By the time he spoke again, the tears had mostly stopped. She looked up at him with all the pain she'd felt for so long -- and burst into a short, surprised laugh at his wink. "Wow. Don't promise what you can't deliver," she replied, voice husky from her crying session. Maybe Meg might have been put off by his choice of a joke after such a tense moment, but it felt like maybe it was his way of comforting her. It wasn't that he wasn't taking her seriously -- he just didn't know what to say.

She smiled slightly, reaching up to touch his jaw as she leaned against him.