I wonder if Danny's pride has made this three-for-three dumpings whilst at college. I suppose, being only a late teen, it is too much to hope for to expect him to be entirely rational and mature. Still, he could at least try to be
nice instead of defensive.
Ethan seems to be invested in this relationship himself. Is he just being 'the nice guy' (which is his normal role) or does he really think those two are good for each other?
I thought Danny was saying that he was sick of pretending Amber wasn't his girlfriend (because of her alter ego), but maybe I'm giving him too much credit.
Maybe he was but it was probably the wrong thing to say in an argument. Basically he was using Amber's mental and emotional issues to tell her that she has nothing to say to him about his drinking right now. That's a dick move, in my view.
[edit]
Lots of anger on DMW's comments page today. I'm not sure why but I'm wondering if some readers are feeling a disconnect between fundamentally liking and admiring Amber (she's a damaged young woman who wants to turn her injuries into a force for good) and disliking her very rigid morality and stance regarding the letter of the law, at least as far as it applies to other people (I've seen the same cognitive dissonance affecting people's reactions to Joyce).
To draw a parallel, it reminds me a little of how posters on this site and the subreddit sometimes react to Claire when she turns her acid tongue on Clinton. They basically like and admire the character but they don't like some of her attitudes and the conflicting emotions lead to outbursts sometimes.