"And maybe before, Sameen wouldn't have even invited you to come along," B counters, leaning back against the cabinets and watching Steve's back. "You can't know how it woulda been, Steve. We're different people now. That don't mean who you are now is bad." B happens to love who Steve is now very much, after all. Maybe he'd love the old Steve, too, but... the old Steve is the one who left him.

"Besides," he adds, "to hear you tell it, nobody ever had any kind of authority here, not you or anyone else."