Kip wasn't quite surprised to see Leigh, and he also wasn't disappointed.Despite his troubled past, and the continuing emotional turmoil he experienced at present, the sight of Leigh calling out to him in greeting made him the closest thing to happy that he could manage to be. Normally, he tried not to think about how beautiful she was, about how much he truly had loved her when he was younger, and how he wished he wasn't so damaged now, so that he could be there for her, take care of her, love her in the way she deserved to be loved instead of in the twisted, ruined, melancholy way that he managed to love her now. In that moment, watching her descend the steps and join him on the ground, Kip likened her to an angel, and himself to a sort of devil, an evil force that took everything down with it, like it or not.
But he hid his feelings of inadequacy and shame from Leigh as she approached, raising his hand in greeting and nodding toward her. "Hey," he said. "Just taking a walk." He tried to be nonchalant, not wanting her to know he'd been looking for her in case she thought he was a stalker. He'd killed a man, after all, and it didn't take much to start rumors that he did other things as well. "What are you up to? Aren't you cold?"