Chapter Text
It was winter again, even on the walk from the closest store to his house snow fell in the top of his boots. The cold couldn’t cut through the thick coat he wore, but he could feel in deep inside his body. He hadn’t felt warm in a long time.
It had been a while since Hannibal had been locked away deep in the bowels of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The years between didn’t really help the wound that he had had to open up in himself. Shortly after Hannibal was caught had started to pull away from the few friends he had, he had thought of leaving wolf trap completely, but he didn’t want to leave behind the view of his house from the fields, it was one of the few places he felt like himself. The time before Hannibal.
Feeling alone wasn’t something he minded anymore. Will couldn’t really relate to the people he knew and Will knew he would never be able to live like a normal omega, but in the end he felt like the lives he saved made up for the ones he would never get the chance to make.
His grocery bag consisted of whiskey and canned soup; it would get him through the next few days until the roads cleared up a little more. Alcohol was one of the few ways he could get warmth back in his bones, the slow burn down his throat becoming almost a necessary part of his day.
The thoughts of clearing the snow off the porch and his car filled his mind as he made his way back, his feet starting to get damp through his boots. The tug on the end of his scarf broke him out of his thoughts, and he felt like he was dreaming as he looked at the alpha he hadn’t seen since his incarceration.
“Mr. Graham, I feel so cold, may I?”
Fear had long been his friend, but it escaped him now as he watched the sloppy smile change the mans features.
“Matthew, what are you doing here?”
“I’m out on probation now.”
He said it as if that explained everything, but Will supposed it did. Matthew had had a shortened sentence after pleading insanity. It didn’t help that all they could get him on was the attempted murder of Hannibal Lecter, Will bet his case had looked sympathetic once it was revealed that Hannibal was the Ripper.
“I missed you Mr. Graham, you hardly visited.”
Will tugged his scarf back out of Matthew’s grip, starting back toward his house.
“I didn’t think it would be good for you. You had an unhealthy attachment to what you thought I was.”
He could hear Matthew was still following him, his steps a little uneven. Will could tell he wasn’t used to the deep snow out here, and he wondered how he even got there.
“It wasn’t unhealthy, you helped me get better.”
Matthew didn’t try to talk again after that, just following after him in the snow. They were almost back to his house when he heard the gentle chattering behind him and he paused. Matthew was following so close that he bumped into his back, a quick apology mumbled out.
“Here.”
Will sighed out; he had to set his groceries in the snow to take off his scarf. Matthew stayed still as he wrapped it around his neck, tucking it up over his head to give him a hood. The small kindness even surprised himself, Matthew’s eyes lighting up as the red scarf settled over his head.
“If you are going to follow me home you might as well be warm.”
Will was used to it after all, the weather could hardly compare to the ice inside of him.