He mentioned that he had been worried about Sterling, and the question he got in response made him turn slowly to look at Sterling. The problem was that Henry had never stopped worrying about him. In fact, he was so worried about him that he had to keep himself away. He couldn't have a repeat of that night ever again. "I never stopped worrying about you." His voice was soft and tender, speaking to the truth of his words. The only time he really stopped worrying about Sterling was when he assumed Sterling had been dead. But up until that point, he couldn't get his boyfriend out of his thoughts.

He told Sterling that he had been trying to get his shit together and that was the explanation as to why he hadn't come around sooner. It wasn't necessarily a lie, but it wasn't necessarily the whole truth either. Henry had done a lot of things that he regretted those past couple of weeks: kissing Malia, doing cocaine, and not being there for Sterling when he needed him the most.

He finally nodded his head softly as he leaned against the wall across from Sterling. "In a sense. After I dropped you off at the hospital, I went looking for the man who turned me." He paused as he tried to think about Tet and his pack and how much they should mean to him. "I found him...and my pack. I spent time trying to understand what kind of monster I am." There, he had said it. Henry felt like a monster. His panther half was not a part of him that he embraced like the others in his pack. His panther was a monster â€" one he wished to get rid of. But that would not happen so he had tried to make sense of everything. "I couldn't trust myself to be out in public anymore." There was sorrow and remorse in his voice, a telling sign as to how much Henry blamed himself for what had happened.

He was silent a moment as he tried to think about anything good that had come of this situation. He was drawing up a blank. In his eyes, the only plus was that he gained three friends...three friends that were obligated to like him. Didn't seem much like a victory.

Closing the distance, he came to stand in front of Sterling as he basically said that it wasn't a problem that it took him so long to get here. That was a bullshit answer if Henry had ever seen one. But he understood what he was trying to do. Slowly, he cautiously leaned forward to press a gentle kiss upon his lover's lips as his hand moved to cup his head and jaw. He used his fingers to draw Sterling closer, craving that connection with the man before him. It was taking everything in him not to jump the man right now. He wanted to finally put aside his self-loathing and think about what mattered most to him: Sterling.