At the same time, Jacques is in the process of coming to terms with his health's steady decline due to AIDS, which is simultaneously and severely affecting his ex-lover Marco.

When Marco is rejected by his lover Thierry and comes to stay with Jacques, the two discuss again their intentions to commit suicide before they can be claimed by the disease.

Arthur is in the throes of a relatively newfound homosexual lifestyle, and he finds himself disenchanted by his generation's rejection of literature and shame of sex; for these reasons, he is drawn to Jacques and his intellectualism.

Jacques understands his own reticence to commit to a proper relationship because of a current fling with the young Jean-Marie, and because of his AIDS, but finds himself immensely interested in Arthur.

The two spend an evening with Mathieu that ends with Arthur's proclamation that the two "could make a good life together", eventually returning to Brittany to inform his friends he is moving to Paris to be with Jacques.