He shook his head quickly. "I don't think tho," he said quickly. "I jutht..."

He sighed and looked away. "I guethh I jutht need to hear it. Do you thtill like me? Don't tell me you do, if you don't. I...I'm okay with being friendth. I jutht need to know what you want, before I can dethide how I feel about all thith. It'th been tho methhed up for tho long."

He stopped, gritting his teeth to stem the flow of words, and fell silent.