[ well, confusion is admittedly a far sight better reaction than emma had been bracing herself for; it's not derisive laughter or a dismissive comment, and just a touch of the tension goes out of her shoulders when it's clear he isn't going to needle at that hint of vulnerability. ]

...it's just been mighty quiet without you around.

[ and she hadn't liked it, not one bit.

he'd upset her, said some awful things, but so had she; she's far from innocent here, but without the heat of the moment, the burn of anger and indignation, it feels near ridiculous how worked up she'd gotten, how she'd let herself get caught up in trying to make him hurt just as much as she did.

that hadn't been one of her finer moments. ]

I was...

[ she sighs, brushing her hair away from her face before glancing at faraday again. ]

I was upset with you, but I actually thought—

[ getting this out is a whole new kind of difficult, she realizes. she never had throwdowns like this with matthew, so reconciling isn't her forte. ]

—I thought you weren't gonna come back.

[ and that hadn't sat well with her, not even a little. it's why the small signs that he'd been there, the gestures of kindness and apology (if that's how he'd meant them) had been so important to her. it was a guarantee that he hadn't just gone for good and left her alone in that house again. ]