Any sign of hesitation, kindness - these could be taken for weakness, yes. Especially in the background you've had - and once a reputation is built up, it is not so easily forgotten.

[There's a faint bitter note when he says that, but he listens. Illegal? Age, he assumes, but considering the age of most students here, it couldn't be less than a decade at most. And to his perception of time, such a thing was practically non-existent to consider.

Oh, perhaps not in the eyes of the law. But who cared about what the law wanted, anyway?]

But, of course it hurts. Revealing yourself so deeply is always a risk - one that can always backfire on you, if you're not careful. But -

[He pauses, before looking her right in eyes, his butterflies fluttering around him quietly.]

...What do you want, Jolyne?

[It's said softly, but -

he feels no one has ever bothered to ask her what she wanted, in the end.]

You've realized - you can't continue this way. Even through the pain of separation, you're still trying, instead of shutting out the world and handling it through your anger. But - what kind of person, in the end, do you want to be?