[ she pulls back from the hug, wondering how much detail she should launch into immediately, before she reaches for his hand and moves to lead him to the kitchen. ]

I haven't been here very long, no... but I was somewhere else before I was here, too. Somewhere not home. It was - for a little over a year, actually.

[ might as well just... get it all out there at once. and maybe finally acknowledge to herself that this is where some of the nervousness is from: ]

But if I act weird, or too different, just tell me, okay?

[ she's walking as she speaks, not looking at him, though she doesn't release his hand. ]