She missed him. He missed her. Would everything be alright now? He wanted to hope it would be, but the small voice in the back of his head continued to whisper reminders to not fuck up.

"You don't have to anymore," he said, all too aware of the heaviness in his chest. He felt at the small lump in his trouser pocket as his eyes flickered back and forth between her and an nonspecific part of the room.

"When you left the locket here, I - well, I thought you weren't coming back." He thought he was going have to beg just to see here again, and even though he technically had, he thought it would have taken longer than a few days. "I should have tried to make you stay. I just stood there like an idiot - sort of like what I'm doing right now," he rambled, emitting a shaky laugh. "I was prepared to send you bouquets of violets until you came back. Or - whatever might have worked if that didn't."

(Was this swallowing his pride? Would Sydney think so?)

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