[ There's a beat of silence from her but after a moment she replies. ]

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘪 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵.

[ And she knows that he might view that as pity but it isn't that. Viktor's friendship means so much to her; the thought of abandoning him - anyone, that she cares for so fiercely - simply isn't an option. ]

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.