[He was surprised by how much that hurt, not because he was essentially being called a liar, but because it was apparently easier to believe it was a lie than it was to believe the truth.]

It's not bullshit. Why would I bother with that?

[There was a wave of... something flooded beneath his skin, not quite anger, not quite frustration. The useless feeling of wanting to fix something there was no real way to fix.]

I came out here because I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry if other people have been assholes, but that's not what I'm doing here.