He wasn't sure what she wanted him to say. Did she expect him to understand how his mind worked? He wasn't a psychiatrist, and he wasn't sure that even a psychiatrist could figure out what had initially made things awkward. It was so long ago, too!
"I think it was weird because we'd never had a disagreement. And, I don't know, maybe my feelings were hurt? I can't remember, Sloane." How could he explain that in a way that didn't sound pathetic? They were friends one moment, and the next he felt afraid to talk to her. Then, after the rest of the summer without talking, he hadn't been sure how to start again, so he... didn't.
"You didn't do anything wrong." Wrong in that sense at least. He'd been sensitive to whatever she'd said, and he'd taken it personally. "I don't know what to say, but I'm worried that you'll just walk away again if I can't give you the answer you want. I just wish we could go back and be friends again." There. That was as close to the truth as he was willing to give without trying to discern months of awkwardness and hurt.
"I think it was weird because we'd never had a disagreement. And, I don't know, maybe my feelings were hurt? I can't remember, Sloane." How could he explain that in a way that didn't sound pathetic? They were friends one moment, and the next he felt afraid to talk to her. Then, after the rest of the summer without talking, he hadn't been sure how to start again, so he... didn't.
"You didn't do anything wrong." Wrong in that sense at least. He'd been sensitive to whatever she'd said, and he'd taken it personally. "I don't know what to say, but I'm worried that you'll just walk away again if I can't give you the answer you want. I just wish we could go back and be friends again." There. That was as close to the truth as he was willing to give without trying to discern months of awkwardness and hurt.
