The smile formed and "Yeah," fell out of his mouth before he could turn the autopilot off his autopilot. The expression that followed made it clear he wasn't happy with what he just said, as did the sigh that followed. "Sorry, that's a bad habit, I know." As if the drinking and drugs and all that casual sex weren't bad, too.

TJ followed Elliot through the apartment, pausing only long enough to close and lock the door behind him. "Last time someone told me they wanted to talk, I got dumped," he admitted. There's more to the story than that, some deeper, darker pain slithering under the words but not yet rearing its ugly head. "Makes me nervous when people say that."