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Victio rapped on the door again. "Please Alphonse, I feel I am somehow the cause of all of this and would like very much to come in there, give you this blanket and just talk with you." Victio pleaded. While not completely sober, Victio could head a little more of the real Alphonse in the voice of the young man sitting on the other side of the hardened plastic door and he desperately wanted to talk to this side of Alphonse.

If Victio hadn't pushed so hard then maybe Alphonse would not have run off to the bar in the first place. Victio gently touched his bruised cheek, a painful reminder of his failure. He had pushed the poor boy too hard and was starting to regret the actions he had taken.

Victio opened the door slowly... peering inside before opening the door all the way. He looked at the poor kid sitting on the floor in front of the toilet. "I see you have been paying homage to the proceline king" he said jokingly, draping the blanket over the young boys shoulders and pulling it tightly around him. Confident that the wrapping was adequate, Victio closed the door and latched it. He then sat on the floor next to alphonse... both arms crossed infront of him.

"I have let you down and I apologize Alphonse..." Victio said in a low and even tone "I have acted from a desire to help you but I think there is more here than just a lost little boy with a drinking problem and it has thus far been beyond my understanding... Maybe you could help me understand?"

"Assuming what you said is right and what we experienced today was not the actions of one with an alcohol problem... are you using the alcohol for medicinal reasons? say... to suppress bad memories or feelings?" Victio asked... looking quizzically at Alphonse and searching his face for the answer.

"Certainly feeling like this after a long evening of drinking is starting to get old?" said Victio... opening his arms wide and looking around the stall as he said the words.

"Interesting that you do not consider yourself an 'anyone' in that statement about not hurting anyone," Victio began "You are hurting yourself and those that love you are concerned." Victio said, keeping his eyes locked on Alphonse's. "And you didn't answer my question..." Victio responded... trying to get an answer from Alphonse without pushing him too hard.

"I know it must be hard to talk about this but I am here for you and I know I can" Victio said... his voice calm and soothing. "And just me too... those nurses just love giving people the damn pills...."

Victio's face visibly saddened "I cannot speak for your parents. I know they are paying for your treatment but as far as how they feel about you I can only speculate based on what they are doing for you." Victio explained. "How they feel about you really isn't my concern though, it is more important that we work with how you respond to how they treat you, whatever that treatment may be." Victio paused for a moment, gauging Alphonse's response to that statement.

"My motives are none of your concern Alphonse, but every one of them is accomplished by helping you realize that the use of alcohol medicinally is self-destructive and does nothing to resolve the underlying issue, whatever that may be." Victio stated, sternly but still in a very low tone of voice. "If you talk to me about it we can work on those issues and keep this," Victio raised his hands again and looked around the stall "from happening again."

Victio was visibly taken aback by the passion exhibited by this young inebriated man. Thinking to himself for a moment he looked up and into the eyes of the young man sitting infront of him.

"We all crave love especially from our family." Victio said, quietly "I can see you have been deprived of the one bit of unconditional love we should all receive, the love of our family." Victio dropped his head slightly, looking down at the floor "I was a first child and received all kinds of love from my parents, but soon my little brother came and suddenly I was treated like a second-rate citizen." Victios voice trailed off.... "But we cannot lose ourselves to the pain... I did once and it nearly destroyed me."

Painful memories of pain, anger, fear and shame flooded into Victio's heart.

Victio looked up at the boy, for some reason he could not explain Alphonse felt like a brother, someone who had shared his life experiences and knew exactly how it felt to be treated like their families had treated them.

Victio suddenly felt like he was 16 years old... standing infront of his father with his arms held up to him... looking into his eyes and begging for him to take him into his arms... but his father wouldn't, he just stood there looking down at him with those emotionless eyes...

when the memory of his past faded... Victio was on his knees infront of alphonse... his arms around him.

Victio's face reverberated with pain... His previous wound still fresh. With one hand on his face he used the other to push himself up to a standing position. Looking down at the boy, Victio wanted to shout at him, to be angry, to punch the boy back, but he knew that would accomplish nothing. Victio let his hands fall limply to his sides. turning away to leave he looked back at the boy.

Victio's jaw was numb with the pain, but he managed to say "I am sorry. Goodnight, the nurses will be in shortly to escort you to your room, we can't have you shivering on the bathroom floor all night"

Victio felt utterly defeated, not only in his attempts to connect with the boy, but that he obviously had his own issues regarding his family that he had not yet dealt with, he could not believe he actually hugged Alphonse. He proceeded to the kitchen in the hopes of finding some ice to put on his face. he was certain he was going to wake up with 2 black eyes...