Ryder didn't feel that he deserved any of her praise, even if it was for how he used to be in the past. Regardless of how he'd acted or dealt with things before the virus, the way that he'd ran from things during and after the virus blocked all of those other good things out of his mind. He hated himself for not having been able to connect to his father, protect his mother, or search for Ellie.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head when she spoke of white girls. Although he didn't elaborate, his expression was so exhasperated that it was obvious he thought they had all been just as unsuitable as she had. Looking back he knew that if she'd said something to him about her feelings that he'd have accepted her and welcomed her love. Yet, like she said, horrible things could have happened to her just like the things that had happened to his mother, and losing both of them to something like that would have been entirely too much for him to bear.
Being reffered to as the "cool, sexy, weird kid" made him laugh. She could say what she wanted, but she really had been his foundation during high school and when the problems of his family became too much for him she'd always been a refuge.
He nodded as she spoke about the rosary and he smiled. "Mi abuelita, it was hers too you know and she loved you like a daughter."
"The Foxes. I'll remember." He watched her step closer to him with an intruiging smile on her face. He nodded somewhat nervously and put his arm over and then around the back of her shoulders to pull her even closer. "One for the road.." he said quietly and leaned in to place a gentle and lingering kiss on her lips. When their lips parted he pulled her into a warm hug.