—
Valerie looked at Lucifer, her heart aching with the weight of his confession. The rawness in his voice struck her, deeper than anything else he had said before. It was the sound of vulnerability, of something that wasn’t meant to exist in a being like him. For a moment, she saw past the mask, past the devil he presented to the world. She saw Lucifer, the creature lost in his own confusion, fighting against emotions he couldn't understand or control.
“None of us do,” Valerie replied softly, her voice gentle, like a balm trying to soothe an invisible wound. She took a step closer to him again, her eyes never leaving his. “But you have to let yourself feel it. Otherwise, it will destroy you from the inside out. And I won’t be able to save you from that, I hope you know that I am human, I
