dreamlikenewyork | "One night of sin..."

Who: Quentin Lawrence and Lorenzo Chevalier
What: Crossing paths
Where: Central Park
When: Saturday morning

Everyone had that one person in their lives that had been an indescribable something, and that stuck in some place in your heart, but ultimately had no way to develop into anything at the time. They were one of those people that impacted on you, but the time just really wasn't right and because of that, when you crossed their path again, everything would have changed so much that any tiny window of opportunity would never have been meant to be.

All of this was something Quentin didn't realise until he stepped back from the coffee stand in Central Park with his drink in hand and nearly tripped over a baby's pram. "Oh my god, I'm sorry--" was out of his mouth before he realised who was there. When he saw the familiar face, he nearly dropped the coffee. It wasn't a dramatic shock to see him, it was just because he was one of those people, and he hadn't ever forgotten their night together. A night that should never have happened because they had both been with other people. "... Lorenzo?"

Lorenzo. And he was pushing a baby pram. This was a whole lot of unexpected surprise that cut close to home. "W-Wow, it's um... it's been a long time..."

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"Quentin," Lorenzo murmured when the exhausted haze lifted just a little for him to realise that the person he had been waiting to finish up in the line in front of him was someone he knew, and pretty well, all things considered. At least, they had known each other a little while ago, before, well... a hell of a lot had happened. Before Quentin had gone to prison and refused any visitors, no matter who they were. Lorenzo knew something had to be up with that, but he had no choice but to accept his friend's request. No prison was going to force inmates to take visitors.

This wasn't prison, though, and he was shocked to see Quentin out. After some hesitation, he stepped up and gave him a bit of an awkward hug considering they had both balked before it. "It has. It's... fuck, yeah. I didn't know you were out. I've been kind of caught up in shit..." he tried to explain, eyes shifting to his baby daughter in the pram. The last couple of nights had been hell. She had a fever and all she had been doing was screaming. He tried all the things on the baby forums he had Googled, but still the only thing that seemed to settle her was a walk in the pram, which is what brought him to Central Park ordering the strongest coffee on the menu. He hadn't even seen Lewis last night, who was washed out and drained himself being back at work and running on empty after the allergic reaction so he needed to sleep to have the energy to face work each night. Jude was either working or visiting with Billy at the hospital/trying to help Ajay. This all had been what had Lorenzo feeling the heavy impact of single fatherhood more than any other week since Holly's birth. "How are you? When did you get out?"

Quentin patted Lorenzo's back softly and they sort of just side-stepped out of the hug, it pretty obvious that neither of them really knew what they were supposed to do or say with this. Their history was on a rocky foundation, to say the least. They met at a support group for partners in recovery, which was basically a group where people with mental illnesses or drug problems could come with their partners and talk out the struggles they had trying to keep relationships afloat through the difficulties faced. Lorenzo had been there with Mara and Quentin attended a few times with Sophie, though ultimately she never wanted to go, thinking she didn't have the problems the other people did.

What it had led to was a one night stand with Lorenzo. They met up for coffee one evening because they both saw similarities in their relationships and thought they could talk easier without their girlfriends there. They did talk. But they also went to a nearby hotel after the coffee and slept together. It wasn't one of those 'It just happened' scenarios either. They both confided in each other about the physical troubles that came trying to be intimate with someone who was sick, either with addiction or mental illness, who had precarious history with treatment and not sticking to it. They slept together for the intimacy they both needed, but because it was blatant cheating on their partners, they swore to never speak of it to anyone. They never did it again, but kept in touch. It was about a year later that Quentin ended up in jail without warning. "You look... well, you look like hell, to be honest. I, um, I got out a few months ago. It's been horrible. I can't even lie." He paused, hesitantly looking into the pram. "Who's this?"

Lorenzo just nodded, because he felt like hell. Nice to know he looked how he felt. The bright morning sun was stinging his eyes. He spent the whole night awake pacing the floor with Holly in his arms trying to stop her crying, or lying with her nursed on his chest in just a diaper and a little blanket when she settled a little but still didn't go to sleep with the fever. It was his first experience with a sick baby and he was at his wits end, especially after he was sent home from the clinic telling him to give her infant Tylenol until the fever came down and to come back if she got worse. "Did you take the fall for Sophie?" he asked, not beating around the bush. It was hard to make with small talk with their history together, and the friendship just cutting off when Quentin got locked up. "The last time we spoke, you told me you weren't using anymore, so..."

He leaned over and tucked Holly's blanket in around her. "This is Holly. She's, um... she's my daughter. Eight weeks old. A bit of a mindfuck, huh?" he murmured, giving the pram a little jiggle because the movement is what seemed to keep her soothed. "Where are you staying? What are you up to? I gave up trying to come see you when they kept telling me you didn't want anyone there. At first, I figured I should just take the hint. Then I started to wonder if there was more to it than met the eye. You never seemed the dealer type."

Quentin's mouth dropped open... for both comments. First Lorenzo's questioning him about taking the fall, and then in the next breath saying the baby in the pram was his daughter. Yes. This was most definitely all a big mindfuck. It was true, though. In the handful of months they knew each other, Quentin had confided in Lorenzo a lot about how he dealt with things surrounding Sophie's addictions and how to try to make things work. In the process of that, he had told him he quit drugs and alcohol himself so he could try to help her do the same. Lorenzo had listened a lot, never judged. He understood how hard that shit was. "I... I..." he stammered, glancing around self-consciously to see if anyone was listening in on what they were saying. "S-She was pregnant with my kid. What else was I supposed to do?"

This was a hell of a lot to try to process. Eight weeks. Only a couple of months, give or take, difference in age from Milo. This was a lot and it was overwhelming. He was feeling his face heat up like he was going to pass out just from the situation feeling a little suffocating. He looked in at the tiny little baby. She was so small too. "So... so you and Mara got married? Had a baby. That's, um... that's really great. Congratulations. I guess someone's got to make it work, right? The support group wasn't as bullshit as we thought and all that. I'm just... I'm staying with Kevin. You know, from the garage," he added, feeling flustered and put on the spot. He couldn't even begin to know how to explain all this. Here Lorenzo was with a baby, his daughter, and there Quentin was having given his own kid up for adoption.

"One night of sin..."

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