[ After a moment, he hugs back. No matter the realization outside, his affection for Max is real. ]
You're wrong about why I had Blanca train me, at least in the way you see it. After what happened there and seeing pictures of you, Jessica, and Michael, it wasn't that you weren't enough. It was that I wasn't. I was pissed I wasn't strong enough to hold them back and scared I wouldn't be next time. Before you say it would have been different if I'd trusted you, Blanca wasn't enough then. I turned down his offer. I thought it was the only way I could still be around them without hating myself for putting them in danger.
[ He should have just handled the guilt or left.
Left, he knows now. ]
You don't have to say anything. It's an explanation, not an argument.
no subject
You're wrong about why I had Blanca train me, at least in the way you see it. After what happened there and seeing pictures of you, Jessica, and Michael, it wasn't that you weren't enough. It was that I wasn't. I was pissed I wasn't strong enough to hold them back and scared I wouldn't be next time. Before you say it would have been different if I'd trusted you, Blanca wasn't enough then. I turned down his offer. I thought it was the only way I could still be around them without hating myself for putting them in danger.
[ He should have just handled the guilt or left.
Left, he knows now. ]
You don't have to say anything. It's an explanation, not an argument.