[ It's not yelling, no, but that close to his ear it's still loud and the sudden closeness of it does get a slight flinch out of Leo.
He'd hid his eyes in an attempt to hide the forming tears, but who is he kidding? His shoulders are shaking now, making it very obvious. Not that there's any fooling Elliot anyway, which is why Leo doesn't feel like lying or making excuses. He doesn't think he could even if he wanted to, there's too much turmoil and he's just . . . so tired. ]
I wasn't— [ A halting breath. ] I wasn't trying to make up for them.
[ Punishing himself was more like it, but not entirely accurate either. ]
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He'd hid his eyes in an attempt to hide the forming tears, but who is he kidding? His shoulders are shaking now, making it very obvious. Not that there's any fooling Elliot anyway, which is why Leo doesn't feel like lying or making excuses. He doesn't think he could even if he wanted to, there's too much turmoil and he's just . . . so tired. ]
I wasn't— [ A halting breath. ] I wasn't trying to make up for them.
[ Punishing himself was more like it, but not entirely accurate either. ]