"Bless him for keeping with it instead of giving up," Lachlan laughed once. There was regret in there too though. Lachlan, in the throes of addiction, had once held Stephen at gunpoint for four hours in an attempt to rob him. And Stephen had spent the entire time begging Lachlan, not for his own life, but for Lachlan's. Lachlan had never truly experienced that kind of love before from anyone other than his siblings. It had been the first catalyst for change when, at the end of a four hour standoff, Stephen hugged him and reassured him and got him help instead of having him arrested.
"And I know you tried, Iain. You tried so hard it broke you nearly in two. I honestly think without you we both would have died. Nearly did while you were gone. But by then you had shown us how to take care of each other so we did the best we could. Without that there would have been nothing."