He swallows hard and nods. Stand. Okay. He staggers up, taking a big breath to fortify himself once he's back on his two feet. He should have seen this coming. She's been pressing him all this time to become his own man. He was... trying. He has to keep trying. That's what he keeps hearing, over and over. It's so hard. It's so confusing. But for her, he has to try.

He meets her eyes with the weight of the universe floating behind those dark irises. "I want you. I want what we have. It's okay if we just stay friends with benefits. I know I don't have a right to ask for more. I just... I don't want to lose you. You're one of the people I trust most in the whole world."