There was no amount of preparation that could've prepared him for that reaction. He's quick to pull her back in an embrace, clumsy and unpracticed, but his embrace is firm and genuine. He hadn't ran away from this, and broken t beyond repair. Things could not only be salvaged, but she loved him.

That one washes most of the racing thoughts off the surface of his busy mind.

He wasn't a weapon for someone else's gain, he wasn't a mangy dog on the run from the law, he wasn't a washed-up criminal past his time, left to figure out what to do with a world that moved on without him.

He was part of a community, and above all else, he was loved.

His grip tightens, and he tucks his face against the side of her head.

"I love you, Sally. I ain't good at showin' it, but--- I do, n' I hope you always know that."