The suddenness of the gesture caught Shay off guard as Vera’s hands cusped over his own. Any defiance he might have harboured and cultivated resist was eroded away by the suddenness of the gesture, the blatant display of emotion and intimacy for the entire pub to witness. She wasn’t keeping their relationship a secret, and it was a powerful gesture. He felt a flush creep up the back of his neck, feeling on the spot with the others in the pub, not knowing what Sam would make of Shay seeing his sister, although it would be foolish to think he didn’t suspect something after they’d been put together so closely the past while.

The apology came hard and sincere, and Shay felt the welling of moisture pulling from the back of his eyes, threatening  to have his emotions spill carelessly for the world to see. He wanted, no [I]needed[/I] to hear Vera say those things, to try and set things right. Her trembling hands, her outward expression of sorrow and regret moved him, making him feel terrible for how he treated her since reuniting at her apartment. He moved his thumbs, placing them atop of Vera’s to show he was receptive of her touch, her apology. 

“Vera, I…” He began, not trusting his words. It took all he had not to pick up and move over across the table and take her into his arms and undo all the pain and distrust that had fermented. He knew there were going to be hard moments between them,  he just took for granted that he would have to endure vitriol thrown his way when things became hard on her end. He would fight through it, he vowed quietly. He didn’t want to lose her, not because he let himself have thin skin.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I should have stood by you. I was selfish.” The admissions came pouring out, he was beginning to loathe how he handled the situation, how spiteful he’d been. How could he have been so narrow minded? “I’m a damn fool, Vera. Do you… do you want to go somewhere? We’ve amassed a bit of an audience.” He said, all too aware of the multiple sets of eyes intruding on a private moment.