Perhaps she had never blamed him. But how could he not? It was something he was rather good at, unfortunately.

But Wes nodded, accepting her words and trying to take comfort from them. He also heard the apology which she didn't quite say and yet nevertheless was able to convey to him.

"Can it really be that simple? Just - pick it up again?" It was true, they'd already proven it was possible to move on from the mistakes of the past. To learn to trust again.

Perhaps it was fated to be his constant internal battle with himself, that desire for perfection. For everything to go as planned, plotted and strategised within his own mind. It wasn't realistic to have those kinds of expectations; he knew that intellectually. Most of the time he didn't. But he wanted to make Fred as happy as she made him so badly that insecurity was bound to rear its dreaded head.

He lifted his gaze to meet her eyes finally.

"I don't want to think. I think too much. But you, you make me feel. And for that, I will always be grateful."