Well, he was decent enough with Vic in this chapter, so I think it's more of a "I'm afraid I've taken on a burden I can't carry on" kind of thing that he admitted to Maja at the physical therapy center when Vic panicked and he made a promise to help her.
He actually had a similar moment with a half-naked Nami after his date with Bella, when Nami asked him and Noji who Nick was and was very offended that they didn't tell her. When she complained that he wouldn't let her be close to him, to participate in his life, he started with the same stupid excuses that she is so full of life and he is so
full of shit depressed emo
[sarcasm.jpg] and didn't want to pull her along with him. But she also called out his lame excuses and said that he was doing this for himself, not for her, because he did not want to burden himself.
Vic did the same when she told him that the last thing she needed was people avoiding her and he shouldn't do that anymore.
EDIT: And in general, one does not exclude the other
He might believe or even pretend even to himself that he believes that he will definitely hurt the people he cares about, and therefore tries to keep them at a distance. But that doesn't mean his excuses aren't lame