Stopping when they reached the door, Skipper turned to face him, leaning up against the side of the building. They needed to get inside, but a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt, and it would give him time to brace himself for whatever was waiting on the other side. She was completely silent as she waited for him to speak; being silent for a long period of time wasn’t something that happened often when it came to her, but she wasn’t going to pressure him to speak until he was ready to. She blinked at first, when he asked if he was a horrible person, about to ask him why he would think that, though he spoke again before she had to. It was hard to hear him talk about these two people who had hurt him, who probably cared but didn’t show it, to know how sad that must make him feel. She couldn’t imagine being in that place with her brother or someone who was supposed to be her friend. “I’m going to be honest with you,” she said, slowly, “Brutally honest.” Going quiet for another second, she shook her head, her voice coming out quiet. “No.” Taking a deep breath, she continued, “No, you’re not a horrible person and no, it’s not horrible for you to feel that way. You can’t let people walk over you or use you -- no matter how much they say they love you. If it’s that hard to believe, if they’re only hurting you, you have to break away. You just have to. That doesn’t mean you have to leave or avoid them, it just means you have to... stop letting them make you feel like you’ve got one hand behind your back. And it’s really hard to do that, I know, but you have to be able to love yourself and do what’s best for you, surround yourself by people who lift you up instead of dragging you down. It’s not selfish. It’s not horrible. You’ve tried everything you can, Marcus. If your brother, and if Lockie-- if they want to be a part of their life, they’re going to have to come to you. The ball is in their court. You’re allowed to be upset. Don’t let anyone else ever tell you that you’re not. They have no right to try to control the way you think or feel. They don’t. And you’re as far from horrible as it gets. That’s just the truth.” She crossed her arms, staring at him. “The brutally honest truth.”