If there were any other way but forward, Pepper would take it. Time will just keep marching on, and she's not willing to leave Gene to be ravaged by the past - by standing still. He'll probably be angry with her sometimes for that, but anger is better than wasting away in this shack forever. He can't begin to deal with his grief if he won't face it, and he doesn't have to face it alone.

She squeezes his arm gently, and for a while she lets the silence linger. It's a different kind of space for him to have, now that she's removed the distance between them. A wealth of words has gotten her out of tough situations before, but not this time. There are some things that words cannot fix.

Not on their own, anyway. "You don't have to hide from me," Pepper murmurs. "You can, but you don't have to."