Melody was spiraling, that was clear. If they'd been talking about something else he would have gone to comfort her, but as it was he was still too angry to do anything about her growing distress other than notice it and push it aside. Her feelings didn't trump his, and he wasn't going to let the fact that she was upset keep him from saying what was on his mind — though why he was bothering at all, he didn't know. It wasn't like she'd taken anything in from the last time they'd had this exact same fight, was it? Here she was again, setting up to make a big, life-altering decision for him that he would only find out about when it was too late to change course.

"You want to spare me?" he asked, voice full of vitriol. "You can spare me this patronizing bullshit, Mel. Every time things get tough, you act like I'm so fragile, like I can't handle whatever you're going through, and you just take me out of the equation. That's bullshit," he stormed. "I can't live with someone who treats me like this. I can't pretend to build a life with someone who won't even tell me when they're about to make a decision that affects both of us. I mean, honestly, Melody, what do you expect me to do here? How am I supposed to feel about this?"