He was saying the right things to strike a chord. Rose nodded, even though she didn't completely believe everything he was saying. She wasn't sure she could go home, show her face to the people she cared about. She didn't know if she could talk to Rachel, whom she would have killed had the Phoenix force not awoken during the attack. But she was listening and some of it got through. When he kissed her forehead, her eyes watered and she felt the lump in her throat grow.
When he told her his story, she just stared. Mostly because she couldn't ever see Gar, who was always joking, being anything but some snarky superhero who was lewd but well meaning. That he had the potential to be a murderer was a big surprise. Rose opened her mouth to say something, but nothing really came. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She sniffed and realized there were tears on her cheeks again. It was likely she'd be a leaky faucet for a while. "I'm sorry," she whispered into his ear. Sorry that he could understand how she felt. Sorry that he hadn't seen a good future for himself.
She cleared her throat and pulled away and ran a hand through her hair. She worried her lip. "What if I'm not better than that?"