It's a kind, thoughtful answer he gives, and it answers more than she thinks he realizes, but not for the question she asked. Perhaps he's right, and Eliot is bursting at the seams to tell his story, only no one asks him for it. It wouldn't surprise her, the way Eliot hides himself behind smiles and good humor. But being asked is not the reason why a man bears his soul. Sometimes being lonely's not even enough. That Jack recognized it is part of why he wanted to ask, but it's not why Eliot answered.

Jack doesn't see that, though, and she's not sure how draw attention to it, or if it's her place. She just recognizes what's gnawing at him from inside, the same thing that's governed his thoughts since some of their earliest days here, the same thing that has so often governed hers. That there is something else you want, if you only knew how to take it.

"Don't know that he gained nothing," she says softly, shifting her weight gently as she leans against him. "He's got you."