They will say it now, because they really mean it.
They do not declare it delusionally from the depths of dreams.
They do not wish to manipulate.
They do not use it as an excuse.
They do not utter it mindlessly.
They do not speak it out of self-preservation.
And neither do they turn those three little words over in their mind, guiltily, not having the courage to say it aloud.
Albus and Gellert, their lips next to each other’s ears, whisper together in perfect concordance.
“I love you.”
——stella8h8chang《Seven Ways to Say 'I Love You'》