"I'm not incapable of love, Pel." It was a flat statement, though the guilt lay just behind it, and he didn't look at her. "And she's not-- Don't talk about her like a phase, Pel, she's --" He was about to say 'one of the people' but even that wasn't true and just made his face scrunch up. He dug his toe in the dirt.

"Would it make you happier if I just stayed useless, my whole life? Just - gave up on her, because what could I hope to do anyway, can't even take care of myself--"