Maybe you need the rules and he doesn't. I don't really care what he thinks or feels about you, "Return", or us. He isn't the thing that is important. We're important.

We got through the story.

You came home. We found each other. [ She presses the cold metal of the keychain against his cheek. ] Yeah, what matters. What's important. I know you and I see it differently. We don't agree perfectly. Maybe that's what makes it so we're not a perfect fit... but we work together anyways.

[ Jesse has the feeling he doesn't see himself as a hero, a Champion, or anything other than a failure. All he sees are those failures and shortcomings. The screw ups. The writer's block. The rocky marriage with Alice Wake. He can't see the good or the best version of himself that she sees.

The kicker? She knows she can't make him see what she sees. He had to realize it on his own.

Her fingers brush along his cheek bones. A nod. She can't expect him not to bring up the events leading to and during "Return." It's how they met. How they fell in love.

Which makes her wonder how their younger selves managed it.

Her gaze drops again. What can she say? She has already explained the key element. Abandonment versus sacrifice. She hates the terms but they are accurate to both her and her younger self. ]

... I'm not sure she realized why she reacted the way she did. She trusts him... and she loves him.