Usually, that's a good way to end a conversation, to get people to stop asking questions he doesn't want to answer, but when he's saying it to Ned, he has the feeling that it could almost be true. Maybe he will be fine, so long as Bob doesn't say anything to anyone else, so long as Ned doesn't decide, for some reason, that this is reason enough to want to stop seeing him.
Ned's hands running through his hair are reassuring, though, as is Ned's forehead resting against his own. Reassuring enough that he's able to offer a relatively genuine smile, and wrap an arm around Ned's waist, squeezing him with a sudden burst of affection.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
That's really what he's concerned about, after all. That's what it always comes down to, in the end.
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Usually, that's a good way to end a conversation, to get people to stop asking questions he doesn't want to answer, but when he's saying it to Ned, he has the feeling that it could almost be true. Maybe he will be fine, so long as Bob doesn't say anything to anyone else, so long as Ned doesn't decide, for some reason, that this is reason enough to want to stop seeing him.
Ned's hands running through his hair are reassuring, though, as is Ned's forehead resting against his own. Reassuring enough that he's able to offer a relatively genuine smile, and wrap an arm around Ned's waist, squeezing him with a sudden burst of affection.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
That's really what he's concerned about, after all. That's what it always comes down to, in the end.