But it’s one thing to recognize a fact and it’s another thing entirely to depend on it, and Mike realizes, with depressing clarity, that he’s doing the latter. That as empty as his days can get, as monotonous, Liam’s prepared to bolster them with the paper-thin presence of phone calls, Skype, or, less frequently, his too loud too much presence filling Mike’s house and settling something inside of him, letting him relax.
