"Well, what can I say. Love changes people."
"Love?! You, a self-proclaimed 'scoundrel and bachelor'? You think you're in love?"
"Yeah, I do. So what?"
"This is hilarious! Does she know what you do? What you used to do? Does she have any idea who you really are?"
.........
"I'll take your silence as a resounding, 'no'. Why haven't you told her? Are you afraid of what she'll say or of what she'll do?"
"Both."
"I see. So, you believe, in that tiny little lovesick brain of yours, that if you sacrifice yourself she'll see you for who you want her to believe you are; that she'll never have to know that you are everything she hates and despises. You also believe that even if she finds out that she will still 'love' you, provided you sacrifice yourself first. That sound about right?"
"More or less. Can we get this over with?"
"Why? You in a hurry to die? Because that's what the deal was. One of you sacrifices themselves and the others go free."
"I know what the deal was."
"No pleading? No 'last minute deals'?"
"No."
"Would you like to write a farewell letter for her to cherish when you're gone?"
"No."
"Very well then. As soon as your hearts stops your friends are free to go."
