[He drops the subject for the time being, even though there's a part of him that's saying it might be better to get it out of the way now and not during a truth flood where he's spilling out every detail of what it had been like to feel the gunshot, to feel Erik one second and then gone the next, to find his friend's body and know there was nothing he could do, that Erik was gone and might never come back.

So he just tries to smile a little, maybe encouragingly, maybe just sort of shyly, because he doesn't know how she's changed, either. Not really.]

It's true. No one has to hide here. For all the things I wish I could change about this place, I'm glad we have that.