"What do you mean, I've ruined your life?! How?!"

Elliot stared in shock, all of his thoughts from earlier rushing back to the surface of his brain. Had what he feared, actually happened? Had he gotten Leo fired? Was Leo going to become violent again?

"None of your business, that's how!" Leo shot back, clenching his fists. "I hate you!" To Elliot's surprise, his hands were shaking. Whether it was out of rage, or some other emotion, he wasn't sure. "I wish I'd never even met you!"

At that, Elliot could no longer control his own temper. "Well sorry I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!" He shouted, picking up his coffee and standing up. He strode past Leo, attempting to go outside, but Leo reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, you don't get to walk away from this." Leo's voice was suddenly low, and threatening. "You don't get to just walk away from all the crap you've put me in." His grip tightening, he continued, "If you don't want me to take things out on you right now, and trust me, I will, then you will follow me until we get somewhere private enough for us to sort all this crap out."

Elliot's mind was racing. Did he dare do what Leo demanded? He glanced back over his shoulder, and saw Vincent staring back, his expression a mix of anger and fear, anger towards Leo for daring to lay a hand on Elliot, and fear that Elliot was in a dangerous situation. He spoke a few words to one of his co-workers, and started to step away from the counter.

Leo saw this, and his grip tightened even further. "Come on." He hissed, tugging slightly.

Elliot saw Vincent would be following close behind, so he decided the best course of action would be to go along with Leo, so as to get away from the coffee shop to keep innocent bystanders from getting involved. "Alright, let's go."

"About time." Leo scoffed, pushing open the door with one hand, and guiding Elliot with the other. Once they got outside, he released Elliot's arm, but spoke in a low tone, "The park across the street. don't stop moving until we've found a place away from everyone else."

Elliot felt another wave of surprise. "The park?" He was almost sure Leo would have forced him into some sort of back alley, with the way he was acting and everything. By contrast, the park seemed….well, normal. But then again, Leo was most definitely not normal. "And if I say no?"

"Then I'll punch you upside the head." Leo muttered, venom in his voice. "So if I were you I'd-" Without finishing his sentence, Leo reached out and grasped Elliot's arm once again. "Stop. Crap. I am not dealing with this right now."

Elliot was confused, but only for a moment. Then he saw what Leo was talking about. Oz was standing across the street, speaking happily to Ada and Alice. "He doesn't want Oz to see us." Elliot realized, glancing around. His eyes fell on a nearby shop, and he pointed with his free hand, still holding his coffee from before. "Over there."

"That'll work." Leo released his grip on Elliot's arm once again, and the two stepped inside the shop, which was a small music store. Several different types of instruments lined the walls, and larger instruments such as harps and a few pianos were showcased near the middle. "We're only staying until your friend goes away."

"Yeah..." Elliot couldn't help but be mesmerized by all the different instruments. The only thing he had ever learned how to play was the piano, at his parents insistence. He glanced back to Leo, only to realize he wasn't standing behind him anymore. Confused, he looked around the shop, shocked to find him sitting on the bench of a grand piano. "What….he can play piano?" Curious, he stepped closer.

Leo had his fingers lightly placed over the keys of the piano, as if he were afraid that his touch would break them. He took a shaky breath, and began to play. It started out lightly, a gentle melody, but as the song progressed, it gained a harsher, more angry tone. It felt as if Leo was pouring his own soul into the music, that it was speaking all the words that he himself could not.

Elliot barely even dared to breathe, entranced by the music, as angry and harsh as it was. It was moving, and intense. There was a certain feeling to it, that no-one else could ever replicate. "Did he write this?" Elliot wondered, watching as Leo's fingers practically flew across the piano.

Finally, with one last strike of the keys, Leo finished, his hands shaking. A tear rolled down his cheek, then another. He reached up to his face, pushing his glasses aside to brush the tears away that were gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Ah…...I didn't mean for us to stay this long, let's go." He stood, turning to Elliot.

Elliot shook his head, and took a seat at the bench. "No, I want to play something real quick." He glanced at the owner of the store, silently asking for permission. The owner nodded, and so Elliot positioned his hands to play.

Now it was Leo's turn to be entranced. The piece that Elliot was playing was the exact opposite of Leo's. It was light, hopeful, and resonated with the soul, as if to say "things will be OK." It was soothing, as if it could carry away one's troubles just by listening to it. The contrast between the two pieces grew more evident with each passing bar.

Elliot, who had already played this piece dozens of times, felt as if he was giving it new life, simply by being in this place, playing it for someone who really needed it. He hoped that his message would be conveyed, that it would soothe Leo's soul. "Please let this work." He begged silently, wishing he could look to see how Leo felt, but not daring to, lest he lose his concentration and break the spell of tranquility provided by the music.

And then, all too soon, with one final chord, it was over. Elliot sighed, finally daring to sneak a look at Leo. To his shock, Leo was crying even more than he had been before. "That wasn't supposed to happen!" He stood quickly, unsure of what to do. Would Leo want comfort? He had never been in such a situation before. And so all he could do was stare in silence as Leo's tears flowed freely, breaking an emotional dam that had been built up for who knows how long.

After what felt like an eternity to both parties, Leo's tears finally slowed, then stopped. His breathing was ragged, and his arms were crossed over his chest tightly. His tears had left stains of water down his shirt, and small puddles littered the floor. With shaky hands, Leo reached once more to clear away the last of his tears, straightening his glasses in the process. "Let's go." Without another word, Leo turned on his heel and made for the door.

Elliot frowned, but complied, following close behind. He saw that Oz was no longer standing nearby, which was to be expected, but noticed that Vincent was watching, his expression unreadable. He didn't point this out to Leo, who simply pushed the door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk, and checked to make sure that Elliot was still following.

"We're still going to find somewhere to talk." Leo spoke after a moment, waiting for their chance to cross the street.

"I know." Elliot had figured that Leo would still not allow him to just walk away, which Elliot was somehow beginning to resign himself to. "And I think I know a spot." When Leo wasn't looking, Elliot glanced towards Vincent, and mouthed the words, "give us a minute".

Vincent did not look happy at the idea of leaving Elliot and Leo alone. But when the signal turned green to allow them to cross, he stayed behind, a frown deeply etched on his face.

"Alright, I know a spot where we can go. Follow me." Elliot motioned with his hand. Stepping off the path of the park. "There's a section of woods that no-one really goes in, Oz found it years ago, and we used to hang out there during the summer."

Leo followed silently, which began to unnerve Elliot after a moment. He couldn't feel the murderous aura that he had felt before, but he wasn't quite like the time where he was calm and sarcastic. He was somewhere in the middle, stable, but ready to blow at any minute.

Elliot stopped in front of a log that had been covered in blankets. The blankets were old and tattered, but Elliot felt a small twinge of nostalgia upon seeing them again. He sat down, and motioned for Leo to sit as well. "Alright, I'm all ears. What did you need to say?" He was dreading the coming conversation, but after seeing the amount of distress Leo was in, he felt that Leo deserved the chance to explain why he felt so angry towards him.

"Yeah….before that, there's something else I wanted to ask you." Leo sat down, keeping distance between the two of them.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"That…...that music. Did you write it?" Leo asked, his voice hushed. "I'd never heard anything like it."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I did." Elliot felt a small rush of pride at Leo's compliment. "I write music, but that's the piece I'm proudest of. What about you? Did you write the piece you played back there?"

"I guess you could say that." Leo shrugged, "But I didn't really write it, I just kinda played what came to mind in the moment."

Elliot was shocked. Leo had come up with all of that on the spot? It had sounded so masterfully done, so refined, and yet Leo had just been doing nothing but purely pouring his emotions out onto the piano. "How….."

"I just do. " Leo responded, shrugging again. "Can't really explain it."

Elliot was beyond impressed. He had spent hours upon hours writing and perfecting his pieces. It honestly made him feel a little bit jealous. "You should write that down, it was beautiful."

"Maybe. I don't know. Anyways," Leo brushed off the comment, "Your piece. Does it have a name?"

Elliot smiled softly. He had indeed named the piece, and it was one that he was rather fond of.

"Statice."

A/N:First, for anyone who might be curious, I've used this wonderful fan-made track as my basis for describing Statice, so if you're curious as to what it sounds like, I'll leave a link. (also try listening to it while reading the music shop scene, I listened to it while writing, and it made things feel so much more emotional)

and second, the promised angst has finally arrived! well, sort of XD this is still just the prelude, it's going to get waaay worse.

watch?v=98KppKtkSAo