"Now, can we talk about this? Is it all that hard for you to stop crying?"

"SHUT UP."

"Henry-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

William's back hit the wall, his hand nicking against the counter and immediately lifting to be cradled in his unaffected hand. His dark eyes followed the shaky figure before him.

Before he could react, he felt the collar of his shirt gripped tight in the large hands of his assailant; his head pulled harshly down to the level of the sobbing man who'd cornered him. A few unintelligible, almost howling cries came from the shorter man as he held William in place, tears streaking his red cheeks and hands shaking like crumbled up fall leaves.

"Henry..."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR TH-THIS I DON'T W-WANT YOU TO S-SAY ANYTHING TO ME, STOP IT!"

"You're the one who is bordering on having me in a choke hold. Now, will you please let go of-"

"SHUT YOUR FILTHY LYING MOU-"

Henry felt numb in the face; Henry felt his entire body seem to go numb.

He landed on the floor.

His bleary eyes shifted up, looking at the rapidly dancing and churning patterns of ceiling above. He felt dizzy and shaky, completely numb from head to toe as time seemed to stagger along, three times as slow as normal...and the muffled noises in the background drew no attention from him.

Henry furrowed his brows, flinching when a shadow appeared over him, standing over his form and blocking the source of light above significantly. It at first appeared to be two figures due to not only the water in his eyes, but the fact that the whole room seemed to be relentlessly spinning. Henry's body went cold, rigid, and felt sick - so sick he could cry and scream and thrash all at once; but no movement nor any sound came out of him.

He seemed to blink one time, and yet behold an entirely new sight the next moment. William was crouching over him, thin face lined with pure disgust.

"Oh, Henry..."

"G-GET OFF ME. NOW!" was the only thing the hyperventilating man beneath William's tall form could get out of his system, body tense and shaking in pure anger - or fear.

"...You always said that I know what's best. That statement seems to be...selective." William mumbled in a cool tone, accent seeming sharper than usual. His brows furrowed. The disgusted frown on his face stood in stark contrast to Henry's wide eyes, gritted teeth, and quivering form.

"I WILL CALL THE POLICE IF YOU D-DON'T G-GET OFF ME, I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!"

"The police?" William echoed his friend's words, arching his brows as a smile twitched at his lips. "And have me hauled off to jail? Away from my damn children? Away from you? You can't LIVE without me, let alone attempt to take care of yourself while I rot away in jail."

"I COULDN'T LIVE W-WITHOUT HER EITHER!" Henry shrieked as loud as his voice could physically go, managing a few weak thrashes under William as the taller pinned his arms to the ground, glaring daggers down into him as he dropped something on the floor beside the two that Henry didn't notice. "YOU- YYOU- H-HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH TAKING AWAY MY REASON TO LIVE - HOW DARE YOU LET YOUR DAUGHTER'S BEST FRIEND DIE? HOW COULD YOU WILLINGLY T-TAKE AWAY SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT TO ME!? YOU FUCKING MONST-"

"A monster? Why does curiosity always equate to being a monster?" William snapped at him, holding his arms to the ground as harshly as he could as Henry cried out helplessly. "And what was that we discussed all those months ago? You don't remember? It was that I'M THE REASON YOU WERE GOING TO RECOVER, I'M THE REASON YOU BOTHER TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF EVERY DAY, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF ME-" he squeezed at his wrists, spitting into his face the louder his voice went, "THAT YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!"

"STOP!" Henry cried out above the shouting, voice coming out in loud, shaky sobs. "STOP - STOP YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING OF HELP FOR ME, YOU HAVE NO I-IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S BEST FOR ME, YOU MONSTER - Y-YOU'VE LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND, WILLIAM!"

William sat down on him, pressing into the stocky man's body as hard as he could to hold him still. "I don't know what's best for you? What happened to me being able to guide us towards success for all these years because you listened to MY advice? Are you doubting me?"

"S-shut up!" Henry heaved out, sobbing and trying to force his muscles to thrash under William; chest moving quickly up and down and eyes screwed shut. He felt a harsh force across his face, causing a weakened yell to come out of him as his cheek started to burn and flare at the sudden contact. Henry flinched, his entire body seeming to go numb outside of his quickly rising and falling chest.

"...I think that I need to prove myself to you again." the Englishman mumbled above Henry's whimpers and cries, disappointed look on his shadowed face. "You're really not making me happy, Henry. I understand being upset, but this is a bit far. Have you lost sight of the fact that I know what's best!? How dare YOU?"

Silence.

Silence that went on for too long...

When Henry's foggy eyes finally dared to open again, he immediately tensed in fear. He felt paralyzed and cold, the distinct feeling of his heart stopping causing his body to go rigid and still in an instant.

"...You've lost sight of a lot of things." William muttered, his hand having long ago separated itself from Henry's arm and grabbed onto the item he'd dropped. The man below found himself face to face with-

"For instance...you've lost sight of how much I do for you, your dreams, and not to mention what's really important in this world: knowing your bloody place."

"Wh...wh...what're-"

"Have you ever heard the phrase; 'If your eye causes you to sin, cut it out.'?"

There was a pause.

William smiled.

His smile was the last thing Henry saw that day.