-.::.-

Nico opened the door to his assigned room, 214, with caution. He had no clue what to except, since the one letter Leo had send hadn't really been filled with information, and the only person he'd talked to in this school so far was the cleaner, and she had taken one look at the room assignments paper Nico showed her and grimaced. 'So you got Valdez, huh. Sucks to be you. The room's that way.' Nico hoped that didn't mean Leo turned out to be a serial killer or something.

The door made a soft creaking sound as Nico stepped in, the bit too warm air conditioning greeting him immediately. At least the room had air conditioning, though. The last school he'd stayed in, before he'd been kicked out, had been freezing in the winter and not much better in the summer. Hopefully he'd be in this school long enough to see the winter.

Nico glanced around the small room quickly. Two beds, pushed to the left and right sides of the room, a desk between them in the far end and two closets. The walls were painted white, but there were slices of olive green shining under at some places. There was one large window facing the door, and it was enough to light up the whole room if the lights were out. Not exactly overwhelmingly great, but Nico had expected as much. He'd been in worse places.

A boy was standing in the middle of the dorm room, hands on his pockets, grinning so widely it looked like his face might split. He'd already taken the bed on the right side, bags thrown carelessly on top of it, so Nico assumed he was staring at Leo. Except, he'd thought Leo to be a little bit different. Well, a lot different. The image of a regular, stylish posh guy in his mind changed quickly – blond hair was replaced by a curly dark brown mop, the pale skin turned light brown, the tidy school outfit became a messy button-up and jeans.

"Hey, there. I'm assuming you're my new roommate then? Di Angelo?" The boy asked, and his voice surprised Nico too. It was a lot higher than what he'd thought, and his accent was far from a British one. Latino, maybe? He'd have to ask. Nico managed a silent nod, letting the door close behind him with a small thud.

"I'm, uh, yeah. Call me Nico," he mumbled and took a few hesitant steps towards the unoccupied bed. The other boy flopped down on his own bed, somehow managing to avoid crushing his things, before extending his hand towards Nico with another smile. Nico put his bags down on the floor and slowly shook the offered hand, curling his fingers against Leo's. His hands felt strangely warm against Nico's own cold skin, and he found himself not wanting to let go just yet. Stop it. Don't even go there. But before he could dwell on the feeling any longer Leo pulled his hand away. "Name's Leo, but you probably figured that out already," he said cheerfully and Nico wasn't sure whether to find his sunshine attitude annoying or not. Not knowing what to reply, he settled for nodding again. Leo grinned. "Well, you don't talk much do you? It's alright, I probably talk enough for both of us."

Nico decided he liked Leo well enough. Hazel was always forcing him to 'open up', and 'talk about feelings', and Nico wasn't exactly gifted with words so it usually ended up in a mess and someone – most of the time Hazel – crying. Scratch that, it was always Hazel who cried. Nico hoped Leo wasn't the type to cry easily. He didn't seem like it, at least.

"You never answered my letter, you know."

Nico lifted his eyes to look at Leo, who was still smiling though it didn't look as bright anymore. Nico cleared his throat and turned to look at his shoes. "Yeah, well. I didn't really have anything to say."

"... Right. Well, I did say I'd like to talk about whatever is up with you, but I feel like I shouldn't get too much into your business. Piper says I have no boundaries, and she's kinda really right, but I'll try not to interrogate you too soon."

Nico had no idea who Piper was, but she sounded like a smart person and someone Nico could get along with. He made an effort to remember the name for later.

"It's not a big problem," Nico told him, keeping his eyes on his shoes. "I was, um, diagnosed with... depression a few years ago." Nico briefly wondered whether or not he should start lying to his roommate this early on about everything. But then again, it was better than telling everything Nico had so carefully tried to keep under wraps even from Hazel. It is a big problem. It's more than depression. I was diagnosed five years ago. I tried to stop hurting myself so many times. I failed over and over again. I'm not okay. It hurts all the time. Nico looked at Leo, expecting the usual expression of pity with a tint of disgust and wonder, and the words 'That's too bad'. (Or, in one case, 'Right, get your ass out of this room now, I don't want you hanging yourself here.')

Instead he found Leo looking at him with something resembling actual understanding. For a moment Leo looked like he knew exactly what ran through Nico's head every day, knew exactly how he felt. But then Nico blinked and the look was gone, replaced by a vague smile and expressionless eyes. "Sorry 'bout that. Don't stress it though, as long as you don't stab me in my sleep we're cool. The last guy I had to room with, man, you wouldn't believe... I'll tell you sometime."

Nico nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. Leo, it seemed, wasn't going to be a problem at all. He should write Hazel and tell her not to worry. Or call. He should probably call, Hazel was more reassured by hearing him talk than by reading his one sentence letters. Nico sat down opposite Leo, who was now staring at the roof.

"Would you be opposed to a bit of decoration, when I get all my stuff out?" He asked.

"Depends on what kind of decoration you're talking about?"

"Dunno yet. It's just, looking at those cracks on the walls is gonna get real boring really soon."

Nico agreed on that. "Sure. Do, uh, what you want."

Leo turned to look at him, smiling. "You know what, Di Angelo? I think we're gonna get along just well."

Nico surprised himself by returning the smile, his lips turning fully upwards for the first time in a while. "Yeah, I think so too."

-.::.-

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