Marlene stopped and closed her eyes, even though it was unnecessary when Alastor couldn't even see her face. "After the other night," she whispered.
"I don't even know if you know what you said, if you were paying attention, but- You could have just told me you weren't interested. There was no need for any of that. You accused me of pushing you into things. Did you really think that I'd push you into a relationship? What kind of person-" She squeezed her eyes even tighter, fighting the sting, but even that wouldn't stop the tears and she wiped them off with a hand. She had never been so glad to have a discussion with her back to someone.
It took a few moments before she could speak again. "You should have just told me what you wanted when you got better. I would have left sooner. I might have made mistakes, but I never wanted to do something you didn't want to do."