Blink. "Um."

"I said you weren't going to say it."

"I'm not sure what to say," she says slowly.

Shrug.

"Do you... have a crush on me or are you in love with me or something?"

"Not really. I'm just not picky."

"Okay," she says neutrally, not showing the relief she's feeling, and shakes her head. "Is that really the only way I could convince you?"

"You could set me up with somebody else who'd tell me to I guess, I'll do basically anything that way."

She sighs. "Why can't you—care about your own well being?"

"I already know you're not going to pay attention to anything I think about that so I guess it's probably because I'm depressed."

"What am I not going to pay attention to, then?"

"I don't have an opinion, I'm just a walking sack of depression, those don't know anything about how they work."

"That's not what I'm saying. What is your opinion?" She bites her tongue on voicing what she thinks it is.

"I just don't think I work very well on my own."

Blink. "I know that. I—must have been very unclear if I sounded like I didn't think that. I'm sorry."

"...then I don't even know what you're on about."

"I think that's probably necessary but not sufficient for you to be well, is what I'm on about."

"A while back you thought I couldn't find anybody to date because I was depressed, and now you're admitting that I can't be 'well' alone, but you just flat out disagreed when I said it was circular!"

"I thought it was harder for you to find someone to date because you're depressed, and that that was probably contributing to your not having found it by then, and I still think that. Additionally, you look like the kind of person that needs someone to take care of them. You've convinced me of that. But I think not having someone to take care of you isn't the sole cause of your not being a hundred percent, as evidenced by the fact that now you do and yet."

"He's not really the taking-care-of type," says Jackson.

"No, he's really not," she sighs.

Jackson prods his by-now-cold eggs with his fork. "I have to go to class."

Jackson's head droops in something that might be relaxation. He doesn't attempt to move until she stops.