This is what time and belief had made of him. So many people clung to the idea that he desired children despite the lack of any evidence. The idea that he was some kind of predator had made him withdraw from so much. And despite the great leaps forward he had made in a year and change, it was still hard to shake the thought that everyone believed deep down, that he was some sick and twisted individual who might do to others, the very thing that had been done to him.

Absolutely never.

But it was so hard to see his desire for Piper as anything but unwholesome and dark, even though it wasn't. She was mortal and far younger than he was. He had to shake the thought that that was what drew him to her, when really it was her heart and her mind. It was what kept him awake and night, and what clouded his thoughts during the day.

"I know," he said softly. "Or I mostly do. I want...more. And that scares me."