Erik only releases Billy when he believes that he may be embracing him too firmly, causing problems in breathing when Erik is merely trying to clasp onto one of the only things that has ever calmed him so thoroughly -- the promise of family. "I didn't think that I would ever have family again," he confesses.

Charles is as close as he's come, but even then Erik worries that the splinter formed by their differing beliefs will eventually cause a chasm.