@theintrepid said: ❝ you’re not alone. ❞
His hands smacked down hard on the desk in front of him, “That’s the problem!” A momentary pause, head bowed low, shoulders hunched. He hadn’t meant to shout. It was just the stress of it all, the fear for her. Yet, he did not apologize outright.
Instead, he simply rambled, “I know. I know I said I’d do better. That I’d let you in more. I just...” Shaking his head, he blew out a breath, turning to face her again. “I know you’re strong enough to handle anything life sends your way. I know that, but if I can handle it without you even having to deal with it, without anything putting you or Foggy or Marci or anyone at risk, shouldn’t I?”
The problem was that he wasn’t handling it on his own. Sure, maybe he could do the punching and kicking, and could make the difficult decisions, but it was the after, with the injuries and the consequences and questions of morality that he couldn’t handle by himself. He just refused to admit it.
“Every time I let you know too much, you end up getting put into danger Karen. I can’t...have that on me, alongside everything else.” He couldn’t put her at risk. It was the issue he just kept having. The reason he kept going around in circles, forever shunning those he cared about then pulling them back and desperately clinging to them for support, only to do it all over again when the next threat came along.