Daff hated to see him like this; she hated feeling like this. The only way they were going to get better was to stay away from one another. It was hard to imagine a life without Noble in it, but she had to, for the sake of her marriage, her family and her sanity. Someday he would move on too and this would all just be a bad dream.

Swallowing back the fresh wave of tears, Daff wiped away the remnants on her cheeks. All she wanted to do was hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay; that things would be fine even if it wasn't what he wanted. It wouldn't do either of them any good, not when she wouldn't even be able to hug him properly.

Still, she took another deep breath and closed the last few steps between them slowly. One hand went gently to his cheek as she met his eyes. She leaned in to kiss his other cheek softly and whispered, "Thank you." Then she fled.