There it was, the truth they had skirted around all year, the one she felt echoing in her own soul, the one that she had fretted over, tried to help. And yet it lingered there, just as it lingered in her. Yet it was impossible she could ever understand just what his pain looked like, what it felt like. She hadn't lived through what he had, she had never lost all her dreams at once. She remembered the very terror of losing her dreams, the way the guilt of it had lingered through her grief when her mother had died. But it was nothing, it could be nothing compared to what he felt. Her fingers tightened around his involuntarily, trying to give him what strength and reassurance she could in a simple squeeze.

Look at me. She wanted to tell him, Look and me, know I'm here. She wished he knew, wished he could hear and feel this pounding in her heart. Feel the way her soul reached out in desire to comfort him. It was foolish, it was an emotion she couldn't place amongst all those she had felt today, but it was there, running through her veins. His eyes met hers and she didn't look away, she tried to pour all she felt into her face, for once not hiding her emotions.

"I'm here." She whispered into the quiet between them as his eyes met her's. She didn't know what else to do, how else to help him, but just letting him know, it seemed the most natural thing in the world. She was here and she would be here for as long as he needed her to be. She didn't dare let herself think of the times she had offered this before, of the ways that had gone. She only knew that in this moment, it was the truth to be spoken into the soft afternoon air of a summer day.