Yuck can no longer recall where, when or from whom — but he remembers at one point hearing something among the lines of 'If you say 'I love you' too often, it'll lose its meaning'.

"Good morning, Yuck! I love you!"

"This made me think of you! I love you!"

"Stay safe heading back! I love you!"

…Clearly, whoever came up with that is an idiot.

Or perhaps, even worse — they don't have anyone like Yin in their life, which is by far the saddest option he can think of. But they're still wrong either way.

Her dumb brother and the old panda have pointed out that she DOES say it very often when Yuck's around, more so than usual. And at first, Yuck simply ignores them; how is that unusual for Yin anyways? She's always been full of love, and has never been shy about voicing it out loud; he's learned that much at this point. Plus, Yang always treats his sister's displays of affection - or ANY open display of affection, really - like they're poison to his system — and didn't Yin tell him that Yo once got hunted for sport by exes he stood up? As if he's stupid enough to take either of them at their word on the subject.

…Eventually, it does make him start wondering, though. Why does she do it so often with him? Even if they're dating, that doesn't seem like enough of a reason. And it doesn't bother him at all (he could never get enough of hearing those words from her) but it does make him curious.

(It makes him sad, too. Because she makes it look so easy, but somehow he can never get those three words out of the tip of his tongue, no matter how hard he tries. Because when she says them, they just feel right, comforting; making him dread that if they came out of his mouth instead, those lovely words would become tainted – a curse that he's forcing onto her).

"Why do you do that?"

Notepad and pen are left by the table, blue eyes turning to him curiously. "Do what?"

So blue, so bright and vibrant like a cloudless sky; he's seen them thousands of times before, and somehow each time they still manage to catch him off guard. Almost enough to make him drop the subject entirely; instead, he clears his throat before continuing; "Why do you say 'I love you' so often?"

She doesn't say anything, not right away. She barely even reacts, and for a second Yuck thinks she didn't hear him, that he needs to ask again — or so he believes right before dismay and shame cloud her eyes; a rusty knife twisting into his gut.

"It's annoying you, isn't it?" Oh, he HATES it. He hates the way her voice has gotten so quiet, the way she's tugging on her ears and avoiding eye contact. "I..I overdid it. Why do I keep doing that?"

Then, a dismissive wave of her hands and a smile that doesn't reach all the way to her eyes. "You probably think I'm obnoxious, don't you? I'm sorry, I won't do it again—"

"NO!"

Yin immediately flinches, ears pressed against her skull, and Yuck instinctively slaps a hand over his mouth. Idiot! You didn't have to be so damn loud; you almost gave her a heart attack!

"S-sorry, I just…"

To think he's now THIS worked up over someone he had looked forward to hurting as much as possible no longer than a year ago. His past self would probably think he has grown soft, pathetic, weak.

Whatever. His old self was an idiot too, anyways.

"I don't want you to stop. You're not being annoying or obnoxious, okay?" At least his voice is doing a better job at keeping calm than he is. His paw reaches out, hesitates, then cups Yin's cheek so she's looking at him. "I was just curious, I swear."

And thankfully, that seems to do the trick; her eyes are vibrant and bright once more as she leans against his paw with a relieved sigh. The knife in his gut is no longer there.

"I still should probably take it down a notch, anyways." She mutters, her own hand reaching upwards to rest on top of his. "I just thought it was something you really needed to hear, since it's not something you're accustomed to."

A beat.

Then Yin suddenly pulls away (to Yuck's dismay), her face red like a tomato. "Wow, that sounded a LOT less insensitive in my head, I'm so sorry—"

"No, it's fine!" And he's not lying; her words were sudden but hardly surprising to him. "I get what you mean. And it's not like you're wrong, you know."

"Yeah, and that's the problem!" What DOES surprise him is seeing her double down on the subject, overcome with determination as she grabs his hand in both of her own (that passion that he used to hate, that he now adores more than anything). "Love is everything! People can't just go around in life, believing that there's not even a single person out there who loves them. That's awful."

"Even if they don't deserve it?"

"Everyone deserves to know they're loved…even if it's from someone else who's as terrible as they are. I've been lucky enough to have family and friends. I've been extra lucky to have a brother who's been with me for as long as I've been alive. But I've realized…not everyone is anywhere near being that lucky."

"Yin…"

"I guess I just wanted to, I dunno, make up for lost time? Make up for all the time you were made to believe you weren't loved?"

And something must've shown on his face that he's not aware of, because she stares at him for the longest time before looking away again. Fiddling with her ears, playing with the edges of her ribbon, like a little girl waiting for a scolding.

Yuck's chest feels warm.

She just didn't want him to forget. She didn't want him, for even one moment, to think that he wasn't loved. She knows love doesn't come easily to him (she knows that's mostly his fault, too) and she still goes out of her way to remind him of how much he means to her. She…

She really makes love seem so easy, doesn't she?

"I love you."

Pink paws frozen in midair, blue eyes staring wide and piercing into his own. It takes Yuck a moment to realize those three words really came out of him just like that.

His first thought is to

(I'm sorry I hurt you before. I'm sorry I can't let go of that yet. I'm sorry I'm loud and stubborn and angry all the time even when I try not to. I'm sorry it took me this long to say it. I'm sorry that I'm still so crappy at loving you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry)

apologize.

She doesn't let him. Both of her hands slap into his cheeks, holding his head in place.

"Say it again."

He swears, he has never seen her eyes so blue like this before.

"I love you."

And somehow, the second time, it's so much easier.

"I love you."

His chest feels lighter, the words rolling off his tongue like he's said them a million times before. Like he is meant to say them.

(When he hears her laughter, he believes it).

"I love you!"

He picks her up in his arms, spinning her around and laughing until they're both breathless — and even then they keep repeating those three little words to each other, oblivious to the weird looks all around them.

Those three little words, tucked safely in his heart, that would never lose their meaning.