Lust Of Paris

𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞

In the morning, he was ready for everything while waiting for Leo to wake up. Gabriel knew that this would be anything but easy and there was a chance that his ex-husband would be ashamed of what happened or even in denial.

Despite all that, he was feeling a bit anxious and nervous while sitting in the kitchen. The phone call with Alex kept repeating in his mind and not only because he had almost said the three words but also because what he had reminded him about Leo.

Of course he knew that Leo's mental health wasn't his responsibility but he just didn't have it in him to throw him out all alone. After all, they had gone through together he wanted to do this. Just one conversation, one morning so he could know that Leo wasn't all alone after relapsing.

Fortunately, he had an evening shift at the work tonight so he had enough time to talk about what to do next. And after waiting for Leo for almost two hours, it was clear that they might need all of that time. But he was the one who woke up at 6am just because he couldn't sleep any longer.

Just as he stood up to check up on him, Gabriel heard the door opening and Leo going to the bathroom. And then a lot of vomiting.

Knocking on the door, he tried to get him to talk, "Leo? As-tu besoin d'aide?" (Do you need help?)

At first, he didn't hear anything but more vomiting and then he heard it. The sound of a man's crying was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. But he heard it all and it broke his heart into thousands of pieces. Now that he stopped throwing up, he couldn't even hide the sobbing from him.

Sighing, Gabriel opened the door and took a careful look at Leo who was sitting on the floor, head in the toilet as if he was still throwing up but instead he was now sobbing into it.

Oh Leo...

Sitting down next to him, he put his hand on Leo's shoulder and squeezed it, to show his support without forcing him to talk until he was ready for it. But he already knew what he was going to hear. It sounded like Leo was already feeling tons of shame, regret and sadness for drinking again.

After a couple of minutes of just sitting there, Leo's crying had quieted down but he hadn't looked up yet. "Tout va bien, Leo. Ne te sens pas mal, tu peux toujours recommencer." (It's alright, Leo. Don't feel bad, you can always start again)

Still nothing. Taking a deep breath, Gabriel tried to find the right words but came up with nothing. What could he even say in this situation? And was he the right person to help Leo? Should he call someone who didn't have such a long and complicated history with him?

Even if he knew the answer, he didn't know anyone who to call about Leo except for Élise. As far as he knew, he didn't have many people in his life anymore. Maybe some friends whose names he didn't know. His own family had been dead for years and well... he wasn't family anymore.

"Tu vas traverser ça," (You're gonna get through this) Gabriel promised, now standing up to get some water for him to drink. Only when he drank it did Gabriel finally see the emotions in his eyes that he was so desperately trying to hide.

"Je ne me sens pas bien," (I don't feel good) Leo whispered, looking him in the eyes while looking like was talking more about the emotional pain more than the physical one.

"Puis-je appeler quelqu'un?" (Can I call someone?) He meant someone who knew more about what to do after relapsing. Could a doctor help or give some advice? Or maybe an AA-group? Someone who he got to know while visiting there?

Immediately shaking his head, Leo got up, washed his face and drank more water. While he did that, Gabriel went to get him aspirin that hopefully would make him feel better.