Eric had been very quiet, which Aaron took as a blessing at first, but by the time he was cleaned up and ready to go back out for a turn on the wall, he was starting to worry about it. "Do you want to have dinner before I go back?"
"I was thinking about skipping dinner. We need to ration, right?" He didn't look up from his book, and his expression didn't change, but his tone was low.
"I suppose we do. Did you have lunch at least?" Aaron hadn't been thinking about food earlier, and he wasn't very hungry now so it didn't bother him to skip another meal. Eric was still healing though, and had just donated blood, so the calories were needed.
Eric's jaw tightened for a moment, "Does it matter?"
Aaron hesitated before opening the closet to get a clean jacket. His clothes from earlier had been wet and filthy, but they were cutting back on power usage so he didn't want to put things through the wash until there was a good sized load of items. "You're mad at me. For going back to the wall tonight or because I asked them not to have you guard? You know what those ladders are like, and it wouldn't be easy for you to get up and down without possibly falling."
Eric took a deep breath, and look up from his book. "That's part of it."
"And the other part?"
"You were going to leave with Maggie, leave the walls, and you didn't even say anything to me before you left. I tried to find you, and no one knew where you were." He looked away again, "I get that you feel guilty about the photos and the bag, but that herd of roamers isn't your fault. If people were lost out there trying to deal with the herd- that isn't your fault either. And doing something stupid because you feel like you owe penance, for something that isn't your fault, just puts you in danger."
"She was going to go out on her own." Aaron set the jacket over the back of a chair, "I couldn't let her go alone. She's pregnant."
Eric nodded, "And that is wonderful and horrible, for her. I understand, I really do. But there were other people who could have backed her up, people who knew where Glenn and Nicholas might be or where they might have gone. It didn't have to be you, and you could have told me what your plans were before getting back. I like Maggie, and I like Glenn, and I hope that it works out and all of our people out there return safely, but I wish you would have given two seconds of thought to me before trying to put me into her position."
Aaron wasn't sure what to say, it was true that he hadn't thought to tell Eric that he was going beyond the walls. He hadn't been thinking about anything other than helping Maggie and trying to make up for what he still saw as his fault, the attack by the Wolves. He had just wanted to make something better, for someone.
"I love you, so much, and sometimes it hurts that you seem so willing to throw your life away." Eric set the book aside and stood to cross the room, but Aaron met him halfway so he didn't have to move too far. He returned the embrace that was offered, "I don't want to make you feel bad, and I know that you try to protect me from some of what is going on out there. I just wish that you'd remember that I need you to be safe too."