Nico and I ended up staying inside all day as he was nursing a concussion; or at least, that's what I assumed was wrong with him. Every now and again, he'd groan or nod off and I'd have to wake him up or ask if he needed anything but besides that, I was left bored and with nothing to do. Except Nico.
Holy crap, that came out wrong.
Anyway, it was around 9:00 now so I decided we should eat or start looking for more blankets. It just so happened to be one of those kind of rare winters in Baltimore where the temperature dipped into teens and whatnot.
Also we were staying in a rundown motel at the moment which felt damp and drafty. At least they had a bed and a couch. "Are you hungry?" I asked and flopped down onto said bed, disrupting a film of dust on the duvet.
I sneezed and then rolled off the bed with a sigh. "That's just nasty," I whispered to myself as I sat on the surprisingly clean yellow tile floor. Well, now I knew there at least was one clean place to sleep. I'd probably catch pneumonia but...
"I'm fine... Can you answer those questions I asked earlier--"
"Relax."
"No!" Nico yelled and I flinched and quickly turned to look at him. He was... pissed. He ripped some of the covers off of him and they landed on the floor gracefully and quietly which contrasted heavily with Nico's demeanor. "I need answers, Leo. I can't just sit here not knowing why I'm here or if there's any impending threats," he threw up his hands in exasperation.
His hands dropped. "I don't wanna go back, Leo... I can't deal with being in there anymore..." he admitted quietly and looked at me with an expression I could only associate with being broken.
I stood and, without hesitation, walked over to the couch and hugged him. He moved his hands to push me away but I held on tighter. "I'm sorry... I should've never got you into this." I loosened the embrace and leaned back enough to see his face. "If I would've just kept my mouth shut and didn't--"
He cut me off by putting a hand over my mouth and I resisted the urge to bite it so he would move it. "No. I mean, I wanted to escape. Just... I was too much of a wimp to try and I had never gotten such a good opportunity and if I had gotten away somehow I wouldn't know where to go or anything and I still wouldn't be able to get close to people." A small smile spread across his lips and I couldn't help but follow suit.
"You can sleep here, by the way," he mumbled and his cheeks gained a bit of color as he moved his hand away from my mouth and his fingertips brushed against my lips.
"Yeah, uh... This is pretty close."
"Mhm..."
I didn't want to ruin the moment but...
"What about getting food?" I asked and received an eyeroll in response.
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Sorry it's short
