Ouroboros Spine Twinkle twinkle, little star

She understood?

That makes one of us, he thought, his heart pounding in his chest. He was worried he'd made a terrible misstep, but she hadn't scolded him. Only turned her head away and claimed to understand.

Valiant tried to settle himself beside her, feeling torn and broken and giddy and anxious all at once. Maybe he'd misread things. Maybe she was just now realizing she had, and that they weren't exactly on the same page in the sad abandoned spouse support group.

Maybe he'd just ruined everything.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, thought he looked up at the stars as he said it. "I thought... I thought you meant you'n'me. I — I don't know what I was thinkin'. But you sure mean a lot to me, after these past few years. That means more than anything, and I — I don't need nothin' more than that. I just... I don't know. I'm sorry."