Chapter Text
Gabriel is beginning to think that maybe he should have listened to all those dating advice sites he used to look at when he was younger. Dating a coworker is a bad idea, and dating your boss? Probably the biggest mistake you can make.
He keeps his face carefully blank as Jack from across the table keeps speaking his, probably carefully rehearsed, breakup speech. But just the thought of Jack breaking up with him over and over again to nothing but a mirror makes his heart hurt.
This is obviously something Jack had been thinking about for awhile, all while Gabe lived on in blissful ignorance. At least it's not happening through a text, or god forbid in their shared workplace.
At least the year they spent together ment enough to Jack that he took Gabe to a fancy fucking restaurant to break his heart.
He's going to have to quit now, he realises distantly. There's no way he can keep working under his now ex- boyfriend.
Dating his boss had been a truly awful idea.
Gabe doesn't remember anything Jack tells him beyond "I think we should break up." He doesn't remember leaving the restaurant and he certainly doesn't remember the ride home. He feels like he blinks, and suddenly he's standing in front of his apartment door.
It's late at night and the world is silent around him beyond the faint buzzing of fluorescent lights above him. Just beyond the door he knows his kids and their babysitter are waiting for him. He takes a deep breath and tries to school his features and straighten his back before he pulls out his key and opens the door.
Gabe finds their babysitter sitting awake on the couch looking at him with knowing eyes; she is a kind woman that he met when he first moved into this apartment complex so long ago. Amélie, despite her cold demeanour and general distaste of people, had clicked with Gabe almost instantly. His youngest, Olivia, also seemed rather fond of her while Amélie had a visible soft spot for both of his kids. That was all it took for Gabe to trust her, and she had been his go-to person ever since.
"You're home rather early," Amélie says, taking a not so subtle glance at his empty hands.
Gabe feels his composure crack almost instantly, his head droops and his shoulders hunch inwards. When Jack had told him where he made the reservation for tonight, Gabe had been giddy as he'd talked to Amélie about how fancy it was.
Certainly not the place you would go to break up with someone. Gabriel, in all his foolishness, had almost suspected a proposal.
Something he'd mentioned to Amélie, his stupid hope that Jack had changed his mind about marriage and being a father.
"He broke up with me." Gabe says in a voice that feels too small and vulnerable for his liking.
"That little roach," Amélie hisses and pushes herself to her feet, the ethereal grace she always carries lining every movement as she approaches Gabe and wraps him in her arms. "Come, sit, tell me everything."
Gabriel let's Amélie guide him so he's sitting on his couch, and he doesn't even see her walk away until she's sitting beside him and offering him a glass of water.
He takes it and sips it gently, taking a moment to gather his jumbled thoughts, and Amélie sits with him, patient and comforting.
"He– we had only just ordered a wine to share and he told me he wanted to break up."
Anélie says nothing still, but reaches out and places her hand over his.
"He said that he had been thinking about it for a while and that he just," Gabe swallows thickly. "That he doesn't think he can ever be what I want."
"Well, I do agree with that," Amélie scoffs. "You had been dating for a year and still he has not met your children."
Gabriel can't help but get defensive at that. "He just! He said he wasn't ready. That he wanted to make the best first impression."
"He already had made an impression on your children," Amélie drawls. "As the man who loved you but refused to meet them."
Gabe physically bites his tongue at that, unsure what to say as his heartache worsens.
"Not to mention that you have always dreamed of having a big family, one that is close to one another, while he said he was never interested in marriage or kids."
"We were never gonna work, were we?" Gabe sighs, tired and defeated and only then do the tears start to form in his eyes as he hunches in on himself.
He wants to scream and sob and to hit something – preferably Jack's face – but his kids are in the other room, sleeping, and he can't wake them, he can't let them see him like this.
So he cries silently, shoulders shaking with the force of it while Amélie just gently rubs a hand along his back in soothing patterns.
"Go to sleep, Gabriel," she instructs. "We will deal with this in the morning."
He nods, and he doesn't remember walking to his room, but suddenly he's in his bed and he's wearing one of his few hoodies that isn't Jack's and the lights are off.
His heart hurts, and his eyes are heavy, and he lets himself drift off to an uneasy sleep.
—
With the morning comes a new set of challenges.
Gabe stumbles into his living room to see Olivia and Cole already awake, engrossed in whatever show they're watching and silently Gabe sneaks out and heads for the kitchen instead, where he finds Amélie stirring two cups of coffee.
"You're a godsend," Gabe whispers as she offers one of the cups towards him.
Amélie huffs a whisper of a laugh at that. "I've got you."
Chugging half of the coffee, Gabe scrunches his face as it burns its way down his throat, ignoring the way Amélie sighs at his antics as he waits for the caffeine to kick in, bringing with it all his worries from last night.
"Shit." He curses out loud. "I need to quit my job. I need to find a new one."
"You do," Amélie agrees calmly, taking a small sip from her mug.
"I need to get rid of all of Jack's stuff." Gabe continues, dread pooling in his gut. "I really don't want to talk to that bastard."
"You don't have to," Amélie says. "You spend the weekend with your kids, they miss you, Gabriel. And on Monday you will give me all of Jack's stuff, and we will return it to him, or burn it on the roof."
Gabe laughs quietly at that, suddenly overwhelmingly grateful that he has Amélie in his life. "Alright," he agrees. "Thank you."
"Go," Amélie says with a soft smile, however quickly it shows on her face before it vanishes.
Downing the rest of his coffee, Gabe leaves his cup on the side and steps out of the kitchen, walking back to the living room on silent feet, he creeps up behind the couch, taking a moment, making sure neither of his kids have seen him, he places a sudden hand of each of their shoulders and feels them jump in surprise.
"Gotcha!" Gabe says and both his kids shriek in return.
"Dad!" They both cry once they realise who it is.
"Don't scare me like that!" Cole huffs, an adorable angry look on his face.
"You're so mean!" Olivia agrees with a pout
Gabe just laughs softly, overwhelmingly fond. "Lo siento, mis amores, would you forgive your old man if I told you that we were going out for ice cream?"
Olivia gasps loudly. "Yes! I love ice cream!" She cries in joy and throws herself off the back of the couch and into Gabe's arms.
Cole doesn't react quite as suddenly, but he does smile wide. "Do you not have work?" He asks.
"Nope!" Gabe says and ruffles his son's hair. "Now come on, let's get you two some breakfast and get you dressed and we can plan what else we want to do for the day."
His kids' bright smiles and excited words easily chase away all of Gabe's worries. Thoughts of Jack and his job are far from his mind as his kids drag him all over the city. From the ice cream parlour to a park where Gabe has to keep a sharp eye on Olivia as she claims all over the monkey bars.
Then they go shopping, picking up a few clothes and a cowboy hat that Cole had begged to get. Gabriel is weak to his children's whims and Olivia's expert puppy dog eyes and they stop by a bookstore and watch a movie and somehow Olivia manages to break every single game in the arcade as Cole pouts about losing his high score in some shooting game.
As the day turns to night and the sky begins to darken, Gabe and his kids eat dinner at a restaurant and finally head home after a long day out.
Olivia is fast asleep in his arms, which makes trying to unlock their apartment door a tricky affair, while Cole looks not far behind his sister as he sways in his feet.
"Remember to brush your teeth," Gabe reminds his son quietly as he finally opens the door and they all stumble through.
Cole just hums an affirmative and Gabe leaves him to it as he heads to Olivia's room and gently sets her down on her bed.
"Night night, princesa," he whispers softly, pressing a light kiss to her forehead before he heaves himself to his tired feet, switching her night light on and carefully closes the door behind him.
Next he peeks his head through the open bathroom door to see Cole with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Smiling fondly, Gabe walks up behind him and presses a kiss to the crown of his head.
"Don't suppose you want tucked in too, principito?" He asks with a grin.
Cole scowls up at him. "I'm not little!" He cries, though it's muffled by the toothbrush still in his mouth.
"Siempre serás pequeño para mí," Gabe replies fondly and ruffles Coles hair. "Now you hurry off to bed, okay? You have school tomorrow."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Cole whines as he spits out his toothpaste. "Night papá."
Gabe smiles to himself as he watches Cole shuffle off to bed, and as he hears his bedroom door click shut behind him, he closes his eyes and lets out a heavy sigh.
He has no idea what he'd do without his kids but the stress of making sure he can provide for them and give them everything they want is setting in.
Tomorrow he's going to have to quit his job and maybe, if he asks really nicely, Angela will drop his stuff off at his house for him. Anything to avoid having to see Jack again so soon.
So he should probably start looking for new jobs now, shouldn't he?
With another heavy sigh, Gabe walks quietly into the living room, his laptop left of the coffee table, he turns it on and pauses.
What does he even want to do? Finding a new job in security shouldn't be too hard. Overwatch is one of the best security companies out there and an employer would be glad to have someone with his skill set – but the hours would be hell.
Gabe thinks about his wonderful kids and how happy but surprised they were to spend a whole day with him with no mentions of Jack or his work, just the three of them joking and laughing and getting to be a family again.
He misses that, and for a horrible moment Gabe realises just how absent he's been the past few years.
It's a soul crushing realisation and he would hate himself for the rest of his life if he let himself go back to that. To willingly choose to be out of his kids' lives.
So security work is out of the picture which isn't helpful since that's all Gabe's really good at. He could start his own company to make his own hours but that would take too much time to start up and going to college to get more qualifications is just the same issue.
Maybe he should just go back to being a bouncer. At least then he can only work nights. He should even still have some of his old contacts who could do him a favour–
An idea strikes Gabe then as he scrolls through his contact list, eyes landing on one particular name. It's a terrible, dangerous and completely awful idea, but it's a perfect solution to what he needs.
With a newfound determination, Gabe sets his jaw and prepares to wake a sleeping dragon.
—
Gabe spends all of Sunday watching Disney movies with his kids, gorging on junk food and ready made meals and lovingly suffering through both Olivia and Cole singing along terribly to all the songs at the top of their little lungs.
The day passes quickly – too quick for Gabe's liking – and before he knows it, its Monday morning, Cole and Olivia are both at school and Gabe's stuck staring at his phone screen with Jack's number and the call button staring back at him.
This is most definitely the last thing he wants to do right now. He's had no messages and no missed calls from Jack since the breakup which makes him anxious for some reason and he feels paralysed by it as he fails to make even his thumb move to tap the screen.
He's finally broken out of his staring contest by the sound of his front door opening and when he looks up, Amélie is already standing in the living room doorway with a knowing look on her face.
"Morning," Gabe greets awkwardly.
Amélie sighs. "Good morning, Gabriel. How are you feeling?'
"Just great." He hisses sarcastically.
Rolling her eyes, Amélie stalks forward on graceful feet and snaps Gabe's phone out of his hands. "Let's put this away before you do something you regret and tell me what your plan is first."
Giving Amélie a scathing look, Gabe only sighs and sits back on his couch, feeling it dip under another weight as Amélie joins him as well.
"Im not a complete fucking idiot you know Ames–" Amélie scoffs but Gabe pointedly ignores her. "I have a job interview lined up already so I just need to call Jack and tell him I quit."
Amélie arches a brow in surprise and a hint of a smile spreads across her face. "I'm impressed, Gabriel.' she says and hands him his phone back.
"Thank you Ames." He smiles and takes it, opening up to his contacts and hesitating once more over the call button.
"You need to press it." Amélie says dryly.
"You're so funny," Gabe hisses sarcastically.
A beat passes, and still Gabe does not press the call button and suddenly his phone is being snatched from his hands once more.
He makes a surprised sound and turns to face Amélie who is already dancing out of his reach.
"If you will not call him, then I will message him for you, homme sans espoir. "
Gabe scowls and mutters under his breath but he doesn't argue, snatching his phone back as soon as Amélie offers it back to him and hiding it in his pocket.
Amélie rolls her eyes and huffs a laugh but doesn't antagonise him further.
"I know you loved him dearly, Gabe." She says suddenly, a much more genuine tone to her voice. "Getting over him won't be easy, but your kids and I are here for you."
"Thank you, mi amiga." Gabe smiles.
He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and it takes a conscious effort to ignore it, though Amélie must sense something as she immediately sets to trying to distract him.
"Come on then Gabriel, let us gather all of Jack's pathic belongings and set them ablaze."
With a weak smile Gabe follows behind Amélie as they meticulously pick through every corner of his house, chucking every item Jack had left and gift he had given into a cardboard box.
When they finish, the house feels a little more empty, but all the unearthed memories make Gabe's heart feel heavy.
Breakups never have been easy but this one hurts particularly bad.