The tears fell silently now, slowing down to a trickle as he sat curled up in his seat smoking his cigarette as she took her turn. He felt like an exposed nerve, just raw. Everything hurt and felt wrong at the same time, He didn't normally chain smoke like this but he needed them right now, needed the comfort they provided. He didn't reach for the hand though, just starred forward as she spoke giving her tale now.
She hadn't been wrong, similar cloth but in this story he felt like he was the one who left. It was the fear he lived with every day, that one day he wouldn't be strong enough. He wouldn't be able to stand on his own and he'll go back to her as he is now a broken shell. No, you need to come back to me as an equal. Her words whispered in his head causing a fresh batch of new tears.
He breathed and nodded as she finished her tale, looking down at her hand and then at her. She'd admitted to not liking to be touched and his need for touch seemed to be the same as hers, so the open offer sat there. "I'm sorry." The words came out in a hoarse croak as his throat got used to being used again.
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whos is worse. He sighed as the tune slipped through his head finding himself speechless for the moment. Not wanting to make it about him now, not wanting to compare their tales because you can't. He put himself in her shoes, trust betrayed, heart broken. To have the person you loved, the person who was your buoy, your hope, leave you for one of those monsters. The weight was a lot for him to bear even by proxy.
"Kindness can be cruelty of its own." He had more to say, could tell her more but he just felt exhausted now. Worse, he felt defeated. Letting the cigarette hang between his lips now he slowly slipped his feet back under the table. He just sat there with her in silence, each having their time to process what had been said.