Up until I was a teenager, it didn't never occur to me that there was any other way to live.
[And the world is beautiful, and people are fascinating, and there's so much to see and so much to do, and Dan loves so much about it - but some part of Dan will always yearn for the way things were when he was a kid, because the experiences that tore him up and ruined him are inexorably entwined with the memories of entering a world that wasn't welcoming or gentle with him.
The bunker will always represent some idyllic time before he knew what grief or terror were. It'll always be something he can't look at rationally.]
That's young to head out on your own. [Branch has already said enough that Dan can guess the reasons. He starts to trim little button holes into the cardigan, prepared to do more stitching to make the holes secure.] As if being fourteen ain't enough of a turn, right?
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[And the world is beautiful, and people are fascinating, and there's so much to see and so much to do, and Dan loves so much about it - but some part of Dan will always yearn for the way things were when he was a kid, because the experiences that tore him up and ruined him are inexorably entwined with the memories of entering a world that wasn't welcoming or gentle with him.
The bunker will always represent some idyllic time before he knew what grief or terror were. It'll always be something he can't look at rationally.]
That's young to head out on your own. [Branch has already said enough that Dan can guess the reasons. He starts to trim little button holes into the cardigan, prepared to do more stitching to make the holes secure.] As if being fourteen ain't enough of a turn, right?