[ It scares Gansey, too. Of course, that's not something he can just admit out loud. That would be a terrible kind of weakness, and he cannot be that. He cannot be controlled by his fear. He has to rise above it, has to be better than it.

He's the one who ought to comfort her. Not the other way around. Reacting to that thought, his arms tighten around her, keeping her close. One of his hands shifts up and moves against her back. ]

I don't want to know my future. I told you that from the very beginning. I want to make my own fate, and I want you to make yours.

I don't want to stay away from you just because a prophecy says I should. You would never hurt me. And I don't want to lose this.

[ Her true love will die if she kisses him. Her true love. Gansey wishes he could just dismiss that thought. He knows plenty of others his age would. True love? It's like something from a fairytale, and no one believes in fairytales.

But Gansey does. It's exactly the kind of romantic magic that he's always wanted to believe in. He can't disbelieve in this just because it's not favorable to him.

Besides which, it would mean that she loved him. And that, in all honesty, is far from an unpleasant thought. ]