"One night of sin..."

[breakthesilence]

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..."

Comments

[nothingelsematters]

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."

[breakthesilence]

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.