Sorry Not Sorry

"It makes me happy to make you guys happy." But Rory knew that wasn't a good enough answer.

Talking to Officer Genovese seemed a good start, kind of like talking to We The People, but what would she say? What could she say? She supposed the only way to find out would be to try and the words would come tumbling out as they tended to do.

She couldn't nod against Jude's shoulder, but she moved her head a little to indicate agreement. "Y-Yeah... I should talk to an adult. I should talk to Officer Genovese. I'll try that..."

"Me too."

Rory never cried very long. It wasn't that she didn't still feel like she wanted to, but she was out of tears and out of energy to shed them. She wished they'd keep coming so they'd wash out all the negativity she was feeling.

Broen breaking was a blessing in disguise, but right now it was just difficult.

She sat there, hugging Jude for a time, sucking up this rare moment when they could basically touch. "Thank you for hugging me," she said in a raspy whisper.

Rory laughed. A weak sort of thing that came more from all the tension of crying. She needed to laugh, even if what he said wasn't funny, it was awkward and it was what they had.

"Like the null bracelets?" They could touch then, but Jude wouldn't be comfortable like that. And if he were uncomfortable she'd be uncomfortable too.

Rory didn't know what else to say. Maybe there wasn't anything. The silence wasn't bad. It dragged on, but it wasn't bad. She briefly wondered why Jude was considering fully getting rid of Giltenn. When last she'd talked to him he seemed against the idea.

Options, she reminded herself, doesn't mean he was getting rid of anything.

"Thank you, Jude. I mean it. I hope... I hope you succeed with that. I miss hugging you for real, even if we never really got to."