Penelope glanced at Crow as she waited for him to reply. As he finally stepped back from her, she frowned as he expressed the hurt she had caused him. It made the knight's chest feel tight at the knowledge that she was the one who had caused it. This was exactly what she had been trying to prevent before the rumors had happened. Feeling ashamed for the pain she had caused him, she found it difficult to look over at him as he spoke but she forced herself to. Hearing the strain in his voice made the knight grimaced and she couldn't help but lower her gaze for a moment. After everything he had done for her, she had still hurt him this badly and had fallen for her own worries much too easily. 

As he finished, the knight was silent for a brief moment, trying to collect herself before giving a small nod. "You deserve much more than just that." she said softly as she forced herself to look over at him. "I know you wouldn't misuse my affection, Crow... I.. I just messed up and let my own insecurities cloud my better judgment." Penelope shook her head and rubbed her hand over her arm. "It doesn't excuse anything but I want you to know it wasn't so much about my trust in you as it was..well," she shuffled her feet. "my own confidence really. I never thought your heart would stray but at the time, I worried that maybe, the rest of you would get tired of waiting for me. I love you Crow, more than I could put into words and sometimes it's just difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that you love me just as much." 

Penelope looked to the floor again. Admitting her insecurity out loud made the knight shrink slightly. She knew that they were ridiculous but at the time they had been nagging at the back of her head. It also likely hadn't helped that the day before both Dimia and Liz had verbally gone after her. While she didn't really care what they thought persay, there was only so much the knight could take before feeling a bit torn down. She took in a breath and forced her gaze back up to meet his. "You don't need to prove anything to me though. You've proven more than enough, done more than enough. I'm sorry that I made you feel like you had to do more. I just need to trust my own worth a bit more. And it won't happen again." she added with a hint of firmness despite her voice being soft. The knight never wanted to see him hurt like that by her again. 

"I can't say I won't ever ask you about something if I do hear gossip but I won't let myself buy into words that aren't your own and I won't let my insecurities get the best of me. Things will be different.. I'll learn from my mistakes." she promised him with soft determination. Penelope paused and tentatively reached for his hand, as if unsure he'd accept the gesture at the moment. "You have my word on that."