Firefly Glen the finite and the infinite

She was apologizing to him.
 
The dark figure couldn’t even grasp the idea that Meerkat was trying her hardest to make sure he was alright. He knew he didn’t deserve it. He knew that her kindness was lost on him… that it would do so much better for anyone else. It hurt more than he cared to admit.
 
Atlas might have been confused, but his feelings for the brown-eyed girl were always the same. He cared for her so deeply he was afraid. That fear had gripped him. That fear had pulled him to the depths of his frightened, anxious pleading. Try as he might to focus, to look at the girl he liked, he could not pull the image of his brother’s eyes from his mind. The glimmer of green that had been struck from the world.
 
“Why did they take my brother…” he sobbed. Why did they leave me behind?
 
Another wash of shame and Atlas pulled away from Meerkat, unable to face her, unable to think of what might happen if he were to lose her. He knew what he needed to do. He knew that he did not have a place in Firefly Glen anymore. And he knew that she deserved all the happiness the world could bring her, but if she was forced to fulfill her proposal to him… she never would be.
 
The inkjet figure pulled out of her touch, unable to look her in the eye. He breathed a shaky breath but could not tell her what he wanted to. Instead, he turned and cut a path for the borders of the glen and then the wilds beyond. His heart aching with devastation.