"You're allowed a moment. More than a moment," he says gently, even though it sets off a clamoring alarm in his own mind that he can't let her down, that he can't ever risk it.

He shuts that down. It's not reasonable to pretend that two people won't hurt each other, in lots of ways over time, if they decide to let themselves be close. He will hurt her someday. He won't mean to, or at least he won't like doing it. It will be up to her to forgive him and give him another chance.