It wasn't too often that Nico and Levi had arguments. Sure, little disagreements here and there, but other than that, nothing big really happened.
So, when arguments did happen, they usually escalated pretty quickly .
Levi lets himself collapse onto the couch, his aching muscles begging him to relax for once. Today had been one of those days at work where he just wasn't able to sit down. A massive trauma had come in, which he had been eager to jump on and assist, despite how daunting the situation truly was.
On the other hand, Nico had been tending to a young patient the majority of the day. His mother just happened to be... one of those. Panicky, snappy, rude. Nico managed to smile through it, bearing every small insult and nit-pick the mother threw at him. At one point, he had debated just turning around and denying her and her son of any treatment, simply because of how rude she was being.
So, when Nico had been called in to help assist with the surgery, he was quite visibly vexed. That is where it all started. A few miscommunicated looks and misunderstood words were all that it took to set them off.
Nico joins him on the couch not two minutes later, sitting the opposite end, not paying any attention to Levi. Levi wouldn't admit it out loud, but it hurt to see Nico blatantly ignoring him, despite his best efforts to try and start some sort of conversation.
"So," Levi starts, and he can see Nico shift uncomfortably out of the corner of his eye. He clears his throat and sucks in a deep breath before continuing, "how was the rest of your day? You know, after the surgery?"
Nico scoffs, "Miserable."
It's the toneless way he speaks that forms a pit in Levi's stomach. It's the way he doesn't even bother turning his head to respond, how he doesn't even bother returning the question. It hurts. It stings, just like a newly formed scratch.
That's all he hoped this was. A scratch.
"Yeah, same," Levi replies flatly, "the patient is stable. She should be okay."
"That's good to hear."
Their conversation is so boring, so completely drained of life, that Levi sees no point in exerting effort to carry it on. If Nico wants to act in such a way, then Levi will let him. After a few moments of silence, Levi lets out a sigh, standing from the couch.
It's only then Nico turns his gaze up at Levi, brows knitted together in silent question. Levi says nothing as he disappears off into the bedroom, casually checking his phone as he shuts the door behind him. As much as he wanted to slam it, he didn't. After all, he wouldn't want a noise complaint from the neighbors. Again.
The first time hadn't exactly been his fault.
He slumps on the bed, the evening sun breaking through the blinds as he stares up at his phone, scrolling through his Instagram feed, legs dangling off the end of the bed. It's only when he rolls over onto his front that he realizes that the bed was never made this morning. Damn it.
He continues scrolling mindlessly through his feed, double-tapping a few posts he likes, sending a particularly funny one to Taryn, who replies almost instantly with a laughing emoji.
It another few minutes of silence as he scrolls, and scrolls, and scrolls, until a text causes his phone to chime. The noise breaks the silence so suddenly, it makes Levi startle. He glances up at the notification briefly, seeing it's from Link.
Apparently, Nico wasn't answering his phone, which is often something he neglected to do when he was in a sour mood.
"Urgh," Levi groans to himself, swiping the notification away and rolling off the bed. He opens the bedroom door and sticks his head out, seeing Nico was still where he left him, except the TV was now playing.
Nico turns his attention over his shoulder, raising a brow in Levi's general direction.
"Link texted me," Levi holds his phone up, attention briefly stolen by the movie playing on the TV, "says you're not replying to him."
"Whoops," is all Nico replies with. Levi can see that his phone is next to him on the couch arm.
"Can you stop being such an ass and just reply to him?" Levi snaps at him, which causes Nico to let out a forced, somewhat condescending laugh.
Levi holds back a groan, turning and throwing his phone onto the bed before he exits the room, making his way over to where Nico was sitting. He folds his arms across his chest as he purposely stands directly in front of the TV, blocking Nico from watching it.
Except, all Nico does, is lean to the side to continue watching it, taking no notice of Levi.
"What the hell is your problem today, Nico?"
Nico rests his head on his hand, blinking up at Levi a few times, like he didn't even hear the question he had just been asked. "What problem?"
"You're being an ass! To me, to Link, to everyone around you!"
"And your point, exactly?"
"Oh my God," Levi drops his arms to his side with a huff of defeat, taking a moment to close his eyes and compose himself. He hated it when Nico acted like this. Absolutely despised it. He takes a deep breath, fists clenching at his side, before he returns his gaze to Nico, "if you're going to be like this-"
"Like what?"
"Like this!" Levi gestures around with his hands, exaggerating what he is trying to express, "I'm just, I'm not- If you're going to be an ass, then I'm not going to stay here and deal with it, especially if you won't even give me the time of day. I'll let you sit and work through this yourself, since you really don't want me to be here."
"Woah, don't lose your head," Nico's face sets into a frown, standing from his seat. Levi is standing the opposite side of the coffee table, so Nico sidesteps it, taking a few steps towards Levi. Only, Levi steps back. The scowl he wears stays put, eyes never wandering off Nico, not even for a moment.
Silence falls between them, until Levi sucks in a shaky breath. Confrontation was something which Levi hated, especially with people he loved. People like Nico. Every second was agony. Every second he was fighting with Nico was torture to him.
Despite his best efforts, Levi isn't able to keep up his tough, unbothered facade. He's already exhausted from his day at work, so keeping up such an act is draining him of his last remaining energy. His face falls as he takes another step away from Nico, bringing up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
His eyes burn with the threat of tears, though he's determined to not let Nico see him this way. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before blinking them open, looking upwards to try to suppress the oncoming flood.
He convinces himself he's so emotional because he is so exhausted. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Levi," Nico tries to reach out to Levi, but stops himself, "I was just-"
"No, no. I'm not dealing with this, Nico. I'm too exhausted. It's obvious you need some time alone to calm down."
"Wait, what are you saying?" Nico hopes Levi isn't trying to hint at something else. Deep down, he feels guilty for taking out his frustration on the people around him, especially Levi. It isn't fair.
"I'm going to spend the night at my mom's. I need to be in a space where I feel wanted."
"Levi, I never said-"
"No, you never said it, but I can tell."
Nico opens his mouth as if to reply, but he can't muster up any words. He lets out a defeated sigh as Levi turns and heads for the bedroom.
-
"I know you didn't ask," the sound of shuffling feet against carpet, his mother's soothing voice, and the sound of the TV playing idly in the background snap him back to reality. He has his knees pulled up against his chest, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "but I made you a hot chocolate. I know it's your favorite."
"Thank you," Levi takes the mug from her hands, wrapping his fingers around it, letting it warm his hands. She sits next to him, staying silent for a moment as she watches her son sip at his drink.
Myrna places a gentle hand in between Levi's shoulders, rubbing circles as he places his drink on the side table next to him. Neither of them say anything for a good while; nothing needs to really be said. Myrna knows better than to force Levi to talk about the things that are bothering him- after all, she has known him his whole life.
She knows why he is here. It was written all over his face when she opened the door. It was in the text message he had sent her, simply letting her know he needed to stay for the night. Mother's instinct kicked in and instantly, she knew. It's crazy, how things work like that.
She lets her hand linger for a short while, until Levi shifts and tugs the blanket around his shoulders more.
"Sometimes," she begins, but hesitates. In all honesty, she has no idea how to talk to Levi about these things. This isn't her area of expertise. Still, she tries her best, "sometimes people say and do things which they don't mean."
Levi turns his head towards her, resting his cheek on his knees, arms wrapped around his legs. His eyes are still bloodshot, red, sore. There are still tears fresh in his eyes. "I know, this isn't the first time. He had a bad day, and I know it sounds like I'm excusing him, but I didn't make it any better. I got pissy with him just as much he did me."
"It happens. It happens and it sucks, trust me. One thing I have learned over my many years of life," she lifts her hand to brush some hair back from Levi's face, that all too familiar motherly smile on her lips, "is that you should never sleep when you're angry at someone."
"I don't even know if he'd answer if I tried, to be honest. I really, really want to speak with him."
"You won't know until you try."
"But trying is scary."
"And trying is the only way that you will know," Myrna argues back, to which Levi just pouts at. He knows she is right and that is something he doesn't like; his mom is always right when it comes to these sorts of things.
Levi sniffles and blinks back the tears before he lifts his head from his knees, picking up his phone from the arm of the couch. He just stares blankly at it, like he expects it to do all the work for him. Maybe if he stares hard enough, maybe if he just thinks hard enough, then something will happen.
"I'll leave you to it," she rests her hands on her knees as she stands, giving her son a reassuring smile before she turns to leave. Just as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she stops. "Nico really loves you, Levi. I can tell. He's a good guy."
Levi can't help but smile at his mother's words. "He is a good guy."
"Plus, I really like him. Call him up, speak to him," she nods her head towards the phone in Levi's hands, "Goodnight, Levi."
He mutters a faint goodnight back to his mother as she disappears up the stairs, leaving Levi to do what he needs to do. He turns his attention to the phone in his hand, clicking the lock button on the side to light up the screen.
The lock screen background is a photo of him and Nico that Taryn had sneakily taken one night, whilst they were all out at a small garden party. How Taryn got the photo, Levi isn't quite sure, because she had been pretty much drunk the whole night. It makes him smile, the memory still fresh in his mind.
After a couple of moments of staring at his phone screen, he types in his passcode and goes into his contacts. A couple of taps later and Levi has the phone pressed against his ear, heart pounding in his chest, the phone ringing, and ringing, and ringing.
Half of him believes that Nico won't answer. Perhaps he was asleep already, or maybe he went out, or maybe he just doesn't want to speak to Levi. The other half is hopeful. Hopeful to an extent, but with each ring of the phone, the hope vanishes a little.
Levi is about to give up as he lets out a frustrated huff, until the ringing stops and the sound of the phone being picked up replaces it. He doesn't even give Nico a chance to say anything, not even a hello, before he is talking.
"I just want you to listen for a moment, hear me out and just- give me a chance," he rushes out in an attempt to stop Nico from saying anything. He catches his breath and starts once more, "I know you had a bad day. I had a stressful day as well. We're both at fault. I should never have snapped at you the way I did, I should have just left you alone."
The other end of the phone is silent for a moment.
"You're going to have to say that all again, because you said it so fast I caught none of it,"
It makes Levi laugh a little, though his heart still aches. Deep down, he is terrified that Nico hates him.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so agitated with you, it was wrong," Levi shortens it this time around, slows his voice down, in hopes Nico will be able to catch some of it this time. It sounds like Nico is in bed, because Levi can hear him moving about.
Again, it is silent for a brief moment, until Nico sighs. "It's so quiet here without you. The bed feels too empty."
Levi sighs quietly, smiles a little, but doesn't say anything.
"I messed up. I messed up, big time. I'm so, so sorry. I wanted to call you but I was just- I was so scared you hated me. You don't hate me, do you?"
Even though Levi can't see Nico right now, he can hear the frown he wears, can hear the waver in his voice as he speaks, the way it threatens to break. It was odd.
He shakes his head, forgetting for a moment Nico can't see him, "I don't hate you, I never could. You know I love you more than anything."
"I love you, too," Nico responds, sounding relieved above anything. Levi wishes he could see him right now. Wishes nothing more than to be by his side, snuggled up to him, just so he could show him that he doesn't hate him. "When are you coming home?"
"Not tonight. I still just need some time, I think we both do. I'll be back tomorrow night, for sure. Are you working tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I am. Are you?"
"No, I'm not. How about you come over to my mom's when your shift ends? I bet she'll be excited to see you again. Don't tell her though, just show up," he knows that his mother would be so overjoyed to see Nico again, especially from out of the blue. The past few times he'd been round, she'd been so smiley and giddy. It seems that Nico has that effect on people. "Please?"
Nico stays quiet on the other end of the line, though he hums, as if he's thinking. Levi instantly smiles, knowing that Nico is just teasing him, "Will she be making chicken noodle soup?"
Levi lets out a playful scoff and rolls his eyes, leaning his head back against the couch, "I might be able to convince her."
"Then I'll be there."
"Good," it's barely above a whisper as he speaks, because he feels so relieved, so elated that he can barely say a word. He bites down on his lower lip, trying to conceal his smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah, tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Nico."
"Goodnight."
The phone goes silent as Levi pulls it away from his ear, watching as the call fades and returns back to his normal phone screen. Again, he just stares at the screen, but this time, he's smiling.
There hadn't ever been a time in Levi's life where his mother's wisdom didn't come in handy; this just proved to him, once again, that she must be some sort of secret superwoman.
For now, Levi could sleep easy, knowing that tomorrow evening, he'd be back with Nico. For now, he was content, knowing that all was okay after all, that everything was sound.