Those words touched her. “His father sounds like he was a great man.”

“He was, indeed. Very much like Darling.”

But those words also made her stop and think. Most of all, they made her wonder if there could ever be a real future for them after everything that had happened to divide them. Maris had said that Darling didn’t forgive easily, or forget. So where did that leave her? “Do you think he can ever forgive me, Maris?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I think he wants to. But he’s been hurt so badly by so many. You’re just going to have to give him time to learn to trust you again. Have faith that his love for you will erase the rest.”

Something that was much easier said than done. Broken trust was the hardest thing to repair. But she wouldn’t give up on Darling. She couldn’t.

But what if he gives up on you?

Darling wiped at the sweat underneath his mask as he sat at his desk, reviewing his mail. Strange how quickly he’d gotten used to not wearing the stupid thing with Zarya. But it was easy when she didn’t seem to notice his grotesque scars.

Unfortunately, he knew the rest of the world didn’t view him through her eyes.

Don’t think about it.

How could he not when he was forced to stare at the mask while he worked? A mask that made him remember the scars it covered. And there were so many of them. Scars that twisted his lips and made his eye droop. Scars that ran down the side of his nose and across his cheeks.

And the one of Pip’s name showing through his beard as plain as the writing on his monitor.

His head throbbed from the eyestrain of trying to catch up. And then it started…

That irritating jerk.

Closing his eyes, he pressed his finger against his eyelid, trying to will them to stop. Still they spasmed and twitched. The motion made him queasy. But most of all, it made him blind.

Damn it! It was the most irritating thing and it wasn’t helped by the addition of a sudden nosebleed.

Great. Just great. What next?

Just don’t let me have to go to the bathroom. He couldn’t take any more of his broken body. He was tired of being in pain all the time. Of having to fear the next round of What’s Going To Piss Me Off Now.

As he reached for another tissue to replace the one that was already saturated, something crashed through the window on his right and exploded.

Trying to focus his jerking gaze, it took him a second to figure out what it was. Faster than he could move, fire spread up the wall, setting off alarms and sprinklers.

Crap! It was an attack and he’d left his blaster upstairs.

Darling held his breath as he tried to get to the door. Something easier said than done while his eyes kept jerking. Everything shifted and moved which disoriented him even more. Worse, his eyes and skin burned from the fumes.