Sweeten the Bitter Taste of Failure

Sid had no idea if Dave actually had reason to regret anything with Martin leaving. Maybe just that they didn't really come to terms with the end and Dave still felt sorry for his older friend that he was dating Paxton?

Martin's private life, of course, belonged exclusively to him. Dave and Sid had no right to interfere. Martin dated and slept with whoever he wanted, but Sid actually understood Dave. For Dave, homosexuality was not an ideological or religious problem. For him, it was a constant reminder of the pain he had experienced and continued to experience. It's a bit like telling someone who is afraid of dogs to live next to the kennel. Apparently all animals are closed, but the mere awareness that they are nearby and one day, through the caregiver's neglect, they can get out into the wild and attack ...

Sid knew what it meant to live in constant fear. He knew what it was like to expect an attack even when it was unexpected.