"I know what you're saying," he says, smiling again. God, sometimes Tom can be weirdly adorable when he's fumbling, even when it's also a bit awful given the context. "You're half wrong, but I know what you're saying. And Neil isn't either. Christ, Tom, you know him. You know he's okay." Because he knows that. You can get past what's been done to you, what you've done, and act on the terms of your own happiness, if you can just believe you deserve it. He's starting to. He feels like Neil is, too.