Intervene

"Leo! What are you doing here?" I asked, loud.

He jumped back, startled by my sudden appearance, and I laughed at his wide-eyed confusion.

"Jesus you scared me!" Came his startled answer.

"Hahaha the look on your face! Is everything okay?"

I was worried for him, he hadn't been himself lately.

"I'm worried for you Leo..."
"What does it matter to you? Just enjoy your party!"

There was obviously something hugely annoying to him about the party, maybe even about valentine.

I allowed silence to reign for a few moments, trying to choose my next words carefully.

"I don't really care about this whole thing behind me. I do care about you, about how you're doing. You're my friend, and you matter to me." I was honest, open about my feelings for him.

For once, his answer did not come immediately. He was taken aback by my statement, not quite expecting this kind of honesty.

"I... I'm sorry I snapped."

There was no need to be sorry. There was no need to feel any remorse.

I went up to my friend and hugged him.

"Hey it's okay. You're okay." I whispered in his ear, and could feel the tension fighting to remain in his body.

He was struggling, that was for sure.

"You're safe here. It's okay."

I tried calming him with my words, my hand rubbing the back of his head softly, petting him into comfort. I could feel him slowly relaxing, yet the tension remained.

"I don't know what to do anymore... It's all so weird. It's all too much."

My friend had a million thoughts swirling in his mind.

"Let's relax, shall we? Here, come, sit." I took him to a nearby bench, had him sit on it. I sat next to him and had my arm around his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Take things at your own pace. I'm here for you."

Leo took a deep breath, trying to put his emotions and feelings in line before voicing out:

"Love is such a stupid, complicated thing with so much... Fakeness to it!" He started, "Everyone always tries to one-up each other, and it's only in events like these that they show that they care about each other..."

He was angry about something, hinting at something...

And then it clicked. A while back, he was talking about someone cheating... Now, he's saying they're all lovey-dovey. His parents were not on the best of terms, that was for sure.

"Does this have to do with your parents?"

He took a sharp breath, telling me I hit the mark straight on the spot.

"She... He's not the best man out there, and her eyes wander..." He began explaining.
"Now that it's valentine and he brings her flowers and all, she suddenly looks at him again as the perfect husband. A few weeks ago, her messages to someone else tell a different story. A few weeks from now, it'll stay the same. There is no consistency between these two."
"From what I know, not one marriage doesn't have its troubles." Truth can be comforting, I imagined. "Better they are still alone than separated, a broken shell of their former self."

"It's so very complicated."

"I know. It is." I continued, "But that doesn't mean that you need to worry about it now. There will come a time where you can allow your mind to wander around and play its games."

"But I can't fight it. It's so overwhelming."