"You make it sound like a scene out of Carrie," Karla replied, shaking her head. But she knew that this was all because Richie did care so deeply for Adrian. He didn't want to screw this up or hurt this person that he'd fallen for by somehow damaging his career or just generally being a pain in the ass, but Karla knew that Adrian didn't see Richie as a pain in the ass. He loved him. He wanted to look after him. "It's not being precious when you're really sick. And we both know that you're the least likely to be bitching about being sick. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that your boss called me, I wouldn't have known you were sick at all. You're not a whiner, baby. We all know that." He was her baby, and she just couldn't resist momming him along the way when he needed it. He would whine to Karla if he really needed to have a whine, but even that wasn't the most common thing. He didn't like it. It wasn't his way, but when he did, he knew that Karla was a safe person to get his whine on with.

Karla looked at her son, arching an eyebrow at how easily and quickly he'd found the root of the problem here. She hadn't even truly come to the conclusion herself, but Richie had, and now she was just staring at him in surprise. "I... Think that's exactly it," she confessed. "I think it's how easy it is that terrifies me. He's so kind and easy to talk to. It seems like nothing should be that easy, and if I get too comfortable with it, it's sure to blow up in my face. That probably sounds stupid. But Carter's wonderful. He's handsome and charming, but not the kind of charming when you know he's trying to charm you. The kind of charming where he's just genuinely sweet and it makes you like being around him. He's been through a lot himself, and he talks about it... Makes me feel like it's okay to talk about the things I've been through, too."