What do you owe to someone you've dated? Intuitively, you owe more the more you've dated. However, my friends have given me pretty different answers.

On one of my dates, the other person jumped onto the subway, took a bow, and announced “I don't think it'll work out.” “Oh! Ok…” We waved at each other, and they went off in the wrong direction.

I appreciated the honesty. However, I felt like we owed each other more, especially as I carried an entire picnic's supplies home.¹

So when I broke it off with someone else, I resolved to sit with them. We talked for a few tender hours, I hugged them, and I left. I knew, though, that I couldn't fully comfort them:

You can't be the one to hold him when you were the one who left