Dustin exhales, and rests his chin on the top of Neal's head. It's probably a little too intimate for the relationship they share, but his head is sloshing with complicated thoughts and a record-setting amount of alcohol, and right now, he just feels bad for Neal. This aching sort of heartbreak doesn't suit the other boy, who has always struck Dustin as too sharp, too bright, to be worn down by the mundane grind of unrequited love, and he finds it inspires a strange protectiveness in him.

He knows Atticus well, and as Neal speaks, he can almost hear his friend's voice instead.

"He does care about you," Dustin offers. For what it's worth, he means it as a consolation.