If she couldn't be responsible or careful or good or loved. If she was doomed to be a lit match, then Charlie might as well go back to finding stuff to burn.
When Holly Black said, “It turns out that men have more authority, even when they're not real,” and V. E. Schwab said “apparently a man half in his cups still inspired more faith than a sharp-eyed girl who looked even younger than her age,” it really hit.