"That's the worst of it," Reno said, his hands making their ways back to his pockets again. Stupid winter. "Still allowed to hate it. Nobody's gonna blame you if you do."

Deep breath.

"I don't want anything from you you don't wanna give. I don't want approval for the stupid shit I did in my life. I don't want you to have to pretend that the bad stuff ain't bad. I want you to want what you want, and maybe if I know what you want, we can... figure it out from there."

A pause. And then his eyes dropped to the floor.

"I meant it, when I had to go, when I said it was me, yoto. It wasn't I was tryin' to get away from you, or anything like that. It was... There were words. Sometimes, they get too heavy, is all."