Oh I can't imagine the pain of one loving more than the other 😭 However Halsin did realize he'd fallen for Clover long before Clover came to terms with it himself. He was never someone who denied himself that kind of feeling. The object of his affections was very odd, for sure, a significant part due to just how little Clover wanted to do with him; not even indifference, but fear. Halsin did come to recognize that fear as rooted in something beyond himself. What initially drew Halsin to Clover was more of a desire to understand this odd creature and the look in his eye, his mannerisms, his avoidance, as someone who had been deeply hurting for a long time-- and the thing still clung to his back even then. A long, deep obsession. He's very much a caring soul and it became a yearning for real, actual love when Clover began to open up.

Clover would admit he was in love when Halsin had gently pulled away all those thorns to reveal the soft thing they'd been protecting inside. They both got their share of wounds from it. Clover is difficult but he didn't make the choice to be that way. It was unfair that Halsin had to prove in so many ways that he was in the service of no fey. It was also unfair that Clover had been torn from his family, deceived, hunted, and reduced to a beast living in holes in the ground, knowing sleep was the easiest way to die. Only someone with Halsin's persistence and empathetic nature had a chance of getting down to him. Clover was never the same again. The shadow that clouded his mind and kept him circling the forest seemed to lift in Halsin's care. He was the first person Clover could ever look at and know that what he saw was real.

Different ways of falling in love but perfectly matched ♥️