"It doesn't matter if I belonged or not. It doesn't matter if you came clean about it later -- because I'm glad you did. I am. Everyone else, I think they deserved to know, given what happened."

Drift vents out slowly, knowing this is hard for Rodimus, but he knows he'd put his foot down in the future, too. He doesn't see any reason to waver from that resolution now. He'd like to believe in his future self.

"I know I haven't lived to see it yet, that all of this is secondhand, but...I think I did what I did because it was necessary at the time. If I thought it was a good idea for you to come clean to the crew right then, I don't think I'd have left."

Drift leans against Rodimus a little, his optics dimming. "But that doesn't mean I'm not glad to be here, Rodimus -- that I'm back, for you, even if I haven't had a chance to miss you like that yet."