Fox's Glade White Shadows

He's not sure what he'd expected — but as usual, he finds this isn't it. He resists the urge to interrupt her, only shifting a little uncomfortably as she speaks. No, it's okay, I — He starts when she finishes speaking, exhaling through his nose briefly as he cuts himself off. I know I'm not always the easiest to talk to — and I know what it's like to... want to forget. I shouldn't have pushed you.
He pauses, gaze flitting briefly to the ground before it returns to Korei. For a long time, I had to deal with the same thing — memories of my family, everything I lost and left behind. I just... kept running. I never looked back — until I met you. And Lennon, his mind adds cruelly, forcing him to pause and swallow hard past the lump suddenly nestled in his throat. I've always seen a lot of myself in you, but — you're stronger, in a lot of ways. You've grown so much since we met, and you've dealt with the ghosts of your past better than I ever dealt with mine. I just — I worry anyway. I know what it's like to feel that way, and what it can drive someone to do. I just don't want to see you hurt.