[Minutes pass before he speaks again. He still is entirely unsure what to feel about this, what to think of her, and his uncertainty is transparent in his words though he tries to sound indifferent. He doesn't trust anyone, he can't. He doesn't. He won't. But the question is so persistent that it comes out anyway.]

Do....you know what it's like? To be hated for something you didn't choose? To have someone you love taken away because of that?

[He instantly regrets saying something so vulnerable to this girl he doesn't know at all. But...he can't rid himself of the feeling that she just knows. Everything. It's bizarre and frightening.]