Jeremy's arms slide further around her as he gathers her up in his arms, and he hugs her very tightly, feeling the rightness of it despite the tentative ground they are standing on. It's right too. He closes his eyes tightly against the burning when she places that soft kiss to his neck. His eyes burn more, but his fingers slide over the back of her neck against her hair at the beautiful feeling of it, pressing a kiss into the strands of her hair.

His fingertips slide up her back, and there's the first smile that he's had in... god knows how long (since he blew up in Elena's room) at the sound of her laughter (as choked and tearful as it may be. it's still hers. it's still her laughter.)

"The last thing I'd call you is predictable, Ms. Monroe," Jeremy says with a slow and aching smile, pulling back just enough to look down at her, to meet her gaze, to commit her face to memory and this moment to memory.

He releases a harsh breath at the whisper as something burns through his chest, and his voice is quiet too as his fingertips dig into her back. "I just... feel like I burned all my bridges," Jeremy says quietly as his eyes burn, and he shakes his head. "But I know."

It's hard to feel alone when she is holding him like this.