[ Alan just has the feeling that he's made a mess of this since the beginning. Maybe it can become less of a mess with Jesse's help, but he does feel some amount of guilt for dragging her in at all. But at the same time, it seems clear enough that this is something bigger than just one person. ]

Yeah. More or less. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be held captive by anything, forget about some evil dark force. [ He huffs out a humorless laugh. ] That sounds like something from a bad movie, but it's too real.

[ He's trying his best to not just be dead weight that she has to drag along, but he knows all too well that he's not accustomed to this. Maybe he will be if this constant running to escape keeps happening. It's a mixed bag, really; he doesn't want them to keep running for their lives, but he does want to stop feeling winded after just a few minutes of running.

I really should have worked out more.

He starts to move closer to the lamppost when they finally reach it, but he changes his mind at the last minute when he sees Jesse fall against it. He keeps back from it, but not far enough that he's outside the light it's casting. He can catch his breath here and let her use the post to support her, if that's what she needs.

But he's still close enough to keep holding her hand, and although her grip is like a vise on his, he squeezes her hand, hoping to reassure her. They might have been thrown together by his actions or by the story or whatever, but they're doing this together. That means it shouldn't feel out of place to try and offer whatever support he can give.

And right now, it looks like she needs that. He can't tell what's going on in her head, but he's not backing away either. ]