At Elliot's confidence in his strength, David had to grin. "You give me way too much credit," he mused. Though coming from his brother, who was one of the smartest people he knew, he couldn't help but feel a little—or a lot—proud of the compliment. "Still, I do have to admit that I was smart enough to stay here. I knew you'd find me eventually, so that was something." Maybe more intuition than smarts, but it was something, for sure.
Just like he always did, Elliot refused to let David take the blame even though David felt, in his heart of hearts, that he could have done more to prevent this. Biting his lip, he shrugged. "If you say so," was all he said, even though Elliot could probably tell, by the crushed look on his face, that the conversation—and the fact that David thought himself to blame for at least part of this—was not over. They could have been safe in Bellvue, all of them, if not for the fact that he'd run off. He figured they only ever left to look for him, so why…
Elliot distracted him from that train of thought by speaking up about his friend, who'd helped him find David. David turned his head to look at the pink haired woman, who was following Elliot's lead and walking toward them, smiling a little bit. Rae. "Rae?" David raised his eyebrows. He remembered a Rae. The girl who… had sent him here to begin with.
She'd essentially kept him alive for this long.
His eyes were wide as he watched the girl approach, wiping tears from her eyes, and his smile went slightly reserved. "Whoa," he chuckled softly before she got there. "She did. She sent me here two years ago. It's… it's a really small world that she'd find you, huh?" The reality behind that statement was a little bit unpleasant, but he didn't let himself think for too long. "Lucky, too. Her hair... is pinker now," he joked.
When she finally got there, she smiled, waving at the two of them. "Hey guys. Long time no see, David," she said sweetly.