"You don't have to look at me like that," Leo mumbled.

"Like what?" Ryan asked. He'd hoped his gaze had gone unnoticed, but that seemed not to be the case.

"Like a lost dog," Leo replied, booting away a loose cobblestone.

"That depends," Ryan said with a sideways glance.

"Depends on what?" Leo asked.

"On if you're one. You look like you still care about her," Ryan said softly.

"I don't... at least I hope not," Leo said with a shrug.

Ryan couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the big man's words. Even after all this time, Leo couldn't get her off his mind. Ryan would've thought it poetic if he didn't find the sight of his friend quite... pathetic.

He claimed to have a way with the ladies, but here he was dying over one in particular.

"What are you laughing about?" Leo asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"The fact that you still love Maria... it's ridiculous!" Ryan chuckled, the embarrassed expression that appeared on the big man's face making the situation much more comical.

"I-I d-don't love her," Leo said with a flushed face.

"You sure about that, buddy? Because your face might have something to say about that," Ryan said, reveling in the childish embarrassment of his friend.

"How could I, with how much you and Carl laughed at me?!" Leo said, the big man uttering curses that Ryan didn't really care about.

Of course, he could remember when he and Carl had teamed up to knock some sense into the heartbroken boy.

Of course, they hadn't torn into the boy immediately when he got back from the barracks—they weren't savages.

They had left the younger version of Leo to think about his decisions for a day and let him have another to pick up his broken heart and shattered dignity.

Ryan would've loved to say that he understood Leo's decisions and how the boy felt, but they both knew that Ryan hadn't fallen for anyone.

The bartender, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely.

Carl, at the time, looked like he was in his early fifties. He was well-built and had the eyes of a man who'd experienced life—heartbreak too. That, and the fact that the boys took the man as a father figure—sort of.

Carl gave them a place to lay low at a cheaper rate than what most places would have taken.

Heck, for the most part, Ryan had somehow managed to convince the bartender to lease them a room with the promise of paying for it after two months.

He could still remember the look on the man's face as the words left Ryan's mouth.

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—————

"Please, sir, we promise to have a down payment ready within the next two months... three months tops," Ryan said pleadingly, a tired and wiry Leo behind him.

"What do you rascals think this place is, a charity?" Carl said as he slammed his palms on the counter. "You boys won't be getting any room in my inn without any coin upfront!"

Ryan wanted to beg again, but a gentle tug on his arm stopped him.

"Let's just go. I'm sure that we can beg the matron for a couple more days," Leo mumbled, the wiry boy's voice barely audible as it was.

Ryan let out a breath that he didn't know he held dejectedly. Looking at Leo, he nodded at the bartender before picking up their meager belongings off the floor and starting to walk out of the tavern.

"Wait..." the bartender called out before they could walk out the doors. "You boys from the orphanage?"

Ryan turned to face the man, giving him a hesitant nod in turn.

The bartender seemed to let out a sigh at the action, pinching the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and seemed to think for a moment, Leo and Ryan both waiting for the man's decision.

"You boys have two months," the bartender said as he opened his eyes. "I won't be having any freeloaders here. Do you rascals understand that?"

For Ryan, it was a no-brainer as he didn't have to think much about the offer. In fact, he was ecstatic at the timeframe the bartender had given them; it was more than generous.

"Yes, sir," Ryan said, Leo nodding in agreement.

"Alright, head upstairs to the last room on the right," the bartender said dismissively. "Oh, and for goodness' sake, have a bath... You make my patrons seem like lilies."

Leo almost choked at the jab, and Ryan couldn't help but share the sentiment. After all, he had to concede the fact that they were both stinking, and rightly so. A few days out in the streets would do that to a person.

—————

Ah, he digressed. The point was that Carl had taken them in before they had a single silver to their name, and the pair hadn't forgotten about that. Ryan doubted that he'd ever do such a thing.

The sit-down with Leo was one of the few things that Ryan wished he could forget. The pair of Ryan and Carl came down hard on Leo.

"You know that what you did was dumb, don't you?" Carl asked the sulking boy.

The bartender's stern face was one to behold. Ryan almost apologized even though the question wasn't directed at him.

Leo, on the other hand, seemed not to be fully with them. Ryan felt like they should've afforded his friend more time to come to terms with his situation, but Carl felt as though Leo needed some 'tough love' to set him straight.

"I know, I just thought..." Leo trailed off as he dropped his face, the wiry boy sinking back into his shell.

Carl seemed to sigh. He put a hand on Leo's shoulder, and the boy raised his face to meet his eyes.

"Look, Leo, a lady must not love you back. That's not how life works; sometimes love is one-sided," Carl said.

Ryan wanted to snort but held himself. In actual truth, Carl was right. No one had to fall in love with anyone; it couldn't be forced. Of course, the advice would've sounded silly coming from Ryan, so he'd wisely decided to stay out of it. Besides, it would've fallen on deaf ears anyway.

"I swear she loved me. She said so herself," Leo said weakly.

"Loved... That's a key word, boy. She loved you, she doesn't anymore, and that's okay. Sometimes people grow out of love," Carl said.

"It's not fair," Leo whined.

Oh hell, and here come the waterworks, Ryan thought. Ryan found the boy's behavior a little irritating, but he wasn't going to say that now—maybe later when he'd gotten over it.

"Life rarely is. I'm certain that you'll find someone else. It might take time, but I'm sure that you will," Carl said reassuringly.

Ryan couldn't help but nod in agreement. The wiry boy conceded their point and deflated like a leaky balloon.

"When?" Leo mumbled quietly.

"What?" Ryan and Carl asked in unison.

"When will I meet someone else?" Leo asked with a sullen expression.

"I don't know, maybe today, tomorrow, next week... It depends on Veron's timing for you," Carl said.

"I'm not sure if I want to anymore. I look like a fool... I feel like one too," Leo said dejectedly.

Ryan wanted to reach over and tell his friend that it'll be okay, but it was best for Carl to handle this; the bartender probably had way more experience than him.

"Look... son," Carl said with a fatherly tone. "What you did for her there was admirable—foolish, but still admirable. Love makes us act like fools, and rightly so."

"Huh?" Leo asked, clearly confused, the conversation taking a different path than he—and Ryan—expected.