The silence dragged on and Elijah was tired of being patient. He knew that Anthony could be quiet for a while and so he came back in and sat down near him. "May.. I ask something? And I am not asking it to put you on the spot or to suggest anything. It is just a question. " That was a lie, he wanted to know so perhaps he could push whatever Anthony said to try to make the man semblance of happiness. "What is it about me that you liked about me.. enough that you were able to tell me so during that walk?"

Anthony's attention was piqued as soon as he saw Elijah enter the room and sit down next to him again. He looked at the man almost curiously when he mentioned a question he wanted to ask, and he nodded to let the other know it'd be alright.

Anthony looked away from Elijah, in thought. "Well, you were...very nice. Kind. Sweet," he basically just started listing off all his positive traits. "made me feel...wanted. And safe." Anthony shrugged, trying to seem more casual and unbothered than he actually was.

Elijah looked down feeling like he'd been punched. What had he done since then that removed such feelings? He wanted Anthony to always feel that way and it had turned so far from it. He nervously reached out and patted his hand carefully, he was worried if he'd take it that Anthony would pull away.

" I am sorry I made you feel otherwise. I want you to feel safe and wanted. I want to provide those things for you and I failed you."

Anthony glanced towards Elijah as the man gently patted his hand. He didn't lean away from the touch whatsoever, but he also didn't quite return it in any way. "It's– well, I'm glad that you want that for me," he said, carefully considering his next step, here. "but, like...you're not the only one that's failed here, you know that?" Right now, now that his severe hate for Elijah had mostly subsided, he started kind of feeling like....he himself had actually fucked up a lot as well.

Elijah froze at his words and he felt a little bit of himself crack as his eyes welled up but he didn't let a tear fall. It was difficult but he didn't want to give up as he had seen Anthony's good side and knew there was a wonderful man before him though he had his misgivings. He shook his head. "Things don't come easy. I should still have helped you feel safe and wanted. I admit, I must have been cold I have been letting things get to me. I wasn't thinking about what you needed most. That was my failing, not yours."

Anthony very nervously lightly rested his hand on Elijah's. "It's– it's kind of hard to help if the other person, just....doesn't accept it," he said. Anthony had fucked up by being so closed off and not accepting him reaching out or trying to talk — he wasn't denying that right now by any means. "...can we just agree on that both of us fucked up big time?" He laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Elijah looked up at him, seeming thrilled he was doing this. He smiled weakly and nodded. "I think.. that is more than fair. I promise, I will be more considerate and if I say something stupid.. feel free to correct me in the moment. I promise, I never want to hurt you." He turned his hand to hold Anthony's though careful not to have much of a grip so he could slip free if he wished to.

Anthony gently squeezed Elijah's hand. "Thank you. Really," he was so glad that they managed to come to an actually good conclusion with this, and that it wasn't all for nothing. "that goes for me too, though. If I do something bad then I want you to call me out on it, okay? I do actually care about you and don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Elijah smiled at him but he looked anxious for a moment. The reason became clear when he hugged him and buried his face into his shoulder. He should have been more careful but he was so happy about what had happened. "Thank you Anthony. I hope things go better from here and I hope things don't go as badly as they have. I care about you so much."

Anthony was surprised by the hug, but was not bothered by it in the slightest. "Well, it can't go much worse," he laughed. He started gently stroking the back of Elijah's neck, totally unsure of what else to do with his hands. "but...really. I care about you a lot, as well." Even if sometimes it seemed like he didn't.