[ He knows he hasn't talked about a lot of this with Nick, and he knows why too. He doesn't want to scare Nick away with how deeply Kyle feels things, and he doesn't want him seeing just how stupid Kyle had been.

He blames himself for so many mistakes. Not for being with him, for the things that others had blamed him for because he had taken Elijah's word for it. But for the moments he didn't stand up to him, hadn't pushed back. He should have and he knows it, and he's letting Nick see he didn't and that worries him.

Nick's words though make his eyes sting. He's heard it from Michael, and he's started to believe it even. Hearing it from Nick though is something he hadn't hoped for. His hand lightly closes against Nick's ankle, running his thumb along the inside of his leg. ]

Thank you. That means a lot to me. I'm... I'm really coming to realize that I didn't, that I didn't fail him. He failed me.

[ He snorts, shaking his head. ]

Nope. It got worse. Before the city ordered us apart, I ... [ How does he even talk about this to Nick? ] He did something that really hurt me. There was a lot that led up to it that really tore me down but that just kind of broke me.

[ He talks softly, staring at the slender curve of Nick's ankle as his fingers curl against it. ]

I didn't realize until later it was because I was bound to him. I couldn't fight back against him if I had wanted to, and because of that bond I would never want to.

Vicious circle.