It's hard finding that line - where you sacrifice yourself and where you don't. It wasn't good - losing them. But in the end it helped me be who I am. My sister stayed around the longest. Losing her was my fault, really. I let myself change in a way that even I didn't like. I think she'd have loved me all the same, given time.

[ he shrugs a little bit - it's odd thinking of them now. it was all so long ago, and while he'd never been able to truly keep tabs on them, he'd tried. peeked into their lives with better technology, sending money to trusts for her children and grandchildren and so on.

his only legacy, his only view of a life he could have had, but would have been miserable within. ]

And you're right - we shouldn't have to. But loving someone, regardless of what the world says, will always come with sacrifices. That's how it is. I don't regret what I did - I'm able to sit side by side with you in this bath and not worry a bit because of it. Maybe it took time, maybe it took some soul searching, but that's the thick and thin of it.

[ he sighs, looking over at tim, nudging him with an elbow. ]

It gets better. It's not easy, and it never stops being hard, but it does get better. And my guess is with you behind all that, you'll pave the way for other people to be honest with themselves too.