I may have pretended I was deeply traumatized and needed time to be eased into it.

["Pretended," like he isn't. But at least in this he was faking it pretty hard in a way that was meant to get them to be lenient.]

[Being traumatized just manifests in different ways for him when he isn't faking it. Like running away to avoid being in anything resembling the covens.]

I maybe possibly even fake cried?

[He squints, and then says it like someone who's done some kind of dark deed:]

I did what I had to do. I'm not proud of myself.