It didn't take long.

Not long at all.

Florian had barely finished whispering his name when he felt it.

A presence.

A shift in the air behind him.

He was still lying on his side, back turned, eyes swollen from crying. He didn't need to turn to know who it was.

"What happened?"

Hendrix's voice was immediate. No teasing. No indifference.

Concern.

Real concern.

Florian closed his eyes.

'Of course he came.' he thought. 'He always comes.'

He didn't move.

"You knew, right?" Florian said quietly, cutting straight through everything.

He didn't have the strength to circle around the truth.

Not today.

Not now.

"Pardon?" Hendrix asked, clearly thrown off. "I don't under—"

"You knew I wasn't the real Florian."

Silence.

Thick. Heavy.

Florian slowly pushed himself up and turned around.

Hendrix stood a few steps away from the bed. His face was carefully neutral.

But his eyes—

His eyes were wide.

"What—"

"Don't lie," Florian said, his voice steady despite the redness around his eyes. "Please. Not today."

Hendrix studied him for a long moment.

Then he exhaled.

"Yes," he admitted quietly. "I felt it the moment I heard the news about you. I confirmed it the moment I saw you."

A faint, bitter smile tugged at his lips.

"You acted differently. My older brother treated you differently. And you had…" He paused. "…light in your eyes. The kind I never thought I would see in his."

Florian swallowed.

That stung.

But it was true.

"Why pretend?" Florian asked. "Why not confront me?"

Hendrix's gaze softened slightly.

"Because I didn't know your intentions," he answered honestly. "I didn't know how attached you were to my brother. Or what you planned to do with his body."

He looked down briefly.

"I wanted the prince I fell for back."

There it was. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Plain.

Unfiltered.

"I've been looking for a way to return him," Hendrix continued. "To get him back into his own body, but I didn't know if you would be willing. I didn't even know who you were."

Florian let out a shaky breath.

'I knew it,' he thought.

Of course Hendrix wanted the original Florian back.

It was the same reason he was still here.

"I want to go home," Florian admitted.

The words felt heavier than he expected.

"I've been searching for a way to give him his body back. I just… I wanted to make sure his life would be better first. That things would be different."

He pushed himself upright and sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders slumped.

Hendrix stared at him.

"You… do?" he asked quietly.

Florian nodded once.

"The only reason I got close to you," he continued, "was because of that."

Hendrix blinked, processing.

"Then we're aligned," he murmured. "But wait—" He frowned. "Is that why you called me? To tell me this? Why now?"

His gaze sharpened.

"And were you… crying?"

Florian froze.

Heat crept up his neck.

He looked down at his hands.

Shame settled heavily in his chest.

"I…"

The words wouldn't come.

He closed his eyes, one hand instinctively drifting to his stomach.

'Say it,' he told himself. 'You have to say it.'

"Things have gotten complicated," he whispered.

Hendrix's brows drew together. "Complicated how?"

Florian's fingers tightened over the fabric of his clothes.

He couldn't breathe properly.

"I'm…" His throat felt tight. "It seems…"

He forced the words out.

"I'm pregnant."

The room went completely silent.

Hendrix didn't move.

Didn't blink.

Florian finally looked up at him.

And for the first time since turning around—

He saw genuine shock on Hendrix's face.

Hendrix was silent.

For a moment, it truly seemed like he did not know what to say.

But the silence did not last.

He was the first to move, the first to steady himself. The shock in his eyes shifted into something sharper. Focused.

"What happened?" he asked quietly. "Is it… my brother's? Or someone else's?"

That was enough.

Florian's composure shattered completely.

A broken sound escaped him before he could stop it. His shoulders trembled, and he covered his face with both hands as the sobs came harder this time.

"Yes," he choked. "It's his. It's Heinz's."

The name felt heavy in his mouth.

Painful.

"There was a time… we were…" His breath hitched. "We were intimate. I was a mess. I… I didn't think—"

He couldn't finish.

The memories flooded him anyway. Heated touches. Breathless nights. The way he told himself it didn't matter because he would leave eventually.

'I was so stupid,' he thought, crying harder. 'So stupid.'

"And I didn't mean for it to happen like this," Florian continued, voice cracking. "I didn't plan for any of this."

Hendrix stood still, listening. Not interrupting.

"I fell in love with him," Florian admitted, the confession raw and humiliating. "Even though I knew I shouldn't. Even though I knew I can't stay here."

His fingers curled into the fabric over his stomach.

"I never meant to pursue anything with him. Not after learning the full truth about what he did to the real Florian." His voice trembled. "I was going to leave. I was going to give the original Florian his body back. I just… I wanted to fix things first. I wanted to make sure his life would be better. Not miserable."

His breathing grew uneven again.

"But now…" He pressed his palm more firmly against his stomach. "Now I'm pregnant."

The word still didn't feel real.

"I can't give him back his body like this," Florian whispered. "I can't hand him this trauma again. I can't let him wake up carrying a child he never chose."

Tears streamed freely down his face.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I messed everything up."

'If I stay, I steal his life while he's still somewhere inside,' he thought. 'If I leave, I ruin it and trap him with something he never asked for.'

Hendrix finally moved.

Slowly.

Carefully.

He stepped forward until he stood right in front of Florian. For a brief second, he hesitated, as if unsure whether he was allowed.

Then, gently, he wrapped his arms around him.

The hug was cautious at first.

Warm.

Steady.

Florian stiffened instinctively.

Then he collapsed into it.

He leaned forward, pressing his face against Hendrix's chest as fresh sobs tore through him.

Hendrix tightened his hold.

"It's not ruined," he said quietly, his voice low and firm. "Nothing is ruined."

Florian shook his head weakly against him.

"It is," he whispered. "I don't know what to do."

Hendrix's hand rose to cradle the back of his head.

"Then we'll figure it out," he said.

Florian froze slightly.

"Together."

Florian pulled back just enough to look at him, eyes swollen and red.

"T-Together?" he asked shakily. "You're going to help me?"

Hendrix did not hesitate.

"I wasn't able to help him before," he said softly. "That has always been my regret."

His gaze was steady now.

"My goal has always been to help him. And if helping you means helping him… then I will."