Where Starlight Meets Desire

Previously

…He’d let his fear get the better of him, letting the potential for rejection silence the very real affection he felt. He’d traded a fantastical quest for a tangible one, only to find the latter’s challenges far more daunting. The sweetness of his carefully crafted confection now felt hollow, a monument to his own cowardice. He’d wanted to bake his heart out for Clara, but in the end, he’d only managed to bake a cake, leaving his true feelings locked away, as stubbornly as he’d once pursued a mythical flower. The starlight, it seemed, had faded, leaving only the cold, hard light of reality, and the bitter taste of a love unconfessed.