[The words themselves, the emotions behind them, absolutely destroy him, looking completely gutted. He actually forgets to breathe for a moment. Just... looking at Keith in a stunned silence. His heart physically aches.]
[Maybe it shouldn't shock him as much as it does. But hearing it when every horrible thought he's ever thought about himself is rattling around in his head and he... he wishes he could be the person that Keith thinks he is. Because Keith is the best man he's ever known and he wants to be somehow good enough for him, to be worth caring about as deeply as Keith does.]
[His hold on his hands slackens a little, some of that tension-- that hyper-awareness and fight-or-flight adrenaline finally leeching out of his shoulders. If he weren't standing, he'd slump forward, but manages to hold himself in place, his expression wavering as he looks at Keith.]