Nico waved back to Amy and then headed for the car. He smiled at Miroslav through the window before pulling the door open and sliding in.
"Before you do anything," Miroslav said, just as Nico was preparing to go in for a kiss. "I don't think that's a good idea." He turned briefly, his eyes barely flicking back behind them as he pretended to go through the center console of the car.
Nico twisted around and put his backpack into the backseat, glancing out the rear window as he did so. A few feet behind the car, he could see another one parked—one with two people in it, though he was going to guess they weren't related to anyone at his school.
"Can't they leave us alone?" Nico sighed, righting himself in his seat and stretching his arms up to the roof. He let out a groan as he felt it in his back. "This is getting annoying."
"This is being in your father's life," Miroslav said curtly as he started the car.
Nico frowned. "Sorry... It's not that I'm unhappy being here," he mumbled.
Miroslav sighed. "I know, sorry. I just get frustrated when these things happen, and this has lasted a while now." He combed his fingers back through his hair. "Do you still want to go see your counselor?"
"She can't disclose anything to them, right?" Nico remembered her saying something like that.
"Not unless they get a federal subpoena," Miroslav corrected him. "But I think that's only if you might be a threat to national security," he added quickly.
"That's nice to know," Nico huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'll go."
Miroslav nodded and drove them from the school to the office for Nico to make his appointment. Since his social worker had ordered it Nico didn't think he could really skip anyways. Miroslav insisted on staying out in the car, glaring in the rear view mirror after he parked.
"No getting arrested while I'm in there," Nico tried to joke, at least earning a tense smile out of Miroslav.
Nico left the car and went inside, taking off the tie of his uniform as he got to the right floor. Ashley met him just inside and they walked back to her office, shutting the door. "How was your week?" she asked.
"Fine," Nico muttered vaguely, fidgeting. He still hadn't even told her that he and Miroslav were sort of in a relationship—he didn't want her to have to report anything about Miroslav. Hell, he wasn't even sure what all she did know about him. If he talked about the police following him and Miroslav around, would that set her off?
Nico sighed and settled into the plush seat. "Something bothering you?" Ashley tried again.
"Do you know much about my dad?" Nico questioned openly.
"Your father?" she paused. "A little about what you've told me... you seem to like him well enough. I got a few notes from your social worker on him." That was where she stopped awkwardly.
"About his alleged business escapades," Nico elaborated dramatically for her.
"Something like that. Why are you bringing that up?"
So maybe she didn't know all the details, but at least he could complain. "I actually got arrested," he admitted. "Because the guy I was... before my dad tracked me down, I was living with this guy out of a train yard. He was basically my pimp." Nico frowned to himself and fixed his eyes up on the ceiling. "I really thought all of that was behind me, but he threw my name out when he got arrested not too long ago. That, and when he talked about angry Russians showing up, the police got all excited and arrested me at school for prostitution."
"No shit," Ashley remarked before quickly trying to recover. "I mean—how did that go?"
"No charges, Mimi says it was really disorganized. They didn't have a case about anything, they were just... trying to use me to get to my dad I guess. They couldn't even legally talk to me, and my dad had me out within a few hours. But now the police have still been following me around." They might actually be following Miroslav, but Nico couldn't really be sure.
"Sounds stressful," Ashley commented. "Has anything else been affected?"
"Not really, just means having to be careful about everything I do," Nico grumbled. It made it harder with Miroslav, too. "It's stressing everyone out, like my dad and Miroslav."
"I'm not really sure what to tell you... there isn't much that can be done," she said apologetically. "You don't have any control over what the police are doing."
"I know." He still couldn't bring himself to talk about his relationship with Miroslav. Mac had been one thing to talk about, because she'd never met him. But she'd met Miroslav and Nico had admitted before that he had a crush on him.
"Has it affected you at school at all? With your friends there?" Ashley asked worriedly.
"Not really. The dean was big on keeping it quiet that they arrested me, and then Amy is really my only friend and she knows most of what's going on," Nico explained. "She was the one that called Mimi when I got pulled out of class, because she knew something was up."
"Well," Ashley began. "If it makes you more comfortable, even if they try to contact me I can't say anything. The only time I'm ever forced to talk is with national security, and that's something completely different... so you don't have to worry here, okay?"
Nico hadn't even thought about that, but he was glad to hear it. "Thanks," he muttered. "Do you mind if I leave a little early?" He really just wanted to get home and not have to deal with everything else.
"Not a problem. Get home safe," Ashley said, walking him out of her office.
Miroslav was waiting outside the car, but Nico noticed that the blue car that had pulled in behind them was gone. He went up to Miroslav with a suspicious look. "What happened to the car?"
Miroslav shrugged. "I had a word with them finally. Told them to fuck off."
"You didn't threaten them, did you?" Nico didn't see that ending well.
"No, I just gave them a very long argument about how it was harassment, and that you don't have the kind of up that they're looking for."
"But you do, don't you?" Nico pointed out. "What happens if you go to jail?"
Miroslav didn't say anything and held open a car door for Nico so that he could get in. Miroslav got in to drive but didn't start the car. "Then I go to jail."
"But my dad's lawyer could get you out on something short, right? Or what about all the rivaling gangs in there—something like the Colombians?" Nico continued worriedly.
"The lawyer would try his best, but the court would want to put me in for as long as they could. But stop asking about these things." Miroslav let a hand rest on the back of Nico's neck, giving a gentle squeeze. "Everything will blow over soon. The longer it takes for them to find nothing, the more likely it is they'll step back again for a while."
Nico wasn't convinced. He tried to think of any long running crime families—they all got taken down majorly at some point, no matter how long they lasted. And if something like that happened it wouldn't just mean Miroslav; it would mean his dad as well, and probably any other guys that Nico was familiar with, like Shurik and Adrik.
Miroslav could see he wasn't quite satisfied and sighed. "It'll be rough but it'll work itself out," he tried again. He started the car and drove out of the office parking lot.
Asher watched the world go by, noticing when they turned away from the usual route home and towards what he sort of remembered as the way to Miroslav's apartment. Nico perked up excitedly then as Miroslav got them to the building and up in the elevator.
The inside of his apartment obviously hadn't had much change, but Nico was still eager to be there. It wasn't often he got to be let in to Miroslav's personal bubble, he realized. Miroslav wasn't a very open guy, so it was the little things he knew that he had to pay attention to—like the sharing of movies or small personal tidbits.
"Are we watching another movie?" Nico asked.
"If you want," Miroslav answered unhelpfully.
Nico glanced around as he tried to figure out what else they could really do. Miroslav wasn't the type to have video games lying around—Nico didn't imagine he liked losing at those sorts of things. Maybe he'd force Miroslav into an arcade someday anyways just to see what would happen.
Miroslav wandered off towards his bedroom, and Nico hesitated before slowly following him in. He watched Miroslav take off his tie and shirt, and was more than surprised to see a number of tattoos on Miroslav's skin. "What are all of those for?" Nico asked, poking the one on Miroslav's shoulder blade.
Miroslav seemed confused that he was even asking. "Oh," he breathed. "Tattoos are very important in Russian organizations." Miroslav pointed to a few spires that he had, closer to his neck. "This means I've been to jail before."
"So they're ones that tell stories." Nico pointed at one that seemed to repeat a pattern a few times. "What about this one?"
Miroslav took a moment to answer, eying Nico curiously. "Number of people I've killed," he answered flatly.
"Oh." Nico pulled his hand back quickly then. He should have figured something like that—he knew different gangs had different ways of representing it. Tear drops under the eyes always seemed so easy to recognize as something like that.
"Does that bother you?" Miroslav asked seriously.
"Not really," Nico mumbled. "It's not like I never thought you hadn't done something like that before." He'd just never thought about it. And it wasn't something easy where he could try and blame it on the person deserving it, either.
"I will never hurt you," Miroslav promised. "But I would kill for you if I needed to."
Nico swallowed hard. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. "Because you have to, because of my dad, or because of me?" It didn't meant the same thing if Miroslav was doing it for his job—not that Nico wanted someone killing for him at all.
"Both," Miroslav decided after a moment. "But I would do it for you first, before anything."
"Not sure my dad would like that," Nico chuckled stiffly.
"He would understand," Miroslav responded cryptically again. He took one of Nico's hand in his, and put it over his chest.
Nico tested slightly, feeling the warmth of Miroslav's skin seeping into him. It had been a while since Nico had touched anyone like this, and he wasn't sure where Miroslav was going with it, or how far. And Nico was finding himself nervous for the first time in a very long time, too.
Miroslav kissed some of that nervous feeling out of him, easing Nico's uniform blazer and shirt off. Nico obviously didn't have the matching tattoos, but he was feeling inadequate in many ways now—he wasn't skinny, but he wasn't broad like Miroslav was. He didn't have the same muscle, and Miroslav had a few scars hidden in with his tattoos.
Nico was realizing how much of a child he really was compared to Miroslav now. Miroslav was willing to kill for him and Nico was still just nervous about what would happen to Miroslav if his dad found out.
Nico went with the kisses and tried to get his mind off of things. Miroslav enveloped him in a warm embrace, taking him down onto the bed. Nico felt himself tensing up involuntarily, trying to remind himself that this was Miroslav and that this was okay. It wasn't the same thing.
Nico last all of two minutes like that before he had to fight his way out of Miroslav's arms and off of the bed, hopping nervously from one foot to the other. Miroslav stared at him blankly before something dawned on his face. "Shit. You don't like beds," Miroslav remembered guiltily.
"Yeah," Nico muttered. "Sorry."
Miroslav shook his head and quickly stood up. "No, that was my fault. It's just so habitual. I'm sorry." He made sure it was okay first before pulling Nico into a tight hug.
Nico didn't mind that as much, as long as the bed wasn't involved. Miroslav sighed into Nico's hair, tickling the top of his head. "We'll figure something else out," Miroslav promised.
Nico just nodded deftly and cradled his head against Miroslav's chest.