Sylvain's large apartment is cold when Byleth enters, following her boyfriend closely behind. The lights turn on and the curtains on the window open mechanically, revealing the beautiful night-time view of the city that she associates with the place.

"I love the view from this window." The woman says, suddenly. She still stood by the doorstep, unwilling to set her feet into the sacrosanct environment. "There's not many places in the city where you can see the sky, and the buildings make a nice frame."

"I've lived here for so long that I sometimes forget that it's there." He comments, off-handed, as he noticed that his girlfriend was not following him. "Please, come on in."

Byleth sets one foot at a time inside the apartment, the heels of the fake leather boots she wore tapping almost imperceptibly into the hardwood floor. She does not enter too further, just enough so she can have a good angle to see the view, to which she smiles.

That very smile turns fond as Sylvain turns his attentions to her, gesturing her further into his home. To her heart, it did not matter how many times this man had left her alone in the dead of night, how his side of the bed turned cold before he had closed the door behind him. It did not matter because he had so easily managed to capture it for his own gain.

Her boyfriend takes a seat at his breakfast bar gingerly, willing himself not to jostle his side too much. He watches she with a wide-eyed expression as he tracks her movement; watching her grab a glass and fill it with water.

The glass landing on the counter is the only sound in the room. Sylvain does not dare say anything for fear of pushing Byleth further away, while she refuses to say anything for fear of showing her true feelings.

"Dimitri shot me a message and said he'd be here in twenty minutes. I'd wait with you, but the trains will stop running soon, so I have to go." She comments quietly, pushing away from the breakfast counter, ready to leave and not come back unless absolutely necessary. "I'll call you in the morning to check up on how you're doing, Sylvain."

"What?" The question falls from his lips before he even thinks it through. He just cannot seem to comprehend that she would leave him.

"I'm going. You've got your pain meds and some water and I'll talk to you tomorrow." She sighs, tugging her jacket tighter and heading for the door.

Byleth turns her back on him. All he could see is the messy hair held up with a black elastic that blended into the blue strands. She almost never was seen with a tamed coiffeur, but there usually is an order to chaos. The blown front would indicate that she ran in the wind, and the knots that formed around her upper back would suggest that she was caught on the light drizzle that fell around nine o'clock.

She ran to him when she thought she needed her, and now she is running away, since it was clear that he did not.

"Wait!" The redhead calls, standing from the breakfast bar with slow, painful movements.

Right then and there, he has a flashback to Felix saying that he would drive. He had been frustrated, feeling cornered by his thoughts and feeling himself slip away, he did not want to feel so dependant of attention and hand-holding to the point that he would need a chauffeur to get home. It hits him, with great bitterness and irony, that this stupid act of self-affirmation might be the very thing that will throw him over the edge.

"Wait." He repeats. "Please."

The woman pauses at the door, turning to face him. His eyes are almost wild with unspoken emotions as he outstretches a single hand, as if he could bridge the gap that had grown between the both of them over the last few Moons.

"Yes, Sylvain?" She sighs tiredly.

She feels the fight leave her as her limbs suddenly become heavy. The weight of the unspoken emotions that she has been feeling, this stupid observation that spiralled out of control, beginning to press down heavily upon her.

"Could you call Dimitri and tell him not to come?" He chickened out once more.

"Sylvain, you heard what the doctor said." Byleth argues, as sternly as if she was dealing with a rowdy teen. There were more parallels to this analogy than she cares to think about. "You should have someone with you tonight. Glenn and Ingrid are taking care of Felix and I can't wait any longer if I have any hope to catch the last train."

"I know, it's just that…" He trails off, gathering his thoughts. "That's not that what I wanted to ask you."

Her blue eyes seized him warily. "What is it, then?"

"I just wanted to know… What happened between us?" He asks timidly, as if afraid of the answer he will find.

"Well, I'd like to know that, too." Byleth counters. "You always refuse to stay the night with me. You call me at the weirdest hours, wanting to have sex. You get what you want, then you kiss me and then leave. Why?"

"I… Can see how my actions can lead to me being misconstrued." He offered, rather lamely. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not it."

"Manuela said it is an avoidance tactic. I was inclined to agree." The woman explains clearly, a white anger seeping underneath her words.

"Well, I can't say that I never used those, and I can't honestly say that it wasn't that, but…" He trails off again.

"For the good name of Seiros', just spit it out before I give you an actual concussion!" Byleth snapped.

"There is a lot involved when it comes to being with me." He replies in a reasonably tone, closing his eyes at the righteous rage that she was unleashing over him. "It's just that… Well, I have nightmares, and I get anxious and I'm a little too needy. I'm a lot. I didn't want to put you through all of it."

"I think I did alright so far." She comment airily, gesturing to his bandaged chest.

Sylvain laughs, and he does not regret the burst of pain from his ribs. He reaches for her hand again, smiling happily when she does not pull her hand away.

"I think you're doing alright too." He murmurs. "Which is why I came over all hours of the night. Don't get me wrong, the sex is great, but I'm in it for the cuddling session."

"So why would you leave?" Byleth asks.

Sylvain averts her inquisitive gaze, thinking over the words carefully.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was scared?" He asks.

"Of what?" She presses.

"Of it all. I know I'm a fucking mess and I don't really deserve it." He confesses. "There is so much that comes with being with me, having to manage everything… I understand how it can become too much for one person so that's why I would leave every time when all I really wanted to do was spend every waking minute with you."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" She demands, hoping to have it all clearly stated.

He chuckles awkwardly. "I thought that, if I was evasive, I would lighten the burden. Having a heart-to-heart about it would defeat the purpose."

She squeezes his hand, offering him a form of comfort as she works through what Sylvain has told her. He remains silent, happy for now to be still standing by her side, holding her hand in his.

"Stay the night?" He asks, pulling Byleth gently towards the couch.

She bites her lip, glancing quickly between the door and the hopeful expression on her boyfriend's face.

"I want to make this a regular thing." He states before clarifying. "Staying with you, sleeping with you. I don't like leaving you anymore. I don't want to leave you anymore. I want to take it as much as you can give, and I want to give as much as you can take."

"Sylvain…" She trails off, thinking of her countless attempts at taking their relationship further, at asking him to stay.

"Stay the night?" He asks, repeating the same question from moments ago.

His voice is hopeful and his amber eyes shine bright with untold emotion along with the clear trust that burns there.

"I have a lot to give, and I want a lot of stuff back, OK?" Smiling softly, she answers: "I'll stay the night."