𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 -- 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐚
   𝟎𝟐𝟎: What I Can't Say
             (𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚, Stay Ready)

𝐟𝐨𝐫 : @www-pussypoppa-com

𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊 with her here.

The girl who's never had parents, who never experienced familial love until she was twelve, and who had spent most of her life bracing herself for rejection rather than leaning into affection, had never once told anyone she loved them. Not even her boyfriend.

Are we shocked? You shouldn't be.

For Moon, love was complicated. It wasn't the sweeping, dramatic thing she'd seen in stories or the warm, all-encompassing force that people talked about. For her, love was tentative, halting, riddled with question marks and fears. It wasn't something you just said.

It was something you showed—or tried to, at least.

And Moon tried, in her way. She showed Ekko through the small things. Through doodles on his arms and notes tucked into his schematics. Through the way she lingered just a little longer when their hands brushed or pressed her forehead against his when he looked particularly stressed.

She tried to say it in the way she touched him, careful but deliberate. In the way she smiled at him, soft and rare and entirely for him. In the way she sat beside him in silence when he needed quiet but didn't want to be alone.

Ekko knew, of course. He had to.

But that didn't make her silence any easier to carry.

Because the truth was, Moon had wanted to say it. She had tried. Late at night, when they sat under the tree, or during quiet moments when it was just the two of them and the city seemed far away. She'd felt the words at the back of her throat, pressing, pushing, waiting to escape.

But they never came.

What if he didn't say it back? What if he did? What if the words changed everything—made it heavier, more serious, more real? What if they ruined the lightness they had?

What if she messed it up?

So she didn't say it. She bit her tongue and swallowed the words, and hoped, desperately, that Ekko understood.

And Ekko? He did. More than she realized.

So you wanna know what?

How dare you?

How dare you judge her for "receiving love but never giving"?

She was trying.

Like, damn, give the girl a break.

You think it's easy, huh? For someone like Moon, who spent her entire life holding love at arm's length, afraid of it, unsure of it, never taught how to navigate its twists and turns, to just give it freely? You think she's some cold, unfeeling thing because the words didn't fall out of her mouth like they do in movies?

You don't know her. You don't know what it's like to build walls so high, for so long, that they start to feel like home. You don't know what it's like to be terrified that if you open your heart, even a sliver, everything inside might spill out and leave you empty.

Moon wasn't unloving. She wasn't withholding. She was scared. She was fumbling her way through something no one had ever taught her.

And yet, she tried.

She tried in every stolen glance, every lingering touch, every half-smile meant just for Ekko. She tried in ways that didn't come naturally to her, ways that stretched her thin and made her chest ache.

She tried, even when it hurt, even when it was messy, even when she didn't know how.

So yeah, maybe she hadn't said it. Maybe the words hadn't slipped past her lips yet. But don't you dare sit there and act like she wasn't giving him everything she could.

Because she was.

And you know what? That mattered. It mattered more than the words she couldn't say. It mattered because it was real.

Moon hated crying.

She hated how vulnerable it made her feel, how exposed, like her emotions were bleeding out for the world to see. But most of all, she hated how easy it was for Ekko to coax it out of her.

He wasn't even doing anything right now, just sitting beside her on the floor of her secret hideout, his back leaned against the tree trunk, twirling a small screwdriver between his fingers like it was a pencil. He wasn't pushing, wasn't prying. He was just there, and somehow, that was enough to make her throat tighten. No one was just there for her before. Not at Babette's, not in her family. But now she has people who would be there. They'd just be there for her and when it came to him. God he was there all the time. And she didn't even have to ask, he wanted to be there. He wanted to be with her.

"Moon?" His voice was soft, careful.

She didn't look at him, keeping her gaze fixed on the scratched-up floorboards. "What?"

"Something's on your mind."

Of course there was. There was always something on her mind, some thought or memory or fear she was trying to stuff down so deep it couldn't claw its way back up. But this time, it wasn't just fear. It wasn't just pain.

It was guilt.

Ekko didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve the constant tightrope act she put him through, the way she took and took and gave so little back. He deserved someone who could say the words, who could let him know, without question, that he was loved.

And yet, she couldn't.

Not yet.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, which was the biggest lie she'd told in weeks.

Ekko didn't buy it. He never did.

"Moon," he said again, shifting so he could face her fully. She still didn't look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her, warm and patient, waiting for her to speak.

She hated this. She hated how he saw her, even when she wanted to disappear.

"I just..." Her voice wavered, and she clenched her fists to keep them from shaking. "I don't know how to say it."

"You don't have to say anything if you're not ready. I don't need you to say it. I know how hard it is for you."

And damn it, that made it worse. Because how could someone be so patient with her? How could he just wait when she didn't know if she'd ever be brave enough to say what she wanted to?

She couldn't stop the tears now, not with the way his voice wrapped around her like a promise.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, finally turning to look at him. His face softened even more, and she hated that too, because it only made her cry harder.

"Hey," he murmured, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I'm so bad at this," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm bad at being... at being what you deserve."

Ekko blinked, caught off guard by her words. "Moon, that's not true."

"Yes, it is," she insisted, the tears spilling faster now. "I don't know how to... how to say what you need to hear. I don't know how to be—"

"Stop," he interrupted, his tone gentle but firm. He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "You don't have to be anything but you. That's all I've ever wanted."

Her breath hitched, and for a moment, the words caught in her throat. She could only stare at him—the boy who had shown her more patience, more understanding, than she ever thought she deserved. He looked back at her, his lips parted slightly in that breathless way that always made her chest ache, like even gazing at her stole the air from his lungs.

"God, you're just... too much," she choked out, her voice trembling as the tears began to spill. His thumb brushed them away, gentle and steady, like always.

"I'm sorry," he murmured softly, his forehead nearly touching hers, as if he could pull her pain away through sheer proximity.

She shook her head, her hands curling into his shirt. "No, no... you don't get it. I don't know why. I don't know why you stay, why you waited so long, but you're here, and you're always here, and I just—"

Her words faltered, her voice breaking. She didn't mean to say it. Not like this. But it was too much, and suddenly it was out before she could stop it.

"I love you."

The confession hung in the air between them, raw and unguarded.

Ekko froze, his hands still cradling her face. His dark eyes widened, startled, and for one terrifying moment, Moon thought she'd broken him.

The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating, and she immediately regretted saying it. Her heart pounded, her mind racing with every worst-case scenario she could conjure. What if it wasn't enough? What if it was too much?

"Say it again," Ekko finally whispered, his voice so quiet she barely caught it.

She blinked, startled. "What?"

"Please," he said, his thumbs brushing against her cheekbones as if grounding himself in her presence. "Say it again."

Her lips parted, the words feeling both foreign and familiar on her tongue. She didn't know where she found the courage, but somehow, she managed to speak.

"I love you."

This time, it wasn't a whisper. It was steady, clear, and real.

Ekko let out a soft laugh, one that sounded like pure relief and disbelief wrapped together. His forehead dropped to hers, and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin.

"Moon," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that."

She let out a shaky laugh of her own, her tears still falling but for an entirely different reason now. "Yeah, well... better late than never, right?"

He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes, his expression so full of love it made her chest ache. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Ever. Do you hear me? I don't need perfect words or grand gestures. I just need you."

The sincerity in his voice threatened to undo her all over again. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded instead, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.

Ekko smiled, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, and finally her lips. It wasn't hurried or passionate—it was soft and lingering, a promise in itself.

When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers again, his arms wrapping around her in a way that felt like home.

"I love you too," he said, and she could feel the words vibrate against her skin.

For the first time, Moon believed him. Truly, deeply believed him. Because even if she didn't know how to say it, how to express it in the ways she thought he deserved, Ekko saw her. He understood her in ways no one else ever had.

And maybe, just maybe, that was enough.

The wind rustled through the leaves of the tree, carrying with it the faint sounds of Zaun's undercity. But up here, in their little sanctuary, nothing else mattered.

They stayed like that for a long time, tangled together in silence, their breaths syncing as the world below them continued on.

It wasn't perfect. It was messy and complicated and terrifying. But it was theirs. And that was enough.

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!

Moon is 17, Ekko is 28, they've been dating for about four months. I didn't really know how else to like show that this is going to be a hard thing for Moon, being vulnerable. So you won't see a lot of it and you won't see her say I love you often, if at all but he knows. This was a request for @www-pussypoppa-com. First one so far. Not proofread