Her parents never once raised a hand to her, even when Julie was at her absolute worst and came home spitting venom, never once. But the perfectionism and self-denigration they instilled is pervasive, wrapped around every piece of herself. Tear a kid down, they'll be miserable for a day. Teach them to do it themself and they'll be fucking miserable, hearing your voice in the back of their head for the rest of their life.

In that way, not having Daryl watching doesn't make a huge difference, because it's not really him she's worried about disappointing. In another though, being the only witness does let her slow down just a little. Take a breath.

"No," she shakes her head, "Canada." Most Americans don't know shit about Canada beyond 'Toronto and Quebec are there' so she doesn't bother with any more specifics, in the same way she can tell this guy is Southern and if he said which state he was from it would mean shit all to her.

"You never told me your name."