Her refusal was devastating. Dory had always prided himself on being somewhere she felt comforted and loved. They had their fights and avoided one another at times, but at the end of the day they were always there. For years now that had been the case. In fact, Dory would be hard pressed to find a time in his life when Winnie wasn't the first person he thought of when he was having a difficult day. For that to have changed so suddenly - Dory didn't know what to make of it.

"I can't just watch you cry, love. Please." Dory would have walked over to her and crouched a few feet away if his legs were functional. He would've at the very least sat on the floor opposite her so that they were eye level, but he couldn't fucking walk without his cane right now with the pain how it was. "If you need to leave I won't stop you. Just please, for a minute."

---