The strength of her reaction left him surprised and sheepish. Was it really so unbelievable that he wanted things to work out between them? He'd come back time and time again to try and mend things, and so had she... just never in any way that stuck, long-term. But when the alternative was more of what they were doing now — obviously he wanted it to work. It was just a matter of whether it could, or whether anything they did together was just wasted effort and buildup to more heartbreak.

"Well, I..." he started, not sure what to say. "I mean. It's a lot to work through but... yeah, I want — yeah."

---