His only reponse to her suggestion to leave was a slightly cocked left brow. There was, as far as he was concerned, no way in hell he was leaving. Her further statement, as she turned to look at him, only reinforced his determination to remain exactly where he was.

"There would be no need for concern if I honestly believed you to be okay," he commented, beyond care if he were blunt by this point. In some cases, blunt was all that another would understand. This was one of those cases as far as he was concerned. "Were you 'all right' you wouldn't be here Charlotte, keeping yourself locked away into a world that you left behind. That you left behind because you know it's not you. Not deep down.

"You do a fantastic imitation of belonging, Char. You really do. You have the look down, the manners, the false conversation hidden as true concern. All of it. And it's not you. What happened to the girl who told me that she didn't need help carrying boxes into her flat? The one who brought pizza over just to lord it over me that your team won a match? What happened to the girl who was so damn proud of having a job and making her own way in life? The girl who, in nothing more than a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, could make me sweat with need?"

He frowned, his brow drawing tight as he all but glowered at her. "Stop hiding yourself behind this false veneer, Charlotte. Let yourself actually feel the pain of loss and face it. You'll fade away into a mere shadow of yourself if you don't. I've watched it happen to more witches and wizards than I can count. I will not let you join them."