I've got things to work on, too. I'm not one to judge on that front. But it's easier to work through things when you're not alone. I know, 'cause I've been trying to do everything on my own and it's bleeding me dry.

[Sometimes, he holds onto people as much out of desperation to keep them from leaving as he does to protect them. He's been alone since he was a kid, living in an empty house with parents that passed through on occasion, trying to figure out the world on his own. Nobody was there to help him deal with anything. He just dealt with it. That was San Clemente in a nutshell.

Here, though, he's not alone. He can help people. Maybe not well, definitely not in above-board ways, but he can. He's got a decent chance of doing something with his life and not having to keep coming home to empty houses and dead silence. He could make actual friends here, friends and whatever Yusuke wants to be, if they ever want to try and figure that out later. It's not the most optimistic thought by other people's standards, but by Brendan's, this is probably the most hopeful he's felt since he got here.]