Content Warning: This section mentions child physical and sexual abuse.

There are unspoken understandings between close friends and family, and these understandings form out of well-forged, lengthy bonds. Connor and Branwell are best friends, and it is because they have grown up together and gone through the same things that Connor is able to help and understand Branwell when no one else can. Connor explains how “friendship depends on interlocking time, place, and state of mind” and that there is no particular reason or explanation for why he and Branwell became friends (13). It is a complex and mysterious fact that Connor accepts with gratitude: “I am proud to say that the first words he spoke were to me, which does not help explain why we are friends but it says a lot about how deep the layers of our friendship go” (21). He knows that he and Branwell have a lifelong friendship ahead of them and feels lucky to have someone like Branwell beside him. Connor accepts Branwell’s awkwardness and offers him the patience he needs, and Branwell supports Connor in everything he does. While their friendship has grown distant over the past few weeks, once Connor finds out the source of this change, their bond is resealed, stronger than ever.