[He's not far behind, preferring to stay a step or two behind to make sure nothing followed them out or tried to ambush them when they exited.

Though he's surprised at her reaching for his hand, and blinks once, mouth slightly agape before he registers what she's saying.]

Don't worry about it. [It's sort of an answer to both statements, but to elaborate on the latter:]

Let's just say the last couple years have been pretty up-and-down. Of course they seem to have just highlight the lows. [Thanks, you jerks. And seeing that probably doesn't give much of a positive light on his job.]