There was something in that, something he wouldn't have known how to put into words if he'd tried and so he didn't try. She was close, she was smiling, and something as simple as that and the way her hand lay on his arm - it would have sounded so ridiculous aloud, saying how that got to him. It had been a long morning and a longer night, but that was what it took, apparently, to put him at ease. People talked about heartache and he'd felt that before, but this was different, a tension effused with warmth, not as fleeting as happiness. Something more, maybe, like content.

He didn't know how to say it, so he just kissed her instead, drawing Lucy close. All morning, he'd stayed by himself, wanting time to figure out his own mind, but this was what he'd needed.