“Don’t,” he practically whispers, closing his eyes for a moment. “Don’t give me hope if there is none.” That’s one thing he doesn’t need, even less than the knowledge that Mark is in the same city as he is.

It would all be much easier if he couldn’t feel the uncertainty twisting up in the other man. It makes it too easy to wonder if some part of him, no matter how small, might not have ever wanted Damien to walk away in the first place. And, God, that fucks him up so much.