Disclaimer: Not mine
--
His father said he was determined. His mother was less kind (but probably closer to the truth) when she said he was too stubborn for his own good. But both parents agreed that once their son Trip set his mind on something, nothing could change it. They adjusted to the regular delivery of off-world packages containing the machine parts their village didn't sell-- and the contractions built with said parts cluttering up their home. It took longer to adjust to him telling them he'd been accepted to start training at Time Force, but they knew they didn't have much of a choice.
If they could see him now, they wouldn't know what to think.
But he's just being realistic, that's all. There's no way Katie will ever feel for him the way he does for her. He's hoped, and there have been times he thought it might happen. The times she would wrap an arm around his shoulders and beam at him like he was the best thing that ever happened to her, or the times she'd sneak up and grab him tight to steal a kiss. But that's all it'll ever be to her. Just playing around with just a good friend who'll never have the courage to tell her it means more to him than she'll ever know.
It's all right, though. If there's anything this had taught him, it's that there are things he's never meant to have.