[ He didn't exactly have any expectations, and he still manages to be surprised into a few seconds of silence. ]

That's certainly personal.

[ He doesn't really mind, though. ]

The connection might have contributed, a little, mostly by being too much. Most of the slower breakdown was just outside pressure. Our lives clearly weren't normal and a lot of people were invested in us as some sort of dream couple.

But the ultimate thing that broke us was that we had leaned into that connection for a long time. When I came back from being possessed, she had fought to get me back when everyone else wrote me off as dead, and really needed me to be... there. I wasn't functional. I felt corrupted. I couldn't stand being touched, much less letting someone I loved into my head.