Natalie was going to say something to that. really, she was. She tried to, but nothing came out. The objections and protests just died somewhere on the way from her brain to her lips.

She buried her face in her hands and shook. Sobbed. Yeah, crying now. The past few weeks of slowly accumulating stress just crashed down all at once and... she guessed she was done being strong. It was like admitting defeat, and it was painful, and it was humiliating, and she wished she could have stopped, but that wasn't happening.

She didn't say anything.