"She's getting better at it." Better than she'd been at the start, too. Just like she was starting to get jokes, and phrases and sarcasm, and all the other stuff people liked to throw in to conversations.
His gaze rose to her face when her hand touched his arm. He hated seeing her look this way, only because he hated knowing she'd been crying, even if he didn't think he should have been the cause. He reached for her other hand with his, loosely grasping her fingers and pulling her a step closer, before sliding his hand around to rest against her back. His head came forward to rest against her gently in a half hearted hug from the awkward position of her standing, him sitting.
"Don't ever just leave like that again, okay?" He knew this probably looked like a sudden and unexpected role reversal, but he doubted she realised just how much this worked both ways. In giving her that ring, in giving her those three little words that first time, so long ago now, he'd given her a whole lot more. He'd taken a risk he never had before, and it terrified him.