Had she not reached out to grab him, he likely would have just kept on towards his bedroom. As it was, she'd hit on exactly where his still-healing scars were, though she couldn't have known that. He stumbled under the sudden and unexpected pain, putting a hand up to the wall to keep himself from crumpling in the hallway. That, more than anything else — that display of weakness — pushed him over the edge.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, the word exploding out of him. He wretched around to throw her off, lashing out blindly to push her as far away as possible. "Leave me alone, slag. When I want you for something, I'll call you." He glared, then added contemptuously, "Maybe I'll put a dish of milk out in the hallway."