Daniel weighs the shame-based instinct of wanting to be alone for humiliating circumstances, thinking of how screwed up he is, against the comfort of Louis being here and holding him. He should insist that he leave, but he can't make himself, even though he suspects he'll regret the lack of privacy later. There's no romance or familial yearning about this, just punishment.

But even as he thinks this, starts to become aware of the way wanting to withdraw is just a way to try and hide from the reality of what's happening, it starts to feel farther and farther away. A different feeling sweeps over him, an empty pit in his stomach that grows and starts making him feel weak.

Dying, after all? Is it rejecting him?

Daniel tries to ask Louis something and just makes a strange sound, disoriented. A sharp pain, gnawing on his insides. It's so different from how he recognizes hunger that it takes him a minute to realize that's what it is.