That's good...I'm glad other people came to see you.

[Atem takes a seat on one side of the couch. His body feels heavy, his stomach too-sweet; this is an uncomfortable conversation they're about to have, and Atem doesn't know where it will end.

He just knows that things can't go on the way they have, or...he'll be unhappy.]

I know you trust me.

I think it's wrong...how much you trust me. More than you trust yourself.

That's at least partially my fault...in January, and in March, you were hurting, and I didn't know another way to help you. I was afraid, too...afraid I'd lose you to a despair event, afraid my actions had led you there. So, I took control, to help us both feel better...

...and, I haven't been able to figure out how to give it back.

[He looks up at Ryou, picking his face up off a corner of the living-room rug.]

I've been trying. And, the way I've been trying has been to support you no matter what you do -- even if I don't think it's a good idea, I don't tell you. I can't! Because if I do, and you decide I know better, then...that's still me making your decisions for you.

I wanted to talk about it, but what I did counted as lying, to you...and as a nephilim, the idea clearly made you angry. But I also didn't want to stay here for two weeks, not really talking to you, hoping I wouldn't stumble on something else your nephilim-mind couldn't stand. I needed -- I wanted to be away.

I'm sorry. I know it was hard. But staying would have been two weeks of hiding my feelings from you...and hoping that didn't count as lying, too.

I would have been unhappy.