[ Adrien would be the first to insist that he had the empathy of a dead rock. But he did believe himself clear enough in the head to read between the lines.

'I know how hard it can be-' It was in the way she said it, the words weren't the patronizing patter of someone saying the right thing. They were the words of some who had looked into the same abyss.

And now it was his turn to reach out and lightly place his hand on her arm. It wasn't much, in the grand scheme of things, but given the way he tended to keep himself to himself -hopefully it meant something. ]

Yes, I am. [ He said softly, but without bitterness. ] Mostly through my own design and my own inability to ... [ he paused and after a moment of searching for the words, gave up and just offered her a knowing look.

After all, hadn't she just recently had to refuse to allow him to sabotage their friendship?

But that wasn't where he was going with this. In the next moment, his brows drew together in an expression of genuine concern and care. ]

But you're not, Elena. You have Nate, Tony, Hawke, Sully, me. [ Just to name a few. ] And a future with a young woman, who I can't help picturing with her mother's eyes, her mother's sass, and her father's unfortunate habit for misadventure. [ He offered this almost ... affectionately. He may be a total screw up when it came to friends, and he and Nate may be incapable of having an actual conversation but ... he cared about them both. ]