...Good God, this man is an open book.

A heartbreakingly familiar open book, in at least some respects.

Neil tells himself that Steve is not his fourteen-year-old self, and that given certain other aspects of this situation that train of thought is unutterably weird, and then he closes his eye and gives Steve another quick one-armed hug.

This time, if you asked him what he was thinking, he wouldn't have an answer at all.