Jag dropped his hand from Coby's shoulder, wary of stopping him from moving about as he wanted. Once upon a time he would shied away from the question, but he'd learned a lot, with Em. He'd learned not to run away all the time, from himself, from the ones closest to him, from the questions posed to him. Coby's question certainly ticked two of those boxes.

"Better," he said, honestly. "Like I can breathe better."

His heart still felt shattered, but he didn't feel stifled anymore, at least. He did turn away then, pulling one of the backpack's straps from his shoulder, so it only hung off of his other one, and he took a few steps away, then dropped the backpack and bent over to pull off his shoes and socks.