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"Considered? I lay awake at night hoping it was a lie."

She shook her head again. "I've never said he was a bad guy. And I've certainly never said I never wanted to see him again." Confusion was toning down her tears. "What on earth would make either of you think I would want to never see him again?"

Sherry walked over and picked her phone up from where it lay on the bed. "He's doing a pretty good job of staying away," she muttered. Holding the phone out to Chester she continued, "Chester. How am I supposed to know which are the lies and which are the truth?" She was referring to...just about everything Jake had said to her.

“You just got mad at me because I don't know the difference.” She tossed her hands up before turning back to throw more things in the basket. Doing.something would help with her nerves. So would mumbling out loud. “I've tried to be good at this whole mess. I know his natural reaction is to push away from people, but I don't know what to do about it. Push back? Back off? I've done both. It doesn't seem to make a difference.”

More things fell into the basket, and she didn't mutter the whole ten minutes, but the moments of silence were nearly unbearable. She almost jumped at the knock. Here to tell her the truth? Here to patch things up? Sherry wanted to be happy, but she was scared. The wounds on her heart were far more raw and tender than the ones she had returned from the mssion with.

“But I have always been here when he needed me to be, or tried to be at least.” She didn't know why she was whspering this clarification at Chester. Maybe se felt like he had to understand. He had before. Or maybe it was more about needing his approval? Didn't matter rigt then, though.

Sherry stepped over to open the door, and hoped it didn't look like she had been crying. “Hi.”

If they both kept pushing one of them was bound to break sooner or later. Sherry nearly had already. So she'd been surprised at how Jake greeted her. Surprised and confused. It didn't help that she wanted that hug, but right then she didn't know how to take it. She hesitated a moment before pulling back, and pulling Jake into the room so she could close the door properly. "He tried to comfort me. But we both got mad." Simple fact.

"What did you want to talk about?" She hoped she didn't sound mad. She wasn't really mad, just tired. And confused. And hurt.

Sherry shrugged. It wasn't an excuse, but it was what happened. She didn't get the chance to say anything more about it before Chester just up and left.

Sherry turned back to Jake. "For what?"

Sherry just stood there looking at Jake for a very long moment. Then she shook her head, internally scolding herself. She could think of a million spiteful things to say, and she wanted to say them. He couldn't know just how badly he'd cut her with the things he'd said and done. She wasn't sure she should tell him. She'd started to try and tell Chester, and all it had done was make him mad. It was rather terrible of her.

"You need to be completely honest anyway," she said with a sigh. With a wave and nod she indicated the bed, then moved to sit herself down on it. "And you need to be sure you want to 'fix' things. Not that... what we had before was..." She nearly regretted sitting down, it left her with only her hands to fidget with as she tried not to cry. Deep breaths. "What do you need to tell me?"

Sherry didn't know how she was supposed to read his hand holding. A kind gesture to be sure, but to what end? What was all of this? Another heart-to-heart meant to end in tears? Why did she almost not care? Why did she care? What made it all worth it? She sighed again, squeezing his hand, still not sure if she wanted to be touched right then.

"The girl that died?" She didn't mean to jump to conclusions, and she didn't mean grow as rigid as she did. Her muscles tightened, and she could feel a pain in her chest. She knew she shouldn't be jealous, but she also knew the pangs were tinged with it. Sherry hated herself for that, but she pressed on. "I've been told a little about her, and I know she was dear to you..." But no one had mentioned her in a girlfriend sense, though she should have guessed. "Lot's of people... lot's of people have exes. You never said you did, but..." Fidgeting, she sat staring at her hands in her lap. She didn't want to go making accusations about anything, or even make it sound like she was.

Sherry pulled her hand away, taking another deep breath. Too soon. This was all too soon after the heartbreak, too soon after nearly dying. Far too soon. And she didn't even have Armagnac to try and help her reign in her emotions. Hurt, love, anger, fear, jealousy, guilt... they all swirled around inside and Sherry realized that now was not a good time to deal with this. She was just too emotional.

But Jake was already there, willing to talk.

"So you decided to forget me." It was a confirmation as much as a prompt to continue. And Chester wondered why she didn't believe he cared.

The sensation in her chest was odd, tight and hollow all at the same time.

Sherry didn't pull her hand away as Jake began to tell her what he'd come to say. Pulling it away would have made her sad and let her be upset longer. It would have been meant to hurt him, and only hurt her. So she left her hand in his, conscious of the comfort it gave her. She sat there and she listened.

Pieces filled in where holes used to be. She'd known some of what he said, heard it in bits and pieces from Jake and Chester before. He told her of sadness and anger. And she was sad, for him, just as she was angry with herself for having been jealous. She supposed she should have been shocked or appalled at some of his tale, but she wasn't. Not anymore, not after things she'd done. Sherry shuddered at the thought of killing another, but she still listened.

And then he was squeezing her hand and telling her that he loved her, that he wanted to be with her. She was almost amazed at how numb she felt, but really, it was a lot to take in. Confessions and answers, all handed to her at once.

Silence filled the room as Sherry tried to absorb everything. The silence only made it harder to think, like it was pressing down on her brain. "I'm sorry," she whispered staring at their hands. It was a place to start, and something to break the silence. "I'm sorry that you lost her, and that you lived like that. Jake, a--" She didn't know what else to say about his past, so she didn't say anything.

"And I-" Her voice caught in her throat, and stuck. Sherry let it sit, unsure of what to say about this part, too. Too much, all at once. But the silence this time didn't feel quite as crushing or as cold as it had before. Her heart weighed her down now, it was still heavy. Heavy, dark, and broken. She swallowed, and shuddered again. He'd said so much to her, so much that hurt. "I've never taken that chance away. But I- I-- Are you sure? Because..." She had too many reasons to doubt, she didn't know where to begin.