Had he ever been worth the tears of an innocent? No, and yet he had caused so many to shed; green eye glanced at her only briefly as she filled with a suppressed terror, made evident in her tone and trembling of her lip. In her eyes he recognized a thousand victims, inflicted with pain he — Maluki — had once wrought upon them without reason or need. He had already ruined so many lives and lived his life in repentance, though Jefferson knew he could never even begin to compensate for the crimes he had committed in his past life. They were not his fault, most might tell him, but he was the same creature who had caused them. That was enough reason for him.
And yet here he was, a new man unhindered by insanity as Maluki had been. He had no excuse for making the gentle woman tremble with pain, and yet she did so anyway. Guilt twisted in his stomach, and a heavy, weary sigh escaped his lips — not for exhaustion, but for worry and sadness. He shifted some, collecting the girl within his reach, wrapping his solitary arm around her and drawing her close into a rarely affectionate side embrace. His head bowed and eye closed, but he relished her close; Geneva had left he and Pripyat long before. Jefferson inevitably knew a loneliness he had not experienced even during his duration as a loner years prior; he ached for some sort of recognition, acknowledgement that he was still worth the positive emotions of another, and yet he knew he would never again. She was gone, most likely for good. He was alone.
"Maybe," he mumbled, though in his heart he believed it a lie. He was not able to be saved; he was not worth saving. What hope there was for him would be lived out in compensation for his sins, and it would never be enough. Perhaps she was a fool for risking her innocence playing around with a sinner like he — at this realization, the man winced bitterly and heaved a great, unexplained sigh. "You waste your emotions on me," he said a moment later, with a light but empty chuckle. "Don't tear up for my sake. If I don't have to, neither do you." His hand raised, tucking behind her head to hold her close; he knew she would probably argue and push away, and yet he did not resist doing it. To keep someone — anyone — close reminded him he was still alive. For it to be Alaine, he felt perhaps he was worth something as well.
.undonejeffooc {font-style:italic; color:#000000;}
.undonejeff p {padding:0px 20px 5px 20px; margin:0px; text-indent:35px;}
.undonejeff b {color:#EADFCB; text-shadow: 0.0em 0.0em 0.1em #1C2019; letter-spacing:-.2px;}
.undonejeff {font-family: georgia; font-size:12px; color:#696157; letter-spacing:.2px; word-spacing:.3px; line-height:15px; text-align: justify; margin:0px auto; margin:5px auto; width:422px;}
.undonejeffinner{background-color:#BFB6A5; background-image:url(http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g210/ ... onetab.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:10px 0px 175px 0px; border:1px solid #2D2622; width:422px; border-radius:10px; -moz-border-radius:10px; -webkit-border-radius:10px; margin:0 auto;}
</style>[/html]