Broken Boulder the first time ever i saw your face

Maybe I don't want to talk about it, Lily.

His words came to her as clearly as if he'd said them in her ear, just now, the memory utterly vivid. Her mouth moved silently, pulling into a grimace, as she mulled what to say. Her natural curiosity was screaming--tell me tell me tell me! But her conscience, the ever-present angel on her shoulder, stared at her in mournful reproach.

"I would like to know, yes," Lily said slowly, tasting each word on her tongue. "But you don't have to tell me, if it makes you uncomfortable. If you don't want to relive it."

Isn't this what he wanted? To not be pressured into spilling the secrets of his heart? Lily had vowed that she would no longer push Alarian, that she would be his silent confidante, not his therapist. He could speak when he wanted to; she wouldn't try to draw words from him. It was, as she had learned, like taking blood from a stone.