Desmond stared quietly at her as she slipped to her knees in front of him to force her to look at him. He wasn't so childish that he was going to look away from her. He would face her head on, if that's what she demanded of him. He would tear his own heart out there in front of her to let her watch it beat if that was what she insisted that he go through to keep her safe. That sadness was reflected in his eyes as she looked at him though, and she would see the full weight of that pained look. Nothing had to do with his abilities now though, it was simply Beth herself that was hurting him now, or perhaps it was Desmond that was hurting himself. He couldn't be certain any longer, only recognize that this... this moment in time, hurt worse than any pain that he had felt in a long time.
He did not say anything to her, just listened, politely to her words, listened to what it was that she had to say. She would see him flinch as she mentioned the night before, when there had been something else there in his eyes, that he looked as if he was broken. It was an all too astute observation, he realized, as he looked down at his gloved hands. Was he not, actually, when it came right down to it, a broken creature? Something that was not fixable? That was not normal? That did not give into the very nature of what it was, what it longed to be? He closed his eyes quietly, and let her finish, not taking the note from her as she tried to hand it back to him.
"You have someone Beth." he said finally, turning his eyes towards her. "You can not make me happy when your heart belongs to another." It was a simple, sad testament to the truth of their situation. He paused then, letting those words sink in for a moment before he lowered his gaze down briefly, only to look back up at her with a quiet sigh. "I can survive being impaled for hundreds of years after my blood has drained from my body. I can kill scores of young vampires without breaking a sweat. I could take apart your dorm room, brick by brick with my mind alone, and I can live alone on this world until the sun dies out and the earth itself freezes beneath our feet."
He paused then, and exhaled quietly.
"But I cannot be just your friend, Beth. I am sorry." With that, his eyes quietly returned to the ground at his feet once again.