A lot of the tension left Faolán then and he exhaled a long, slow breath that left his shoulders slouching. It didn't even occur to him that he should be embarrassed that Killian had seen his breasts; he had been far too panicked to register embarrassment, far too panicked to see things as Killian was no doubt seeing them and too scared to make the connection between breasts and sexuality. He had spent so long being careful for reasons other than modesty--fear of death, his own discomfort with having them, the way people saw them and thought "girl"--that it just...didn't even occur to him.
All he knew was that Killian understood, and that he said he wouldn't tell. Thank God. He'd been sincerely hoping he could trust the other boy as the friend he'd come to view him as.
Feeling like he could cry with relief and kind of wanting to hug Killian for that--if he hadn't been too injured to do so, that is!--Faolán started to open his mouth to thank Killian, but that was when Killian apologized.
And that was when it hit Faolán.
That was when he realized how this must look from Killian's point of view.
Which was that the other boy was seeing him as an almost-naked girl, clothed only in his smallclothes. And that he'd just seen the first pair of breasts he'd likely seen in a long time.
Color flooded Faolán's cheeks abruptly and he jerked in surprise, which jostled his injury and had him gasping. He curled forward a little, trying to shield himself better.
"Uh...it's, uh...it's okay," he said, but even as the embarrassment washed over him, he realized just how damned lucky he was--because Killian was a genuinely good person. Keeping his secret and apologizing for looking. God...
"It was an accident. Wasn't like you would've known." Gratitude soon replaced embarrassment and he smiled sheepishly through the pain. "I care more about the part where you're not gonna tell. I...thank you. Seriously. I was always scared of this and--" He took a deep breath.
"I can't thank you enough, Killian."
