"We hurt each other all the time, Percy," she manages.

She knows that most of her tears are because she's heartbroken, but it's not just over what Percy has said. It's because of Tiberius being dead, her father being a complete and total asshole that she has to get along with or cut off, Scanlan not trusting them and then turning on them.

It's all so much. She'd been looking forward to having something good for a change. Without always running for her life, she'd have a chance to be happy and settle down and be loved and to love in return. Finally, she'd stop being hurt by those she was surrounded by all the time.

She'd been holding onto those hopes as the last vestiges of an unhappy, abused child and teen. And they've been ruined, shattered.

Sooner than she thought possible, her tears stop and Trinket leans over to lick her face clean. She knows he's trying to help, so she doesn't push him away. If nothing else, she'll always have Trinket.

"Tell me this: if Vax hadn't fallen in love with Keyleth and pursued her, would you have ever looked at me?"