Private Finished It's Almost Like Old Times

Jude might not have been wearing much, but Adrastia was so she didn't hesitate when she went around the table (again!) to wrap an arm around his shoulders and hug him. "It'd be safer, actually, if we just hugged normally. No cheek touching, yeah?"

And it felt nice.

When was the last time she'd really hugged someone? Not one of those silly half-hugs that always felt so awkward, but a legitimate hug.

"Hey? You know what Jude, everything is going to be okay. We're going to see the fireworks together and we're going to have a good time laughing again. All of us."

For a second, Adrastia almost took what Jude said to mean 'we'll figure out this whole hug thing' because it wasn't exactly like either of them were good at it. It was warm and nice, sure, but it felt somewhat suffocating too. Nope, they both needed a pop quiz on hugging and being good huggers.

It felt weird to go live where Jude lived. They'd never been in the same place together quite that long before. It was a strange intimacy with her team that made Rory nervous (assuming Janelle or Travis actually went along with it).

Finally, Rory shrugged. "Uh, yeah. I guess I could... try."

And try was all any of them could do now. It was all they had. Try, because we couldn't manage before. And try because we don't feel the stability of 'do.'