That soft brush of Henry's fingers on his hand drew his gaze upwards towards his boyfriend, his eyebrows wrinkled ever so slightly in the process. Those softly uttered words caused a small frown to cross his features and yet, Sterling did little else then shrug ever so slightly. "I know." He stated simply enough, pausing before adding. "But I'm fine now so...everything's okay, right?" He inquired, making his best effort to provide his companion with a small, weak simper. He remembered well how utterly terrifying that evening had been. He remembered being entirely clothless upon that bed, his boyfriend nestled against him, that flesh against his own only for the man to transform quite literally on top of him. It had been terrifying, staring into those blue eyes that growled at him in turn. Hell - some nights he still woke up sweating from the memory of running from the panther with those scars aching. He hardly wished to tell Henry that, however. After all, it was clear the man already blamed himself for what had happened, he hardly wanted to give Henry any further reason to run from him, especially when he had been left so long by himself - without the slightest notion of where the man was or what they were.

He hardly expected the way Henry stepped out of that door, as if suddenly desperately seeking space from him in a way that made Sterling uncomfortable. Then again, very little of that meeting was reassuring for the boy. He still had all those questions that he was too scared to ask - like where Henry had gone, why hadn't he come home, why had he waited this long? That question of whether or not he wanted Henry to leave, however, was met with a rather abrupt 'no'. This was Henry's home and everything that had happened hardly changed that in the slightest. He was oblivious to the effect that his words had on Henry, that idle comment caused his head to shake from side to side ever so slightly, the man entirely dismissing those concerns in the best fashion he could. "I know it wasn't your fault Henry...you didn't choose to...change. We didn't know it would happen. I mean...I should have known...I should have...." He sighed his hand reaching up to run his hand through his hair. "I should have kept an eye on things after last time but..." The corner of his lips contorted into a frown as his voice trailed off, his own blue eyes shifted away from the man. Sterling had known what Henry was. He'd known they shift with the moon and yet he'd been so careless to not watch for it...to not make preparations for it even if Henry refused to believe what he was. He was just as much at fault in this, if not more so. "I'm sorry I forgot." He stated after a long moment of silent consideration, his gaze slowly turned back upwards to his boyfriend.

STERLING TENEMBRAGE