Higgs felt bad for not having seen Ashleigh in what felt like a forever. He had spoken to her, or rather written to her, since his last conversation with Alicia, but it wasn't quite the same. Higgs would lie if he said he hadn't worried. Of course, there had never been a doubt in his mind that Ashleigh would suddenly stop being friends with him, she hadn't, after all, the previous time around. No, what Higgs did worry about was the impact his actions had on Alicia and in turn Alicia had on Ashleigh. Higgs knew the way Ashleigh was, knew that she'd be there for Alicia as much as she could and probably more. The job that Higgs should have done but couldn't.
When Ashleigh arrived to collect him for their lunch, Higgs was not only ready but already standing when she approached. "Of course, I'm ready," he confirmed with a nod, before giving her a thorough once-over. "You've lost weight," Higgs commented honestly. As much as he had been assured that women enjoyed being told they had lost weight, Higgs was rather sure that had barely been any weight on Ashleigh to begin with. "How are you doing?" He asked before he could stop himself. The question wasn't 'how is Alicia doing', mostly because as much as Higgs wanted to know, he felt that if he wanted the answers about his wife, he really should ask her. Right now, Higgs was far more interested in how Ashleigh was doing, and really hoping that he hadn't fucked up her life, too (even, though, he suspected that maybe he had, at least for a bit).