Luke huffed, a bit, though it was almost a laugh rather than almost a grunt. "I wasn't hiding," he protested lightly. "Or at least, not from you. Don't you see, I don't... I don't want to want anything." He squeezed her hand back. It felt odd, but he was growing more accustomed to the touch as time went on. "That was the point, in coming here. Not to need anyone." And the only way to do that, for him, had been to disentangle himself from everyone.

Because it was fairly obvious what happened, given half the chance at a connection with another human.

"I would never want you to be anything but completely honest," he added. "And I will try to be the same, with you. Though that may not always be easy, for me. Or... possible."

It hadn't always been that way. He'd been so brash, as a young man. So forward. What had happened?