They weren't moving, but somehow as they stood there just holding each other in the middle of the empty street Alfred felt as though they were sinking. There was no reason he ought to have felt that way. Her hand on his back wasn't indicative of any alarm. Her head was on his shoulder. They could have been holding each other in any other context and it would have looked just like this, but it wouldn't have felt like this.
"I'm not leaving," he said suddenly. There was no reason he should have had to say this in the first place, because it wasn't something he'd ever even allowed to become a fully fleshed-out thought, much less told her about — but she had to know, didn't she? She had to feel it, that it had been lurking at the edge of his mind. He didn't know where it had come from or why it had lingered there, just as he didn't know where this sudden announcement had come from, but as the words left his mouth he was convinced of their truth. Maybe they were sinking, maybe he couldn't do anything about it, but if that was the case he was going down with this ship.
"I'm not leaving," he said suddenly. There was no reason he should have had to say this in the first place, because it wasn't something he'd ever even allowed to become a fully fleshed-out thought, much less told her about — but she had to know, didn't she? She had to feel it, that it had been lurking at the edge of his mind. He didn't know where it had come from or why it had lingered there, just as he didn't know where this sudden announcement had come from, but as the words left his mouth he was convinced of their truth. Maybe they were sinking, maybe he couldn't do anything about it, but if that was the case he was going down with this ship.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER