Are you kidding me? [ he almost laughs himself because that's really not what he expected. ]

Why wouldn't I want to hear from you? Do you think I hate you or something. Come on, you know I don't hate you. I mean I-- Fuck. [ he takes a breath, he can't make this even more complicated than it already is, he can't. He can't do emotion, and definitely not that one. At the same time though he can't help but remember the argument that had this whole mess starting in the first place. Nate calling him on his shit, and the tension just... leading places he didn't expect. ]

We're friends, right? Come on. I'm not keeping myself in some weird fucking bubble, I'm right here.