[ he can see the anger, the hurt, the coldness march across her face and, for a brief moment, he wondered how she'd react to knowing that most of what she knew was... a lie. He wasn't Li (although he was more comfortable in this persona now then any other); he was Hei (although not even that was true at the beginning, so many years ago). No amount of apology would solve this, no amount of apology would be large enough to fix it. ]
It wasn't meant to be hidden; I just... [ he paused, struggling for words that were to a con man, usually easy to come by. The truth always was. ] After that day we... kissed, things weren't as they were supposed to be. I was caught in the moment and never stopped to think it might hurt. [ he had suspicions too, that it wasn't just impulse that to blame. Sentience's announcement the next morning had been highly suggestive as well even if suspiciously vague. ]
I should have said something then. [ it was, after all, almost the first time he'd seen Tear since Acumen's overthrow, but even that was a small excuse considering how easy it was to find each other. ]