Re: Woods: Patrick/Mary
[Being the simpleton was the bane of Patrick's childhood, man. It was the thing he would lock himself in his room and cry about most enthusiastically. It was who he was, and that kind of thing was not easy for this dude to walk away from.] I know I'm strong, man. I'm just not strong at this. [Inarticulate, but Patrick had been fighting with this whole concept for months now. Which, in Patrick's case, meant he'd tried to ignore it for months now.]
Shut up, Del. We're what we are, and not being chill might just be part of it. [He gave her a look.] No, no, it doesn't work like that. You know things about met hat even Con doesn't know. That's not friends, my girl. All right, we are not a thing, but we're not friends either. We're more than that, at least for me. Bro's an upgrade, bro. [He raked a hand through his hair again.] All right. I'm going to herd little girls, and then I'm going to have a beer on my days off, and then we'll regroup. All right?
[He ducked his head, trying to get a good look at her face.] I'm glad I finally got to see you, for what it's worth, my girl.