[ If Alan knew that, or at least, had more than an instinctive knowledge that doesn't quite belong to him, he'd insist on doing something to try and help with her ankle. Maybe it won't ever be fully healed, but there's things that could help, right? Massages, heat wraps, heat period...
Maybe it's not his place, since he doesn't belong here, but he can't just ignore that pull he feels to help. And the existence of that pull makes him wonder why Beth's Alan doesn't feel it anymore.
That feeling of needing to do something to fix the problems between Beth and her Alan only grows stronger the more he learns and the more he hears. But what can he do that would actually make a difference?
He looks sidelong at Beth, sensing that maybe she's pulling away from him. She doesn't owe him anything, and she doesn't owe him any favors or any closeness at all. In more than one way, he's a stranger to her, after all. ]
Or we don't have to do that; I just want you to be happy, and I thought maybe a change of scene would do you some good.
[ He's about to just withdraw when he feels her fingers curl slightly around his hand, and his eyebrows lift in surprise.
But before he can do more than keep holding her hand, something seems to shift again, and before Alan even knows what's happening, the conversation on the TV turns to talking about Barry and Alice and how they work together with Alan to get things done, and that feeling of a shift grows even stronger. It's confirmed abruptly when Beth stands up and she pulls away from him, and...
She's gone, heading for the porch. Alan holds out a hand but no words come; they would have been cut off by the slamming of the door anyway, but he made no attempt to say anything, as that feeling of it not being his place grew even stronger.
Then Tim speaks, gesturing to him to stay where he is, and saying as much as well. Alan's posture seems to drop slightly, and without a word, he stands up, crosses over to the TV and turns it off. Once that's done, he returns to where he was sitting and lets out a lengthy sigh. ]
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Maybe it's not his place, since he doesn't belong here, but he can't just ignore that pull he feels to help. And the existence of that pull makes him wonder why Beth's Alan doesn't feel it anymore.
That feeling of needing to do something to fix the problems between Beth and her Alan only grows stronger the more he learns and the more he hears. But what can he do that would actually make a difference?
He looks sidelong at Beth, sensing that maybe she's pulling away from him. She doesn't owe him anything, and she doesn't owe him any favors or any closeness at all. In more than one way, he's a stranger to her, after all. ]
Or we don't have to do that; I just want you to be happy, and I thought maybe a change of scene would do you some good.
[ He's about to just withdraw when he feels her fingers curl slightly around his hand, and his eyebrows lift in surprise.
But before he can do more than keep holding her hand, something seems to shift again, and before Alan even knows what's happening, the conversation on the TV turns to talking about Barry and Alice and how they work together with Alan to get things done, and that feeling of a shift grows even stronger. It's confirmed abruptly when Beth stands up and she pulls away from him, and...
She's gone, heading for the porch. Alan holds out a hand but no words come; they would have been cut off by the slamming of the door anyway, but he made no attempt to say anything, as that feeling of it not being his place grew even stronger.
Then Tim speaks, gesturing to him to stay where he is, and saying as much as well. Alan's posture seems to drop slightly, and without a word, he stands up, crosses over to the TV and turns it off. Once that's done, he returns to where he was sitting and lets out a lengthy sigh. ]
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here, Tim.
[ In more ways than one. ]