[He freezes when Billy hugs him, and tenses, and very nearly does push him away. But perhaps Rapunzel has helped acclimatize him a bit to being hugged by people who aren't Rogue. Perhaps he's just pathetic enough that he does need a hug. And why? It's not going to fix anything, that's for certain. But it makes him stop laughing, the situation no longer quite so horribly funny.
Maybe he's just tired.]
Hel.
[It's a bare, ragged whisper. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut, and then he does hug Billy back.]
I am all right. [He always is, isn't he? Or was that a different life, the one where all right made him drunkenly drive his car into a tree? But that wasn't him, not at all. If nothing else, that him had a family. That him had someone, almost like a brother, who had believed in him. That wasn't him at all.] I am all right.
why do you do this to me it hurts
Maybe he's just tired.]
Hel.
[It's a bare, ragged whisper. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut, and then he does hug Billy back.]
I am all right. [He always is, isn't he? Or was that a different life, the one where all right made him drunkenly drive his car into a tree? But that wasn't him, not at all. If nothing else, that him had a family. That him had someone, almost like a brother, who had believed in him. That wasn't him at all.] I am all right.