He knew well the words that existed on William's lips. God, how he would have longed for those very lyrics once upon a time, all those years ago. There had been no denying that Sebastian had felt something for the Duke. He had cared about him to the point that he had done the one thing he had given no one else. He had restrained himself. He was so perfectly capable of using those around him to so sedate those physical urges and needs and yet, he'd cared for William enough that he didn't want to ruin whatever they'd once had with those urges. His conquests were so often entirely disappointing, even two hundred years later. Sebastian had considered, before, so seducing the Duke in the same fashion he did everyone else around him and yet, it was fear that kept him from doing so. What if it was terrible? What if it caused him to lose interest? What if..? Those terrible thoughts had been enough, at the time, to keep his hands to himself, to find simple enjoyment in what he was given and what little he could take. It was that very skill that William himself had taught him that had so placated the vampire with Dorian too. He had simply been content with those hours the fae King had given him, knowing too that forever was an impossibility. At least, until Dorian himself had made it a very real hope for Sebastian to so tangibly hold. It pained him to no end, to so reject the only man he'd ever thought he might have ever loved. It was that simple weight of the golden and ivory coin around his neck that so provided him the concrete reassurance he needed of Dorian's affections.

His crystalline gaze glanced upwards at the Duke he'd so cherished, hating that sinking feeling in his chest at that so blatant hurt that danced across the man's features. What words could he so provide to so assuage that wound? What could he do to make this better? He watched the way William's gaze so purposefully turned away from him and in that moment, uttering those words he knew he had to state felt more like daggers then the joy they should have. There was no denying his love for Dorian, there was no denying that he had finally found some sort of happiness within this world. But this...this made it...hard. Sebastian found himself voicing, to a degree, those feelings that had been locked up within him for so long. He could hardly bare to think of William most of the time, the man's whole existence had been buried somewhere deep within him, remembered only one day a year in a fashion that made him down spiral into a sea of dejection. All the things he'd done. All the things he'd never said. His azure gaze watched as his companion slowly looked up at him, that simple word falling from his lips was filled with emotions that Sebastian could all too easily identify.

God, the guilt was crushing him. He reached out towards his companion, the vampire feeling that shift in him as that heart break so threatened to overcome him. He could feel that beat of his heart, he could feel his blood slow to his outer extremities. There was, however, something that stopped him from so brushing his own flesh against William's. It was that noteable clinch of the man's fists, that simple gesture seeing the vampire entirely pause. He'd been hit once by William. Just once. But it was a moment he'd never forgotten. The simple sight of William's fists so balling was enough to make that old spot upon his chin ache in the memory of it, his voice ever so tentatively inquiring, "William...?" He questioned softly, searching the man's form for any indication of what was so passing through the mute hunter's mind within that moment.

He didn't expect for William to so inquire of the individual he presently promised himself to, though he supposed it was a particularly normal inquiry. His mouth parted to answer, any words falling short, however, at the mention of the one thing that had drove a wedge between the two men. Georgiana. The mention of her name alone was equivalent to a slap to the face for the vampire, his arm falling back to his side as the vampire stilled, wholly forgetting to simply breathe in those moments. His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, one arm reaching up to so grasp the opposite forearm across his body, as if the vampire was somehow hugging himself in a way to remind himself that it was going to be okay. He turned ever so slightly to the side, giving William only the glimpse of his profile. "No, of course not." He uttered softly, his voice no louder than a whisper. His gaze shifted away from his companion in that moment. After nearly two hundred years, this still managed to so follow him around, this fault that had so tore everything apart. It'd been nothing but a domino effect. One action that led to another and another till he'd caused their very death.

"I never really loved your sister." He uttered softly, his gaze so falling the cracks in the asphalt beneath them as he so finally admitted the extent of all he had errored. "Not in the way she surely deserved it. I hadn't even intended to kiss her that once...she just... " His voice trailed off for a moment, wavering ever so slightly before he cleared his throat just enough to continue that which he knew he surely owed the Duke. "Your father approached mine for marriage. Dad and I fought about it but...I guess...after awhile, I realized it wouldn't have been that bad of an idea." It was hard to voice the true intent behind his acceptance of such a proposal and yet, maybe now was the best time for such. Now that William had admitted his own affections, was it not his turn to do the same? Not that it really mattered Sebastian supposed. "I thought that..." His voice trailed off, those simple lyrics somehow destroying that composure the vampire often held. "...I thought that it was the only way I could ensure being in your life after you found someone and got married yourself. I'm sorry, William. I...I didn't do right by either of you." That simple admittance so saw those tears chase down his porcelain features and yet, hardly a sob left his lips. After all, when you didn't need to breathe, there was hardly a need for anyone to know you were upset.