All That is Gold - A Leico/Valdangelo fanfiction

Ch. 6 A Walk in the Woods

Nico POV

     Nico stepped into the pristine house and looked around. He then turned to Leo who was just sort of staring at him  Okay... that's not weird at all... He thought. He then attempted to break the awkward silence by saying "Wow your house is really nice."

     "Oh! Uh yeah, I suppose it... is..." Leo replied then trailed off looking flustered. "Here, come sit down," He led Nico through the front hall towards a beige couch that matched the warm interior colors.

     It was pretty obvious that Leo hadn't planned anything, but he was still trying. "Do you have any siblings? Is anyone else here?" Nico asked, trailing behind Leo.

     "Well, no one is here at the moment," he replied, "but I live with my younger cousin and my Aunt Rosa"

     Nico assumed this meant that both his parents were gone (either dead or estranged), so he decided to drop the topic altogether.

Leo POV

     Leo was failing. His lack of preparation resulted in awkward silences and weird staring. He had been lucky enough to be able to plan this while his Aunt was out of the house. For some reason, she hated the idea of Leo having friends and would do anything in her power to make sure the friends that he did have would leave him.

     Hmmm, he thought, what should I say? But, before he could think of anything, he heard the garage door open, which could only mean one thing. His Aunt was home.

    Leo didn't think twice before grabbing Nico by the wrist and pulling him out the back door. Just past his fence, there was a forest that led to an old hiking path. He just kept running with a very confused Nico being pulled behind him. He only stopped when he burst through the fall foliage and on to the slightly overgrown path.

     "What the heck was that!?" Nico yelled.

     "Sorry, " huff  "My Aunt she-" huff  "She... well, let's just say it's not a good idea for you to be in the house when she's here." Jeez! I have to work out more! Leo thought, how is Nico not even a little short of breath?

     "That sound suspicious, but okay." Nico stood tall with one hand on his hip looking down at the bent over and out of breath Leo. "I'm not mad though, it's really beautiful out here." Nico looked up for a moment admiring the trees whose leaves were slowly turning from green to brown.

     "Let's walk," said Leo after he finally regained his breath. 

     They started walking along the dusty overgrown path trying to avoid the gnarled roots popping out of the ground. They walked for a while and shared stupid stories back and forth. They had to have been walking along the twisted path for at least an hour when they sat down on a log.

     "-and then," Nico said in between giggles, "Jason threw the pudding and it dramatically sailed through the air and landed on Piper's head" They both burst out laughing clutching their stomachs with tears in their eyes. The continued on laughing for much longer than was normal. The story Nico had told about how Jason and Piper first met wasn't even that funny, but Leo felt like everything was 10 times better with Nico next to him.

     Eventually, they quieted down and just stared up at the sky. The silence wasn't awkward like back at the house, it was more comforting this time. They both knew the other was there and they were going to be there for a long time after this day. 

(really short) A/N

     Thank you so much for the comments in my last update it really helped me with writing this chapter. I think I'll try and update once a week or maybe once every two weeks until this is done. Thanks for all the support!

~Mel  ❤️