childishness

Clinging to the ruin of your broken home, too lost and hurting to carry your load
You know we all need someone to hold

It's nice to hear her say that. To have someone else put the blame on shoulders that aren't his without him begging them to see his side. "I just don't know why she felt she had to do it alone. Edmund is as good as my son too, and we're supposed to be partners." He knows she won't have an answer for that, but he just wants to say it so badly he can't keep it in. She'd left and he'd tried to pick up all the pieces, support Hadama, raise Jude. Too much for one man. "I know even if I leave that Jude will still have her. I didn't think about the discomfort - I assumed it would be worse if I decided to leave as opposed to taking her back. At least us being in a relationship is familiar to Jude." Then again so is divorce considering how he'd been raised between two regions, two parents.

Trying not to get too woe-is-me (and likely having already failed) Harper wipes a hand down his face and chuckles slightly. "With Sohalia in Stormbreak. They finally got together." Harper had seen it coming a mile away, but he'd been happy to let them figure it out on their own time. He's at least grateful that Jude has somewhere to hide where he feels safe and supported if Harper can't provide that for him.

He's glad she doesn't phrase the year it had taken him to move on as something negative. Harper has so much love to give that closing off his heart with walls and warnings feels against his very nature, but he's so tired of heartbreak too. Smiling a little, he touches her hand with the tips of his fingers and nothing more. "Thank you. I know I do, but it means a lot to hear it."