"They are all good guys, and i still don't want to talk to any of them. I have nothing to discuss with them, any of them, not even my roommate. I don't give a fuck about remote facts that will never be relevant to my life. That's not what I'm interested in," he answered. "Is it so hard to figure out why all the women I've ended up dating were interested in politics? Okay, maybe not Anne, and we know how well that was going."
Doug snorted. "I'm a lot smarter than you think. You don't worry about anything or anyone until it's too late. I was being sarcastic, because I already know that you will do whatever you like, but you know what? When your dreaming gets someone killed, then don't come to me, because you might be dreaming, but Mom and Dad are sixty. Nana is eighty. Let's go dimension hopping and when Dad has another heart attack, or something else, then you let me know what we do."
He got up. "Can we stop this charade, TJ? You talk about dreaming, but you don't have dreams, and if you do, you have the most basic, common, middle class dream. You want the man, the house and the white picket fence. If you were a woman, you'd be a feminist's worse nightmare, but since you're gay, it's trendy. I want the White House. That's what Bob Kennedy was talking about, take the risk, have the ideals, do what's hard for the good of everyone. He was talking about DC. We had that; I had that. It was the only thing I had in my life, because I certainly didn't have you and I didn't have anyone's attention. They only remembered me when they need me to clean up your mess, or when I had to babysit you, otherwise, they wouldn't have known that I was alive. Hell, there are days I wonder if Nana even remembers that there are two of us and not just you. I've done my best to get what I want. I've given it all I've got, my full commitment, and now it's all gone, and no amount of talking is every going to give it back to me. Do you get that? No matter what changes in the future, I'm never getting my dream back. My dream is dead; the possibility of greatness is gone forever. It doesn't matter what I do; it's gone, and I'm not going to delude myself with platitudes and cliches. So please stop it. I love you, TJ, and I'd do anything for you, but you need to stop with the bullshit, because I don't have the strength or interest to keep telling you how much everything I ever wanted is irreparably gone."