Their shared suffering - ELU

Depleted

"Запомни I love you, la-la-love love you
Пойми, что I need you, ne-ne-need you love you
Запомни I love you, la-la-love love you
Пойми, что I need you, ne-ne-need you love you

Remember I love you, la-la-love love you
Understand that I need you, ne-ne-need you, love you
Remember I love you, la-la-love love you
Understand that I need you, ne-ne-need you, love you"

Arthur passed the bottle of vodka to Lucas, who took a swig before passing it on.
"I wanted to thank you guys for the kind messages", Eliott said, looking at Basile and Arthur, "They really made me feel better and less alone. I'm glad to have you guys. You as well, Yann, of course."

"No problem, no problem", Basile said with a smile, "We're always here for you."
"Thanks, really love you guys", Eliott said.
Lucas took another swig of the bottle of vodka before slowly standing up, almost falling over in the process.
"Le gars, le gars, let's call it a night. I've got a whole lot of studying to do tomorrow, emphasis on studying. You know, because of dying in the word studying. Mon Dieu, I don't want to study actually", Lucas told his friends.
Basile whistled through his teeth. "Putain Lucas, that's the spirit! That's what we like to see!", he exclaimed.
Lucas only rolled his eyes. "Tais-toi, I'm only being diligent for like a week or so to get all my grades up. Or maybe for a month now that I'm thinking about it."

It was around 2 in the morning, Eliott and Lucas were on their way back home.
Lucas wasn't completely drunk, but he was tipsy enough to almost trip and fall as he was walking.
Eliott had to hold him by his waist for support, he didn't want Lucas to break a bone on the cold Parisian sidewalk.
At home, Lucas emptied his stomach into the toilet. His stomach couldn't take alcohol anymore apparently.

"Holy fuck, I think I've never felt worse than right now", Lucas whined, rinsing his mouth with water from the tap to get the gross taste off of his tastebuds.
"Shouldn't have taken what, I don't know, were like at least a million sips of alcohol", Eliott said, gently massaging Lucas' back while he was hurling.
"Ouais, ouais, I know", Lucas groaned as he was getting up to rinse his mouth for the second time.
"Let's go sit down, maybe your stomach will calm down later", Eliott suggested and they made their way to the living room.

Lucas sat down on the couch, his whole body sinking into itself.
Eliott pulled Lucas into a hug, kissing his forehead.
"Baby, I'm worried. I don't want to watch you die. When you threw up earlier, I genuinely thought that you were going to bring up your liver or something", Eliott said, sadness tainting his voice.
"I know, baby, I'm sorry. I'll try to get better", Lucas said, looking at his hands.

Lucas woke up with a massive headache the next day.
He hoped that a glass of cold water would help to ease the pain.
Eliott was in the shower and Lucas decided to make some breakfast.

The butter sizzled as he cracked open an egg and let it cook in the pan.
After the two sunny-side eggs were done, he put two pieces of bread in the toaster, leaving the eggs in the pan to prevent them from getting cold.
He took a few bites of his sandwich as soon as it was done, grimacing at the texture.
Instantly, his appetite vanished and he felt disgusted. "Eli?", he shouted and a shirtless Eliott walked out of the bedroom.
"Ouais?", he asked, putting on the hoodie that he'd had in his hand. "Do you want to eat something?", Lucas asked.
"A bit maybe, I don't feel hungry", Eliott replied before heading off to the bathroom to brush his hair.

Lucas leaned against the kitchen countertop, waiting for his coffee to get done.
Meanwhile, Eliott ate one of the sandwiches.
"Baby, what's up?", Lucas asked concerned, brushing his thumbs across Eliott's cheeks.
"Mmhh", Eliott shrugged, "I'm not feeling good today, don't know why though."

He got done with eating and checked the time on his phone.
"What do you want to do today love?", Eliott asked. Lucas shrugged. "Maybe we could lay down in bed and relax? I'm exhausted", Lucas answered, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.
Eliott wrapped his arms around Lucas's waist, pulling him closer. "Of course we can do that", he said, his voice gentle and forgiving, "Of course. I'd love that actually."

Together, they cuddled up in bed.
Lucas pressed his hand to Eliott's chest, feeling his boyfriend's heartbeat vibrating through his palm.
"How are things going with your schoolwork?", Eliott asked after a while. His boyfriend turned his head.
"Things could be better, but I'm happy that things with my friends are okay again. Couldn't stand having problems going on with them on top of the rest that's going on", Lucas said.
"Mmhh, understandable. And why aren't things going well regarding your schoolwork?", Eliott continued to ask.
"Well", Lucas said, sitting up and climbing on Eliott's lap, "I'm overwhelmed, things are stressful. I can barely keep up with all the tasks and assignments we have to get done, all the exams and tests aside. It's too much for me, too much stress. I know that it won't get less, but even more, and that's what's stressing me out even further."

Eliott traced Lucas' facial features, letting his index finger touch his boyfriend's lips.
"Uni isn't any less stressful, either. I don't know if you can imagine how much work it was to get used to the flow of working on essays, having enough energy for the long lectures, and making friends in the process of it all", Eliott said, brushing a few strands of hair out of Lucas' face.
"Yeah, I get that, must've been tough and I'm proud of you for managing it all", Lucas said, leaning down to kiss Eliott.
Eliott let his hands wander up into Lucas' hair, getting a good grip on it. He pulled Lucas's head back a bit, sliding his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth.

Their teeth clashed together as they made out, the clock on the wall ticking away.
It only took a French kiss to turn their innocent make-out-session into something more, something that involved less talking.
Lucas made a few hickeys on Eliott's chest, little marks as evidence of their love.
Evidence that things were still working out, that things were still functioning.
Of course, going down on Eliott never ever felt like a chore, like something he had to do, lord no.
But it wasn't as exciting as it used to be, which Lucas decided to blame the stress for.
Right now, it felt too good to care about the background reasons as to why his thoughts were like that.

He loved Eliott, there was no doubt about it. Sometimes, Lucas feared that he loved him too much.
But he also knew deep down that their love hadn't expired yet, it was still fresh, there was still something that could be worked with.

Unfortunately, it was his mind that left him feeling utterly depleted of the energy he'd once had.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

[Word count: 1230 words]

Dang, I spent all day writing again today.
The lyrics at the top are from the song "Запомни I love you" by Rauf & Faik.