When Booker meets Bride, he feels the possibility of joy and happiness again. But, from the beginning, their relationship seems to be built on a faulty premise, particularly in how Booker finds comfort in withholding information about himself. That lack of vulnerability provides Booker with an easy out once things prove—as they inevitably will—not to be a fairy tale. Again, when he has the chance to forge a meaningful connection based on mutual intimacy, love, and vulnerability, Booker chooses to leave, preferring the low-stakes nature of his isolation to the risk that deep relationships entail.