The warlock's bright blue eyes stared intently down at his companion with a noticeable hint of concern still mirrored on his features. He was aware, vaguely, of the way his arms embraced Henry's bare flesh but, in that moment it was not salacious desires that so tugged at Sterling's mind. No, the entirety of his thoughts were focused wholly upon those fears he had not dared to voice and that overwhelming worry for his roommate. The boy watched that soft simper that crossed Henry's features and yet, he hardly anticipated the way Henry's hand reached up to caress his cheek with affection. It hardly startled him as much as it should though - no, although his mind might have been racing and his heart pumping, his body still knew this touch. It was nearly instinctual the way his cheek leaned into that caress, as if this was but a usual moment between the two. Still, it was Henry's weak inquiry that pulled at Sterling's attention, drawing his thoughts from that simple touch and how utterly forbidden this should have been.

"What happened?" He repeated those words back, his eyebrows furrowing momentarily. "Do you not remember Henry? You shifted. You were bitten by a were and you shifted." His gaze shifted briefly to the floor, his head shaking ever so slightly. "I knew something bad was going to happen, I told you to not go out at night. I just....I wanted to keep you safe and..." His voice trailed off, the man clearly frustrated with his own inability to have stopped this from happening. He should have made more of an effort to inform Henry of the world they lived in, maybe then he could have saved the man from this. Still, after a moment of scolding himself, Sterling's gaze shifted back to Henry, his own tone had softened as he admitted, "I was so worried about you - that something might have happened to you or..." He paused, adding only in a voice that just barely above a whisper. "Or...that you wouldn't come back..." And there it was, that fear that he so strongly harbored finally leaving his lips. He needed Henry in his life, though why, he couldn't say. Sterling found himself slowly bending down closer towards the man he so adored and in a rare moment of courage, the boy's lips grazed ever so gingerly across Henry's own in a chaste kiss.