One day, something *shifted* in Ralph. Well, at least Henry imagined so. They were such tiny notices, but somewhere in Henry's mind, he knew something was off.
For example; how Ralph started closing in on himself more than usual. How he noticed these faint lines scattering his arms. They were light, less about potentally hurting himself, but more like trying to scratch off whatever Ralph thought was on his skin.
Even any slight dare to touch Ralph did Henry detect him flinching. Course, right afterwards, Ralph tries to cover it up with stiff relaxing and a shallow smile on his face. But Henry knew it was fake, he knew it was all fake.
By now, Henry has known there's loads of ways people hurt. Sometimes it's hardly there and temporary, or sometimes it's agonizing and everlasting. Or in some rare cases, it's in the middle. Coming and going, one moment you'll be fine, the next you're reminded of the pain you wish to run away from.
