Those eyes stared at you, holding an emotion you couldn't even read.

Those eyes that you had spent so many nights crying over, so many nights trying to forget.

They were right there, staring back at you.

There was no doubt about it, Kaneki Ken was here.

You couldn't process that fact, your knees feeling a little weaker.

Forgetting Kaneki Ken had been an endless loop of climbing up onto a cliff, then falling, climb, fall, climb, fall, climb, f-

"I—"

His voice was raspy, and cracked a bit, but it was still the smooth voice that you remembered from all those months ago. The voice you could spend hours listening to and talking with. It was like he hadn't talked since that night he had said he loved you.

You couldn't help but jump at his voice that interrupted your thoughts. The months since you heard it last felt like forever.

You could feel yourself falling off the cliff again.

Slowly, slowly, slowly.

He takes a hesitating step closer to you.

Closer, closer, closer.

You had been chasing him earlier, wanting to see him finally, but now as he was here, right in front of you, you were almost... scared.

Not of him. No, not ever.

You were scared of him leaving you again.

To leave you to pick up your broken pieces like he had before.

You couldn't go through that again.

Every single piece of rationality left in you was screaming, letting you know of every fight or flight response, urging your feet to take the route back to the main road, away from the harm this encounter would inevitably leave you with.

But he was there! Months and months of missing him and just wanting him to be there...

He was a few steps away from you and right then in that moment...

You couldn't care less if he would leave you again or if you would have to spend another round of endless nights wondering about where he was and if he was okay.

Your body ignored all common sense and you stepped forward, startling Kaneki.

You could see it in his grey eyes that he hadn't expected you to come closer.

Your arms opened wide, rendering you completely defenseless to the white-haired ghoul and something clicked within him right then, you could see it in the way he suddenly stumbled back, like he was snapping out of his own thoughts. As if his mind had gained control of his body once again, quite like yours hadn't when you stepped forward to him a few moments ago.

You blinked, revealing one of his eyes to be that of a ghoul.

Still, you couldn't care less.

The bustle of the Tokyo crowd at the end of the alleyway seemed to fade away as you whispered his name.

"Ken."

He flinched at his first name, his hand coming up quickly to cover the ghoul eye.

Your heart hurt to see him like that.

"(Y/N)," you felt yourself die inside when he didn't address you the way he used to, void of familiarity, "I'm not- I'm not the same person I was before, I—"

"Ken," you let out a breath that borderlined a small chuckle. "I know."

His hand still covered his ghoul eye and you saw sadness in the eye you could still see.

"I know," you repeated, slowly making another step to him. "And I still love you."

A teardrop rolled down his face, and you failed to notice the one that rolled down your own.

Falling, falling, falling.

Love was here, but never bothered to stay.

Kaneki looked at you, pained and unable to say a word. He could only see his life before everything that happened to him, and he didn't want to be reminded of it. He wanted to forget, so that living with this burden could be just that much easier. But...

Damn.

He missed you dearly.

Isn't he entitled to just a little...

His hand dropped from his ghoul eye and immediately both arms flew to your side,

and, damn, did hitting the ground hurt more than ever.

As he pulled you into his chest, a silent sob escaped your lips, shaking your body.

He only held you tighter.

You began to climb the cliff again, hands lifting from your sides and wrapping around Kaneki's slender figure.

Tokyo never seemed quieter with Kaneki's arms wrapped around you tightly and securely, lips on your hair as they were.

You closed your eyes, a satisfied sigh forming in the cold air.

Kaneki's embrace was everything you had ever dreamed of before everything changed, but felt bittersweet in a way you had never wanted.

You wanted to believe that this would be it. Life would end here in this moment, and here, time would remain, frozen.

You felt him stroke your hair gently and you melted, tiptoeing against the edge of that same cliff.

All you ever wanted was right here, holding you.

If that was so, why were you so devastatingly sad?

A mix of confusion, devastation, exhaustion, and a muted happiness surged through your heart. No one said love hurt so badly.

You felt a heavy breath escape Kaneki's mouth.

His grip loosened and you could feel your whole body tighten, bracing for another fall down that familiar cliff.

But his warmth never left. His arms remained around you, and you thanked every single entity for granting you just another single second with him.

"(Y/N)," he whispered into your ear, "I love you."

"I love you too, Ken."

He nodded, kissing your hair. "I'm so sorry," he whispered brokenly. "I'm so sorry for leaving you alone all those nights, for never approaching you."

You could only nod at this point, a sob stuck in your throat.

"But now I'm here and I promise," his arms became secure around you, keeping you safe, preventing you from falling off that cliff. "I will do whatever I can for us to be happy together."