To be fair, Hadyn had let Elisha manipulate him until he wasn't even aware it was happening any more. And then, Joanna told him, there was that unconscious response Hadyn had to the feeling of being loved. He'd not had it from a parent as a child, and so getting it for the first time...in a romantic way? It had become a bit of a drug for him, she was certain.

"Okay," Hadyn said, with a nod. "I'll try. If...you're patient with me." This was, he thought, a good start. "It...scares me to tell you, you know. And sometimes...I just don't know, I don't know why it is happening. Little things, stupid things...said, or done. And, and it just snaps. Like a boulder just shoved suddenly down the mountain, crashing through every rational thought in my head. And...I can't, I can't..."

Find the words, he thought as he closed his eyes and frowned. The worst thing about depression, he thought, was how it ebbed and flowed like water. One sad thought, and then rush of the tide washed the sand out from under you. And it could stay, or wash back out- it was hard to tell. Harder, he thought, to explain.

"But....I'll try."