She's already been helping him correct his way forward for years, showing him that there are things about the self he's tried to be that he doesn't actually like, as much as John has. And there will, he knows, be mistakes, and problems, and frustrations. But they have this to start with, this understanding that in some way they are the same and they've found one another, this intimacy.

His lips move lower, leaving a slow trail of heat in the wake of his kisses.

"Last night," he admits, barely more than a breath. "I meant what I said. Not just because we were having sex."