All That is Gold - A Leico/Valdangelo fanfiction

Ch. 12

A/N Whoops I accidentally misspelled my Instagram username in the previous chapter. It's actually confusedmess_ Anyway, our school district has a snow day today so I decided to give y'all an update that is long overdue. Enjoy!

Nico POV

     Lunch was a disaster. Nico didn't want to sit anywhere near Leo, but that's where all his friends were. He knew he would either have to go eat his lunch alone in an empty classroom or find somewhere else to sit.

     He knew he shouldn't be jealous that Leo was talking to some girl, but to be fair Leo and Calypso had only met that morning. They barely even knew each other, but it seemed like Leo was ready to die for her. (a/n  I definitely am not salty about Caleo in the Heroes of Olympus series. *cough* sarcasm *cough*  Calypso was just sort of an underdeveloped character in my opinion. I feel like I would like her more if there was more storyline involving her. I know there is more of her in Trials of Apollo, but I haven't read it yet)

     Nico stood there and scanned the lunchroom until he spotted a head of golden hair moving about in the crowd. He walked over to the table where Will was sitting.

     "Hey," he said walking up to the cute blond boy.

     "Oh, hey Nico!" Will replied. He flashed a blinding smile, Nico. "Would you like to sit with us?" Will moved over to create a space for him. He then introduced Nico to the small group of people sitting at the table. Nico recognized Travis, Connor, and Reyna form science class and Lou Ellen – who told him to call her Lou – from math.

     Halfway through the lunch period, he decided that these people were actually pretty cool. Maybe lunch wasn't the disaster that he thought it would be.

Everything was going very well until Nico realized that he had to actually talk to Leo in woodshop. They were working on a project together so there was no way to avoid him this time. Well, who knows? Nico thought we might be able to talk and figure out what's wrong and we could be friends again. Nico knew that was wishful thinking, but he really wanted that to happen. He really didn't want to lose Leo.

~magical time skip~

      Nico walked into the shop drained from the test that he had the previous hour in AP World. Leo was talking to Quintus, their teacher, but it didn't look like the conversation was going well. Quintus was shaking his head. Nico watched the conversation curiously but was unable to hear what they were saying. The warning bell rang and Leo walked back to their table with a dejected look on his face. He glanced at Nico but quickly turned his attention to the window when he saw Nico was staring right back at him.

     Finally, Leo broke the silence, "I asked Quintus if we could switch partners, but he said no. I'm sorry you have to be stuck working with me. I know you can't stand me," he glared sharply at Nico. "Just try not to let me get in the way," Leo turned away and started fidgeting with the project.

     Nico just stared at him for a second. A look of utter confusion was plastered on his face.

     "What?" Nico was so confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" he whispered harshly "If–" he paused, his confusion shifted into anger. "If you don't want to work with me you could have just said it to my face," he paused while attempting to remain calm. "Where did you even get the idea that I didn't want to be wi– I mean work with you?" Nico huffed, blowing a piece of fringe out of his face.

     Leo looked at Nico. His expression shifted from frustration to confusion.

     "I want to work with you" Nico aid, but then reconsidered. "No, scratch that I wanted to work with you," he continued, "but if you're going to act all moody without even telling me why we are going to have a problem!"

     "Wait... you do want to work with me?" Leo asked slowly. " You've been avoiding me all day. I thought you were mad because I stormed off last night, but that clearly is not it." His brow furrowed as he searched Nico's face for an answer. " So why are you avoiding me?"

     Nico's pulse quickened as Leo's question registered in his brain. He knew the answer: jealousy, but there was no way in hell that Nico would admit that.

     "None of your damn business," Nico finally replied in a quiet voice. He knew there was no way he could tell Leo why he was avoiding him. That would mean admitting that he liked him.

     "Actually, it is my damn business. You're avoiding me; I deserve to know why."

     "Fine. I'll tell you." Nico took a deep breath he was never good at lying about things like this. Then maybe you should tell him the truth, a voice in the back of his head chimed in. He thought for a moment... maybe that's not such a bad idea.

     Nico took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. 

     "The truth is, I'm worried about you. I'm worried about us. You said your dad was moving you to California and I don't know if I can deal with that. You're one of the first real friends that I've had in a while and I–" his voice got even quieter. He coughed to keep it from breaking. "I don't want to lose you."

     "Oh" Leo looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so mad at you. I guess... I guess I don't want to lose you either." The two boys looked at each other until Leo cleared his throat and redirected his gaze to their project.

     "Um, should we get back to the project."

     "Oh... yeah, that's probably a good idea," Nico replied.

     About half an hour later the bell rang and they were dismissed.

     "So... I'll text you?" Nico said sheepishly.

     "Yeah that sounds good," Leo replied with a small smile and they went their separate ways.

A/N Yay another chapter! I really just want winter to be over. I hate the snow and the cold and the lack of sunlight. Also don't be afraid to PM me if y'all have any thoughts or requests or if you just want to talk. I'm totally open to requests/prompts/suggestions. I'm kinda lonely so I'll talk to you if you message me. Anyway, look out for another chapter sometime in the next month!

~Mel❤️