The sound of Sergio’s own crying isn’t enough to mask the sound of Henry wailing as he jumps off his bed and goes running down the hall.
“What’s with you today?” Adrien asks from the chairlift carrying them further and further upward.
Sergio doesn’t answer him. Instead, he lifts the safety bar, then leans forward and pitches himself off the lift, headfirst into the snowy mountain below, hoping this grants him yet another do-over.
“Uncle Sergio! Wake up!” Henry shouts, kneeing Sergio in the balls and jolting him awake.
Sergio, relieved his dramatic exit worked, but also still in pain from having his junk smashed in, whimpers as he curls into his now customary ball. Gus hisses as always and bolts out the door.
“Uncle Sergio, are you okay?” Henry asks, crawling on top of him.
“Yeah, buddy, I’m okay,” he says, pulling Henry in for a cuddle. He takes a deep breath, then sobs a little harder, hating himself for how he treated Henry yesterday. Even knowing Henry has no recollection of it isn’t enough to ease his guilt.
“You don’t seem like you’re okay.”
“I don’t?”
“No,” Henry says, shaking his head. “Are you sick?”
“Maybe.”Sick in the head.
“You should stay in bed and get some rest. That’s what Mommy makes me do when I don’t feel good.”
“You know what, Henry? That’s a good idea.” He lifts the covers, letting Henry go free. “Can you go tell your mom and dad that I’m sitting out today?”
“Okay!” Henry yells, then hops off Sergio’s bed and goes running out the door.
Sergio rolls back over, pulls the duvet close to his chin, and closes his eyes. A small part of him wonders if he’d find peace if they never opened again.
But they do open. And thankfully for Sergio, it’s to a quiet house, because people are not something he can deal with right now. Well, people outside of Jeremy, as he can still feel the way Jeremy’s lips felt against his two of his days ago. They were warm, soft, and ever so lovely.
He almost wants to laugh. Almost. He’d been so convinced that after he and Jeremy had shared that kiss, that this hell of a day was going to be over. He’d course-corrected. Where was his reward?
Hungry, he gets out of bed and heads downstairs to raid the kitchen, hoping some food in his belly will help him figure out a solution for his current predicament. Surely there has to be a way to break this loop.
Inside the refrigerator is a plate of pancakes that Holden must have left for him. He places it in the microwave. While the food spins around and around in circles as it warms, he contemplates the events of this day he keeps living.
It always starts the same, that he can’t change, no matter how much he and his balls wish he could. But everything after that seems to be malleable. He was able to fix things with Jeremy, but obviously, that wasn’t enough. And looking back, he does have the brains to realize that the idea of one kiss breaking his loop was a naive notion. Who does he think he is? A Disney princess? He’s far from it in every way possible. So, obviously, he needs to do more, but what does that entail?
The timer goes off on the microwave, and he pulls out his food, then begins eating it standing at the counter. “Okay,” he says out loud around a mouthful of food to an empty room. “It’s not only Jeremy I need to fix things with. So what else is there?”
He furrows his brow as he chews, and his mind immediately goes back to Rose scolding him about the kiss at the New Year’s Eve party. “Ahh, Rose,” he says, laughing for the first time today. “I’m kind of starting to think she hates me.” He takes anotherbite. “I wish Adrien were here. He could tell me how to fix that. She likes him … fuck, Adrien.”
He sighs, then rubs at his temple with his free hand. “I gotta figure out a way to keep him from quitting.” The prospect of solving his dilemmas with both Rose and Adrien is something he’s designating for Sergio of another New Year's Day. This version of today is already a wash in his eyes. He may as well give himself a break.
He takes the last bites of his food, then wipes the remnants of sticky syrup from his mouth with a nearby towel. The feel of the towel on his lips makes him think of Jeremy again. Not because the towel feels at all similar to the way Jeremy’s lips felt. But more so because he doesn’t want the feeling of the slightly scratchy dish towel to replace the feeling of Jeremy’s plump and perfectly moisturized lips pressed against his own. Sure, it’s too late for him to try to fix his life on this version of this day, but seeing as how it’s still well before noon, it’s not too late for him to steal another kiss from Jeremy.
Cleaning up his plate, he concocts a half-baked plan, one that doesn’t involve fixing anything, but does ensure he can feel Jeremy’s lips pressed against his once again and again and again and again, for however long it takes for him to fix everything wrong in his present life.
With a skip in his step, he heads back to his room, taking the stairs two at a time. He grabs some clean underwear, realizing he hasn’t actually changed his since the night before, far too long ago. He quickly undresses, then grimaces as he brings his briefs to his nose, expecting them to be completely rank given the circumstances. To his relief, they are perfectly fine. Fresh even, as if he had only put them on the night before.That’s a perk. No laundry while I’m stuck here.Not that Sergio has ever concerned himself with laundry before. Having his clothescleaned by a service falls under the purview of Adrien’s job description.
Nevertheless, he takes the clean underwear and a towel with him to the bathroom across the hall and takes a steaming hot shower. While in there, he indulges in a jerk off session that he normally would stretch out for ages, but given his current circumstances, finishes in an embarrassingly short few minutes. Regardless, he does feel better having relieved some of the tension he’s been carrying around, repeated day in and repeated day out.
After his shower, he dries off and changes into a simple pair of jeans, a dark green, long-sleeved Henley that matches his eyes, and his black leather boots. He relishes in the comfort of being dressed in something other than his ski gear or his sharp New Year's Eve party suit.
By the time he’s finished with all of this, he hears Jeremy return home from lunch with Henry in tow.Not too much longer,he thinks and goes back downstairs where he finds Gus eyeing him warily as he walks back and forth in front of the back door, as if, like his mom, he wants to create an obstacle between Sergio and Jeremy.
Sergio crouches down and reaches his hand out to stroke Gus between the ears. The cat seems to enjoy it when everyone else does it. No such luck. Gus hisses loudly and bears his claws, swiping at Sergio’s hand. He makes contact, drawing blood.
