Chapter Text
Harold was still awake when Bubby came back into the apartment. Benrey was passed out on the couch, curled up together with Tommy, Tommy’s legs over the back of the couch since he didn’t quite fit on the side that Benrey had chosen. Harold looked up when Bubby came in, and smiled at him, just barely, and Bubby nodding his head back, pushing the door just with his back before sinking to the floor, still leaning against the door. Harold paused, before standing, moving around the couch to sit across from him for a moment. One look, and Harold could tell that Bubby had been crying, his eyes still red and puffy, and he sniffled softly, before glancing towards the couch.
“Uh... Benrey sleeps too lightly.” He muttered, before standing again, pulling open the door. Harold hummed, pulling on shoes to follow behind him, snagging a key from the hanging key rack next to the door, shutting and locking it behind him, following Bubby back down to the car.
Bubby slipped into the back, after turning the car back on and settling in the back seat. Harold hummed, slipping in next to him, and the moment the door shut, Bubby clambered back over to him, and Harold sighed, wrapping his arms around him tightly, holding Bubby close.
He didn’t push, letting Bubby cling onto him for the time being. Bubby would tell him eventually, and for now, Harold knew he just needed to be held. They all needed that every once in awhile.
So they sat in quiet, some sort of rock station playing at low volume in the background while Bubby clung to him, sniffling softly as Harold hummed along with whatever was playing.
It took a readjustment, Harold leaning back against the car door, stretched out across the seat of the car with Bubby laying on him, for Bubby finally to speak, though he had pressed his face against Harold’s chest.
“Do... did I cause it?” Harold frowned, rubbing a hand down Bubby’s back carefully, as Bubby lifted his head to look at him, cheeks streaked with tears.
“No, hun, no. You didn’t cause this.”
“But, I... I contributed to it. I helped conspire to get him into that room, and got his arm cut off, I helped that along, I... I traumatized him, Harold.” Bubby hiccuped, ducking his face back into Harold’s chest. Harold frowned, rubbing his back lightly, holding him a bit tighter.
“So did Benrey, and Gordon did say that this wasn’t the first time. Without what helps him, I... I feel like this would have happened eventually anyways. The events of the Resonance Cascade just... sped up the process.” Harold shifted, tugging him a bit closer. “And you apologized. You built him that arm.”
“I wouldn’t have needed to apologize if I hadn’t done that in the first place.” He muttered bitterly, before biting at Harold’s shirt, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to get his breathing back under control.
“No, maybe not, but you do regret it, and you apologized. He forgave you, a while back. If you had any part in this, it wasn’t big enough for him to blame you now.”
Bubby went silent, before his eyes flicked back up to Harold’s. “I blame me.”
Harold nodded slowly, holding him a bit tighter, letting him lay his head back down. He didn’t know how to fix that, didn’t know the magic words that would let Bubby let go of that guilt, and it killed him. All Harold could do now was hold him tight and let him cry.