I know that. [It falls short of the levity he was aiming for. He'd hoped for more even if he hadn't expected it, but that's... not running away.
At least he's important?
He lets go of her so he can kiss her, just once, very softly. Tiredly. Now that he's not afraid of having Kitty leave him in the immediate future and now that he's finally said the words that he hasn't said so many times, he's drained.
Chekov regrets his decision to tell Kitty he loves her. It was profoundly stupid of him to add these emotions to the pile of Things to Deal With Today. That regret has nothing to do with any doubts on his end, though, because he knows that he loved her before and that he loves her still. There are a lot of things that he isn't sure of right now; the current status of his heart is not one of them.]