"A three day black out. That's impressive," Brian said, his tone carefully measured.

The worst of it, the fucking worst, was that Brian still wanted to reach out and touch him, just to reassure himself that Max was all right. He shouldn't have given a shit. Max was a grown man, and just because they lived together, it wasn't Brian's job to look after him.

If only he could've just been angry. That would've made everything so much easier.

"You know, I was worried fucking sick," he admitted, wiping a hand across his mouth and coughing out a miserable laugh. "I just kept thinking... what if he's gone? Please, God, don't. Don't let him be gone." He laughed again, brokenly, and his eyes were fucking burning now.