Desmond frowned, and his eyes sharpened slightly, watchfully, at her since she was backing up. She might run and they'd have to start this again. "I told you why. I said it so you'd know that I'm not walking away or giving up on you. Explaining how much I care about you felt like, I don't know, proof that you could still count on me." That was love to him. "I am trying not to keep running away, but I guess you're taking it up as your thing now." Maybe now she could understand why it's his impulse whenever things go wrong. Running was safe.

"I won't say it again." It maybe stung just a little bit that she hated to hear it, but that was irrational on his part. He gestured in the direction of the path he pointed out before. "Look, I don't want to keep fighting, and I don't want to have to run you down again. I want to get back to the group and then back to the village and then hermit inside for like a month. But I won't do that without you."