The initial no from him brought a raised eyebrow -- a curious look that was satisfied as he continued. She listened silently, watching him as he tried to stumble through his words and explanations. Rather than try to fill in the gaps for him - something she was still rather rubbish at not doing - she stayed quiet, understanding all the same.
"Should I have jumped you a little sooner, then?" She asked with a laugh. An easy way to find her way into the conversation, maybe ease whatever tension he might have had left in him.
"Look, you know that for better or worse I'm in your life, yeah? You're part of my family with or without this," she gestured between the two of them, figuring that was well enough to encompass everything between them. "Because, I've missed you, too. I think I always have, really. But definitely more often lately. I guess, what-- the only thing I really need from you is that you'll promise, if we ever get stuck again like that, we try to work through it first. We can manage that, yeah?"