The way life could change so quickly still frightened Lee. Six years ago he was married, with three children that he loved dearly. However, the wrong friendships and vices consumed him, leaving him slow – useless. And then the tragedy happen. A fire caused by his carelessness took the three children and marked the end of his marriage; his wife would never forgive him for it. They were broken, shattered.

Lee moved to Boston and began working as a janitor, living in one of the rooms of the building where he worked. During those six years the man didn't live, he only survived. He remained apathetic, melancholic, and always on edge. He couldn't maintain conversations, friendships, or any social interaction other than with his brother and nephew by phone. And so Lee led a solitary life, trying to heal from that unimaginable trauma. Until his brother died of heart failure and he was surprised to discover that he was now the legal guardian of Patrick – his nephew.

Returning to Manchester – the site of the tragedy – was like breaking the already broken pieces of his heart. He couldn't get over it, he didn't want to get over it. He desperately wanted to go back to Boston, very desperately. But Patrick had a whole life there; band, hockey team, girlfriends. It would be selfish to take that away from the boy. Seeing his ex-wife at Joe's funeral was a different kind of pain. She was pregnant, married to a man who seemed decent. Randi had done something he hadn't been able to do: move on with her life.

Even with a huge desire to return to Boston, Lee decided to stay for Patrick. Joe had left him a good amount of money to settle in and prepare for the move, to pay for the boy's studies as well. He couldn't stay just inside the house; anxiety consumed him more each day. Lee went to countless job interviews, but many still remained the tragedy, many still remembered him as just an irresponsible man.

A month had passed and he had gotten a job at a gun shop (a great irony of fate for a depressive). He lived as he had lived in Boston – quiet, melancholic, and on edge. He was used to Patrick's parties; this boy really knew how to enjoy adolescence. On this particular day, Lee decided to go downstairs to the garden to have a beer alone, but he found a girl sitting in one of the lounge chairs. She was young, but not as young as Patrick. She was probably crashing the party or was related to one of the teenagers. Lee was terrible at communication and words, so he sat in the opposite chair, taking a deep breath as he opened his own beer.

–... It's cold. You should be inside, at the party.

He finally commented in a mild tone; Manchester winters had always been terrible.