"I almost did," Ben admitted. "But you went to all that effort... and you have this puppy dog look. You made it sort of impossible to say no." He bit his lip and looked up at Hector, somehow still bloody attractive despite the awkward angle.
He'd missed it too, the feeling of togetherness, but it was more than that. There was a comfort to it that he'd been missing without realising.
"You know something?" he sighed. "I have all these people... family, friends... all these people. And they're always around and I know they're trying to help and all... but you know what? This is the first time in months I haven't felt alone. That's weird, isn't it?" He wrinkled his nose; he was sure he would regret saying that when he didn't have god knew how much dodgy punch in his system.