The urge to move from his chair to sit down beside her, to brush the tears from her cheeks himself with a gentle swipe of thumb like he might have done when they'd still been together is almost too overwhelming to resist; but it's not his place anymore, he reminds himself. Sylvie isn't his fiancee, she's not his girlfriend, they've only recently started seeing and speaking to each other enough for Coop to finally feel like he can say they're friends, or at least on their way to being friends. They hadn't stayed friends for very long when they'd met, their romantic relationship had started almost right away; but Coop has spent so much time over the last four years trying to forget her that he's realizing now how vital she'd been to his life once.
He's beginning to think that had never really stopped.
"Sylvie," he starts, trailing off after he says her name because he doesn't know what there it to even say. He hadn't known. He hadn't known. If he had, maybe he would have done things so much differently. Maybe he would have told her the truth about his powers from the start or maybe he would have abandoned them altogether and dedicated himself to a life of abstaining from anything related to witchcraft. For her, he would have done that without any questions asked.
"Je suis désolé, chérie. Si je l'avais connu... I would have kept you safe. I will keep you safe now, always, I promise."
She won't look at him, and that's what gets Coop standing. Kneeling at her feet, he brings his hand up to lift her chin, ducking his head to meet her gaze with a small, reassuring smile. "You know, when I first saw you, Christ... C'était le coup de foudre. When you left, I thought I'd never be whole again."
He hadn't been wrong, in a way; he still doesn't think anyone will ever capture his heart the way she had, and Coop doesn't know if there's anything that could exist between them again, if she'd even still want that or what it might mean to admit that he does, but he does know that he can be here for her now. Through the magic that scares her or anything else, he wants to be there.
"But you came back," he continues, his smile widening. "Don't regret that, okay? I would never want you to because having you here will always be better than thinking I'll never see you again."
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He's beginning to think that had never really stopped.
"Sylvie," he starts, trailing off after he says her name because he doesn't know what there it to even say. He hadn't known. He hadn't known. If he had, maybe he would have done things so much differently. Maybe he would have told her the truth about his powers from the start or maybe he would have abandoned them altogether and dedicated himself to a life of abstaining from anything related to witchcraft. For her, he would have done that without any questions asked.
"Je suis désolé, chérie. Si je l'avais connu... I would have kept you safe. I will keep you safe now, always, I promise."
She won't look at him, and that's what gets Coop standing. Kneeling at her feet, he brings his hand up to lift her chin, ducking his head to meet her gaze with a small, reassuring smile. "You know, when I first saw you, Christ... C'était le coup de foudre. When you left, I thought I'd never be whole again."
He hadn't been wrong, in a way; he still doesn't think anyone will ever capture his heart the way she had, and Coop doesn't know if there's anything that could exist between them again, if she'd even still want that or what it might mean to admit that he does, but he does know that he can be here for her now. Through the magic that scares her or anything else, he wants to be there.
"But you came back," he continues, his smile widening. "Don't regret that, okay? I would never want you to because having you here will always be better than thinking I'll never see you again."