Elijah shook his head. "We don't know that. Tell me what's going on. Please? Don't keep it all to yourself." He squeezed his hands and looked deep into his eyes. "I really want to help you. It hurts to see you like this. "

The eye contact made him very uncomfortable. He didn't want to tell Elijah anything, but he also didn't want to piss him off any more by doing so. So he was just basically being forced to either dump everything onto Elijah, or make up some random bullshit excuse. 

"I'm, just—" he couldn't find the words. There was so much he had to say, but he couldn't find the words to say any of it. And he also had to somehow figure out how to say it all without revealing that he knew things he wasn't supposed to know. Everything was horrible. "...would you miss me if I died?" That worked well enough. Probably gave Elijah an idea of what he's struggling with, which was enough.

Elijah's brow shot up. "What? W-why would you ask that?! I would miss you even if you I didn't see you for a few days. Of course I would miss you if you died! H-how can you ask me that?!" He spoke a bit passionately, but he knew Anthony and the things he spoke of. He was clearly worried of his mental health and what his words could have meant. True, he might just be saying that as he worried about his life having come so close to death, but Elijah feared something far worse.

"You know how much I care about you, and I already told you I did not want to lose you."

Was Elijah mad? He seemed mad. "Sorry." Anthony didn't know whether he was being genuine or not, but he chose to trust him and believe that he was being completely honest and sincere. It seemed genuine enough. He immediately felt guilty for bringing this up, but at least he now knew that at least one person would maybe miss him if he died. That was enough to dissuade him from following through with any of his ideas, for now.

Elijah was so frustrated he didn't know what to do. He touched Anthony's cheek to make him look at him. "Please, stop apologizing. Talk to me. Something is bothering you, and I want to help you. What is it? I'm here with you, you have all of my attention. Do not worry how I might take it or how it sounds. Just tell me. I feel so helpless with you and I do not know what's going on..."

Anthony frowned. "It's— it's fine, it doesn't matter anymore." He wasn't going to do anything, so there was nothing for either of them to worry about. Right? "You wouldn't be able to help, anyways." No matter how hard he tries, it's rare for Elijah to do something that actually helps his mental state. And that was fine. Elijah saying that he cares about him and would miss him was more than enough, right now.

Elijah sighed in frustration. He squeezed his hand lightly and stared at him. "Why? You don't even tell me. What if letting it out helped a little? You Keep so much to yourself. a-and.. I know i'm not perfect. Sometimes I react wrong, I can fail and mess up. I admit it and want to learn from my mistakes and do better for you, but I feel like I'm a dead end when you are so upset and I just know it is my fault."

Anthony was annoyed. "Can you, just... stop?" He knew that Elijah meant well, of course, but these kinds of talks kept getting more irritating. He was tired of being interrogated like this every time he even mentioned his problems. "I don't want to talk about it. It doesn't help either of us if I talk about it. The most helpful thing you can do to me is just... caring and supporting me. Not interrogating me." Was he being a bit snappy? Maybe a little bit. But he was so tired of this.

Elijah looked at him hurt by this. He was trying so hard and Anthony was saying this? Couldn't he understand? He almost gave in but he couldn't. "What? Why should I stop? I do care and I do support you. I am not interrogating you. When I realize something is wrong, and wrong enough that you cry, it's only natural to want to ask. You don't like to tell me anything. Instead you go out to drink or rob people even though I'd give you money if I have any. Do you want me to just be the silent partner who takes care of you and never allowed to ask a question?"

Anthony frowned. "I didn't say that." He cared about Elijah, but god, he was pissing him off so much right now. The urge to say something he'll most definitely regret was very strong, but he couldn't risk doing so right now. Maybe once he had recovered and didn't need to stay here anymore, but until then he chose to restrain himself a bit. Though that was growing more and more difficult. "...Whatever. This is exactly why I don't talk to you about shit." Because almost every time he spoke up about what was bothering him, Elijah just did something completely unhelpful and useless. He just wanted to go home now. He probably was going to go home soon if everything kept going this way.