A/N: Written for xBungeeGumx
Synopsis: Leorio and Killua are in a happy relationship until Killua runs off with Neferpitou. Leorio, broken-hearted, has a hot one-night stand with Zushi and a brief, unhappy affair with Chrollo, then follows the wise advice of Kumogi and finds true love with Illumi.
Downing yet another drink in his effort to drown his unhappy memories, Leorio slammed his fifth empty glass down onto the bar counter. But no matter how many glasses he downed, how much he drank, or how fast he chugged the bitter beer, Leorio could not get his thoughts to leave him alone.
Killua… His Killua… had disappeared from his life in one of the cruelest ways Leorio could have ever thought of…
Keys and change scattered onto the kitchen table as Leorio placed his briefcase on the floor. There was no telltale sound that Killua was home, which was unusual. Leorio always came home to find the sixteen year old playing his video games, at least when he wasn't busy with club activities twice a week.
But Killua didn't have club activities on Wednesday, and Leorio's college courses ended early on Wednesday, so today was always the day the two of them spent time together.
It had been that way for almost a year and a half now. So why was today suddenly so different?
With a twisted feeling in his gut, Leorio made his way into the kitchen. And there… on the fridge… was a note… written in the familiar scrawl of Killua's handwriting.
Snatching it up desperately, Leorio collapsed to his knees as he read it:
Sorry Leorio,
I won't be back.
Pitou and I have been seeing each other for a while now,
And he's convinced me to go with him.
I won't say where.
I've already taken my things.
You won't hear from me again.
-Killua
"Barkeep, give me another." Leorio drawled as he down his sixth glass in under an hour.
"Maybe you should slow down…" The voice of a younger man reached Leorio's ear, but the concern translated into scorn in the drunk's mind. Spinning to face the black haired, barely legal to drink, teen, Leorio pointed his finger at him. He was swaying on his feet and his vision was beginning to double.
"What'sit to ya! I kiz drink alls I wanna!" Leorio swayed dangerously on his feet, grabbing heavily onto the bar counter to keep him upright. When he felt his head continue spinning, Leorio used the barstool to slide to the floor. His legs curled and his head was between his knees. Tears came unbidden and Leorio was just sick of trying to hold them back.
"You okay man?" The same concerned voice was closer now.
"F'ic off." Leorio mumbled.
"I think you need a hand." Standing, the younger man requested a glass of water from the bartender. He managed to get Leorio to drink a few sips before he completely passed out, tears still flowing from the corners of his eyes.
Getting to his feet once more, Zushi was cornered. He couldn't just leave a man in such obvious need of help to himself. But… could he take the risk of taking him home?
Raising his eyes to the familiar face of the old bartender, Zushi figured there was one way to figure out.
"Yo, Netero!" Netero inclined his head to listen as he wiped clean the glasses Leorio had downed, "How well do you know this guy?" Zushi motioned to the still curled Leorio, who was snoring gently against the bar stool he had previously been sitting in, "I don't wanna leave him here, but I ain't gonna risk my neck for him either."
Netero leaned over the counter to look at the drunken Leorio, chuckling to himself.
"Don't worry about him Zushi-kun. He's a good guy and, to be honest, this is the first time I've seen Leorio-kun drink like this. Hohohoho. I'm sure you'll have no problems from him though, he seems to be down for the count tonight."
"Thanks Netero, I'll take your word for it." Reaching down, Zushi slung Leorio's limp arm around his shoulders and hoisted him up. "Oof… he's nothing but dead weight. Heavy dead weight."
Netero chuckled, waving good bye to two of his youngest customers.
Clicking on the light in the front hallway of Zushi's tiny apartment, he sighed and dragged the still out of it Leorio completely in. It was hard work getting the taller man into the bathroom, but somehow Zushi seemed to manage.
Stepping back and wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zushi frowned.
"Ah, hell. I'm gonna have to get you out of those clothes. Please don't puke on me dude." Rolling up his sleeves, Zushi began to unbutton Leorio's white shirt.
Without warning, Leorio seemed to come to and pulled Zushi into the tub with him. Cupping the back of the younger man's head, Leorio gave him a scorching kiss. Using the invitation of Zushi's open mouth, Leorio's tongue went into Zushi's and his tongue mingled with the other man's.
With a sputter and a forceful shove, Zushi pushed away from the drunken man. However, he was still in a bind, as he was now straddling the other's hips. With a crimson blush on his face, Zushi couldn't ignore the feeling of the other's arousal.
Great, he thought, Netero is going to owe me a few drinks for not warning me of this.
"Hey." Zushi lightly slapped Leorio's cheeks, getting the other man to open his eyes once more. "Leorio? Can you hear me?"
"Killua…"
That name caused Zushi to frown. He wasn't sure what it meant, or who it referred to, but if he had to guess, whoever he was, he was the reason for Leorio's drinking tonight.
"Oi, Leorio!" When there wasn't an obvious response, Zushi pulled the shower head down and soaked the poor older man in frigid water.
"What the hell punk?!" Leorio gasped, rocketing into an upright sitting position and glaring at Zushi, who was still straddling his waist in the narrow tub. Unfortunately for the both of them, the sudden movement caused Leorio's stomach to roll and, with little warning, the night's indulgence came back up.
"That's just… Ew!" Zushi climbed out of the tub and looked down at his now vomit colored t-shirt. "Old man, learn to hold your drink."
"Sorry…" Leorio mumbled, disgusted with himself. His shirt was also covered in the foul liquid. Grimacing, Leorio pulled the once white shirt over his head, not bothering with the buttons.
Zushi too had pulled his shirt off, tossing it directly into the wastebasket. He turned back to help Leorio, only to stop at the sight of the older man.
Leorio's body was more defined than what Zushi had given him credit for, his stomach was hard and his chest was broader too. This was a man who knew how to fight…
However, it wasn't just Zushi who was appreciating the sight. Leorio was looking the younger man over too. Though not as tall as Killua, his body build was similar. Leorio was having trouble, feeling himself harden as he looked at the shirtless boy. He should hate the white haired boy who had carelessly walked out of his life, but Leorio wasn't the type of person to hold a grudge.
If Killua left… than it was Leorio's fault for not being there to stop him.
"Take a shower and sober up a bit." Zushi left, closing the door behind him so Leorio was left alone in the bathroom.
Sighing, Leorio slowly clamored to his feet and fully stripped.
Rummaging through the sparsely filled fridge, Zushi was struggling to find anything that could be deemed 'edible'.
"Ah man, I'll just go to the corner store." Zushi took a quick glance at his watch, "I should be able to make it back before he gets out."
Pulling on his shoes, Zushi looked back at the bathroom door. Though the corner store wasn't all that far, he was still debating whether it was a good idea to leave an unknown, and still partially drunk, man in his home.
Netero did say he was a good guy…
Zushi sighed, knowing he would just have to chance it. He walked out into the brisk summer night air, stuffing his hands into the pockets of the sweater he had grabbed on the way out.
Leorio turned off the shower and toweled himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and moved as fast as he dared out to the hallway.
"Um, excuse me?" Leorio called, holding the towel so it wouldn't fall. There wasn't a response from anywhere in the apartment. Taking a chance, Leorio walked out and discovered the living room. It was in complete disarray; the couch was covered in dirty clothes, the floor littered with books and a few take out containers here and there. Leorio shuddered away from the mess and continued on his search until he found the kitchen. "Hello?"
This room too was empty, but thankfully spotless.
Not staying long, Leorio moved through the apartment in search of the boy who had taken him here. He had made it to the bedroom before his head started swimming again. With one hand on his head to stave off the dizziness, Leorio leaned his weight against the doorframe.
"Ugh…" Leorio groaned as the thought of hurling again came to mind. He closed his eyes and hoped the feeling would swiftly pass.
Zushi had carried the plastic bag into the kitchen before he realized the shower was no longer running. He looked at the bathroom door to discover it was not only opened, but empty.
Not good.
Rushing about the apartment, Zushi was looking to see if anything had been stolen. With a mixture of relief he discovered the passed out Leorio in the doorway of his bedroom. Gulping, Zushi couldn't help but stare at the only covering Leorio had; the small towel around his waist.
"Ah, hell." Zushi muttered as he slowly approached the drunk man. "Are you awake?"
No response. Glancing between the man and the bed, Zushi made up his mind.
Not like there's room on the couch… and I can't have you sleeping in my tub, even if you are (probably) going to puke again…
With a heavy sigh, and a bit of reluctance on his part, Zushi once more threw Leorio's arm across his shoulders and helped the dead weight to his feet. He had only walked half the distance when Leorio roused once more.
"Killua…"
"I ain't this Killua brat ya drunk." Zushi bit out, growing irritated the more he mentioned another male's name.
Leorio stumbled, his long legs tangling with Zushi's shorter ones, and the two tumbled heavily onto the bed. Pinning down the younger male, Leorio hovered above his face, squinting as though he was hoping to see Killua in his place.
Zushi's eyes travelled across Leorio's features, not taking long before they roved farther down and over his chest. With a deep blush, Zushi brought his gaze up and focused on something above Leorio's right shoulder.
"Your, um… towel, is…" Zushi mumbled, squirming as Leorio's hips pressed against his own.
Without seeming to notice, Leorio lowered himself to feel Zushi's body and forced his lips against the younger boy's again.
Leorio kissed Zushi, only breaking it when the two were dizzy from oxygen deprivation. By then, Zushi had been swept up into Leorio's pace and was the first to start the next round of kissing.
Leorio was already fully unclothed, and it did not take the two long to reduce Zushi to the same state…
The next morning Leorio awoke groggy and hung over, feeling more depressed than he had the night before. Beside him, still sleeping soundly on his stomach, was Zushi. Too embarrassed to face him (for Leorio wasn't used to sleeping with someone he had just met anymore) Leorio slowly made his way out of bed.
Standing in the unfamiliar room, Leorio had to pause. He was at a loss… for where had his clothes gone? He remembered puking on his shirt, and Zushi's, and taking a shower... but everything after that was a hazy blur.
Best to start with the bathroom then…
Sometime later, Zushi awoke, completely naked, to discover Leorio was gone. His half of the bed was cold, so he had been gone for some time.
Zushi climbed from the bed and dressed only in the same pants he had been wearing last night before… His face flamed in embarrassment as he remembered what all they had done. It was so unlike Zushi for that to happen.
"Ah hell…" He muttered darkly, trying to get his thoughts onto another, safer, topic. Walking all throughout his apartment, Zushi found no sign of Leorio.
Meanwhile…
Leorio leaned against the window of Chrollo's car, watching the city whiz by him. He had called the man shortly after finding his pants on the floor of the bathroom. He didn't know how, but the mobile had avoided not only the drenching from Zushi, but also the vomiting episode that had followed.
"So…" Chrollo started, keeping his eyes locked on the road as Leorio shifted his gaze to his older friend, "do you want to explain exactly why I had to come pick you up this morning?"
"I had too much to drink last night, and he took me home." Leorio mumbled into his hand, avoiding the look Chrollo sent him. If it wasn't odd enough that Leorio had actually been out drinking on a Wednesday (Chrollo knew for a fact Leorio never drank during the week) than it was certainly odd that he had over indulged enough to allow a complete stranger to lead him from the bar.
Since Leorio and Killua had begun their relationship, Leorio's habit of having one night stands had stopped. Chrollo was actually happy for that part, since he seemed to be the only one Leorio ever called when he needed to be picked up from who-knows-where.
"Care to share why you were drinking on a Wednesday night?" Chrollo asked after a few minutes of heavy silence. Whatever the answer was, it was going to be bad.
"Killua's… left me."
Though the news was shocking, Chrollo could not help the blossoming of hope in his chest. Now that that brat was gone Chrollo could finally tell Leorio without feeling like a possessive ass. However, now was not the time for him to confess his deep seated emotions to his friend.
"Leorio, I'm sorry." God that sounded so fake…
"I should have seen it coming… It's all my fault."
"It's not. Leorio you can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong."
"But… if I wasn't so busy studying to become a doctor, I wouldn't have neglected him. And if I hadn't neglected him, he wouldn't have left."
With a tick beginning to form in his left eye, Chrollo pulled the car over and discovered that they were actually parked in front of his house.
"You didn't neglect Killua." Chrollo stated with absolute certainty. That brat got more of your attention than I ever did…
"Then why would he leave me for somebody else Chrollo? If it wasn't neglect on my part, then tell me what I did wrong."
"Maybe it was the brat's fault. I don't know. But you haven't neglected him, so don't beat yourself up over it."
Leorio's anger peaked and he rounded on his friend.
"Tell me how I should be feeling then! I don't think you've ever gone through what I am going through, so don't sit there and act all high and mighty like you know everything that is going on."
"Well why shouldn't I? I may not know the whole story, but neither do you. And I'm only saying what I'm saying because I've known you for a long time. You never neglect those who are important to you. You make time for everybody and always put yourself and your needs after everybody else's."
"You're just saying this because you've never liked Killua. I bet you're happy that he's left me, so you will never have to see him again."
"You're right. I'm thrilled he's gone and left you as a complete mess. If I had to choose you being with him and happy, or how you are right now without him, I would kick his ass back here so fast you would never even have had time to miss him."
Leorio blinked.
"You… would actually do that? For me?"
"You're damn right I would. Nothing's more important to me than your happiness. Even if that means dragging that cheeky brat back here by his ankles and chaining him to the bed in your house so he could never again leave you."
By now the two were turned towards each other in the small confines of Chrollo's car, breathing heavily and red faced. It had been a long time since they had had a fight like this, not since Leorio had first started dating Killua. Even back then, Chrollo had warned the younger man that this relationship could only end in pain for him.
In a small voice, baffled beyond anything he had felt before, Leorio felt the need to question, "Why?"
"Because I like you Leorio. As a friend and as something more than a friend."
Leorio's hand raised itself up and caressed Chrollo's cheek. Unsure why, he leaned his body in and allowed his lips to crush against his long time friend's.
Completely taken aback, Chrollo froze until he felt Leorio's tongue run along his bottom lip…
Over the next several months, Leorio and Chrollo try their hand at a relationship. Leorio moved into Chrollo's house, and at first things looked fine. Leorio was still thinking about Killua, but Chrollo was trying hard to help the younger man forget. The two often went out for drinks on the weekend, and when Chrollo couldn't make it because of his job, Leorio drank more.
Soon, it became obsessive for him to drink. No longer just the weekends… Leorio visited the bar he had met Zushi in many times, and Netero always served him an average of four beers. This soon became daily, and Netero was beginning to worry about Leorio. Chrollo was also worried about his friend's downward spiral.
Just when Chrollo was sure he would actually have to make good on his promise to drag Killua back by his ankles…
"Ne, Netero-san?" The recently hired waitress called to her boss. She was leaning over the counter, setting down empty glasses for Netero to wash later, when the older man looked up.
"Yes Komugi?"
"Are you sure it's okay to keep serving him?" By him, Komugi pointed over her shoulder at the chugging Leorio. Not having been here long, Komugi was unaware of everything that had happened to the man, and assumed that he was drinking just to get wasted and wallow in some shallow self-loathing.
"Ah, Leorio-kun…" Netero's eyes darkened with sadness as he looked at his once happy and energetic customer. With a sigh, Netero decided to fill Komugi in on the situation.
"Seriously?!" She shrieked, "He's drinking because a whimsical little brat who can't even come in here ditched him?"
Netero nodded. Komugi sure was a spunky girl; it was hard to imagine her as the sniveling girl who cried over everything as a child.
Slapping her hand against the wood of the bar, Komugi turned on her heel and stormed over to Leorio's table. It was a good thing it was near closing time and it was empty of other patrons, if anyone else had witnessed this Netero would have either lost a lot of business or be forced to fire Komugi.
"Oi! Leorio!" Komugi shouted, slapping her hand down on the table inches from his slumped face. He jumped back so far his chair tumble over and the dazed man had no choice but to look straight up into Komugi's enraged features. "You're drinking over a brat who ditched you months ago? And he didn't even have the courage to tell you in person?A guy like that isn't worth drinking over, let alone drinking yourself into a hole. Find a new guy and move on. There's plenty of them out there."
"What would you know?" Leorio mumbled, slowly climbing to his feet and righting the chair just so he could collapse back onto it again.
"I know that a difficult break up is hard to deal with, and even harder when it blind sides you. I also know that until you get a good kick in the ass you'll do nothing but go over every possible thing you could have done wrong and what you might have done differently to change it. News flash, nothing would have changed. He still would'a ditched you in the same manner, it would have just been so much deeper into the relationship and you would have been even more hurt. Take it as a blessing that the relationship hadn't lasted overly long."
Netero blinked, as did Leorio.
"Keep up this kinda attitude, god forbid, the day comes he comes crawling back, you'll just say yes, go on your happy way, and spiral even further down when he pulls the same stunt again and again."
Leorio's jaw worked, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Finally, he just nodded. With a smile, Komugi turned around and started cleaning another table.
Soon afterwards, Leorio and Chrollo both agreed that they should no longer be in a relationship. It was hurting them both, though they could still return to being friends (on the condition Leorio stopped calling Chrollo in the unreasonably early hours of the morning).
Leorio returned to the bar still on a daily bases, but only to order sodas and coffees, he was finally done drinking.
Komugi was happy to serve him anytime, and it wasn't long before they were actual friends. In fact, it was Komugi who introduced Leorio to Illumi, a college friend of hers that had been visiting.
Much to everyone's surprise, the two actually hit it off fairly fast. It wasn't long before the two were inseparable. They couldn't always see each other, but they talked to each other every day. Komugi was happy, though she took every opportunity to tease the long haired man about his increased visits.