Pause or escape
Leaving so you don’t say something worse, and leaving so it never opens — looks the same, lands the opposite way.
Walking out of a fight is sometimes the most grown-up move you have. You can tell by whether you come back. If you come back, it was a pause. If you don't, it was an escape with a nicer name.
A question from Seth
Last time you walked away from it, did you come back? When?