He nods, understanding this more than he'd like. He's had to do his fair share of pretending, to his father, to Iris, to Linda, to Patty. He's done his fair share of lying to others and to himself when he needed to.

More than that, he's known his fair share of pretenders. People he had trusted when he shouldn't have. People who had caused him and those he cared about pain. Maybe, when he thinks about it, that's why he's so hesitant to fully trust Root.

But in this moment, he understands why some things might need to be hidden. Why some secrets were too big to tell everyone. "That can't be easy."