Henry walked out of Alex apartment waiting for him to put on his jacket before he followed but his eyes sets on Miguel that came out of the elevator stopping right after seeing Henry by the hallway. He looks furious as Henry stares at him and soon joined by Alex.

Henry would have thought Alex would had running to him and kissed him like he always does but this time he just ignored Miguel and pulled Henry by his arm. Miguel eyed him from his door apartment and Henry could see how that infuriates him and he stepped into his apartment not without slamming the door loudly.

Henry pulled his arm from Alex's grip and finally Alex realized that Henry too was mad at him. "As much as I love being the centre of your relationship with that guy, I don't like being treated like that." Henry wrapped his arm around his body feeling being used by Alex and he noticed how guilty Alex look at him.

"Sorry. I just try to get rid of him." He stepped into the elevator with Henry followed suit and sat side by side. "What happened?" Henry asks and Alex shrugs. "I don't think Miguel knows the difference between a hook up and being serious with someone. I know he wanted a relationship but I never promised him one. I just don't like being pushed and ordered around like how my parents treated my sister."

Henry looked to his side and stares at Alex's side of his face feeling sorry for how he feels. He remembers hearing his sisters name once or twice since he lived with him.

"Is your sister June?" He could see how it shocked Alex cause he never mentioned her. "How did you know about her? Did Nora told you what happened?" He asks and Henry shook his head stopping him. "I heard you both talked about her and sometimes you talk in your sleep Alex." Alex turned his head sharply at Henry on his side and before he could say anything else the door opened and Henry exited the elevator leaving Alex behind him.

They both didn't say any word once they walked out and Alex was about to hail a cab before Henry stopped him by pulling his hand back. "You want to know my world, there's no cab Alex. Only sidewalks." Henry says and he realized he didn't let Alex arm go and when he finally did, he mutters his sorry and Alex gave way for him to lead.

As they walked together side by side in the streets of New York, Alex could see how far Henry had walked all his way from his apartment. The streets even changed from the elite sides now to the different side, where people are more skinnier, more dirtier and definitely poorer base on how they searched the trash for pieces of food they could get their hands on.

Henry stops middle of his tracks leaving Alex walking further ahead and when Alex finally realized, Henry had stopped and held on the streetlights and leaned forward. "Henry? What is it?" He asks and Henry shook his head rubbing his legs. "Just pain." He said and Alex noticed this is the furthest he had walked since he had his cast off and went to his side.

"Lean on me." He said putting Henry's arm up and around his shoulder before he walks again.

After a few blocks passed Henry told him to turn left on the corner and went to the door that had metal grill on them before he pressed on the button and the door opens right after.

"Come on." Henry said and climbed the stairs followed by Alex behind him. Henry had to stop in the middle feeling his lungs is not like it used too. He leaned against the wall rubbing on his right thigh again and tried to catch a breath.

"You okay?" Alex asks rubbing his back in soft circles before Henry nodded and they walked further upstairs.

Henry stops by the door labeled number 19 although the metal had rusted and the number one is broken in half. Henry knocks on the door with his fist and Alex could hear ruckus behind the door before someone yelling behind it.

When the door finally opens, revealed a black woman in a hair net and an apron covered her abdomen on the lower half and Alex could see that she is a waitress. "Henry?!" She screamed and Alex had to retort back with her high pitched voice and before Henry could respond, she engulfed him in a tight hug. She is twice Henry size and slightly smaller than Henry but she could hug Henry and lifted him off the ground like a piece of wooden plank.

"Where have you been my child?! I told you to come straight here if you having a hard winter!" She says and Henry smiled apologizing to her.

"Something happened." He says and step a side revealing Alex behind him and she whistled cupping her not so small waist eyeing Alex up and down with a smirk on her face. "If I had your looks Henry I would find me a tall glass of Mexican-American too. Mmhmm.." She says and it made Alex snorted into a laugh but Henry was correcting her. "No, no that's not what it is."

"I don't care! Come on in sugar." Alex could see that this lady is not from New York, probably from the south and as they stepped inside, her house made Alex felt like his apartment is ten thousand times better than anything else and he felt bad about it.

She had kids more than Alex could count and all of the kids runs towards Henry and hugs his legs before Henry carried one of the smallest one in his hand. "This is little Henry." Henry says and Alex smiled seeing the little baby probably around six months old in Henry's arm.

Alex noticed that none of the kids actually look alike and some of them are white, probably Mexican and some are black and he swore he could see some Asian boy in between them. "Is this daycare? Are you taking care of these kids?" Alex asks as Henry was pulled away from him towards the kids. "Be careful." Alex told him softly and he didn't know whether Henry could hear him.

"I'm Alex by the way." Alex told her as she prepared her lunches for the kids and she smiled, "Dorothy." She says and Alex returned her smile. "Those are my kids. I know it's a lot but I didn't popped every one of them. Only those two were legally mine." She pointed towards the two boys playing by Henry's arm and Alex was more confused.

"Those are the kids that their ungrateful, selfish, irresponsible parents threw away. I gave them a home, clothes, food in their belly and I sent them all to school." Dorothy says and it broke Alex inside. "Wait, so you just takes care of them? Like how did you survive?" He asks and his gaze went back to Henry on the couch being surrounded by those kids. They must have love him so much. "I work three shifts and I still don't know how I'd survive." She chuckled.

"Henry was my first. I mean not like I had to change his diaper or anything. We met like six years ago. That boy was a mess." She said and Alex couldn't help tearing his eyes away from Henry. "You mean the drugs and all?" Alex asks and he could see Dorothy was impressed that he knows but she shook her head.

"Honey, the drug isn't his problem. It's his mind and his heart that made him the way he is." She says and it brought more questions to Alex. "How do you mean?" He asks and she pushed him a cup of coffee and he thanked her. Even though she had so little but she was generous at sharing her food with Alex.

"He came to me at my diner ordering everything on the menu and ask me to join him for his last meal." Alex was not shocked by that word and Dorothy could see that Alex might have noticed. "Did he still cuts?" She asks softly not wanting Henry to hear her. Alex shrugs before shaking his head, "I didn't check." He says and Dorothy nodded.

"I know he's not your responsibility but someday, he will finally have the courage to pressed that blade deeper than he should. He just need a reason to." She says and Alex could feel his chest burns thinking about Henry this way. "You know all those drugs that he did. He never wanted them. But when it gets too noisy up here," she pressed her index finger right on her temple, "Sometimes it got carried away."

Alex stares at Henry still playing with those kids and the baby in his arm knowing how fragile he was. "Do you know why?" Alex asks still not moving his eyes away from Henry.

"Something about his parents. They are dead by the way." She says and placing the plate on the table helped by Alex. "And his assholes homophobic brother. I wish I could see him one day so I could shoved this right into his ass and then he would know what it feels like to be gay." She holds the rolling pin in her hand and Alex laughed.

"Thank you for taking care of him." She says and Alex nodded. "But if you had no intention on liking him or be there for him either as a friend or as partner, don't leave him alone. Send him back to me, please." She begs and Alex gulped before he nods. "I know they are all not my kids entirely, but I would die if anything happened to them."

Alex nods in understanding and told her what had happened to Henry that night. She laughs making Alex confused but before he could say anything, he saw tears in her eyes.

"See that one?" She pointed at the small Asian boy that plays with them, he was so skinny that the shirt he wore looks like it could fit two people in them. "He had asthma. Henry couldn't buy his inhaler cause it was so expensive so he know a guy that could sell him that drugs for a cheaper price."

Alex could feel like a total jerk by now thinking how badly the nurses had talk about Henry when he was in coma. He wasn't buying drugs for himself, he was buying it for that boy. He was lost in his thoughts when Henry came by his side and smiled and Alex replied the smile.

"Let's go." Henry said and Dorothy stops him, "Na-ah! You're sitting here and have lunch with me." She says and starts calling her kids and they all took each of the plate before they all sat by the television that was probably age older than Alex.

"Alex promised me lunch and we have doctor's appointment." Henry lied, he didn't have doctor's appointment, he didn't promise any lunch with Henry but the way Henry look at him, he nodded. "Remember? My therapist?" He says and Alex nodded with a smile. "Y-Yeah. I forgot." He replied and Dorothy applaud Henry for seeking help but Henry couldn't look at her in her eyes.

"Thank you." Alex says and Dorothy hugged him instead. "Promise me." She whispered and Alex nodded before she hugged Henry and Henry handed that baby back to her and kissed him on his cheek and peck Dorothy a kiss on her cheek.

"I promise I'll come visit." He says and Dorothy smiled nodding.

"Why didn't you eat at her place? She had your plate already, that's rude." Alex asks as Henry and him walked again the side walk, "Because if I did then she won't have anything to eat for the rest of the night. She had a shift coming in next few hours and I don't want her to feel hungry and passed out." Henry says and Alex felt like an idiot.

"Did she tell you?" Henry asks and Alex nodded unable to look Henry in the eyes. "I'm sorry." Alex says and Henry saw he finally looked up at him and Henry had his eyebrow furrowed. "What for?" He asks.

"For judging you before I get to know you." Henry could only smile and his palm wanders to Alex's cheek. He saw Alex didn't retort back and instead leaned against Henry's cold palm radiating his warmth over Henry's cold skin. "I don't mind you judging me. As long as you don't see me like that anymore." Alex nodded with a smile and took Henry's hand in his and they walked hand in hand together.

It was late lunch when Alex decides to stop by one of the diner that he had coffee once and still remembers their famous baked pie here. So he pulled Henry inside and had them seated in his favorite booth ordering pies that he wanted Henry to try.

"Can I ask you something?" Henry finally asked as Alex sipped on his coffee. He nodded softly waiting patiently for him.

"Since you know about me, can you tell me about June?" Henry asks and he could see Alex turned his gaze towards the window next to him and exhaled. He rested his lips over his clasps hand before he returned his gaze towards Henry.

"My sister passed, six years ago." He starts and Henry listened, silently. The lunch rushed had settle and the diner was quieter with less people. "She died because of overdose." He says and Henry could hear his voice breaks. No wonder he had such a hard time about Henry and his drugs problem. Now he understood why.

"I won't say it was the drug that killed her. It was my parents." Henry furrowed his eyebrow at his words. "June always the rebel one, I'm the golden boy, so they say. She hated it. She hated how all the attention goes to me since I was born. That she tried to kill herself because she wanted attention. That's what Ma said anyway. She didn't care when she overdose, or cut herself the second or third time knowing she did it on purpose."

Henry could see Alex already tearing up at that thought and raised his hand over Alex's and he run his tongue over his lips. "Not even when June was raped, they still blamed her for what happened. Two months later she found out she was pregnant because of that raped and she killed herself." A single tear dropped on Alex's cheek and he wiped them off in a hurry afraid people might see him cried like a wuss in the middle of the diner.

Henry stood and went to his side and before Alex could say anything Henry wrapped his arm around him and Alex melted into his hug. It felt perfect, it felt like it was meant to be having Henry's arm wrapped around his body as he had his.

Henry pulled away from Alex's and cupped his cheek in between his hands and made him look in Henry's eyes, "I'm so sorry for June. I know you love her so much and you blame yourself for what happened to her. Alex you need to know that it's not your fault. It never was." Henry said and he could see tears fell on his thumbs as Alex nodded before he leaned to hug Henry again.