[Ed doesn't like it much either, but he's not going to dwell on that when he doesn't know the reasons behind anyone else's motives. Mostly, he hated the idea of living with people - having to be vulnerable, for one thing - that were complete strangers. He liked knowing he was around people that he could trust, especially the ones in his living space.]

Sort of... Pre-emptive goodbye notes?

[That wasn't such a bad idea, especially if it was true that sometimes you just got the chance to leave and go home and there was no time or opportunity to let anyone know. It all depended on the person's priorities - if leaving was the first thing they cared about, any chance of messing it up could be a mistake. That didn't consider the people who wanted to be here though, some of them had to have left to at some point.]

I do too.

[A small, tentative, smile at that. Most people didn't agree and those that did weren't people he knew well anyway.]

This place isn't so bad, it's better than the ones before. If what Al knows is really my future it's ... not something I'm in a rush to get back to, either. He doesn't want to stay here though, he wants to go home and I- can't really blame him.