"It wasn't easy for me, either," I reminded him, swallowing down the urge to explain myself further. He'd heard it all before, and the last thing he needed was another lecture from me.

"It's difficult not to feel like I'm living in someone else's shadow. How I ask, when I ask, if I ask... it's all being compared to what came before. And I'm not saying that's your fault. It's not. You're not doing anything, it's... It's me. It's him, if that makes sense. That other version of me."