[ TEXT MESSAGE ] To Sam and Gen

[agentsullivan]

To whoever gets this first, I've got something that belongs to you passed out here on my couch.

Comments

[breakablehearts]

Oh god, don't tell me...

[agentsullivan]

Do you know if Justin's okay? Mark usually picks him up from the theatre.

[breakablehearts]

He is. Mark sent me a text last night asking me to pick Justin up because he was held back at the office. I took him home, kid was crashed out on the sofa safe and sound when I left. How did he get to your place?

[agentsullivan]

I got a drunk dial at two am.

[breakablehearts]

Shit. He didn't try to come onto your or anything, did he? I know what he's like when he's drunk.

[agentsullivan]

No, no. Not that I would have been surprised because I know how he is drunk too, but he wasn't like that. He was miserable, and then unconscious.

[breakablehearts]

Did he say anything? I thought he was relieved to have everything done with Justin's mother.

[agentsullivan]

He said something about Justin, but I wasn't sure if I was following right. If I was, then I would probably be hitting the bottle if it was my son too.

[breakablehearts]

What was is? I mean, he's shouldered a lot with Justin, what would drive him back to this?

[agentsullivan]

Look, I already knew, but I didn't know the extent of it. I don't know if I should say anymore because he's confided in me.

[breakablehearts]

Ali, please. I need to know to help him.

[agentsullivan]

Justin was sexually abused as a kid by a boyfriend of his mother's. It wasn't a one-off, either.

[breakablehearts]

No. Fuck, no. This can't be happening. Okay, look. Do you want me to come and get him? We'll sort this out. Somehow.

[agentsullivan]

I don't want to stick my nose in or anything, but maybe it's best if he stays here until he sobers up? He won't want Justin to see him like this.

[breakablehearts]

I know Justin's sleeping a lot right now when he's not at work, but he's going to want to know where his dad is. Maybe he should know too. Hasn't a good portion of his episodes been revolving around him not being told things?

[agentsullivan]

You can't pull a twin switch for me, can you? Easy fix. I'm fucking kidding, of course. If only. How will he feel if he realises he's the reason his father's drinking again, though? I told Mark to talk to him and let him see how this was making him feel, but I don't know if he did.

[breakablehearts]

I wish. Justin knows the differences between us better than anyone else. I think the kid's more resilient than any of us realise.

[agentsullivan]

Fuck. I don't know what to do.

[asskickingblahniks]

Passed out? Why? What's wrong with him?

I'm on my way.

[agentsullivan]

You don't have to rush over. Just... yeah, he's here.

[asskickingblahniks]

Is he okay? Does he need to see a doctor?

Is Justin with him?

[agentsullivan]

That's not a call for me to make.

No, Justin's not with him.

[asskickingblahniks]

Do you know what happened? And where Justin is?

[agentsullivan]

I can wager a pretty accurate bet, yeah. Sam took him home.

[asskickingblahniks]

Oh, my god, was he drinking? Thank fuck Justin's not with him.

[agentsullivan]

Yeah, he's drunk. I don't think he would have done it with Justin with him. I wish I could tell you it was going to be okay.

[asskickingblahniks]

No... I don't think he would've either. I know about Mark's past... And last time I remember him getting drunk, he and I ended up married.

[agentsullivan]

Getting drunk's the easy part.

[asskickingblahniks]

Getting sober again is the part that scares me.

[agentsullivan]

You need to address the reasons why he's getting drunk, no matter how hard it is. And you need to face the fact that he turned to the bottle before anyone else.

[asskickingblahniks]

I can only imagine what he's going through. He feels at fault in some ways because he wasn't there to protect Justin, and he knows that's not his fault, but he also can't help feeling guilty. I'm so fucking worried about him. I know we need to sit down and talk... I've never dealt with anything like this before so I don't want to make this worse for him.

[agentsullivan]

Have you talked to him about any of this? He's never dealt with anything like this before either. You've got to be a team.

[asskickingblahniks]

A little bit... I want to talk to him more about it, but it's just been this whole crazy thing. He and I were about to do the paperwork for me to adopt Justin. I want to be a team with him... Both as Justin's parents and as husband and wife.

[agentsullivan]

You need to talk a lot more than a bit. This is really tormenting Mark, he can't get around it and I think it's causing his depression to relapse, which is why he's going straight for the bottle. That's how it is for anyone with an addiction. It gets its clutches back in when they're more vulnerable. Andy's trigger was always his father's death, for Mark, it's feeling out of control when his family are in pain.

[asskickingblahniks]

I'll talk to him as soon as he's sobered up. I have a feeling talking to him right now won't help anything. He hasn't dealt with it since we've been married... I guess I got lulled into false security.

[agentsullivan]

He's not awake. The hangover's going to be awful. It's never healed. An alcoholic is always an alcoholic. They can just be in recovery.

[asskickingblahniks]

Thank you for taking care of him, Ali... I swear I don't know how we would've made it through anything without you. I know he's always going to be an addict. I just had no idea how tough it was going to be to realize he fell off the wagon.

[agentsullivan]

He's my baby daddy. I need to make sure he doesn't keel over in gutters and all that. Just know, that for him to have done this, considering everything, his heart was completely broken and he felt like he was drowning. It's not just a thing because it's an easy out. That's a common myth people have about alcoholics. I'm sure some don't try to recover, but those who have know how hard it is to keep their heads above water.

[asskickingblahniks]

Absolutely... I'm really glad that Justin's mom is out of his life now, and that you're not a causer of baby mama drama. I'm really lucky. It breaks my heart to know how much he's hurting, but I want to help him. However I can. Whatever it takes.

[agentsullivan]

I don't know how much he has told you, but I dropped by the day he was sick and he broke down completely about it. I knew then that he wasn't coping, and I tried to coax him to be free with Justin about how he wasn't so Justin knew it would be okay if he wasn't either. I just don't know how far he got in that process.

[asskickingblahniks]

I know about the mom's boyfriend... When our boy was only 8 years old. I know that he was afraid she'd give him away to people worse than her. And I know that Mark is fighting like hell to deal. It breaks my heart for him. I have to help him.

[agentsullivan]

You really need to sit down and talk about it, in-depth. Because if he's drinking, he's not dealing with it.

[asskickingblahniks]

Do you think I'd be able to get him home at this point?

[agentsullivan]

No. In fact, I said to Sam that maybe it's best to keep him here until he sobers up a bit so Justin doesn't see him like this. I can drive him home when he's at least lucid again.

[asskickingblahniks]

In the meantime, I have to prepare myself to talk to him... I think I need to buy stock in Kleenex.

[agentsullivan]

It might take some work. He goes into shut-down mode.

[asskickingblahniks]

I can't let him shut down this time. I'll fight him on this one.