We grab hold like a lifeline to each other, my nose in his hair as I whisper how sorry I am. I never knew how upset he’d really been until that moment. I want to hold and pet him until everything is better, but we know it won’t be.
We don’t talk as I wait for him to calm down, lying beside him to rub into his back. We stay this way for hours until the sun comes up.
Just me and him and those dusty books he loves to read.