...I've always been dumb. Getting an 87 on a History exam didn't fix that, so I guess that nothing is going to.

[He gently strokes her cheek, when she leans into him.]

If you're not going to let me just protect you, then... can you just stay with me?

[Given that she knows how little he has left in the world, even over two years out from that fateful day, that's a powerful question for him to ask her.]