You didn't see me at my worst. [This is a fact; this is the thing he can't quite let go of. He sat with so much of Stephen's agony, so much of his anger and trauma and found ways to love him through it all. But Jim was - half himself, maybe. He was the parts of himself that had never suffered loss, that had never spent years in a jungle mixing up chemicals. He was a pristine version of himself unmarred by all the shit that has made him Jim Hopper.

He's dragging his hands down his face, he's always endlessly frustrated with himself. ] I'm not good at this, Stephen. Talking. Comforting. I wasn't even good at it in that life, really.

[He thinks this is true, mostly because he can recall his own bad temper. His own frustrations. ] I'm not upset you came to me. I'm glad, I wish it had been enough to wake you up - and I don't know what to do with that.