Why?

[ He frowns at her now. The feeling is very strange to him, like someone twisting a stick into an open wound. Why does he have to inflict that knowledge on her, when all he wants to do is keep her safe. Telling her and watching the knowledge flash over her face will be like watching her die all over again, he just knows it. He can imagine it, the briefly wide eyes and then the sorrowful acceptance.

But he knows she won't leave it alone. He would want to know too, whether he had made the right choice or the wrong choice. Not that anyone's response would ever answer that question for him. He asks it every day.

His defensiveness makes his words a bit harsh, but there's no question that the harshness is pain. Spilling out the words while clutching something broken inside himself. ]

You sacrificed yourself for everyone else, and I had to watch you fade away. And no one even cared because everyone forgot about you. I did too, until I saw you here and it...

[ What is the word. These are fresh feelings he's never articulated before but he feels compelled to try even if it's inelegant. ]

Sucks. It totally sucks.

[ There's nothing that makes him cry quite like her. ]