He gave in and hushed, just hitching again for a long while and shifting around in Dirk's grip. He hurt, and he had never hurt like this or been sad like this or felt so numb or empty in his life, and it was all disorienting and counteracting and everything was wrong, but Dirk was right. So he clung to the only thing that was still right in his world, and slowly wound down to where he was mostly still. He couldn't breathe through his nose so he turned his head to the side and rested against Dirk's shoulder, breathing through his mouth and trying to arrange his limbs and his mind and his emotions and mostly failing.

"Everything hurts," he admitted softly.