He shook his head again, smiling the sad smile of the hopeless. Rory was ridiculously smart. She caught things. But when it came to their parents, when it came to him, she seemed to buy into the mirage too. It was too bad really. Den hadn't built it for her. She always seemed like the sort of person who needed what was real. Maybe that had been their problem all along. The reason they could never quite see eye to eye. In trying to give his parents what they needed, Dennis had accidentally taken what Rory needed away. Den didn't know. He supposed trying to figure it all out would give him something to do for the next few days.
“They told me what they wanted,” Den said. He spoke slowly. “And I tried for them. That's all.” Whether or not they were proud of him for that, Den didn't know. He couldn't know, because he'd tried very hard not to let them know he'd done it. He hadn't done anything extraordinary. He hadn't risen above their parameters. He'd only filled the role they'd wanted him to fill. Nothing more. Possibly less. Den didn't think he did anything really worthy of pride, but then again, that hadn't ever mattered to much to him. He was okay if they were only really proud of their dream. It was a nice dream.
“It wasn't about earning their pride,” he said, “It's not what I wanted. Not my goal. You can have that.” He didn't need her to try and undo their father's last words, and regift them. They were fine just the way they were. Rory could have had it all. All of it. And Dennis would have been fine. He hated that they'd made it so she didn't think that was fine. He raised an eyebrow, and grinned for a second when she laughed. “They're an insult to chips,” he said.
And then she was crying. Really crying. And it shook him. Shook him hard. They were all gone, and he could die. He could die and leave her with four dead weights on her shoulders. Den didn't want to do that. Rory had always been free, free-er than him, and that's what he'd always wanted for her. He wanted to hold her. Somehow let her know that it was alright, and that he'd forgive her for anything because there wasn't any time left to hold on. He sat up a little more, and didn't let himself flinch that time. Then he reached his free hand over and placed it on her shoulder for a moment. “It'ss okay,” Den said, “It will all be okay.” “No regrets alright?” And he meant it.