"This is so boring," Leo mumbled. "We've been reviewing for forever now."

Nico's bed was overrun with books, papers, and various writing utensils. Leo sat on the right side, a worksheet firmly clamped to a clipboard. Nico sat on the right, nursing a headache and a book. "I know, Leo."

"Can't we have a break?" he moaned, running his pencil along his textbook.

Nico flipped through his own book. "Not until you finish the review packet."

"Lame."

"Do you wanna fail World History?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"I'd be in the same grade as you. Then I could just cheat off of you!" Leo beamed.

"It's already pathetic enough that you're being tutored by a sophomore," Nico snorted. "Do you want to graduate late as well?"

Leo grabbed his chest in mock pain. "Nico! Did you really have to come for me like that?"

Nico elbowed him. "Oh, go do your work." Leo mumbled something about how he was 'almost done anyway' and shot his eyes back to his paper.

Something about the way they were studying made it hard for Leo to focus. Maybe it was because Nico's bed was so comfortable it made him sleepy, or it was the way Nico's cold arms were digging into his sides, but Leo just couldn't seem to remember any of the important dates he was supposed to.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this," Leo groaned, tossing his pencil down. Nico straightened his back and turned to face Leo. "I need a break."

Nico checked the time on his alarm clock and slowly nodded. "We have been working for a while now. It won't hurt us."

There it was again. That 'us'. Leo grinned before taking a second and toning his smile down a notch. Only weirdos got overly excited over shit like that.

"I have snacks." Leo leaned across Nico's torso and grabbed his bag from the ground, zipping it open and fishing through the contents. He pulled out a bag of Hot Cheetos and some sour candy from work. "Here ya' go."

Nico took the sour candy. "I've kinda been having bad dreams lately," he said after a moment of silence. Nico wasn't one to open up easily, so Leo took this seriously.

"I'm no stranger to those," Leo sympathised. "About what?"

"Bianca. My sister, if you remember." Leo slowly nodded in recognition. "It's not that bad, I just don't like reminders of her that much since it hurts. She died around this time of year, and..." Nico pulled his knees to his chest and let his voice trail off.

"Hey," Leo said softly. "I get what you mean." He carefully set a hand on Nico's knee.

"I still blame myself. For her death."

Leo vehemently shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Nico." The kid had a lot of internalized self-hatred - Leo would know, he had the same problem.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you, Nico," Leo said. "I know you like to be stupid and blame yourself for shit out of your control." He traced his thumb against Nico's kneecap, making little swirls against clothed skin.

Nico's chest tightened. He continued to speak after a second, lowering his knees to shake off Leo's hand. "You're one to talk."

Leo winced. Nico had a habit of leaving him speechless in as little words as possible. "I… yeah," he admitted, tongue clumsy in his mouth as he spoke.

The side of Nico's mouth quirked up a little. He reached out a cold hand and interlocked his hand with Leo's. Leo looked up in surprise and mirrored Nico's almost-smile. "We can stop doing that together, then."

The way Nico stared up at him with dark eyes and a little smile made Leo's mouth go dry. The moment made him feel vulnerable. He felt smaller as he sat beside Nico. "Can I tell you how my mother died?" Leo's voice was hushed to a whisper. He was afraid his voice would crack if he made it any louder.

"If you're comfortable with that." Good old Nico, with his simple words and his cold fingers.

Leo used his free hand to muss up his hair anxiously. This was a story he didn't like to recall, a story he had kept tucked away in the deepest labyrinth of his brain, one he had only ever spoken about to Piper and Jason once- and even then, Leo was too much of a coward to give details.

The way Nico's hand wrapped around his made Leo a little bit braver.

"So, my mom was a mechanic."

He began to explain the story from the very start, explaining who Tia Callieda was and what his life was like growing up. Leo struggled to keep his voice as neutral as possible as he talked, as he retold his most painful memories. Nico was a good listener, nodding encouragingly and staying silent.

He didn't even need to stop to think about his words. Leo knew the story inside-out. Maybe he didn't repeat it aloud often, but it was ingrained in his memory, replayed on the worst of days and duplicated in the dreams that plagued his being.

His grip on Nico tightened as he continued. Occasionally, Nico would squeeze his hand. Leo found it comforting.

Leo found his voice growing tighter and tighter. He kept speaking regardless of the way his stomach churned uncomfortably.

"I was eight when she died." This was the worst part of the story, the bit that kept him tossing and turning in the night, the one that hurt the most to remember. "We were - we were working in the shop, like normal. Nobody else was there except for Callieda."

Nico tried to smile encouragingly. Leo appreciated the sentiment and smiled back, weakly.

"There were a lot of candles around. We weren't allowed to use the electric lights when staying late. I don't remember why Callieda was there," he sighed. A lot of the finer details had been lost in his brain's attempt to lose the memory. "It was a blur. I remembered the lock of a door. The toppling of a candle. A growing fire. Smoke."

Leo shivered a bit, his face set in a grimace. He kept talking regardless- he needed to finish. "I made it. My mom didn't."

Nico was quick to bring Leo into a hug. All previous bits of physical contact they had was preceded by reluctance. But in the moment, all hesitation was lost.

Leo wrapped his arms around Nico, hooking his chin on his shoulder and clutching tightly to his friend, letting out a strangled sob. Nico rubbed circles onto Leo's back. "Thank you for telling me, Leo."

Leo inhaled sharply, breathing in Nico's scent, feeling his heart rate slow in the moment. A weight was lifted off his shoulders: the information that had burdened him for years was released. Leo closed his eyes, enjoying the comfort of Nico's arms and allowing his body to relax, his shoulders dropping and his breathing slowing.

"Thank you for listening," he said, like he had finished delivering a speech or something. Leo didn't dwell on his stupid word choice though, and luckily, Nico hadn't made a snide remark on that.

Eventually, they broke away from each other, sharing soft smiles. "I guess we should get back to work now?" Nico said, picking up his pencil. His ears were pink. Leo nodded, mirroring Nico and leaning back on the bed.

...

The last day of school before winter break was always hectic.

Teachers gave easy assignments and breathed collective sighs of relief over the break they were getting. Students gave out Christmas presents and made plans for parties. Leo was honestly just glad midterms had finished a week ago. Results would be in sometime before the end of Winter Break, something that made Leo nervous as hell.

"Sooooo glad school is over," Piper lamented, jumping and touching one of the overhead beams as she walked. Students were squeezed together in the halls, packed from end to end like sardines. Nico muttered an apology as his foot grazed the edge of someone else's shoe.

Leo grunted, his hand clasped around the handle on Nico's backpack. Nico's stature made him pretty noticeable among the crowd, allowing a direct path to form from behind him. "Yup. I hope there's not a crowd at Blockbuster." They were still on shift. A solid ten minutes of groveling at Sarah's feet meant nothing, apparently. Their attempts to get time off fell on deaf ears.

Jason frowned, stopping in his path. A senior slammed into his backpack. She scowled and flipped him off, something Jason paid no regard to. Piper raised an eyebrow and tugged on his hand. "What's wrong, Jace?"

"Student council meeting."

Leo groaned. "Whatever. Go to your stupid meeting." He waved to Jason half heartedly and kept following Nico, who hadn't slowed his walking pace any. Piper shrugged and kissed Jason's cheek, trailing the two other boys before she was left behind.

Jason watched them walk away. He could feel a wave of complete despair wash over him. It wasn't that deep, no, Jason could admit that.

But it was still a tether to his old life, a reminder that to most, he was just a pawn. Jason didn't want to do it, no matter how insignificant the student council was or wasn't. No matter what, though, he found himself attending the meetings anyway.

…

Seasonal depression didn't really hit Leo that year.

Usually, when the seasons shifted and Leo was rooted in place and everyone else was moving and the weather was cold and sharp and unforgiving, he was unmotivated and sorrowful.

Leo wasn't alone that year, though. And he had things to do. Like, make christmas presents and...Work.

Working during the holiday season was quite possibly the Worst Thing Ever. Leo showed up to work every day with a blue sweatshirt over his polo and a frown etched on his face.

Unfortunately though, Sarah liked to play fun Christmas songs (which was almost nice until Nico and Leo realized there were only twelve songs on the CD she was playing, and one could only listen to The Twelve Days of Christmas so many times before getting sick of it). Neither of them were devout Christians, either, so it made listening to the particularly religious nuts who criticized their decor particularly unbearable.

"Jesus is the reason for the season," a middle-aged man said. "Not all this - this bullshit." He seemed rather offended by the little reindeer figurine on the counter by Nico's area.

"Sir, please just take your copy of The Haunting, there's a line behind you." Nico was polite and firm.

"Great job, coworker!" Leo praised.

"Oh my god."

"Using the Lord's name in vain, are we?"

The middle-aged man ended up presenting Leo with a firm twenty-dollar bill and a hearty pat on the back and Nico had given Leo a healthy glare after that.

But the majority of their days were spent at work, since Winter Break meant 'take advantage of your dumb high school employees'.

A part of Leo loved spending the time with Nico, though. The ends of their shifts spent closing the store felt the most magical.

"It's snowing."

Leo arched an eyebrow. "I can see that." He balanced his chin on his mop, carrying a gaze towards Nico. His eyes were glossy and wide, a copy-pasted picture of child-like wonder. Leo wondered if he got to look like this as a kid much. The store was closed and quiet, with only the hum of the heater and the sounds of their voices.

Nico approached the big windows at the front of the store, with the same gleam in his eyes. His breath fogged the glass. Leo watched him glance through the glass, flicks of white fluttering through the air and settling on freshly-made hills. Leo sighed. "Let's go outside."

The look on Nico's face made Leo's extra-long unpaid overtime worth it.

…

"I'm too Texan for snow!"

"Pussy."

"What did you just - Ow!" Leo flinched. Nico had beaned him square in the side of the head. His ear felt like it was going to snap off from the cold. Leo glared back and plucked up a sloppy handful of snow, flinging it towards Nico. The precipitate flickered off his front comically. Nico grinned toothily and scooped up a handful, artfully crafting a snowball in his palms.

Leo curled his lip and began to do the same, pulling the sleeves of his sweater over his hands and spinning the snow around. His technique was half as efficient as Nico's, and the wasted time left him with an avalanche of snow on his hair. "Boo."

Leo nearly dropped his snowball in surprise, shivers dancing down his spine as Nico's laugh reverberated into his ear. Immediately, he pivoted in place and grabbed Nico by the wrist, holding him firmly in his grasp and clutching onto the snowball in his left hand, the snow melting into the sleeves of his sweater. "What are you doing?" Nico asked, yanking his arm fruitlessly.

"Boo," Leo whispered back, smashing the snow into Nico's face and laughing, right in his bubble. Nico was illuminated under the streetlamp, bits of winter clinging to pink cheeks.

The small fleck of gold in Nico's right eye caught Leo off-guard, and Nico used the opportunity to escape his grasp and fling him into the snowbank below. Leo blinked. "Oof!" He winced, rubbing the side of his back long enough for Nico to run off into the distance. Something about Nico looked more confident: he wasn't blending into the shadows, he was a star amongst the dark, a picture of the night fluttering off the sky and being personified as Nico di Angelo.

"Catch you later, Valdez!" He called out from across the parking lot. Valdez. Leo's heart leapt as he sprung up, the wind rushing against his cheeks and freezing his body but his chest was on fire, ignited in the heat of the moment. Spindly legs sped through the snow, footprints ghosting his path. Nico stuck his tongue out and continued to run, tripping over his own feet and nearly falling but catching himself with that same weird, subconscious grace he always possessed.

Nico weaved around the parking lot, darting through the darkness and hopping over rocks and living, running relentlessly in this impromptu game of chase. "I thought you'd be better at this," Nico called out, catching his breath.

"You had a headstart, unfair," Leo yelled back, a faint figure. "I can see you, hey!" Nico could make out his silhouette, waving his arms maniacally and hopping up and down.

"Hey," Nico replied, and then he was skittering off because this was his game and Leo was merely playing in it. His feet moved rhythmically, slosh seeping through the canvas of his converse as he ran faster than he had ever run before.. The rush of the wind filled his ears. He looked to the side. Right by the Toyota. Adrenaline couldn't last forever, and Nico's legs were beginning to ache. He'd be fine, Leo wasn't even in sight -

"Boo!" A muffled shout, a hand around his ankle, the sensation of falling and hitting snow, and the taste of.

Defeat.

Leo cackled, slowly inching himself from under Nico's Toyota Corolla. "Gotchu good, didn't I?" He leaned against the car suavely.

"How did you fit under there?" Nico asked, breathless and staring up at Leo in amazement.

Leo gave a finger gun. "Practically grew up under there, chico."

"My dad bought me this car last year, and it was made in '96." Leo snickered, nudging Nico with the point of his toe.

"Just an expression." Leo smiled, a charming gleam of white free of malice, and extended a hand to Nico.

Nico feigned an appreciative smile and took his hand before grinning evilly and pulling Leo down with him. "Ah!" Leo seemed just as caught off guard as expected, landing on top of Nico and knocking the air out of him, his laugh reverberating against Nico's body. His mere presence warmed him, even though it was thirty degrees out and both of them should have been cold by all accounts.

"I taught you well, man," Leo mumbled against Nico's ear, resting his chin in the crook of Nico's shoulder and grazing his breath against his neck.

The position was strange and the way Leo was breathlessly speaking was even weirder, but Nico did not protest and instead opted to wrap his arms around Leo's torso. His breath was short, and he could feel Leo's chest expand and deflate, a steady beat.

They stayed there, silent and warm and snowed-on for longer than they probably should have. Leo should have shot up and laughed and anyway it was cold out, staying nestled there was stupid and dumb and also there was also a mild scent of cinnamon lingering on Leo that he had never smelled before.

After what was probably a couple minutes but felt like eternity, Nico's grip loosened and Leo sighed against Nico's goosebumped skin and sat up, holding his position of being sat on Nico's thighs for a singular excruciating second and stood up, brushing the snow off of his front and smiling down at the person he had just been pressed against. "We should go home. You're looking blue."

…

Winter break came and went.

Their Christmas extravaganza was held at Piper's house, in her hillside mansion. Tristan McLean forgoed his usual partying tradition and, to the chagrin of Piper, was spending ages planning a Christmas party for them.

"I mean, how lame is my dad?" Piper scoffed, perched on the counter of the Blockbuster. She kicked her roller-skate-clad feet against the sides of the counter, content to listen to the little noises it made. Leo winced with every single thud!, knowing how long it would take for him to clean her heel marks. "I told him he was allowed to go get drunk with whatever A-Lister he decided to be interested in, and this man said no!"

Nico hummed and spun in his chair, shaggy black hair clouding his eyes. He was sick of the holidays. Jason, ever optimistic, shrugged. "I mean, it's kind of nice, right?"

"Yeah, and I finally get to meet Tristan McLean!" Leo exclaimed, scanning up a customers DVD. "Well, I met him freshman year, but I -"

"You fainted. Yeah, I was there," Piper grumbled. "You knocked over my Coke!" The woman Leo was serving looked scandalized.

"I did, didn't I?" he replied airly, returning the DVD and smirking. "So, when is his Christmas party?"

Piper smacked her forehead. "When do you think?"

Leo's brain appeared to be malfunctioning, so Jason changed the subject.

The party was decent. Tristan McLean was nice, if distracted. Leo regaled a tale to Piper's father about how he snuck into the theatre forty times in order to rewatch the segment during Simple Words in which Tristan was shirtless. Nico went to the bathroom halfway through and got lost in Piper's mansion for half an hour. Jason told Piper he had spiked the punch and she feigned drunkenness before he admitted it was a lie. Drew even came over and dropped off flip phones for everyone.

"Drew…" Leo mumbled. "You really… you don't have to -"

"Don't worry, loser," Drew said, flipping her hair and smiling. "My mom knows a guy."

Nico grinned brightly when he unwrapped Leo's gift, a metal-worked Pokemon deck holder. "Thanks."

"For…" Leo was struggling to swallow his saliva. "For when you want to be a kid."