[She almost asks if she'd done something wrong, said the wrong thing, but fights the urge to second-guess herself. She'd meant what she said, and there was no taking it back— instead, she lets him take the moment he needs to get through whatever emotion it is that holds him hostage for those few moments.]

You shouldn't listen to them.

[She doesn't know what they could have said to make him feel otherwise, other than echoes of what he so clearly believes about himself, but she shakes her head once he's lifted his chin from it, as if dismissing all those people she's never met out of turn.]

You're kind, and thoughtful. You know how to listen to people, and how to make them feel better about themselves. Those are gifts— rare ones. So whatever other people have said to you... you shouldn't listen. They can't see what's really important.