The warm bathwater is soothing.
She breathes deeply, trying to calm herself.
They'd had a fight. So what?
It was just a fight.
But she can't shake the regret now blooming inside of her.
She'd definitely said some things she shouldn't have.
He had too.
Anger made fools of them both.
"Cindy?" he quietly asks from the hallway.
"Yeah?"
"Can I come in?"
"I guess."
He opens the door and hesitantly walks to the edge of the bathtub. As he sits down on the floor, he doesn't try to touch her which she appreciates. After a long moment, he scratches the back of his neck nervously. "That was a mess."
"Yeah it was," she agrees.
He sighs deeply. "I'm sorry I said those things, Cindy. I just..."
"I know, and I'm sorry too."
When he looks up at her, his gaze is soft and pleading. "Are you coming to bed?"
"In a bit," she replies.
"Don't be long."
She hears the unspoken question and she shakes her head. "I won't be."
He rises from the floor with a nod. She can't help but smile as he closes the door behind him.
Neutron could be distracted and thoughtless, but he could be kind and thoughtful too.
He was egotistical and driven. But he could be supportive and sweet.
He was all those things and more.
Every day she learned more of what made him, him. And though it wasn't always an easy journey or even a pretty one...
She loved that idiotic genius.
-x-
