Leo P.O.V

I wait patiently in the kitchen for Nico to finally wake up. I swear that kid could have slept through a nuclear apocalypse. Finally I heard the familiar drag of his bare feet on the carpet. His eyes were tired and his hair as messy as I'd ever seen.

"Happy Birthday Neeks." I said with a huge smile on my face.

He made a sound like he'd been punched in the stomach.

"I'm twenty. I have to act…responsible."

I walked over to his and enveloped him in a hug.

"Don't worry, in a year you can legally get pissed."

Nico gave me a small smile.

"Good point. So do I get a special breakfast or is that a little too out of reach with your culinary skills."

"I didn't mean to burn your eggs last time okay?"

"Yeah, but you did."

I scoffed and grabbed his hand to lead him to the kitchen. On the counter was a stack of pancakes with a candle sticking out of the top and a cup of coffee

"Happy birthday you idiot."

Nico turned around me to face him

"Thank you." Was all he said before he buried his head in my neck once again and held on tight. We stayed there for what seemed like forever until I heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Nico said before disappearing around the corner.

Nico appeared back around the corner pale and shaking followed by a boy I'd never met. He was fairly good looking, no-one could deny that and he was tall with short blond hair and shocking blue eyes. He had a small scar in the corner of his lips.

"Hey," I said smiling and offering my hand out for a hand shake "Who are you?"

The boy took my hand flashing me a smile.

"I'm Jason."

My blood went cold when I heard his name. My limbs hardened and my heart seemed to pump faster. I let go of his hand.

"What are you doing here?" I said through gritted teeth.

Jason laughed,

"I'm guessing Nico told you about me. Well, you see I am very much aware that it's his birthday so I came for a visit. How long has it been Nico, four years?"

Nico looked up at him and nodded quickly before pulling his eyes back to the ground as if he weren't worthy.

"What do you want? You haven't seen him in four years. Why now?"

"Aw well you see, I've come to take back what's mine."

"Nico is no longer yours to torment Jason. He is not a thing, he is a person."

I walked over to Nico and grabbed his hand before pulling him behind me to protect him.

"Oh I see, you have feelings for the boy."

"How I feel is none of your concern and I want you to get out of my house."

We stood there, our eyes locked in battle where neither of us dared to speak but I could still feel Nico's cold hand in mine as he shook, trying to keep tears at bay.

"So, that's the way it is." Jason said coldly.

"Yep."

Jason sighed and reached into his back pocket. His hand appeared again with a gun.

"I didn't want to do this Leo."

I pushed Nico away and ran towards his, my hand outstretched. I struggled with him, trying to deflect the gun away from me when I heard it fire.

No I thought, as I looked around to see Nico clutching his stomach his face twisted in pain and disbelief.

"Look what you've done." Jason said flatly, "He's no use to me now, enjoy your corpse."

And he left.

I ran over to Nico and caught him as he fell.

"N-Nico, I'm so sorry this is all my fault. I didn't- It wasn't."

"Shut up." He whispered, "It was his fault, don't go blaming yourself."

I ran and pulled a cushion off of the couch and pressed it to his stomach.

With shaking hands, I pulled my phone out and dialled 911.

"Hello," I croaked, "I have an emergency. My Boyfriends been shot. Come quickly."

As I told them my address, my other hand pressed against the cushion hard.

"Leo" Nico said, his voice as small and vulnerable as it had been when I met him. "Imagine if we were immortal. Imagine that if right now… we could just live forever. We could live together forever in that moment."

"That's how I already feel when I'm with you."

He laughed, although it sounded more like he was choking. He was using all of his strength to stay alive in this moment.

"I love you." I sobbed, trying to keep myself together for him.

"I love you too" Nico said equally as quiet.

"Please don't die on me."

"I wouldn't dare."

I tried to picture my life without him and it made no sense. My future seemed bleak, my eyes seemed dead and my heart too broken to carry on.

And I heard another knock on the door.

"Come in!" I shouted.

The paramedics ran to his side, cutting open his shirt to reveal the wound. One of them pulled me aside, the tears still in my eyes

"It'll be okay son, we'll patch him up."

"Yeah." I said my voice black and my heart numb.