S C H M I C O || A collection of short stories

4,619 Miles (part one)

Nico had known for months that he was moving to Manchester for a year to do research in another hospital. He'd known for months and yet, it still didn't seem like it was the right time to tell Levi that he'd be gone for a year.

Everyone else knew. Everyone knew and still, Levi didn't. It had been difficult to keep it from him for so long but somehow, everyone had managed to keep their mouths shut. Now, time was running out, as he'd be flying out on Monday. It was currently Friday, so he only had two days to tell Levi. He knew exactly how Levi would react. He wasn't prepared for it at all.

It was getting harder and harder by the minute to keep it all to himself. Nico knew that Levi would loathe him for not telling him, considering that in two days, he would be thousands of miles away from him. Levi never took this news well. When Nico had gone to visit his family in another state, just for a few days, Levi had flipped when he was told.

It was coming up to the end of both Nico and Levi's shifts. Only a few more patients and then Nico would have to tell Levi. He had no choice. However, that wasn't what was going to happen.

"Hey, Schmitt!" A cheery voice called for Levi, catching his attention. He turned to see Link walking over to him, a bright smile on his face. "How you doing?"

"Great," Levi replies, turning his attention back to his phone in his hand, texting a quick reply to a text Nico had sent him. "Why are you asking?"

"I just thought you'd be upset, that's all."

"Over what, exactly?" Levi raised a brow, locking his phone before crossing his arms over his chest.

"About Nico leaving."

Levi tilted his head to the side in question, brows furrowing tightly together. What on Earth was Link talking about? What was Nico leaving? Why was Nico leaving? This wasn't something he'd been made aware of. Nico hadn't told him this.

"What?" Levi scoffs, shaking his head. Link mirrored Levi's look of confusion.

"Nico is leaving on Monday, for Manchester, for a year. I thought he'd told you?" Link states, resting a hand on his hip as he watched Levi shift, his expression changing from confusion to hurt.

"No, he hadn't. This is news to me." It came as a complete and utter shock to Levi, as this was not something he'd expected to hear today. His day hadn't been too great as it was and now he was finding out that Nico was leaving, all because Link couldn't keep his mouth shut?

"Well," Link took in a deep breath, pausing for a moment. "I wasn't meant to tell you that. I suggest talking to Nico about that."

Levi let out a frustrated sigh as he stormed off, shoving his phone in his pocket as he went to find Nico. To say he was pissed was a simple understatement, as there were no words to describe how hurt he felt by Nico right now. Was there a reason why Nico hadn't told him? Did Nico just plan on running off without telling Levi?

Levi eventually found Nico, who was busy talking with Karev. Nico spotted Levi, his attention being stolen away from his current conversation, shooting him a quick smile before he excused himself away from Karev. Levi stopped in his tracks, waiting for Nico to approach him. Once Nico reached him, Levi instantly grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him off into the nearby supply closet, almost throwing Nico in. Levi followed in behind him, slamming the door shut before locking it.

The force of Levi throwing him in nearly caused Nico to slam into a shelf, which would have resulted in one hell of a mess to clear up. Nico regained his composure, turning himself to face Levi, his face fiddled with confusion as to what had just happened. It'd happened so abruptly that Nico couldn't quite recall it. One minute he was in the hallway with Levi, next he was in the supply closet with him.