"There's nothing left to say, though, is there? I told you, showed you, exactly how I feel and you just...don't. Really, that's all there is to it." She takes one step back and then another. She wants the steps to be easy. She knows what she has to do. But the steps are harder than any she's taken in her life. "You don't know how much I want to say that of course I'll come with you, of course I'll let you take me home and that of course things will be the same as they've always been."

That is the easy solution. It's the solution that wouldn't require any effort on her part at all. She can just slide into it and pretend for a little while longer. Except the easy way out is a weight on her conscience. The easy way out is a lie that she can't tell, refuses to tell, any longer.

"You want to know where I'd go? Nowhere. Or maybe everywhere. I'm not leaving, but I need to clear my head. I need space, Charles, please. I need..." She knows the next words out of her mouth are going to sound horrible. She says them anyway. "I need time to grieve. I've been waiting for you since I knew what those kinds of feelings were and you've just told me that there's no point waiting. I can't just go back to normal after that. Not right away. Please, don't argue with me over this."

She's so tired and it's not the sort of exhaustion that a good night's sleep can cure. Her shoulders are slumped and she's sure there are shadows under her eyes. There's only so much that she can do and she suspects that her concentration isn't the best right now. She's keeping her form only as a matter of habit.

"Just let me go, Charles."