"You were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs." "I'm not a hallucination," Neil said, nonplussed. "You are a pipe dream," Andrew said
"It's fine if you hate me," Neil said. It was the truth, if a bit of an understatement. So long as Andrew was only physically attracted to Neil, this was safe to experiment with. Neil's death wouldn't be more than a faint inconvenience to Andrew. "Good," Andrew said, "because I do."
"There is no 'this'. This is nothing." "And I am nothing," Neil prompted. When Andrew gestured confirmation, Neil said, "And as you've always said, you want nothing."
"Thank you," he finally said. He couldn't say he meant thanks for all of it: the keys, the trust, the honesty, and the kisses. Hopefully Andrew would figure it out eventually. "You were amazing."
"Don't lie to a liar," Nathaniel said. "We both know I'm here because you have nothing without me. A pile of dead bodies can't close cases or play the money trail with you. I told you what those answers would cost you and you agreed to pay it. So take this handcuff off of Andrew, get your man out of our way, and stop using up my twenty minutes with your useless posturing."
"Am I at ninety-four yet?" "You are at one hundred," Andrew said.
"If you tell me to leave, I'll go." "You aren't going anywhere," Andrew said: the same words, the same promise.
Andrew bit the question into the corner of Neil's jaw. "Yes or no?" "It's always yes with you," Neil said.
"Who said 'please' that made you hate the word so much?" Andrew gazed at him in silence for a minute. "I did." "He said he would stop if I said it." "You believed him," Neil guessed. "I was seven," Andrew said. "I believed him." "Seven," Neil echoed stupidly