Sam raked a hand through his hair and laughed. "No, you didn't make me do anything. You probably could have done a better job at avoiding making it worse, but you didn't make me fall in love with you. I did that on my own. And there were some steps I could have taken to avoid falling for you to begin with as well. Still." He folded his arms over his chest, shrugging uncomfortably. "I blame you. Not 'cause you were out to get me or whatever, but because you're - obviously there's something about you that I couldn't resist. So it is partially your fault. Just not in the way you think." He breathed out sharply through his nose, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as he listened to Ruby speak once more.
"Those memories are tainted. For me. I'm glad they're good for you, but to me..." He shook his head. "It'll never be the same. They won't be as great as they once were because you weren't what I imagined you to be when they were happening." Sam didn't know what else to tell her about that. There was nothing to do to change how he felt about those moments that Ruby had taken from him. Just by being evil, those moments had been broken and destroyed. Maybe evil wasn't the word to use for it. Wrong. Not what he had thought her to be. She had definitely been plotting against him, that much was for certain. "The only thing that I can hope now is that we find more moments...like those. Like they used to be for me before all this happened. If we can do that, then that'll mean something. It'll mean that we can be happy with each other. That I can be happy with you."
Sam wasn't entirely sure if that was encouragement or desperation that he was hearing in Ruby's voice as she pressed on about getting through. Did she really believe that they could do this thing together? It helped if she genuinely did. Sam hoped she genuinely did, because he really wanted to himself. There was nothing more in the world that he'd rather do - except maybe kill Lilith - than make things right with Ruby again. They were one hell of a team when they were together. And, quite honestly, she had made him happier than he had been in a very long time. At least before this. But this could be fixed, couldn't it? Out of the corner of his eye (as Sam had been examining his foot again at the time), he caught a glimpse of that look Ruby shot toward him. He chanced looking up to meet her eyes as well; there was no smile on his face, but there was a look in his eyes that stated quite plainly that he was a little amused. "Who says I need protecting?"