Cedric withdraws automatically, curled into a little ball of shame. He'd known this was coming, but Howard's anger always scares him.

But he deserves it. Cedric's spent all this time trying to convince Howard that it's okay to trust, that people don't always disappear on you, and now he's gone and caused this. Accident or not.

Accident that shouldn't have happened.

"I didn't want to. I'll be more careful, I swear it."