With his hand in her hair, lightly applying pressure, Pepper felt herself relax in a way that she hadn't been able to since the picnic. She wanted to say that she had missed him too, but that was such a girly thing to say, and it was girly enough that he was holding her and she was upset enough to be blinking back moisture in her eyes.

She had time. She was going to go over early to help her mum make supper, but this was more important. Pepper leaned back in Adam's arms so she could see his face. Even as a kid she'd always thought it was much cooler to have blue eyes than boring hazel ones like hers, and Adam was easier for her to understand when she could see his eyes. "When you got mad before you left, you looked like... I mean, it felt like...." And as always, she wouldn't be able to say it.

"Did you?" was what she asked. "And... was it my fault?"