beforeshadows:

Alistair has to admit, Balfour’s answer is one he half-expected,
but that doesn’t lessen its sting.  Just his luck, of  course.  The
first  person  he’s  ever  loved  rejecting  him   because   some
dragon chose this particular age to terrorize the countryside. 

He is silent for a few moments, letting the words sink in.  He’s
right.   The Blight requires every bit of  their  energy  and  focus, 
and risking that for the  sake  of  love   —   however  much  they
might want to, would be selfish. Something he can’t  say  he’s
every really been. As they say, no sacrifice is greater than that
of the Grey Wardens. But Alistair isn’t so easily convinced.

Eyes meet eyes, and there is a new determination in Alistair’s
voice. “Isn’t a Blight all the more reason for us to be together?
You and I know just how likely it is that we  won’t  live  through
this. Shouldn’t we get to have  some  happiness  amidst  this
darkness? You call yourself  unworthy  of  someone  like  me,
when the reverse is far closer  to  the  truth.    You’re  the  hero 
they’ll tell stories of, Balfour; I’m just a Warden who was lucky
enough to survive and come along for  the  journey.   Unlucky
enough, some would say.”

He sighs. “Maybe it’s not the right thing to do. It probably isn’t.
I don’t know. But what I do know is that I’ve started to love you,
and I just can’t shake it. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it,
but when I look at you — I just feel something. Butterflies.”

     ”If you feel at all similarly, then why
      should  we   deny   ourselves  this
      chance  at  happiness,  no  matter
      how long it lasts?”

         "And what if our happiness costs us all Ferelden? Do you think to put ourselves before the country? We serve, Alistair, we do not think of our own happiness. Love is useless in times like these, and you know it. What good am I to anybody in this Blight if all I can think of is you? What good are we if we don’t want the other to come to any harm?

         "A Warden in love is a useless one. If they’re ever to tell the stories about me that I want, I cannot think about myself. Only darkspawn, only the Blight.“

It hits him then, that he cares, that he wants to forget everything Wynne has told him and be selfish. To be in love. Alistair is offering him something dangerous, but he cannot deny that he wants it even just a little bit. Because he’s also offering him the chance to stop being so damned lonely and– He’s nearly forgotten what it’s like, to feel anything other than alone.

But Wynne is still right, no matter what he wants. Love is selfish, and he cannot afford to be such a thing right now. There is too much on the line. If it was just him, just Alistair, perhaps things could be different. But there’s an entire world out there, full of people that need them to put an end to this terrible war upon the world.

         "We are Grey Wardens, Alistair. We are cursed to be unhappy until the day we die. And we can only pray that the Maker rewards us for our sacrifice when we go to His side."