Blue In The Soul, Purple With Red

Chapter 1

Nico looked down at his homework, scowling at how much he had to do. He could hear Lukas with his boyfriend, hear them talking downstairs with the scent of McDonald's coming up. It was tempting, almost too tempting, to go down and join them. But he stuck to his homework, a choice he would someday regret.

Senior year was harder than the other years of high school, or it was for Nico. He actually cared enough to work, which in turn caused him to be strapped to his desk most of the time. If he wasn't at school and he wasn't doing homework, then he was at work. Sleep was hard to come by most days.

"Idiots." Nico watched out the window as a kid tried to throw a basketball into a dumpster. The window was right above his desk, leaving him with a perfect opportunity to get distracted easily. The sun came in, provided him with light. The air made him want to escape his dusty room.

The smell of weed drifted into the room through the open window. Nico tensed up, felt his brain running with different ideas. Drugs, drugs, drugs.

Drugs. They still controlled his every thought.

A heavy thud downstairs, the sound of something breaking. It caught Nico off-guard, caused his head to snap up and for the drugs to stray away from his thoughts. "Lukas?!"

"Everything's fine!" Lukas called out. "Go back to studying!"

Nico frowned. "What broke?!"

"Just go back to studying!" Lukas insisted. "Everything's fine!"

Nico rolled his eyes before leaving his room. Leave it to Lukas to break something. "Lukas, I swear if you broke my mother's..." He stopped when he reached the top of the steps, watching as Lukas tried to pick up a pile of ash that was under pieces of broken glass. "You broke my mother's urn?!"

Lukas looked up at Nico, his face red. "I...I...I'm sorry..."

"What were you even doing?" Nico ran down the steps. "Making out with your boyfriend? I've told you, Lukas. I've told you to watch out."

"I'm sorry..." Lukas looked down at his ash-covered hands. "I didn't mean to."

"Go get me the broom," Nico instructed, his voice laced with anger. "Where's Knox?"

"He left." Lukas ran to retrieve the broom and dustpan before coming back. "He was late for his job."

"He has a job?" Nico began to sweep up the ashes. "Go get me something to put these in."

Lukas ran out of the room, taking longer than before. Finally, he came back with an old vase. "This alright?"

"For now. Bring it over." Nico shook his head. "I can't believe you."

"I'm sorry." Lukas set the vase by Nico, one of his contacts having fallen out. He looked at him with one black eye and one blue, his gaze sad. "I really didn't mean it. She was my mom, too, Nico. I really didn't mean it."

"Just go to your room." Nico gestured for him to leave. "That way you can't break anything else."

"Nico..."

"This is the fifth thing you've broken this week!" Nico glared at him. "Just get away, Lukas. You're too careless when you're with that boy."

Lukas hung his head. "Right...sorry." He walked up the steps, his footsteps heavy. "I'm sorry..."

Some days, he felt like more of a nuisance than like a brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Because he doesn't pay attention!" Nico ranted, pacing his room as he talked to Will on his phone. "He'll kiss Knox wherever he wants and end up breaking something!"

"Nico..." Will sighed. "What did he break this time? You're angrier than usual."

"He broke my mother's urn!" Nico kicked his wall in anger. "I had to clean up her ashes! You know how disgusting that is?!"

"Calm down, Neeks." Will's voice grew tense. "How about I come over and we can talk? I don't trust you there alone..."

"The asshole is here somewhere." Nico sat on his bed, letting out a sigh of defeat. "Will...Lukas and I used to get along okay. Then his boyfriend came in and messed everything up."

"So he's in love. That's good." Will replied. "He's probably just too focused on his boyfriend to focus on anything else. That's not too bad."

Nico laid back on his bed, staring at the worn ceiling. "It's getting late...isn't it?"

"Yeah, around midnight." Will admitted. "We should get some sleep. School tomorrow."

Nico closed his eyes. "How are you still awake, Mr. Sunshine?"

"Cause you were yelling in my ear." Will grumbled.

"Right, sorry..." Nico smiled. "Okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight." Will hung up, leaving Nico alone in his room. As he curled up to fall asleep, he was unaware that Lukas sat outside his room, tears streaming down his face as he had listened to every word Nico had said.

"I'm sorry..." Lukas whispered to himself. "I'm sorry."