"An' I ain't got no proof on you. You could just be some asshole with a mutant power out t'hurt her," he countered belligerently.

"Because I've seen what she's like. I know the nightmares she has, how for months she couldn't even sleep in a bed because she didn't feel safe not curled in a ball on the floor."

Now he did get up, the long held anger of what Clarice had lived through and what it had done to her finally spilling out.

"How she can't settle down an' enjoy life because she's worried about the next fucked up thing that's gonna happen t'her. She can't ever be happy because you and whatever the hell this is took that away from her!"

He'd tried. God, he'd tried so hard to convince her that it was okay, that this life was behind her. All he wanted was for her to settle down with him so he could give her the life she deserved.

But he'd been wrong. About everything.