Private Comfort

"They're.....they're saying the breakup was my fault," he'd sigh, "and.....I'm wondering if they're right." They weren't, but it was hard to ignore them when he was already dealing with a lot.

He'd at her a moment, forcing himself to smile a bit, but it was easy to see through it. "Thanks....I'll be ok," he'd take her hand, giving it a squeeze, seeing her tremble he became more concerned for her than himself.

He'd think a moment before speaker. "Things....they always get a little worse before they get better," he'd give hor hand a gentle squeeze, more for her since he couldn't feel it.

"So.....neither us will give up, we'll still look at options," he'd say with a tiny smile. He'd grab a napkin and would whipe away any stray tears that escaped Mal's eyes.

"As for me and Chi......," he'd sigh and shrug, "things happen y'know, it didn't work, I'll be ok."

He'd smile a bit. "You've done so much for me, I want you to be happy to," he'd gently boop her nose once the tears were gone. "You deserve to be happy Mal."

"So, promise me you'll do things for yourself, even if you're trying to help me," he'd perhaps forgotten to take care of himself, he didn't want her to do that.

Rowan would brush a bit of hair from his eyes. "Thank you for talking to me, it meant a lot."

Her words hit him like a truck. She had a crush on him? He'd blink a few times in silence before speaking. "Oh Mal....you haven't done anything wrong," he'd take her hands again giving them a gentle hug.

"I....I like you too," he'd admit, breathing out once he did. "Its just....I have a lot of things to figure out," so many things, he was becoming more unstable.

"Once the eldritch is figured out....and were sure it won't make me hurt anyone...," that last part was his main concern. "Then we....," he'd smile, "we just gotta take it slow, y'know?"

"Yeah," he'd give her hands a gentle squeeze. "I know.....I know that's this whole situation is a mess, a complicated one, and there's a lot to deal with." He wasn't going to pretend it was bad, between the eldritch and everything else it all pretty bad.

"So.....we gotta figure a lot of stuff out," he felt a little guilty, he wasn't asking her out, but he had just broke up with Chi, but it was what it was. "Then though, we can hang out more, take slow," he'd smile, "guess we already hang out a lot huh?"