Priestly bites his tongue to prevent himself from saying what he's really thinking, which is that John deserves a lot better than what he's getting, because this is what John wants and what Priestly knows he's always wanted. What Priestly has always known he wanted, right from the beginning.

"Maybe I just need to get to know him better," he says finally, "so I can offer you better advice. But maybe you don't want him to know that I know. Maybe you don't want him to know anything about us? I don't want to make things worse."