“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Reynard hissed at Eugene as he gathered Ryan up in his arms. His tone to Ryan was much gentler. “Hey there, did you have a nice walk with Euge?”

“He took me to your work to eat pizza!” Ryan said brightly. “We had to take the bus though. Papa Euge doesn’t have a car.” His little cheeks puffed up like the biggest offense ever was not having a car. “And he wouldn’t eat any veggies either! He only ate sticks. Make him eat his veggies?”

“Oh, he’ll be eating a lot of veggies for quite a while,” Reynard said with a small grin. “Don’t you worry about that.”

Eugene burst out crying.

With a sigh Reynard bounced Ryan a bit and asked him to get ready for bed. Then he turned to Eugene and set his hands on his hips. “You never answered my question.”

“I forgot it was on silent. I’m sorry,” Eugene whined. “God, I can’t even do this right! I’m such a failure.”

“Eugene, stop,” Reynard ordered. He waited patiently until the dramatic tears turned to sniffles. “You’re not a failure. You messed up, yeah. But neither you nor Ryan are hurt. I was worried something happened. Next time, keep your phone on.”

“Next time?” Eugene asked. “You’ll let me watch him again?”

Reynard laughed and gave Eugene a head rub that totally messed up the blonde’s hair. “Of course you can. Now go get ready for work. Your shift starts soon. If I don’t drive you, you’ll be late.”

“Run that to the bar, would you?”

Eugene nodded, biting his lower lip and letting his bangs cover his eyes. Food running wasn’t his favorite position, but it was a step up from getting cut.

“Why are you so quiet today?” grumped his coworker as they stood there waiting for a ticket to come in.

Eugene shrugged. “Don’t feel much like talking, I guess.”

“Oh, god, you’re not going to get depressed and start crying again, are you?” sneered the other man. “I swear you’re just trying to impress us with your acting skills.”

“No crying today,” Eugene said, and willed himself to mean it.

The shift dragged. Outside there was snow falling and wind howling and all Eugene could think about was how he didn’t want to be at a run down bar for pocket change. As expected, Eugene was the first cut when the boss decided there were too many workers. He put on his hat and coat, clocked out, and started the long trudge back to his house.

It probably wasn’t his smartest decision, but Eugene walked home rather than spend money on the bus. Financially better even though it left him with a long hike in the cold alone with his thoughts.

He couldn’t make his rent. It would take a few months for all the eviction paperwork to go through and if he couldn’t get his junk together before then-

Moving back in with his parents. Like some overgrown child.

And just as bad was spending Christmas alone. It felt awkward going to family gatherings and his parents never pushed, so he didn’t go. He called them and they gave their greetings and that was it.

Even though it was lonely, that was what Eugene preferred. Crying around his parents was embarrassing.