to be truly happy. That was more than worth everything had happened, really. True moments of happiness were so rare for him. 

Corrin would gladly go through hell for him. He would endure anything for his sake. 

It might be a bold statement, but he really was one for grand gestures. When it came down to it, he was definitely a romantic at heart.