[Cole listens quietly to him and it's giving him a bit of a picture. A familiar picture. Almost a mirror.]

It's sounding...like you were both right. If he was trying to be strong for you both, he was probably being honest. But...I'm also the friend who is the cautious one. I've followed my friends into situations we weren't ready for after asking multiple times if they didn't want to get more ready first. He should have listened to you, full stop.

He shouldn't have lashed out when things went badly.

And I'm not going to say his not trying to grow is a good excuse. It's not...but... [He sighs heavily.] ...maybe...he needed a full confrontation about how much he needed to change before things exploded.

[God knows he wishes he'd done that.]