"It does, doesn't it?" John asked, practically cheerful because he did understand that she was teasing, and that no scene or situation like this could be handled without a little bit of levity. It just wasn't possible.
Certainly, there were some parallels between them, and John was pretty sure neither of them had missed that, even if neither would call attention to it either.
"I dunno," he said thoughtfully, cigarette bobbing in his mouth as he turned the box around with both hands, like he was inspecting the cheap wood, like there might be secrets there. "Might just be gone, y'know? It's not like I'm made of stone these days, but there's something about youthful vulnerability instead of the learned kind."
In the end, he set the box back down on the counter. "I think some things are best left in the past. Not forgotten, y'know? Just. I am who I am now, even without."