He tensed for a moment until he realized she was hugging him. Then his arms wound around her and pulled her in tight against him. He buried his face in her hair, closing his eyes. "I'm fucking sorry, Max. Swear to fucking god, so sorry." He kept whispering into her hair over and over again.

And in just a few moments, he actually let out a sob, holding her tighter. He'd missed her. For fucks sake, he'd missed her so much but he hadn't realized just how much until this moment. He just shook his head as he kept whispering apologies, feeling like none of it was enough.