He should have known it wasn't that easy to get off the hook for lying, but at least this he knew how to explain.
'Not you, no,' he said with a slight smile. 'Others definitely, but that's not why...' He quieted for a moment, before starting again.
'You can't half live a lie, if you do you have to do it all the time, not some of the time. I needed to be what I pretended to be, or...well I would have failed at it.'
'You know it wasn't as much for being liked as for keeping her safe. Keeping dad's family from killing her. Not that I managed very well in keeping her safe,' he added, a slightly bitter tone to his voice.