"How could I forget that? Sylvan falling asleep in the bar! He learnt his lesson that night!"
René had been showing Leila the photos of the night in the bar when Sylvan had fallen asleep after getting himself involved in a drinking game with Leila and Sophie and loved to see the smile on her face.
"Seriously, I was wondering when one photo in particular would be stuffed."
Leila looked at René wondering which photo he was talking about until he placed the said photo in her hand. The photo was the one The Hurricane had given him after Leila had returned to France - she was looking at Sylvan who was involved in a game of tonsil hockey with Sophie and René had his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, her hand in his hair. It had been taken at the party before Marc had made his grand entrance.
"When was that taken?"
"I didn't know it had been taken until the Hurricane handed it to me. Since then, it hasn't left my sight. See the water mark there?"
Leila looked where René was pointing at the photo to see a rather large water mark on it.
"It even went into the bathroom. I accidentally got water on it one day. Hence, the fuck up there."
Leila smiled and looked at the photo again, scarcely believing that it had been taken in the first place. Anyone - even those who didn't have a degree in reading body language - would be able to tell that they really cared about each other. Which was one reason why she was back in the US, even if it was only for another three months.
"Hugging the photo was alright but it's much better hugging the real thing, wouldn't you agree?"
Leila nodded, screwing up her face slightly as the movement made her headache just that little bit worse. Not enough sleep combined with approximately eight hours flying made her feel that bit more unwell. Then, there was the fact that she was still recovering from what had happened to her two weeks earlier.
"Not feeling well?"
"Yeah. I feel terrible."
She looked it. Just as he was about to stand up to help Leila to her feet, a hotel staff member came over to them.
She offered her apologies to Leila before explaining that there had been a mix-up with her room and that the room promised to her wouldn't be available until the next day. Leila visibly crumbled at that news until René informed the receptionist that she would be staying in his room while she was at the hotel, therefore there was no need for them to keep a room for her.
Leila wasn't going to complain about that at all. She was too tired to complain about anything. All she wanted was to sleep.
A few minutes later, she had curled up on one of the beds in their hotel room. Male René might've been but stupid he wasn't - even he knew that Leila wasn't only just tired. There was something else.
"You haven't told me everything, have you?"
Leila shook her head, although it appeared that she was nodding because she was lying down and René was standing. Now that he knew she hadn't told him everything, she had to tell him what had happened to her two weeks earlier. And that it hadn't involved Marc at all.
Half an hour later, René slowly entered the hotel club, Leila's words echoing in his head. He was now torn between wanting to be with Leila and wanting to tell Sylvan what Leila had told him.
"I was going to ask if you were okay but you don't look it so I won't bother."
René sat beside Sylvan and grabbed his beer, knocking back half the contents in quick time. Sylvan, by now starting to feel the effects of the beer he had consumed, looked at René in alarm. René hardly ever touched alcohol. Something was up with him.
René placed the beer back on the table and looked at Sylvan. He actually felt like drinking something far stronger than beer but beer would have to do right now.
"You deserve to know. That's why I'm here."
"Deserve to know what?"
René looked from Sylvan to the Hurricane and the Hurricane knew that René wanted to speak to Sylvan alone.
"I'll go and see what the others are doing."
René waited until he had left them alone before turning his attention back to Sylvan and his beer, quickly draining the bottle.
"I know why she doesn't look well and spending about eight hours in a plane was only part of the reason why."
Sylvan nodded, absently reaching for his beer until he remembered that René had drained it. He ordered two more and waited until they had arrived before encouraging René to talk.
"You remember what happened the night of that party when Leila and Sophie wore our old ring attire?"
Sylvan nodded. How could he forget that? Leila and Sophie looked more French in it than what they did.
"Obviously, Leila was upset about what had happened, and what nearly happened. I obviously comforted her, one thing led to another …"
Sylvan knew exactly what René was getting at there. The same thing had happened with him and Sophie.
"To make a long story short, three weeks ago, she found out she was pregnant. Two weeks ago, she lost the baby."
Sylvan was stunned. Leila had been pregnant. Could this mean that Sophie might be as well?
"That's why she's here. She couldn't face telling me over the phone so she thought she'd come back here for a few months and tell me in person. We're the only ones that know about it."
"Sophie doesn't know?"
"Sophie is in Toulouse, Leila thinks. She did a disappearing act a week after they got back to Paris and eventually told everyone where she was - in the south of France. She said she'd probably be there for some time."
"Get the beer down you and go back to Leila. She needs you now."
René nodded and quickly sculled the beer. Leila needed his strength and he needed hers. This was their battle, one they needed to fight together.
"You're right. If you need me, you know where to find me."
Sylvan nodded and watched as René left the club to go back to Leila. He couldn't even begin to imagine exactly what René and Leila were going through. He then decided that after he had finished his beer, he wasn't going to have any more. He wanted to keep a close eye on Leila and René.
"She's not getting away from me easily next time. I should've followed her back to France."
René was smoothing back Leila's hair from her face and gazing at her stomach. The beer hadn't seemed to affect him in any way yet, even though one and a half stubbies was one and a half stubbies more than what he usually drank.
"So what do you plan to do in order to keep her with you? Lock her up?"
"That's for barbarians, and that is something I am not. I'll think of something. I know I'll think of something. Give me a bit of time, though. She's only just arrived."
Sylvan acknowledged that René did have a point. Leila hadn't been back in the US for very long, she was tired, René had gone from being extremely down to extremely happy to down again. Life had dealt more than its fair share of blows to René lately. All Sylvan wanted for him was for him to be happy.
"I don't think I thanked you earlier, Sylvan."
"For what?"
"Keeping Leila's phone call from me. I know you meant well in doing that and that is something I definitely have to thank you for. You know, getting me out of my rut."
"You'd do the same thing for me, would you not?"
René nodded, not taking his eyes off Leila for a second. He meant what he had said about not letting her get away from him easily. She had slipped through his fingers once. There was no way she was going to slip through them for a second time. Even if it meant he had to travel to France in order to be with her.
"You know I would."
Sylvan nodded.
"Just seeing how happy you are to be with Leila again is my payment from you."
René had to look away from Sylvan then. He didn't want him to see the tears in his eyes. That would mean showing exactly how grateful he was for Sylvan keeping both Leila's phone call and return a secret from him.
"If you want me to go, René, just tell me. Something tells me you want to shed some tears but you don't want to do it in front of me."
"Please."
Sylvan nodded again and left René and Leila alone. The pain they shared wasn't something he could understand, just yet.

Late, I know but I must be honest and say that I really didn't feel like updating this for a while. Hopefully, the next chapter will be the last one then I can start writing the sequel.