chapter 2 - misery

Not much changed until after another month; It was two weeks before thanksgiving when the Leblancs called again with an important message. A bit amazed by their timing Ryan talked to his father on the phone. For the first time he could hear his father's emotion is his voice. He told them that their mother's illness had increased and that she might not have another year.
Things started to change heavily from that point. The Leblanc brothers were off course very emotional and needed each other more than ever. A long week went by before they flew to their parents.
At the Leblanc residence the emotional atmosphere tempered only after a few days when they had intensively spoken with their mom. Her situation was terrifying however she didn't feel ill yet. If she wouldn't have known, it wouldn't have come to her mind that she was a terminal patient.
They decided to celebrate the holidays like they used to. In fact they did even better. During the large thanksgiving feast, mr. Leblanc commented on Ryan's great new appetite. "That's my boy, I knew some day you could do it, look at you; you're finally off the skin and bones phase" grabbing his son's now much stronger arm, made a him a great compliment. One of those that had always been really scarce. He looked at his youngest son in pride.
Ryan ate heaps that night somewhat feeling relieved, now feeling somewhat encouraged by his father. Ryan and Joshua stayed at their parents for the complete holiday season.

When they came back early in January Luke came to pick them up from the airport. Luke had to blink for a second when they met. Josh had a slightly rounder chin, but Ryan had visibly thickened during the feasting season. Luke became a bit aroused and had to swallow not to let it be seen.
School and work started again but both Leblanc brothers didn't do so well. Ryan's grades went downhill and Josh looked more worried by the day. Luke seemed to be the only one going to the gym these days. At night he tried to cheer up his roomies as much as he could.
But something had inevitably changed in their dedication. Josh couldn't stop thinking about his mom, and talked with Luke about it. He didn't feel comfortable being so far away from her, and couldn't keep up his tasks at work. Luke told him he had to overthink it for a while. He knew how he loved his mother, but on the other hand he also remembered how Josh had hated his father's regime with great passion. He had finally built his own life and set himself free of the nagging. Luke suggested he could maybe talk the situation over with a psychologist or advisor before falling off the bandwagon.
At a certain night while at the dinner table, Joshua told he had applied for a temporary job position within his company, but at another department in his parents state. He unveiled his plans to live with his parents and helping them in the upcoming months. Although Luke certainly understood his decision, he was more than surprised by the timing.
Ryan was somewhat amazed and disappointed but admitted he would have done the same in Josh's situation.
Ryan stayed with Luke and tried to keep up with his study. He seemed so sad. Every day he was just sitting on the couch gaming and eating, and later at night drinking. He never went to the gym that period. Luke tried to be kind and they talked more often. They never became close friends however. It seemed to Luke that Ryan just didn't let them or something. Due to his laziness Ryan inevitably kept getting fatter. Luke saw it happening but found it hard to comment on it or even give a positive hint towards healthier food. He didn't want to Ryan to get even more harassed. So he didn't say a word about it.
Ryan ate heaps at dinner and usually went for seconds and thirds. He didn't care about anything let alone mentioning he got fatter. He lazed around all day, complaining in self-pity. At night Luke tried to improve their contact which had fallen to nothing more than the essential talk.
He figured out that watching a movie was a great silence-breaker, mainly because they didn't exactly have to talk. But since they shared the same experience and off course beer there was a slight improvement.
So each night Luke made sure there was enough food around the house, he kept the beers coming, and he kept offering snacks. Ryan was just eating his sorrow away each night. Luke knew Ryan would be gaining weight quite rapidly this way, considering he himself was gaining and he ate a lot less than Ryan. He must already be weighing around 260 lbs now Luke guessed. Although honestly Luke looked at Ryan in admiration, he also knew that there would have to be a time to make Ryan aware of the consequences.
After a month or so, even earlier than expected ms. Leblanc died. They all went to her funeral, and stayed another week at the Leblancs house. After a week of taking pity of the LeBlancs Luke had to go back home, feeling bad leaving them already.
The week after Ryan came home as well. Luke had stayed at home to welcome him, trying to estimate his state of being . When Ryan came back he looked more than awful. Dark eyed, shoulders hanging, exhausted so to say. He barely ate and had lost weight. Whatever Luke tried to help him or distract him from his suffering, he only got tantrums or nagging in return.
Ryan had unrecognizably changed. He slept or sat staring out of the window and he ate close to nothing Luke was more than worried about him, but didn't know how to improve things yet.
Ryan got so depressed that his grades reached an all-time low so he eventually let Luke help him with his homework now. Luke was glad he could finally do something for the boy. They studied together for Ryan's exams. While studying Luke made sure they would have something to snack on. He tried to get Ryan back to eat, if only just a bit.
This seemed to work, Ryan snacked along with Luke while they studied hard. After a night of studying they drank a few beers and then went to bed.
Despite all their effort Ryan's grades kept lowering making him decide to stop studying completely, at least for a while. He made Luke promise to keep his mouth shut against the Leblancs. Luke off course made that promise while he ran almost out of ideas to cheer Ryan up.
He did everything that had to be done around Ryan, and cooked whatever he liked. Ryan mainly just lay around bored, but something had changed; while he did so he was eating again. His days went by in a flow of snacking, drifting away, or sleeping. In fact eating had become his only task and Luke saw the pounds creeping onto his large roommate's body frame again. So the pounds he had lost were back in only a few weeks after he had stopped studying (and in fact moving).