“Nope,” he shakes his head a little at that assertion, bringing one hand up to tap Malcolm lightly on the nose, the smile on his face faint and slightly self-deprecating. “I didn’t think that you wanted that… I just—”

He scoffs and shakes his head. “It’s what I do— things get hard or uncomfortable or scary and I just— I run. I’m not… good at disagreements. Or friendships. Or a million other things. And I can’t-” he shakes his head again. “I can’t deal with this place without you, Malcolm. I just need… to not push this til it breaks, okay?”