(A/Ns: so I updated in less than a month which is… good for me right now, I guess? Anyway, this is my favourite chapter of the entire fanfic that I ever had planned, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed planning/writing it! You also see some detail on "OC", and Elliot coming out a second time ;^;

Please drop a review if you can! :D

Content warnings: mentions of prescription drug abuse, swearing, smoking, coming out, references to/mentions of drug withdrawal

Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)

Chapter 8

Oxycodone (also marketed as "OxyContin") is an opioid painkiller, most commonly prescribed for chronic pain. It is derived from opium poppies and refined from morphine. Due to the origins, the prescription drug is frequently compared to heroin, based on its pleasure-inducing effects and high risks of addiction for the user. The drug is normally prescribed; however, it can also be bought on the street illegally.

Users can become physically dependent on the drug after only a few months of use. Addiction occurs due to a number of reasons, such as emotional, socio-economic, biological, and situational factors. It is important if you, a family member, or friend, are possibly struggling with Oxycodone addiction, that you seek help immediately.

Elliot rubbed his eyes, glancing at the digital clock on his bedside table.

02:07

He hated staying up this late; really, he did. But the sight of everything from only this evening was still too fresh in his mind for him to sleep. So far, all he'd accomplished was working out what "OC" meant.

It wasn't looking too good.

Physical signs of prescription opioid abuse in the suspected user can include:

· Scratching

· Track marks along arms

· Dilated pupils

· Bloodshot eyes

· Weight loss

· Tremors

Behavioural signs of prescription opioid abuse can include:

· Frequent, regular disappearances

· Poor relationships with others

· Going to extreme lengths to hide certain things

· Poor eating habits

· Skipping meals

· Aggressive outbursts

· Fluctuating moods

· Poor academic achievement

· Lack of motivation for hobbies

Mentally ticking off each bullet point as he read them really didn't do much to help Elliot's paranoia, but he couldn't help it. Apart from the last two behavioural signs, everything seemed to make sense. Perhaps he was just a "high-functioning addict", as Elliot had read about earlier.

So what if Leo was using? Then what?

Detox?

Withdrawal symptoms of Oxycodone are dependent on how long the user has been using, as well as co-existing mental health disorders. Symptoms of withdrawal include but are not exclusive to:

· Anxiety

· Depression

· Suicidal thoughts/actions

· Runny nose/congestion

· Hypertension

· Lacrimation

· Nausea and vomiting

· Diarrhoea

· Tremors/chills

· Shaking

· Excessive sweating

… perhaps not detox. Not immediately, at least.

Elliot was just freaking himself out more at this point. Nothing was even confirmed yet. Maybe there was another explanation. Maybe they weren't his.

Of course they were his, idiot, he facepalmed, slamming the phone face down on his bedside table.

Now that he knew this, how the hell was he meant to act casual around the other? Acting as if nothing was bothering him was hard enough already, and that was without the secret drug addiction which he now knew about.

He felt guilty, as well. It was inherently obvious that he wasn't supposed to know about this. What if it wasn't even his fault? Elliot couldn't fathom what it must be like, to be controlled by something like that.

Now that he remembered, he should've paid more attention to what Leo was saying to him, when they were walking home earlier that day. His exact words only now seemed like a cry for help.

"Addiction is just a habit which you have to break physically."

With that thought at the forefront of his mind, Elliot promptly passed out the second he closed his eyes.

As he'd predicted, acting normal around Leo was even harder for Elliot than when he'd figured out he liked him. Every scratch, every tremble of his hands, every routine disappearance – Elliot noticed it all. And it wasn't like he stopped feeling like he felt towards him, either. No, if anything it was worse; he was overcome by the urge to help him and talk to him.

But talking wasn't something he could do. Because he wasn't supposed to know about it.

So, for nearly three days, Elliot sat in the dark about it, staying up until past the date changed each night to research the potential problem.

By Thursday, it must have been becoming obvious there was something wrong with him.

Sure, he was still speaking to Leo. However, every disappearance was met with an excuse on Elliot's behalf. Revision, prefect meetings, errands to run for teachers – you name it, he'd used it to get away from him. It hurt him to avoid Leo, and that wasn't an exaggeration.

His self-restraint was slowly slipping away, in short, so when Break called him over at the end of their Chemistry lesson period 4 on Thursday, Elliot nearly wanted to cry with happiness. Even if he was in trouble, for some reason, it was better than lying to Leo again.

"Are… you gonna wait?" Elliot asked tentatively, swallowing thickly as he flung his bag over his shoulder and picked up the textbook. "I-I mean, it's Break, so I don't know how long it'll take."

"Nope, I'll leave," Leo declared, not even batting an eye to Elliot's uncharacteristic behaviour. Maybe he'd noticed; maybe he hadn't. Either way, he hadn't raised it as an issue, which was good, because Elliot wasn't sure his ability to remain silent would stretch that far. "You know where I'll be."

Wordlessly, Elliot nodded, watching the rest of the students file out of the classroom one by one, before turning his gaze back to Break. "You wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes. In fact I did~" he chuckled, unwrapping another lollipop and gesturing to the desk directly in front of him. "Sit. We're still waiting for one person."

"Wha-" Elliot started to ask, but quickly bit down on his tongue and held back any further comments. Anything he said would just seem suspicious. If he wanted to get away from this fast, he might as well feign innocence. So, Elliot did as he was told, and instead of protesting, placed himself in the seat directly opposite Break.

Without a word, Break scanned him up and down, tilting his glasses downwards and shooting him a quizzical glance. Confused, Elliot responded with an equally as perplexed expression.

That just made Break chuckle, and stand up, grabbing the pen permanently kept on the edge of his desk as he wandered over to the whiteboard. "Ah, Elliot. You're so easy to mess with~"

"T-That's-" exactly what Leo says to me. "… never mind."

Silence lingered between the two momentarily, but for no more than a minute. The second Break finished scribbling the next lesson title onto the board, there was a knock on the door, despite the fact it was already open.

Elliot felt his heart drop when he saw who it was.

"Oz…?" he said, trying to sound annoyed. Shit, what if he told him something? "W-What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey, Elliot," Oz greeted, carefully closing the door behind him. There was something about his greeting that was… unnerving. The usual (irritating) bubbliness of his words; that aura of freedom and cheerfulness – all of it seemed to have been replaced with genuine concern.

And it wasn't just the type of mocking concern his words held on that day. No, it was more serious than that.

Saying nothing, Oz walked around Elliot, placing his bag onto the desk and taking the seat beside him.

Elliot, his heart now racing, finally spoke. "What the hell is this about?!"

For a moment, Oz and Break took some time to exchange indecipherable glances, as if to communicate some clandestine message only they could understand. If anything, this worsened Elliot's anxiety.

Then, Break spoke. "Elliot, your friend came to me recently to say he's been concerned about you. So, we're here to have a little chat."

"Tch, so what? This is like some, intervention?" Elliot scoffed.

Sharply, Break pointed the lollipop stick – balanced between two fingers – at Elliot. "Precisely."

Elliot froze. What could he possibly need an intervention for? If anything, Leo was the one who needed-

Maybe this wasn't the time to think about that.

"So," Break started again, jabbing the lollipop back into his mouth. "Oz tells me it seems as though something has upset you recently. Care to share?"

"What?!" No!" Elliot rejected instantly, activating every emotional barrier inside him. It was only after his little outburst that he reconsidered his choice of words. "I-I mean, there's nothing bothering me."

"Liiiiieeeees~" Break chuckled. He knocked himself against the back of the chair with an exasperated 'huff', and then sat up again, leaning his elbows on the desk. Looking at Elliot dead in the eyes, he continued, only this time, there was a bit of sincerity woven into his words, you could say. "Elliot. Your friend-"

"S-Stop calling him my friend!" Elliot interjected.

"- friend," Break reiterated with a smug grin. "- is worried about you. And, as you teacher, I say, you really have been gloomy these past couple of days. So, it will ask again: care to share?"

"No! My problems are my business!" he said defensively, averting his gaze to the floor when he remembered… coming out to Oz, only last week. No matter what happened, or what Break said, there was absolutely no way he'd allow himself to fall into that state at school, where anyone could walk in.

What I… told Oz…

"Wait a second…" Elliot, his heart pumping faster and faster erratically, physically felt his palms sweating. "Oz! What the hell did you tell him?! Y-You broke our promise!"

"Hah?!" Oz responded with an expression of shock, and an exaggerated gasp. "Don't accuse me! I didn't tell him any-!"

"Oz is right, Elliot," Break interrupted their bickering before it could develop into a full-fledged fight. "Oz has not to me a single thing. You have told me more, I must say, by confirming my suspicions." He smirked. "So I'll ask one last time, before I consult with the school counsellor: what's been going on inside that head of yours?"

One last reassuring, earnest glance from Oz was all Elliot needed to know that there was no point keeping it a secret. Sure, he might not tell Break everything, but…

It was a choice for him, really: his sexuality, and everything that came with admitting that, or Leo's not-so-secret-anymore drug habit.

He chose the former in a heartbeat. It might torture him internally, and he might be ridiculed, but…

At least Leo was safe.

"I'm not…" He tried, tripping over his words. "I don't think I should really talk to you about th… this."

"Elliot!" Oz sighed, almost as if he were defending the other. "I can get why you… you told me. But trust me, he might be a little weird, but Break is a great teacher! If you can trust me, you can trust him…"

Jokingly, Break frowned, and rolled the lollipop around in his mouth as if he'd just remembered it was there. "Apart from the sly little insult in there – I will get you for that, Oz – he's right~" The frown was gone, and replaced by an earnest smile, similar to one donning Oz's lips. "Elliot, please listen to what I'm about to say.

"I'm sure you've been told this before, but the longer you keep something inside, the harder it becomes to suppress." Break smiled, but differently. It was more regretful, than sympathetic; Elliot could tell the words he spoke, regardless of the context, came from personal experience. "If you keep something bottled up, no matter how trivial it is, it will always get worse. And sometimes, telling just one person isn't enough. Sometimes, there's only one person you can tell who will give you closure. If something did happen, you will find it much easier to tell me." He then chuckled, forgetting any temporary grief he may have felt when he spoke those words. "Sorry, I don't make the rules."

Elliot couldn't help but grin at that. Of all people, he knew that. He knew that too well. Because, no matter how much he wanted to, Elliot could not erase the fresh memories of last week.

"Let's start slow," Break said. "What happened when Leo wasn't here, hm? You were acting awfully glum~"

"I don't want to talk about that," Elliot refused, rubbing his hands over his knees over and over again, like the friction created was some sort of futile distraction. Once again, Oz's hand returned to his shoulder, giving him that same comforting squeeze he was damn sure he'd gotten too much of these past few days. "Nothing that day really happened. He just… left."

"Mhm? And what happened after that?"

"Someone kept pestering me about my feelings, 'n all that crap," Elliot said as he shot a look at Oz. "And then… I went home, and… thought about it some more."

"And…?" Break encouraged, flashing Elliot another smile to reassure him.

Elliot wasn't all that convinced.

Just at the thought of the same concerns as before, he began to feel tears well up in his eyes, an irrefutable tightness brewing in his chest. How could he be so pathetic? How could he still be so pathetic?

Averting his eyes to the floor, he tried to look away, holding one hand up to his face to partially cover it. Anything would work as a distraction, but nothing could divert his attention from Break's prying gaze and the incessant thoughts returning to his consciousness.

Was he seriously doing this again?!

"I…" Elliot began to stammer again, swallowing down a lump in his throat along with the tears threatening to fall. His heart was pounding, his blood running cold.

No. He was Elliot Nightray. He had pride. Pride in himself.

For some reason, the smile locked on Break's lips seemed like one he could trust. One which 100% confirmed he could be trusted.

And suddenly, Elliot felt… just about okay to tell him.

"I thought about it some more…" he chewed on his lower lip, lifting his head but still keeping his line of vision fixed on the wall, rather than on his teacher. "And, I… er… I'm…" -gay.

Perhaps this was harder than he'd thought.

A few tears broke past his emotional restraints, and he frantically brushed them off his cheeks the moment they fell. He could've sworn he choked on his own breath, but that may have just been shock. Shock at the hand – Oz's hand – placed calmly on his shoulder again; a stark contrast to the panic coursing through his veins.

"Elliot…" Oz sighed. "This doesn't have to be a big deal."

"But it is!" Elliot yelled defensively, trying to stop his voice from cracking and his façade from breaking entirely. His voice was raw, though. It was obvious how much he was fighting back from the strain on his words. "I don't want to be… to be hated, or… a disappointment!"

"Elliot," Break interjected. "I will not say a word to anyone outside of this room. Unless the problem requires legal action."

"I-I know…" Elliot said. Then, with a tentative breath, he finally readied himself to stay it, peeling the hand away from his face and looking down again, as he wiped his eyes. "I… I'm gay. There. I said it. That's… I know what you're thinking! A-And I'm not gonna apologise, because-!"

"You need not apologise," Break cut him off once again, tilting his glasses down slightly. His smile changed. It seemed almost… nostalgic, like something Elliot had said had hit close to home. But like always, Elliot couldn't figure it out. "For anything. I understand how difficult coming out can be. Really, you should be proud of coming out to Oz~"

"Hey!" Oz pouted. "I'm a great friend!"

"Fufu, sure~" Break chuckled, and then wove the sincerity back into his words as he continued speaking. "I also know how difficult it can be coming out in an aristocrat family. Typical, they harbour veeeeeery old fashioned beliefs, and you may never get around that. Sometimes, that's simply how it is. It's not me who made it that way, and I wish it wasn't that way. But it is, and that fact is unavoidable."

Elliot nodded understandingly. It was the cold truth, but it was the truth, and he appreciated the honesty.

"And it's Leo you like, hm?"

After a short pause, Elliot nodded again.

"Hmm, nope. Not it."

"Huh?!" Elliot yelped. His reaction was rash, and impulsive, but the way he saw it, it was appropriate and well-deserved, too. "Are you seriously trying to tell me I don't know who I like?! Who's driven me crazy for the past few weeks?!"

"Ah ah, that's not what I'm saying," Break said, firmly. "What I mean is that I don't believe that is the reason for your intervention." When Elliot didn't say anything; only stared at him blankly, he carried on. "Oz came to me this morning and said you'd been acting strange since Monday, and whilst I appreciate you coming out to me, you've just described to me something which happened last Thursday." Another pause. "So, Elliot. What happened on Monday, hm?"

Shit.

"N-Nothing…" Elliot lied.

"Elliot…" Oz sighed again; the same disappointed, worried exhale as always. "Please! You've been really distant!"

"Elliot, I think you ought to know by now that I will listen," Break reassured. "But we'll take it slow, again. Did something happen on Monday? Oz told me you'd gone back to Leo's house. Did something happen then?"

"Yes! Alright, yes! It did! Are you happy now?!" Elliot blurted out. And then, a second too late, the reality of what he'd just said hit him like a sack of bricks. "Shit… I-I didn't mean… to…"

"Aha, so something did happen?" Break grinned. "Be so kind and tell us what it was."

"No," Elliot flat-out denied, already feeling himself break out into a cold sweat. "This is different. It's not… I can't just tell you both. I'm not even supposed to know!"

"Calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Elliot abruptly interrupted Oz's attempt to cool him. After his initial panic, he buried his face in his hands, inhaling shakily. "I don't want me or… or Leo, to get in trouble."

"Rest assured, Elliot. I will not tell anyone unless I absolutely have to," Break repeated from earlier. "I am sworn to confidentiality unless it's something so severe in which Leo would benefit from extreme action."

"I wouldn't… rule that out…" Elliot admitted, sinking into the chair and away from Break. This was Leo's secret. He couldn't just…

"Unless it's something so severe in which Leo would benefit from extreme action."

Those words, from just a few seconds ago, rang in Elliot's head. Over, and over.

For Leo's sake… he had to. Even if he hated Elliot. Even if he never spoke to him again.

Elliot had to do something.

I… I care about him too much to stay silent, he reluctantly confessed to himself. He… he needs help.

"Well…" Elliot started hesitantly, scratching the side of his face in search of a suitable order of events to recall. "It got quite late, and I was about to leave. Um, earlier I'd… borrowed his phone charger, and… I wanted to put it back in the drawer I'd got it from," he explained. He felt himself begin to tremble at the thought of the events, the memories of which resurfacing. "I opened a random draw, t-thinking it was the right one, and what I found was… not… anything I…"

When Elliot was unable to speak, his words trailing off, Break encouraged him further. His tone held its usual teasing but concerned edge. "And what did you find, hm?"

Elliot saw no other option than to just bite the bullet. "… um… drugs?"

Oz and Break both froze, their reassuring smiles dropping along with the expressions of encouragement. They both paled visibly, their expressions twisting into ones of incredulity.

"T-To be more specific…" Elliot elaborated, prompted by their silence. "They weren't… your usual type. It was pills, instead… I didn't know what the letters meant, so I googled it. And… it wasn't looking good."

"What did they say?" Break questioned, resting his chin on his hands. His expression was unreadable.

"OC," Elliot said.

Break's face dropped again, as if his blood had run cold too.

"You… know what they are?" Elliot asked.

"Mhm, Elliot?" A smile twitched at his lips; a sinister one, at that. Keeping his seemingly put-off gaze locked on Elliot, he reached over for his bag, searching around in the front pocket. "I have a Master's degree in Chemistry and a dissertation in Pharmacology. I would be a little concerned if I didn't know what they were, wouldn't you?" His words held an irritated, biting edge, but Elliot couldn't figure out what he'd said that pissed him off.

A few seconds later, after retrieving his phone from the front pocket of his bag, Break spoke again. "Don't mind me. I must search something, but preferably not on the school's search history." Strangely, his tone seemed serious for once, as if he were genuinely concerned. That fact alone made Elliot's paranoia worsen. "Now tell me, Elliot. Did you find anything else?"

"Um, yeah…" Elliot answered, reluctantly. He'd already thrown Leo totally under the bus; he might as well go all the way. "There was… a burnt spoon, and syringe. He keeps a lighter on him anyway, but… I presumed that would be useful as well…"

"Mhm," Break turned his attention to the computer, scrolling through something. "As I thought… the school records have virtually nothing on him. None of his medical history has been filled out either."

"I wonder why…" Oz muttered, tapping a finger to his lower lip.

"OxyContin is prescribed at first. It's likely that there was some type of, hm, how should I put it… incident…" Break wondered aloud, folding one leg over the other before reverting his focus back to his phone. "Did they have a number on the back of them at all?"

Elliot paused to think about it. Now that I… "Yeah… '40'."

Break nodded, scrolling through his phone in silence for a little longer before speaking again. "My, that is a high dose. I really do hate to break it to you, Elliot, but it's unlikely he'd have been given that dose. It's more likely that he, hm… put himself up to that dose. Do you… see where I'm going with this?"

"Yeah," Elliot said in defeat. "I do."

"Okay, Elliot. I can give you two options here," Break perked up, adjusting his glasses and locking eyes with Elliot once again. "One: I will forward your suspicions as I am supposed to as your teacher, and the school will contact the authorities and they will handle it appropriately. In that scenario, it is likely that Leo will be taken out of school and sent to a rehabilitation facility as soon as space becomes available. Or, two: you can pretend you never came to me, and talk to Leo about this. Because I am obliged to act upon this if it continues. If you can solve it, however, we can forget about this conversation."

"Leo would… never forgive me for the former…" Elliot said, primarily to himself.

It was true that an intervention and eventual rehab would be the best option for him. But Elliot was stubborn, and the thought of Leo hating him, and then leaving, was too much. Too much considering everything that had happened as of late.

"I'll… speak to him about it tomorrow…" Elliot declared.

"Remember not to force him off the drugs," Break said, sincerity laced into his words once again. "He needs time, if addiction is the case. He needs somewhere there; be there for him, okay? Provided you're working through it in one way or another, I don't have to worry about you, fufu~"

"I wouldn't… force him off them anyway," Elliot grunted, scrunching his face up slightly. "He's shit with addiction and I know that already. He smokes like a goddamn chimney…"

At that last comment, Break paused again. Then, flashing Elliot a look which frankly said "I'd watch what you're saying, if I were you", he gave him another piece of advice. "Mhm… of course I noticed. But, don't make him quit smoking as well. That'd be faaaar too much on him~"

Elliot scoffed. "What the hell do you know about smoking?"

"Ah, Elliot. Shall I tell you another story, hm?" Break chuckled, but the dead stare directed at Elliot seemed less amused, somehow. "I went to university with your brother, Gilbert. Aha, great memories they are, fufu~" Somehow, Elliot and Oz both knew from the tone of his voice that the story didn't involve particularly great memories. "In our first year, when we were 18, and veeeeeery stupid, Gilbert and I both got into smoking. Mhmm, stupid indeed~"

"Woaaaah, I didn't know you used to smoke!" Oz gaped.

Meanwhile, Elliot, his face stuck on a perplexed expression, was still getting over the first point. "Wait… since when the hell did Gilbert smoke?!"

"Since we were 18. Aren't you following the story?"

"Tch, I didn't-"

"Notice? My, you are unobservant~" Break couldn't help but snicker to himself, before continuing. "Anyway, we smoked, hm… moderately heavily for 4 years, before one fine day, we got into a liiiittle argument, and challenged each other to see who could go the longest without a cigarette." He chuckled to himself at the reminiscences, his gaze falling to the floor. "Gilbert is veeeeeery weak willed, so he only lasted 3 days, fufu. I'd, on the other hand, already gotten that far, so I continued till it was over. And, miraculously, I never picked up another cigarette again."

"T-That's…" Elliot was at loss for words. "… quite impressive."

"Indeed, but it's much harder than it seems," Break said. "Much harder than it should be. So, long story short, be good and don't make him quit that as well, okay?"

"Sure…"

"Now then~" Break stood up with a huff, picking up his keys and card, stuffing them in his blazer pocket as he kicked the chair underneath the table. "Now that we have that ordeal somewhat under control, why don't you two go and get lunch now, hm? I'm already late for teasing your brother."

"Hey! Don't bully Gilbert!" Oz pouted. Then, after standing up, he gestured for Elliot to follow, as they proceeded to the door together. "Thank you for the help though, Break."

"Anytime~" Break hummed, disappearing a second later with a dismissive wave.

Oz and Elliot stood outside the classroom for a few moments, an awkward silence hanging over them.

As usual, it was Oz who broke the silence. "Do you… want help, when you confront Leo?"

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Elliot shook his head and replied firmly. "No. This is… something I have to do myself."

For the last 24 hours, he had done nothing but think.

And drive himself slightly insane.

Everywhere he went, every second of the day, Elliot was running over what he'd say in his head. Should he bite the bullet, or coax him into admitting it himself? Should he do it at school, or at his house? Should he do it in person, or over text?

There were far too many things which could go wrong; Elliot had to get it right.

Eventually, he'd decided against text (how inconvenient would it be if he blocked him before he could even get to the point?), and for doing it at his house.

He'd… he'd go to Leo's after school and confront him then. It was better that way; no one could overhear them.

And that's exactly what he'd done.

Of course, Elliot was respectful. On the Friday afternoon of that same way, he'd stayed behind in the library after school with Oz, having borderline panic attacks and trying not to stress over it. Just to give Leo some space.

Once it'd reached about 4pm, they left, and went their separate ways. And, as if some miracle had struck him, Elliot managed to walk all the way to Leo's house with turning back, fainting, or crying.

Just as he was approaching his house, his knees growing weaker by the second and his breathing growing erratic, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

[From Oz, 16:28]
good luck! I believe in u :D

Elliot wanted to smile at that, but couldn't bring himself to.

Instead, as he placed one foot onto Leo's driveway, he fiddled with the phone in his hands for a few seconds, before pulling up a different conversation.

His fingers hovering over the keys, it took a couple of minutes of hesitating to type out the message, and then another couple of minutes for him to actually hit send.

[To Leo, 16:32]
I'm outside your house

The reply came almost instantly.

[From Leo, 16:32]
what the fuck?

[From Leo, 16:32]
im trying to work

Elliot could picture Leo screwing his face up in irritation at his phone. Not that that could stop him at this point.

[To Leo, 16:33]
I have something I need to talk to you about

There was a few moments of silence, before Elliot finally heard the sounds of footsteps creaking against the cheap wooden floorboards. Sucking in a deep breath, he took two more steps towards the house, now standing in the centre of Leo's drive.

Less than a minute later, the door clicked open, and said noirette dropped one foot onto the porch and lit the cigarette already in his mouth. Then, as he took the first drag, he fell sideways against the wall at the side of the porch, leaning dependently against the bricks as he pulled the cigarette away from his lips behind a cloud of smoke.

He seemed… annoyed. Not much of a surprise if Elliot had interrupted his work. "I'm listening."

After another deep breath to reassure himself and pluck up the courage to do this, Elliot finally spoke. "Leo… I know…" He paused, swallowing thickly. "I know what you're doing… a-and it's not fooling me!"

That sounds… absolutely terrible out of context… He mentally facepalmed.

Leo seemed to agree as well, a look of cluelessness twisting onto his face. However, there was a discreet – totally unnoticeable unless you were looking for it – edge of nervousness in his words when he gave a verbal response. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Elliot screwed his eyes shut, inhaled through his nose, and tried again. "Leo, I know-" He gulped. "I know you're… u-using drugs."