[ It's both relieving and stressful, to know that he understands. Relieving, because it means she can talk to him honestly about all her worries and fears, knowing that he won't take any of it the wrong way as an unbiased third party. Stressful, because the empathy she hears in his voice undoes her, loosening the chains she's carefully bound around the messy knot of emotions she's carried inside her ever since returning. ]

I just...what if there had been another way?

[ There hadn't been, she knows that as well as anyone, having borne witness to every incident that had splintered their houses further and further. But it hadn't stopped her from hoping and dreaming. A mistake, if her bruised heart is anything to go by now.

One tear spills over, and then another. She sniffles and dashes them away, but they don't stop falling. ]

Sorry...I promise I didn't invite you over t-to see me cry. [ Embarrassing! ] Do you need more water for your tea, o-or anything else?

[ Anything to give her a distraction. ]