It sounds hard; both living like that and admitting it to her. She wishes she had something to say that would ease his burden, something sympathetic, but her own mental issues seem insignificant compared to his. "Things that can hurt you?" she echoes instead, her voice soft and uncertain. "Even in the Nexus?"

You're way too much of a wimp to try that, her doppelganger scoffs. Adia hazards a glance back. The other her is still there, but not quite keeping pace. Some of the fog has obscured her features.

She remembers her hand in Josh's. "So you know I'm real," she says with a small, relieved smile. "You've known since the Halloween party, when you helped me with my make-up." She looks him in the eyes. "Josh, if I'm ever nasty to you, it's not me. It would never be me."