I'm not giving her away. I'm hoping she realizes she can have a far better man, and takes it. A decision she will realize on her own, hopefully from my absence.

[the touch of that palm is seared into him, makes him want to press against it. his brain supplies a wild fantasy of laying across the couch, and Andersen atop him, his weight resting on him like an anchor -

he has to stop. he has to remember how to be alone, even as every part of him wants to scream and reject the concept. they've weathered this before. they found the wake of the storm, where things go colder and numb and peace is a watered down apathy.]

You're right. I am a coward.