As he walked home, the depression hit him like a semi and he understood why he was so torn open by this; even though they had shared a good long time together, she had just suddenly realized that she wasn't ready for any kind of relationship, whereas he was ready for the long haul. And having that emotion suddenly cut out from under him hurt worse than anything he had ever felt in his life thus far.
He closed the gate and doors, locked up and turned out all the lights, and retired to his bedroom, looking sadly at the frozen A/C and wishing he had the cash to buy a new one already. He sighed, pulled off his Linkin Park shirt, an old gift from her, and pulled on another one, this one yellow, from the softball spring training she did in Florida this past year, another gift to him. He felt like curling up and crying right there on the floor, but managed to crawl into bed and fall into a fitful slumber.
He dreamt of her, as he had every night for the past month. This time, it wasn't a simple retelling of a previous time they had been together, but an instance of "what-if" from the future that would no longer be.