[The call out was perhaps expected as they had been toing around the subject for months. If it wasn't her prodding him or vice versa, it wasn't a day of them trying to navigate their possessive tendencies exacerbated by abandonment issues. He made a point of cutting off another bit of fish and putting it in his mouth to buy himself a moment to consider how he might answer her request.]

You'll leave. [Normally, he left such bluntness to Jinx.] I am your family; I took you in, but everyone from back there wants to pull us apart. Your sister, the boy. I trust you, but I don't trust them. They've made their positions clear.

[It was complicated and yet painfully simple. He couldn't, wouldn't lose her. He would burn this place down. Yet, it was a touch more complicated as he was becoming plainly clear that her willingness to follow in his footsteps were no longer a priority. And if she did... would it be with the boy?]