"I know," he finishes off the rest of his coffee before tossing the empty cup. "I know it's different, I just–" The words– I have a niece to meet– die on his tongue because... they aren't for David, not really. It's a backwards half-baked not-quite-promise he didn't exactly make to Allison and... he'd like to do one goddamn thing right in all this. Just once.

But none of that is for David. It isn't even really for Allison, he doesn't think he'd be able to bring himself to say any of it to her, either. So he nods and mutters, "Yeah," leaving it at that, a heavy sigh escaping him.