The Faces of the Eternal Child
Grief disguised as loyalty.
"Break their hearts, my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!" Great Expectations
She stopped every clock in the house the day her life fell apart, and never once considered starting them again.
Avoidance disguised as freedom.
"I don't want to go to school and learn solemn things. No one is going to catch me, lady, and make me a man. I want always to be a little boy and to have fun." Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
He never calls it fear. He calls it Neverland, and invites everyone else to stay small there with him.