At her urgings, he'd sat himself down on the bed, but his eyes had taken on a concerned and worried look as she danced around even starting whatever it was she wanted to say. There's something wrong, I knew it. She's going to tell me to leave again...
Obeying, he remained quiet, if tight-lipped. He wondered what she meant by the "old her." He wondered what it was about it that she liked, that she felt bad about and didn't want to hurt him.
The tears were evident enough, even before they began to fall. Her dark eyes twinkled with the moisture and Caden fought with himself to not make a move. There was something about this that wasn't exactly...right. She was telling him things, being sincere. Usually she was just the opposite, a hoarder of her thoughts and feelings, always lashing out.
As the tears began to fall, though, he couldn't help the twitch of his hand. He placed his hands to her shoulders, trying to coax her in closer, but she managed to jump to him all by herself. What she said sounded so honest, how could he question it?
Wrapping his arms around her tightly for a moment, he turned them to the side so he could nestle her more comfortably in his lap. He stayed like this for a moment with her, but then he realized he was probably holding too hard and loosened his grip a bit, as difficult as that was for him right now. She was crying, uncontrollably so, but he still wanted to try, still wanted to soothe her.
Carefully, he lifted a hand to brush her hair back from her face a bit and began wiping at what exposed droplets of moisture he could with her clinging to him. "Tiraris, it's alright," he whispered, his voice much calmer now, less tense. "It's how you are...I'm getting used to it still, I guess, but I wanted to be there with you. It was no trouble at all, no skin off my back, please don't feel bad."
His eyes looked sad, a spark of confusion still there about why she might think he was upset with her. "I'm glad to know you care...really, I am. I was worried you might not... And there's nothing you need to be forgiven for, it's really alright, honest." His grip tightened again as he carefully placed his head atop hers, protective even though they were there alone.
"Just take deep breaths," he whispered. "Just relax... I'll be here for you, don't worry."