"And I'm telling you that you still didn't deserve it." Eddie could lay out the list of reasons why that's true, that Billy wasn't in his right mind, that the reason he almost died was protecting someone else, or the simple fact that his dad was pushing him around long before any of that even happened. But he doesn't, because Billy knows all those things and still believes it's deserved.

"He was the fuck up, not you." His fingers drift along Billy's jawline, tilts his head so they're looking at each other. "He can't hurt you anymore. Never will again."