It's a lot easier already to just lie to himself. He can lie and pretend that bumping his nose against her temple is affectionate, caring; not the desperate need not to meet her eyes. He can lie and pretend they're just talking about Runs; not about changing themselves from the core.

Lying to himself feels a lot easier to breathe around than lying to her.

"Before we know it. Just-- need to get our feet under ourselves, right?"