That's something Cougar never had to worry about, because they'd always been fighting the wars on the same side. Still, they were inseparable as friends before because there had been rules for years and always someone else. Cougar and Jake both hadn't done anything, but now the wars are distant, there is no one else, and he's not sure what to do. He knows that Jake is upset, but he doesn't know how to fix that yet.

"You want to spend your life with her," Cougar says, which is what he's hearing in the words.