Re: [Ren's apartment.]
Hannah watched as his fingers lifted from the bottle, as he flexed them, and she sat quietly, quietly, and she let him think. She could tell he was lost somewhere, and she knew that somewhere was likely a memory. She did that sometimes, and sometimes it wasn't even her own memories she became lost in. Sometimes, she became so lost in Amy that it was like when she'd first learned that she wasn't Amy at all, and she let him think and wander and think.
He tripped and tumbled over assurances about New Year's Eve, and she almost told him he sounded like someone who was protesting a little bit too much. But she didn't say it, and she smiled at him when he said he was glad he could give people a thing. She believed that entirely, that he was happy to give people a place to go, and it was nice to have people around when you were sad. She thought it was nice, but she wasn't really sure, and she thought maybe everyone was different. But Ren struck her as someone who wasn't made for alone, so she was glad of New Year's Eve for him.
If she noticed the dampness at the corner of his eyes, she didn't say anything at all. "Ren," she said, voice soft, "you're being really, really hard on yourself. You were both in it together, and you can't blame yourself for everything that went wrong. You can't. It's not fair to you, and maybe it wasn't all him, but I still don't like him very much," she said in an honest slur. "I think you should tell the person you're with things, but he didn't tell you about the woman. He didn't tell you things, either." She said it as kindly as possible, but it was definitely, definitely a true thing, and she thought it needed to be said. "Who did you like?" Maybe, maybe it could be something rekindled. Maybe.
He leaned his head into his hands, and she brushed dark hair from his brow. "You're good with people. You're nice, and you're good, and you're handsome, and you're not disappointing. Next time, just talk more. If you think you didn't say enough last time, say more this time," she suggested, fingers soft in dark hair. "Who is he? Do you like him? Have you talked to him about it?" She couldn't tell from what he said, if he liked whoever he was sleeping with. She couldn't tell if it was just more and more of his tendency not to open up.
Her fingers slipped softly beneath his chin. "You have to be open, Ren. I know it's scary. I know, I know, but you need to be if you want to become close to someone. We keep too many secrets sometimes, and secrets are like really, really tall walls."