[It's not a pit in his chest. It's not really anything. It's the bitter acknowledgment that he's going to be a disappointment, because there's this awful look of hope and no one's really looked at him like that before, he doesn't think.]
[And he has to be the one to shoot it down.]
I'm...sorry. [He hasn't earned a lump to the throat. Hasn't earned a black hole that swallows up his lungs and compresses his chest. His shoulders hunch, and he can't quite look at her.]
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[It's not a pit in his chest. It's not really anything. It's the bitter acknowledgment that he's going to be a disappointment, because there's this awful look of hope and no one's really looked at him like that before, he doesn't think.]
[And he has to be the one to shoot it down.]
I'm...sorry. [He hasn't earned a lump to the throat. Hasn't earned a black hole that swallows up his lungs and compresses his chest. His shoulders hunch, and he can't quite look at her.]
I don't think I'm...the same guy you knew.