I slump a little when he backs away, but even though it fizzes, I wish he'd keep touching me. I wish I could prove to him that it's not that bad to keep touching me, that he really can get better at it, that it's not that he doesn't care about the pain.

(...I hope I'm right about that. But I don't know.)

"Maybe not, but it's something. And something's better than nothing," I say, ducking around behind him into the sunlight. He doesn't look good. He needs to stay in the shadows, and if me repelling him back into the shadows will do it, I'm happy to do it. "I don't want you to do that, Zett. Don't give up!"