Terms and Conditions (valdangelo)

Intermission

I thought of including this part in Results May Vary, but I liked it better here; the moment is alluded to by Leo though.

It had been a quiet day, stilled with the heavy promise of an oncoming storm, sky fully covered by gray clouds, a cold but soft breeze being the worst of it for now. It was a coincidence, really, that they met in between rows of stone and silence; fate twirling its strings around to create the right place and the right time.

Close enough to notice the other, yet far enough that they didn't question it. Eyes meeting by chance alone, an indescribable kind of connection, and an infinite monotony broken like glass.

"What are you doing here?"

He raises the make-shift bouquet of flowers in his hands like a peace offering, onyx eyes softening vastly and mouth mouthing a silent recognition to the motion.

"You too?"

His answer is a sigh and footsteps crossing the distance between them, he likes to remember that detail particularly; that it was him who made the first move. Eyes grazing briefly over the carved letters he's facing.

"Family of yours?"

He tries a smile, seeing if he can fall back to his usual façade, but it comes as a grimace and he's far too aware.

"Yeah, the only one I had"

His fingers run against his arms by instinct, but it only makes sense that they do, because he can't seem to keep them still, not even now. He feels eyes on him, and glances to find an expression he's new to, one he doesn't know what to do with; so he deflects.

"Yours?"

There's a pause where he wonders if perhaps he should've kept to himself, risk the offense, if only so the playing field were even, but then...

"A friend"

Leo doesn't know how to respond, or he does but knows firsthand how empty the words suited for these kind of thing sound from people who know nothing about those gone too soon; instead he offers an out.

"I won't tell if you don't"

It also serves as a promise.

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If Hazel really thought about it, like, sat down and considered everything she'd seen and known; it made a lot of sense that Nico would end up seeking Leo when he needed time. It gave her a strong sense of comfort, knowing he hadn't been alone, that he'd known to keep himself around someone else; and knowing that someone was Leo, who would know to keep an eye on him, was even more so.

But it also made her reconsider Will, because what did it say about him that Nico needed time so often? And what did it say about her that, not only had she not noticed her brother's struggles, but that Nico hadn't felt safe going to her?

Nico had begun looking healthier since he started dating Will, like a glimpse to the boy he was way back when; would have Hazel even believed him? Would she have been able to help the way Leo clearly had?

Nico had changed a lot since the breakup, but not the way one would expect from such an occurrence; in fact, up to the whole pretending to have a new boyfriend stunt, he had seemed... free. As though something had been weighting him down, but he'd managed to pry it away before it could crush him; as though he was better, in a way.

That freedom was particularly noticeable now, as Hazel watched him interacting with Leo, knowing what she did; and it was easy to see the difference between the way her brother acted around Leo, and the way he had acted around Will.

It made her double guess herself, because she had thought Nico was in love with Will, or at least liked him to some extent; but the smile that stays almost stubbornly on his lips, the soft edge to his eyes, the almost laughter when Leo does something particularly Leo-ish. No one with eyes would have doubted them to be together, not with how easily they fell into each other's side.

To know Nico wasn't faking really didn't surprise her, she knew her brother very well after all; but that left Leo. Was the way he acted around Nico fake? She had a bit of a hard time believing it, but Leo had always been good at acting, sometimes too good for his own good.

Nico had asked her not to do anything, claiming he would solve it once the vacation was over, and she had agreed because she knew firsthand how their step-mom could be when it came to who they dated. She bit her lip as she watched Leo leaning back into the chair he was sitting at, laughing at something Trinidad says, noticing the way Nico is eying him with a soft look Hazel is more used to have directed at her; but then... then Trinidad says something to Nico, and she watches as Leo shifts so he can look at him without craning his neck, and when Nico does the scrunch-y nose thing he does when confused, she watches Leo tap his fingers against the side of the chair.

It's perhaps a bit of a reach, after all Leodoes tend to use the pattern pretty frequently, but Hazel has hope; she has therealization that she thinks they'd be really good for each other, and she maybewants to see it happen. She'll just have to have a conversation with herchildhood friend