Will's struggle.

Halts story

Mention of abuse, do not read if you get triggered, thank you.

''So how did it all happen?'' Will asked.

''I found you standing in the doorway, completely still. You were crying when i came up to you." Wills mouth dropped. ''I was crying? By Gorlogs beard, i really can't remember anything at all.''

A day later, Will was recovered from his flashbacks. At first, he didn't want to talk about it. But after Halt threatened him with taking his coffee away, he didn't have a choice. But after a while, he realized that he almost completely forgot all of it. There was only one thing he could remember. But he wasn't sure if Halt would answer the question he wanted to ask him..

Halt shook his head. ''Thats logical, Will. If you could've seen yourself yesterday, i am sure you would be in shock. In fact, you were.'' Will said nothing. It has been a rough day, with all of the memories being chaotic. 

They sat together by the fire, both with their coffees and blankets. A silence filled the room. But it was a comfortable silence. No guilt. No shame. Just enjoying their coffee. And their blankets of course. 

But there was still that one question spooking around in Wills head. But he didn't want to break the comfortable silence with this question. He knew that for sure, the room would be filled with a tense feeling. But it was creeping up to him. burning in his head, wanting to know the answer. As the minutes passes by, it burned more and more, desperately wanting to ask. So he decided to just do it.

"Halt, can I ask you something?"

He glanced at Will. "You already did.''

Will shook his head. Of course he made this mistake again. " There was one moment that I can remember. I think I was laying on the ground, and you stood across the  room, crying. What happened with you at that moment? Are you okay?''

Halt turned his head to him. A flash of guilt sparked in his eyes for a second. He knew this question would come eventually. And he didn't like it. He sighed. 

"I got a flashback. A flashback from a few years ago when a dear friend of mine got the same sort of attack as you did. We were travelling together  after we had completed a mission, but his trauma from earlier years got triggered. Crowley still has the same flashbacks to this day."

A silence filled the room. Will looked at Halt. "Crowley? He has the same thing...  as me? What happened to him?''

''We were fighting against some bandits, just as always. They were with more people, so it was a bit harder then usual. Not that it was hard or something," Halt added, " but there was a moment when everything... changed.'' Halt paused, thinking about the scene that was flashing through his brain.  ''One of the bandits came up to Crowley, while he was fighting another. As he finished one bandit, the other came from behind, and scared Crowley. As he turned around to see who had tricked him, he got knocked over, and tripped.'' Halt sighed. "I saw it all happen. I was finishing off another bandit. But i couldn't stop it, or prevent it. I still feel guilty to this day.'' 

Will listened as he felt sorry for Crowley. He didn't even know what happened to him, but if he gets attacks too, it must've been something very, very wrong... 

"' Crowley realized what happened and wanted to come up, but the bandit held a knife against his throat. So Crowley couldn't move or get away, he was trapped. But the bandit took it further. Because he knew that Crowley had been abused earlier in his childhood. He knew because he was the abuser. And he wanted to finish Crowley. The bandit, named Lennard, was a friend of Crowley's dad. He used to ''baby sit'' Crowley when he was around 12 years old.. " Halt sighed again. "He abused him as if he was an animal. And the worst part of all, his parents never noticed. Back at the fight, he knew that Crowley would panic. He knew he had all of the power over him, all caused because of his childhood. So Lennard tortured him, with scenes from his past. He repeated the actions he did earlier, causing Crowley to go in a ptsd attack. It was horrible.''

Will blinked as he tried to get the tears away from his eyes. How could anyone do this to him? To Crowley?.  He tried to ask a question but Halt put his hand up, saying to wait. 

''I finished off the bandit I was dealing with, and looked for Crowley. I was standing 15 meters away from him when I saw him. He was in a horrible state. His body was shaking uncontrollably, he was crying and screaming. I've never heard him cry like that before. Lennard was on top of him, punching and kicking his body.'' Halt flinched.

''I immediately shot an arrow at him, causing him to drop dead on the floor in a second. I rushed to Crowley, who was still laying on the ground, kicking and crying. At first, I thought he had been stabbed or worse, but later I remembered what he told me about this man. But I didn't know what to do. Crowley was hysterically screaming and crying, while he wasn't even in the moment. He completely zoned out of this reality, his flashbacks taking him over.''

Halt stopped talking.

Will didn't know what to say. Crowley... he was abused? "I didn't know... I didn't know he was abused? That is horrible... I don't know what to say.'' Will paused. He really didn't know what to say. It was so sudden, this conversation.. 

''It's okay, Will. I know that this is a lot of information, so please respect the fact that I do struggle with it. And I want you to know that your not alone,

And I am sorry.''

I want to thank @HaltandCrowley13 

They inspired me to write this part of the story! This was SO hard to write, and i dont know if i like it or not.... but either way, this chapter is heavy. Let me know if you have suggestions or see typos. Dont forget to vote!

Have some coffee. With honey. For Crowley.