I let her curl up against me, telling myself because it's not worth the fight and I don't want to upset her. She went through all the trouble to get me here and she's not going away, so pushing her away would be useless. I also know that I like this, that after telling myself I don't deserve to be close to anyone that this kind of nearness feels good. I shouldn't let it, but it does.

"If you don't want me to have a beard you can shave me then," I say, even though I don't mean that. It hardly takes any time or effort at all to burn the hair off of my face.