Alfred shook his head wearily. It wasn't even that, he thought, but he didn't want to try and convince her of anything. He didn't want to be talking about this at all. Yes, Zelda had asked him once whether or not he was in love with Jo, and when she'd asked him he hadn't known the answer. But it wasn't that that had opened up the rift between them. What he'd realized on that day was the lengths to which he would go — would have always gone, would still always go — to keep from losing her. Zelda had never asked him to choose, and up until that day he'd tried to tell himself there was no need to choose, but he'd realized then that he couldn't chase them both, and he couldn't hold on to Jo unless he chased her.
"Jo," he began with a sigh. "Oh, Jo."
And then he was back on the bench, watching the water lap softly on the shore of the Black Lake. "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing," he said — then stopped, blinked. This felt... familiar, but not in a way he could have articulated.
"Jo," he began with a sigh. "Oh, Jo."
And then he was back on the bench, watching the water lap softly on the shore of the Black Lake. "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing," he said — then stopped, blinked. This felt... familiar, but not in a way he could have articulated.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER