[ If Joe was honest with himself, if he wasn't trying to protect Dennis or justify his reasoning for turning him down so much, this would be easier, but this is what he does. He complicates things without meaning to (and sometimes he complicates things on purpose), overthinks, and it lands him—

Here. In a mess, things always end in a mess. By now it's so common for Joe that it shouldn't even faze him anymore, but it does. With Dennis, it does.

Joe takes a moment to try and think, to figure out the whys. He's unusually quiet, almost silence save for the very faint sound of his breathing through the line. ]

... You say 'someone like me' like - like you're some kind of burden to me. Is that what you think? Because you're not. I wouldn't have gotten so - mad about you leaving or - or joking about leaving if you were.

[ He breathes out, thinks about what he wants to say next and chooses his words carefully. ]

Just because you told me you love me - that doesn't have to change anything. It— [ God, he just wants to hang up. This should be something they talk about in person, but he's not sure Dennis wants to see him at all, and he's got... other plans he's already committed to. ] It doesn't make me feel any less towards you.

So why can't things be like they were?