“Nope,” he blows out a breath and shakes his head. But God, it’s good to hear someone else say it. It’s like a wave of relief, just to know that finally, finally, someone maybe even kind of gets it.

It’s literally all he’s wanted for so long, it’s kind of overwhelming to have even some small percentage of that level of understanding sitting between them.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, scrubbing both hands over his face. It’s a thick, cloying feeling, and he doesn’t mean to spill it all over everything.