Steven smiles fondly at him. "I was this weird little kid with this whole morbid fascination with death and all its trappings and the only person I knew who shared it... well he got sick. And then he was gone. And I was self-aware enough to know that stuff wasn't considered normal, so I pretended I was, but God, there were some lonely years in there. Then Charley, who had a way of getting into everything, found the books that Tio Carlos left me and started looking at the pictures and asking me questions and it wasn't quite as bad after that. Because she was just as fascinated as I was."

He shakes his head. "I mean, she wasn't just like me, she didn't want the things that I want. She's a good girl. She wouldn't hurt anybody. But I'd play these games of pretend with her, where she'd make me some magic science weapon that I'd use to hurt all the imaginary bad guys who wanted to kidnap her and God, she loved how I'd do all that to protect her. And that was the closest I'd come to anyone understanding, until you."

He nestles in, closer. "Liam, my ex-, one of the things he said when we broke up was how fucked up it was that I would confide more in my kid sister than the man I was living with—but if I'd told him half of anything I'd told you, not just tonight, but if I'd let slip with him any of the things I've let slip with you since you first asked me to be rough with you... God, he'd have run screaming for the hills."