We Can Share - Leico Valdangelo (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 1

Nico pressed his ear up to the door of the Poseidon cabin, listening as quietly as possible. He had finally, reluctantly, given Jason permission to tell Percy EVERYTHING. Nico caught his breath as Jason finished off the story and concluded by saying that Percy shouldn't be angry, and everything went silent.

Then Percy went ballistic.

* * *

Nico sighed and stared at the wall of his tiny New York City apartment. It was a one-room with nothing in it but a door and a window with a ledge, where he usually slept. This was his safe haven, since nobody knew they could find him here, and, heck, he didn't even rent the place. There was only a handful of residents in this three-floor building, and most of the rooms were too dirty and banged-up to sell. This was one of those rooms. Nobody wanted it, so Nico crashed here sometimes.

He came here to think about, then forget, all the bad stuff that happened to him in his messed-up life. This time, he was thinking about how Percy had reacted when Jason told him how Nico felt, but what was weird was that he didn't really care. Previously, Nico had thought he would never love anyone except Percy. But when Percy freaked out, Nico just sort of sighed and calmly shadow-traveled here. Although recently, Nico HAD had his eye on someone else. He thought about the medium-brown skin, the warm, chocolatey eyes, the curly dark hair. Yes, Nico had begun to think that Leo Valdez was the perfect one for him -- so perfect, in fact, that maybe, just maybe, he could replace Percy.

* * *

A few months ago, Nico has walked into his apartment to find footprints on the floor. Since the place wasn't actually HIS, Nico cleaned up and let it go. He didn't care if he never got to meet the guy who continuously came there over the next few months, since Nico knew the poor guy was just coming to get away, escape life for a while -- exactly what Nico came here for. Nico didn't know how he knew this, but he did. The footprints on the floor didn't present a threat, they presented someone just like Nico.

Nico was snapped out of his thoughts by a pounding on the building's stairs, followed by the sound of someone running down the hallway. The sound stopped right in front of Nico's door, and he knew he was about to meet the guy who left the footprints on his floor at least once a week.

Nico's jaw dropped when Leo Valdez threw open the door and ran into the room, stumbling a few steps before falling to his knees in the middle of the room, his face in his hands. Leo began to cry into his palms, and Nico knew he hadn't seen him yet.

Nico was just about to say something along the lines of "Leo? Are you okay?" but he held back when Leo began to talk to himself.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening... Not to me, it's not possible... I can't be... Oh, that stupid little... Why does he have to be so damn HOT... No. Shut up, Leo, stop thinking like this. AARRGGHH!!!"

Leo began to pull his hair with both hands, like he was trying to get whoever this guy was out of his head.
Nico just sat on the window ledge, desperately trying to figure this out. So LEO had been the one who came to this apartment all the time, trying to get his mind off this guy he obviously REALLY liked?

Leo put his face in his hands and started to sob again. Nico decided to do something.

"Leo?" Nico said, in a voice so quiet that he may has well have said nothing at all. But it was loud enough. The crying stopped abruptly, filling the room with silence. Leo began to slowly look up and gasped when he finally saw Nico.

"Nico!" Leo said nervously, scrambling to his feet. "But... How... Why are you here?"

Nico stepped down from the window and walked up to Leo. "Because, Valdez, I come here to think all the time. Apparently, so do you." There was a long pause before Nico asked, "Who's the guy you were talking about?"

Leo bit his lip and stared at the floor. "It's not important, Nico. Just forget about it. It's hopeless, anyway." He turned to leave, but Nico grabbed his arm.

"Tell me."

Nico was not just going to let this drop, and Leo seemed to realize that. Leo sighed and said, "I... I really like you, Nico... a lot." He found a sudden interest in the floor, like Nico would get grossed out and start yelling at him at any second. But instead, he cupped Leo's face in his hands and brought their lips together.

For a moment, Leo just stood there, frozen, but eventually he put his hands on Nico's waist, pulling him closer. Nico never thought anything could feel this good, ever, but he was wrong.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, but was probably just a few seconds, before Nico pulled away, grinning. "So, Valdez," he said, "What are we gonna do about the apartment? It's too big for the both of us."

Leo got that smile of his that drove Nico crazy. Oh, don't worry, diAngelo," he replied. "We can share."

* * *