"It is true. I think you tried to ground me two weeks ago." He hadn't really, but it had certainly started to come across that way as they argued about just how much he should be moving about on his own.

"Yes, I should have. And all the rumors that would blossom about the Deck would be unstoppable, you know. We would break hearts, if it were a lie." He said, smiling gently as he leaned back again and looked at Elisha with a considering stare.

"I do," he said, honestly. "I'm more afraid of wanting to let you, I think." It was true, too. He wanted to just fall back into that web, in part because it was so easy. In part because he'd never really untangled himself to begin with. "I missed you, and I never realized just how much I had until you were right there. But I don't want...something built on guilt, or sympathy." Or whatever it was that made Elisha so damned determined.

"And I don't think I could deal with another goodbye," he said, frowning as he looked away. "Maybe you were right all along."