"Don't remember...don't remember coming back. But I know if it were me...really me--I woulda stayed. Those other guys, weren't me. I'da stayed..." he said rocking back on his heels and giving her a side long look. He shook his head then nodded, biting his bottom lip. "Gotta believe me, Zo. I wouldn't've left ya. Not if I could help it. Fight and scream and punch and bite my way back if I had to. Love you more than anything in the world."
His fingernail scraped along the crack again.
"But. I ain't mad. Not cause...I'm glad that you didn't--stop. Wouldn't have wanted that," he said, but looked back at her again, longingly.
"But, y'know, green guy was wrong. This is, most definitely, hell. Finding you and losing you in one day. Fire and brimstone ain't got no fire to cause pain like what it is now," he said, trying to keep the waver out of his voice.