Otatso Wetlands Sorry Isn't Enough

The shaking didn't stop, and the guilt kept piling up. What did she say, now? Yes, he'd have listened, and there was never a moment Grace had doubted he wouldn't. There was nothing to say, no excuse. In a rare moment of confidence, Grace bit back with amazing clarity, even if it was just one sentence.
                 "I'm still your friend, Stark, I'm sorry things went to hell and I wasn't there, and there isn't an excuse." 
Surprised even with herself, the girl let her ears and eyes fall again for a moment. That is, until Stark began to move back. In worry, she stood, wobbled, but took a tentative step towards him. Opening her mouth to ask again, she was silenced with his next two words. They froze both her steps and her heart, and all the girl could do was stare blankly at the darkfurred brute. Octavia.... Died? She was gone for good? 
                                         "S-She.... What? O-Octavia.... S-s-shes...."
This time, she took a step back, a limping one that made her stumble and again to into the mud-this time flat on her belly. She didn't bother to move, staring with wide golden eyes at her own paws. Octavia was dead, and she hadn't been here. It was then she remembered how close she and Stark had been getting, and heaviness rested on her heart. She glanced up at him apologetically, but this time for a very different reason. This one wasn't her fault, but detrimental all the same. 
                                                                      "S-Stark...."