"I like you!" Alfie never knew what to do with crying girls, but there was a stone bench in the hallway and he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her toward it, keeping his arms around her while she cried.
"I love you. You're my best friend, you know that! I couldn't ever not like you. I just don't...." Now he got quieter. Who told a crying girl that you didn't like them that way.