Archive of Our Own

"Are you even listening to me? Hey idiot, I'm talking to you."

The words passed through the air like a dagger, clean and precise and with naught but a hiss. Yet their recipient remained unaffected, seemingly bored from the berating.

"You're no doubt daydreaming again. Why can't you take anything seriously and keep your head out of the clouds?"

The silent one's eyes finally shifted to glance at the other, whose gaze burned with irritation. The usual din of the restaurant's happenings dampened their terse conversation, but with how disengaged the couple looked, there were a few onlookers halting their own talks to steal glances their way. The fact that they were starting to garner attention seemed only to anger the aggravated person even more.

"So you're going to stay quiet? Ignore me?? You're such an immature child, Sylvain! All I want you to do is actually put effort in something in your life for once!"

Once again, the silent man glanced to his partner, but remained tight-lipped. The plates of food before them lay untouched, pristine in their presentation but growing cold and unappetizing thanks to neither one of them having much of an appetite anymore. It was supposed to be a nice afternoon out, but all too soon, their conversation veered towards their current occupations, and all too often, things got worse from there.

"You're insufferable. You know you could have gotten that promotion ages ago, but you're too lazy for the extra work. I spoke with your team lead and she actually had praise for you, which is surprising in itself, but only reinforces what I'm saying now. You can do what needs to be done but you won't. You'd rather I bust my ass at work instead while you play up your supposed 'incompetence'! Still ignoring me, or is your tiny mind not able to 'comprehend''? Tch, at this point I'm liable to believe you are nothing more than a dumb--"

"I can't do this anymore. We're done, Felix."

One man stood up. The other sputtered in his speech, struck silent from the interruption. He could only look up at his partner in confusion, too stunned to continue.

"I've told you twice that I applied for the promotion and was denied. I've told you three times that I was going to try again. I constantly tell you that I'm trying, I really fucking am, but it's never enough for you, is it? Everything out of your mouth is an insult, and no matter what I do, I'm nothing but a dumbass to you. So since I can't live up to your lofty standards, I'll save you an aneurysm and end this relationship."

His words were spoken with a chilling calmness, with venom dripping with each syllable. Not once did he raise his voice, or disturb anything, or make an unneeded fuss. But after speaking his piece, Sylvain returned his chair under the table, and left the restaurant without another word, leaving Felix dumbfounded, embarrassed, and for once, dejected.

Felix couldn't handle that. Handle how quickly things turned south. Forgoing social politeness, he jumped up from his seat, knocking his chair over and loudly calling out for Sylvain, yelling that he needed to return back inside and explain himself. Sylvain however, did not come back.

The other restaurant patrons all blatantly looked after the two men now, as Felix rushed out of the door to follow when he saw his words were ignored. The waitresses and waiters all tried valiantly to restore order and peace to the establishment, but some liked gossip and drama more than cheese and wine.

"Sylvain! You bastard! How dare you pull some stunt like that?!"

Upon finally catching up to the other man, Felix yanked his shoulder around so that they were facing each other. He, however, wished he didn't, for he was met with a face full of scorned fury.

"What stunt? I said we're done."

The finalization in his voice sent a chill down Felix's back. But he refused to back off. He refused to acknowledge what Sylvain was trying to imply. "YOU said we're done? For what?! How the hell do you think you can break up with me?! Wasn't it you who begged me to be in a relationship in the first place?"

"Are you serious. I begged you?" Sylvain's face loomed ever darker than before, in a way that Felix has never seen before. "I only complied with your laundry list of demands to gain the privilege to date you. All that prostrating was because of you, so you can only blame yourself if you don't like the worship."

Felix could not deal with someone whose anger did not translate to yelling or aggression. This cold, calculating tone was foreign to him, and especially foreign to Sylvain. It didn't suit his always happy, always joking friend, and it threw him completely off track. "I...No wait, I never--"

"You wanted to make me into someone who you weren't embarrassed into dating, right? That you started dating me out of supposed pity, or some unspoken duty, so you could help me better myself, right Felix?" Sylvain spoke with malice boiled forth into a searing storm, stepping forward and glaring a long garnered hatred into the eyes of his former partner. "I never asked for any improvements, I asked for a partnership with someone I loved. YOU'RE the one who thought I was the village idiot who needed a keeper. So believe me when I say I'm doing you the favor by ending this charade."

Stunned once again into silence, Felix could only stare with his mouth agape as Sylvain tore into him verbally. He still didn't understand why he was being torn into, however. Wouldn't anyone want help, or improvements? And he thought that Sylvain, most of all, struggled far more than anyone else in their friend group, so why wouldn't he want help in bettering himself? Unless...
"You...You're just saying this to push me away, aren't you? You-You're doing that backwards shit, that 'save yourself from being with scum like me' mentality! I know you Sylvain, and I know you would do something dumb like that, so cut it out and stop embarrassing the both of us out here!" A little courage brimmed forth from Felix as he thought he 'figured it out', but from the unfettered look of the other, the scant bit of courage faded away just as quickly as it came.

"Funny how someone who calls everyone around him an idiot is the biggest one of all. I'm not pushing you away to 'protect' you, I'm pushing you away because I don't want to be with your caustic ass anymore. I'm tired of the insults. I'm tired of being belittled. We're--"

"We're not!! Don't say it!!" Felix stepped forward, directly in Sylvain's face, anger winning out over fear and rationality. "You're nothing without me, and all you're doing is setting yourself up for failure!!"

All too quickly, Felix found himself on the cold, hard ground.
And now, Felix got the normal sort of anger he knew how to deal with, from his rapidly bruising jaw, to the shouting fury that came from Sylvain.

"How many times do I have to say it before you get it?! I. Am. DONE. I can't take your nasty, negative attitude or your controlling bullshit anymore! Fucking stay out of my life!!"

He barely registered that Sylvain got into his car and sped off, and that he would now need to call a ride to pick him up.
Or that several patrons now milled outside, pretending to go to their own cars but blatantly staring at his disheveled state.
Or, that Sylvain, his best friend since childhood and someone whom he thought loved him more than life itself, just, quite literally, dumped him.

Felix's mind was total static and buzzing of raw emotions. Despite the yelling, despite the disagreement, he still didn't understand. 'Negative'? 'Controlling'? How was he being any of those things! Every single thing he did was for Sylvain's benefit, and being called an idiot once or twice shouldn't have undermined any of that. Stupid is as stupid does, and Felix still loved him all the same no matter how much Sylvain messed up. And Sylvain knows this! Felix knew he did! So why now, was he experiencing all this pushback?

Scowling, Felix finally picked himself up from the ground and pulled out his phone to call a cab. "When did he get so fucking sensitive..." His heart ached to try and rectify things, to get a better understanding, but his mind still simmered with anger and shame, from being made a laughingstock and no doubt the subject of several gossip threads online. Sylvain was the asshole here, full stop, and when he was done being a petulant child, he'll come crawling back.

Felix was sure of it.

Felix was so sure of it, that he anticipated Sylvain's return to his apartment later that night. When he didn't return, Felix became more upset about the entire debacle, cursing his friend for causing him to stay up til midnight for such petty reasons. He fired off text after text with no responses to any of them, which make Felix positively irate.

However, instead of going to find him and start another argument, he thought it best to sleep on it. Sylvain's idiocy knows no bounds, and surely he's sitting somewhere in a gutter wallowing in self-pity about the embarrassingly failed date. Felix knew this to be true, so he consoled himself knowing that at least, after a couple days, Sylvain's shame will send him back to the apartment for apologies and attempts to cuddle.

It's happened before. it will happen again. Felix knows this.

Why then, did it not happen?

Going on a week now, the surly male has dealt with day after day of empty, lonely nights of fretting past 1 am, texting and now calling with no answers whatsoever, no sort of attempts to reach out in any way, and not even seeing Sylvain's car at his apartment when Felix drove by. Several times. The anger shifted to worry, for he knew just how his best friend tended to think, thanks to past experiences. He learned to see through the pathetic veneer that Sylvain liked to put up "for their sake"; how he always played the dumb jokester to make everyone else look good. Felix hated it! It made no sense for him to do and only painted both him and everyone associated with him as incompetent fools. But apparently, old habits die hard, and now he was sure Sylvain was somewhere beside himself, realizing how foolish he truly was and being overly hard on himself.

Felix always warned him about these self-destructive mental battles, that good discipline and a physical outlet would get rid of all that negative thinking. But does Sylvain listen?

"I have to find that idiot before he goes and jumps off a bridge. This is getting beyond ridiculous."
With a a sigh that seemed both irritated and anxious, Felix set out once again, for the third time that day, to see if Sylvain was at home.

A week and a half has passed, and only now did Felix think to call his other friends to see if they've heard from Sylvain. He's a little ashamed that it took him this long to do so, but at the same time he knows that Sylvain's lying tended to get past Ingrid only 50% of the time. It always got past Dimitri. Ashe and Annette were too naive to think Sylvain could ever lie, and Dedue and Mercedes were too nice and always let him get away with it.

Judging all of this, Ingrid was his best best to get advice from, if she did not have the answers about Sylvain already. Felix knew this to be the best choice.

So why now, was he being glared at?

"Felix, I told you that you were being too harsh with him," Ingrid said in a hushed tone, leaning over the table and cupping her hot chocolate close to her chest. They sat at a small table in a coffee shop, tucked away in the corner so as to not disturb anyone (Felix has had quite enough of becoming public spectacles, thank you.) The general atmosphere of the shop gave off a cozy, happy feeling that was a complete contrast to the sullen look that Felix now wore. Ingrid continued on, adding, "Dimitri knew you two weren't speaking and he's been fretting about it for a while now, but I never would have thought you two broke up!"

"Dimitri was worried? About what?"

"Felix," Ingrid's voice matched the frown she now had. "Everyone's been wondering what was up with you two. You've been acting more and more bitter towards anything, yet Sylvain's still... well, Sylvain. That's why none of us could pinpoint exactly what went wrong, because Dedue and Mercedes said it didn't seem like Sylvain's usual happy demeanor. And Ashe and Annette both thought that Sylvain upset you with something stupid again, and he was trying to just keep up a facade to keep us from drilling you with questions. Ugh, if I had known it was this I would have torn into you by now!"

This, Felix did not know. Couldn't fathom. That all his friends already picked up on the turmoil between them; even if it was all caused by one dumb redhead, Felix liked to think that things were still manageable. The words that Ingrid spoke however, were, well, ridiculous!

He gripped his cup of black coffee tightly, and let his words fly out before he had a chance to mull them over. "Why would you tear into me? I'M not the one who made that declaration, in front of the whole damn restaurant! You're just feeling the usual pity for Sylvain, when you know this is all just performative nonsense that he's doing because that's all he knows how to do." Judging from Ingrid's wide-eyed look, he may have finally got some sense into her. After taking a sip of his coffee, he spoke again. "Look, we both care about him, that's why I came to you because I know you'll help me figure out the best way to get him to forget this 'break up' even happened and we can get things back to normal."

Her silence was unnerving. Felix took another sip of his coffee and glanced back at her. "Well?"

"Do you really believe he's just 'faking' breaking up with you, Felix?"

"What else could it be? He hasn't done anything else ridiculous or outlandish, so I'm sure he's just waiting for me to make the first move back, or waiting until his shame gets the better of him." Ingrid muttered something, before standing up with her cup of cocoa. Felix glared at her. "What did you say?"

Ingrid sighed, before looking away from Felix. "I said I don't want to get involved with this. You two have to work it out, but just from this conversation, maybe you should stay apart."

She began to leave, but Felix quickly stood up to stop her. "What the hell do you mean by that," he spoke in a harsh tone, filled with confusion and anger, "you're trying to say I'm too hard on him, aren't you? YOU are too, Ingrid! You're harder on him than I ever was!"

She refused to look his way, replying to him while staring at the door. "I used to be hard on him, but after he told me that my scolding was getting into hurtful territory, I stopped. Did you?"

Felix did not answer, so Ingrid left the coffee shop. Left him to ruminate over his thoughts. Left him alone once again.

"She still scolds him, so I don't know what bull she's spewing." He returned to his seat angrily, nearly spilling his coffee over his hand. "Maybe she doesn't hit him anymore, but his stupid mistakes always get called out. She still tells him he needs to do better. So why is it when I do it, it's wrong??"

Despite not wanting to be a public spectacle, Felix continued to mumble to himself, making him one anyway. Several patrons inside made sure to keep a wide berth away from his table as they traversed the shop, if not blatantly being nosy and listening in to his rambles.

"Fine, if she doesn't want to help, then I'll deal with it on my own." Whipping out his phone again, he fired off several more texts, nearly as a force of habit at this point, but secretly hoping for an answer, an apology, a solution or a signal that this was all over and done with. Unfortunately, after waiting for several minutes, there was still no reply.
Felix got up, slammed his coffee in the trash and left the shop in a furious huff.

"So be it, Sylvain. I'll go about it your way. You want to act like a child, then I'll treat you like one, dammit."

"You want... to have a double date? You actually want to?"

This day makes it two weeks now that Sylvain hasn't returned any of Felix's calls, texts, or emails. Although he would never admit it, the lack of contact has started to affect him. He's jumpier, has become disinterested in weight training, and has fallen behind on his work reports, leading to an unfortunate conversation with his team advisor this past Wednesday. Most of all, his temperament has soured far more than anyone could have imagined, leading him to snap at anyone for any little thing. Case in point:

"Yes I want to go on a damn double date, idiot--did I stutter, or has matted fur filled your ears, boar??"

Dimitri's frown reminded him of Ingrid's, which meant that he too, was disappointed, just like she was. Which only made Felix even angrier. "Look, I don't need you to tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I'm not doing anything wrong. Just accept the damn invite. I already texted you the address to the place and I'll cover all of our meals." Even his voice sounded harsher than normal, and he'd like to think that Dimitri winced because of it. Felix cleared his throat before continuing, "And lastly, I need you to act like this is your idea, so you can invite me and Sylvain."

That came out easier than he thought it would. He spent an hour practicing saying it out loud the night before. That's probably why his voice was so harsh. Rookie move, but all the better if it solves this horrible nonsense quicker.

Dimitri tried to speak, but Felix cut him off, holding a finger up. "Pretend you and Dedue had the urge to be cute and socialize or come up with whatever reason you need. Just call Sylvain and invite the both of us on a double date, and then meet at the place." The larger man tried to speak again but Felix stopped him once more. "And don't mention me beyond inviting me. Let him talk, you'll most likely get more info out of him, you know he likes to ramble."

Felix once more tried to stop Dimitri, but the blond's voice carried over. "Felix I really don't think this is a good--"

"LISTEN TO ME," Felix nearly shouted, finally silencing Dimitri completely, "I'll already be at the restaurant, so as soon as you three arrive, I can corner him and wring an explanation out of him for why this has gone on as long as it has. And he WILL come, because he doesn't like telling you no, so if anything he'll come up with some dumb scheme like having Ashe dress up as me. Let him. I'll deal with the idiot as soon as I see him. Did I make myself clear?"

All Dimitri felt comfortable doing was nodding.

Satisfied that his plan was now in place, Felix left, now muttering to himself that he has to dress nice in order to catch a weasel, and how ridiculous everything sounded. However, he confided in himself that this would soon end. He would confront Sylvain, tell him how utterly irresponsible he was for making everyone worry about him, how all of this could have been avoided if he had just apologized and carried on with their lives, and how much of a dumbass he was for making Felix go through so much trouble just to end his pity party.

He had half a mind to write up a script to read off the grievances that Sylvain's caused, but that was perhaps a bit too overboard.
A verbal lashing would do, and a good enough one to hopefully stamp out any last vestiges of this nonsensical behavior from his very, very dear friend.

A dear friend that he missed terribly. And he knew that missing him was the single biggest reason why he was so angry with him.

Dimitri shifted nervously from foot to foot. They stood outside in the parking lot of an Mexican taqueria, the exact restaurant that Felix told them to set up the "double date" a few days ago. The chill autumn air didn't quite affect him, however he still huddled his arms together, out of nerves than anything else. He hated lying, even with minor things, and despite encouragement from Dedue, Dimitri couldn't shake the feeling that he should just come out and tell the truth before the situation started.

"Surely he'd understand, won't he? After all, laying everything bare would--"

"No, Dimitri." Dedue placed a comforting hand on his partner's shoulder. "They've gotten this far into their spat, we should let them play it out on their terms. Best not to have outside intervention with relationship matters."

"But--"

"*Unless it gets violent. Then, we can step in. However I'm confident that it won't get to that point."

The blond-haired man nodded solemnly. Dedue was right, even if the answer made him uneasy. Dimitri did look around, and couldn't find any hint of Felix already being here, as he said he would be. Perhaps he called a cab or rode with someone else, and Dimitri merely didn't recognize the car. Oh he certainly hoped Felix didn't try to muscle Ingrid on his side; the last thing they all needed was a full-blown argumentative fight.

"Are you absolutely sure I shouldn't just, give him a call? Not to tell him outright, but give him a hint as to what to expect?"

Dedue remained silent, choosing to instead to look at his watch.

Dimitri shuffled his feet again and rubbed his arms for comfort, for some form of easing his nervous tension. Not even Dedue giving a small squeeze to his shoulder could calm his thoughts this time. Everything seemed to play out as planned. Sylvain agreed to the double date, just as Felix said he would. Sylvain's voice carried a bit of wariness to it, no doubt mulling over the invitation, just as Felix said he would. And now Sylvain was 15 minutes late. Which could only mean...

"Dedue, I really think--"

"They're here."

Just as Dimitri feared, there was Sylvain's car, driving into the lot and smoothly sliding to park in the space next to Dedue's truck. Just as Dimitri feared, there was a second silhouetted head in the car with Sylvain, seated in the passenger's seat. He couldn't help himself from grabbing his cellphone, but Dedue placed a gentle hand over it, covering the screen.

Dimitri's stomach was tied in knots.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. We popped in a store cause he just had to get you a gift, even though I told him he didn't have to!" Sylvain's jovial voice rang out clear as ever as he exited his vehicle. He held a large gift bag in one hand, and his keys in the other. The other person spoke up as well, in a mellow voice that carried the same happy tone as his companion's.

"Listen to him; 'I didn't have to'--Of course I had to!! As soon as I saw these in the window I knew they were perfect for you two!"

Dedue thanked the slim man, who gathered the gift bag from Sylvain to present it to the other couple. Inside were two brilliant, hand-woven wool scarves; one deep royal blue color, the other a cool, elegant teal. Hugs were then exchanged, and as Dimitri gave Sylvain a hug, his lone eye searched the parking lot ceaselessly for their friend, hoping with all his might that perhaps, he thought better of this idea. That perhaps, he didn't show because he knew it to be a bit silly, or perhaps still, he found out and--

"What the hell is this?"

Dimitri lowered his head like a scolded puppy. Dedue's lips pursed together tightly, hiding the inevitable frown. Sylvain's eyes looked around behind Dedue, to settle upon a very familiar face, set with a very familiar scowl.

Felix stomped his way over to the gathering, red-brown eyes scanning all those present, before setting his seething gaze on the intruder. With an accusing finger, he gestured to the unknown person before spitting out, "Who the hell is that?!"

Sylvain answered without skipping a beat, "Thiat's Yuri, my boyfriend."

Oh.

The world around them seemed to fall into a hushed whisper, but only for a moment. Yuri stepped forward and shook Felix's outstretched hand, ignoring that it was now balled into a fist. "Nice to meet you! You must be Felix, right? I've heard so much about you~"

Oh.

Felix returned no gesture of kindness. Nor did he give Yuri any further attention. He zeroed in on Sylvain, his emotions jumbling what he truly wanted to say, but he feels he got out the most important bits, even if they were spoken louder than he would have liked. "Your boyfriend?! Are you serious right now--no, you can't be serious right now, or you'd be grinning like the idiot that you are. I can't believe this asinine nonsense! Do you know how much of a jackass you're being by bringing some random--"

"Let me stop you right there," Yuri stepped forward, blocking Felix's view of Sylvain and even side-stepping to continue blocking him further when he tried to evade. "Sylvain may be too nice to cuss you out, but I'm not. If the man told you to fuck off, then. Fuck. Off. End of discussion. Stop embarrassing yourself out here."

"Felix, please--" Dimitri reached out to pull Felix away from potential altercations, to no avail. His gentle pulling was met with yanking away.

"Get the hell out of my face," Felix snarled to Yuri, who glared back unflinchingly, "my concern is with MY boyfriend, not you."

"Felix," Dedue started, but Felix again tried to get closer towards Sylvain, but was blocked by Yuri again. His anger was reaching a boiling point.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?! ARE YOU INSANE, GETTING ALL OF US WORKED UP OVER THIS!! ANSWER ME, SYLVAIN."

Yuri opened his mouth to match Felix's level of ferocity, but Sylvain stepped forward instead, pulling out his cellphone and handing it to Dedue.
"I don't have anything to say. You can check the near two hundred messages he's left me since we broke up to see what went wrong." The redhead then laced his fingers in Yuri, and led him towards the restaurant. "I didn't block his number because I hoped, that he'd realize what he was doing or see how he was acting, but the more I ignored him, the more he doubled down. So, well..." Sylvain shrugged, before looking away, "...glad to see that you're doing okay, Felix. Sorry you found out like this."

The two then walked inside, with Yuri sneakily flipping Felix off before the door closed behind them.

Felix remained silent. Dedue scrolled through the phone, his brows furrowing deeper the more he read. Dimitri opened and closed his mouth several times, before managing to slowly say, "I tried to tell you, that Sylvain was dating someone else when you told me of... of the double date. He and Yuri have been seeing each other for a week or so, now."

Felix said nothing. Dimitri tried to offer a small bit of comfort with a hand on his shoulder, but Felix shrugged away.

"I... I still should have told you, I'm so sorry. You were adamant, but, Felix...Ingrid told me what you spoke about with her and..." Dimitri fell silent, fearing that his words were not reaching his friend.

"Not once, did you apologize to him. Nor did you ever stop berating him, even when you weren't together. You do realize that." Dedue's words were a statement rather than a question because of course Felix realizes this. He realizes that Ingrid's words held more truth than he thought. He now realized that Dimitri was a lot more perceptive than he thought. He...

May have been the fool this entire time.

Felix's vision became hazy and blurred. This time, he didn't pull away from Dimitri's embrace, as his mind swirled with confusing thought after confusing thought. No, they weren't confusing. He knew exactly what these thoughts were. That he was wrong, wrong, wrong, and there was no returning back to how things were.
That he was dealt many chances to stop from pushing things too far, but now his time, and their time together, was up.

Sylvain moved on. And Felix never felt more alone.

Dimitri urged Dedue to accompany the others inside while he sat outside with Felix for a while, and to apologize on his behalf for the whole debacle. Felix's legs grew weak, and he eased himself down to sit on the curb, cursing this day, cursing the air, cursing everything he could think of before cursing himself and sobbing into Dimitri's shoulder.

Felix thought himself to truly be the most foolish person he ever knew. His words began to reflect as such, outwardly insulting himself and viciously berating his own actions, before Dimitri stopped him.

"Please, don't say such things about yourself. You two aren't together anymore, but I'm sure if you properly apologize, you can still be friends." Dimitri made sure to hold Felix tight, rubbing his back through the ragged sobs. "I know you, Felix, and I know how hard you want all of us to be our best selves. And I know," he paused to wipe his friend's face, "that even though your harshest criticisms, you always mean well. Sylvain knows this, too. We just have to work on... expressing yourself in less caustic ways."

"As if he'll even speak to me again," Felix choked out through huffs and sniffles, "you saw the things I sent him, you saw how dismissive he looked at me!! I... I know he hates my very soul."

"He does not. Sylvain doesn't have a mean bone in his body; never have through all the years we've been through. However, I know the two of you are best friends, because you're doing the very thing you claim Sylvain to always do."

Felix looked up to Dimitri, eyes red and puffy from the furious rubbing he's been doing to stymie the tears. "I'm not! I-I'm just... speaking the truth, on how horrible I truly am, and how utterly despicable and horrific I've become, and I.... I... ..." He realized his rambling, and paused with a heavy, shuddering sigh. "I really am doing that, aren't I..."

Dimitri didn't speak, but chose to answer with a warm embrace, holding his distressed friend close to push all his worries and fears away. That hug, that simple gesture, seemed to hold all the warmth that Felix has been missing these past few weeks.

Things began to look a bit clearer in his mind. Aspects that in the beginning infuriated him, now started to make better sense, and the things that he was ignoring was now in the forefront of his thoughts. Felix didn't ever think he could truly repair their relationship, romantic or otherwise, but he owed it to Sylvain to at least try and make things right.

"Can... you help me, Dimitri? I know...that if I tried to sort things out on my own, I-I'll mess something else up."

"Of course, Felix. I'm always happy to help."

The two sat in the parking lot together for a while longer, letting the cool air calm them and ignoring the occasional glances from passerby. Through snotty noses and choked feelings, Felix came to the conclusion that despite his broken heart, what he wanted most was to make Sylvain happy again. Even if his love was for someone else now, Sylvain's smile still should shine through without any shadows of hurt feelings or lost friendships.

This, Felix knew.