Home Is Where The Heart Is

Staring off for a moment - a good solid half a minute in fact - he was only brought back by Nyle's voice. He immediately offered an apologetic to the other before getting to his feet. He didn't really want to talk - in fact, he wanted to go to bed and just lay down for a little bit... but that wouldn't be appropriate.

"Yeah, we'll come in," Leo eventually whispered, getting to his feet with a soft grunt as he had to swing himself out of the chair, it's size engulfing him easily and the fact that Bitters had fallen asleep on his lap didn't help. Easily carrying the overweight cat, it felt weird to walk back inside a room full of people who didn't realize what had just happened. "Is there any chips left? There better be, those weren't cheap."
 
Silently following the others, Nyle was in no mood to really slip back into the gathering like he hadn't just overheard his boyfriend retell the tale of his death. He knew it wasn't easy when Leo told him, so telling a practical stranger can't have been any easier for him. Frankly, he just wanted to tell everyone to leave in order to do something far more normal for them - cuddling up on the sofa to watch some TV. Instead, he awkwardly sat down and went along with the others for the next half an hour, unable to hide his relief when they finally left.

"...You alright?" He asked again as he turned away from the front door to take in his boyfriend, eventually pulling him close to plant a kiss on his forehead. "I'm proud of you, tonight was great and-- hey, you got on with May, so that's good, ain't it? And the others like you, so... so it was a success, babe. Probably too big of a step, but at least it's over."
 
"I'm exhausted," he admitted, taking the close embrace easily and clinging tight for extra closeness. "This was super hard, Nyle. You... owe me big time," he tried to tease into the other's arm, burying his face to avoid the bright lights.

"Can we just lay in bed for a little? This was - god. I'm sorry that you heard what we were talking about before. I know it makes you upset but I just... wanted to get it out of the way, if I couldn't hide it from May. Just... I love you, you know that?" He babbled quietly into his boyfriend's arm. "Can we not do that for a little while? I don't think I could handle that again for a little bit."
 
"I'm going to that party, but you'll only have to talk to May for a few minutes while she picks me up. Other than that, there's nothing else planned for a while so you're safe from the pressure of socialising, hm? And hey, I don't mind what you talk about, I just... don't like hearing it," he admitted, though it was a sentiment he had expressed countless times during their relationship-- at least when they started to fall in love, anyway.

"I enjoyed it anyway, it was great. I had some beers, hung out with the guys. It was cool. And look, you have the chance to find me a fancy dress outfit for the party, I think that makes us equal," he pointed out, leaning down to pat Bitters on the head with a coo. "Just make sure it makes me look cool, yeah?"
 
"It'll be nice to look after her dog. She's really cute Nyle," he whined before pulling out his phone fo show the pictures of Luna. "I guess she doesn't like parties so I guess I have something in common with a cute dog, right? Dogs are way too much effort, though. At least Bitters just relaxes and doesn't ask for much," He babbled... which was at least a good sign.

"It'll be a quiet night," he added before moving to carefully grab a spare chip, now laying across Nyle's lap with a small smile. "I'll make sure you look utterly ridiculous, no one is going to let you live it down."
 
"I don't doubt it. Why would you make me look cute when you could stick me in some ridiculous outfit and get twice as many likes on Instagram? I'm all for it, though. I can have a bit of fun, I'm not a spoilsport," he grinned down at the other, after taking his phone to observe the pictures for himself. He liked May immensely, but he liked her just a little more given the effort she was going to with Leo. She didn't have to do anything to make him feel involved and helpful, so the fact she was going the extra mile made him like her just that little more.

"Mm, Luna's cute, hm? She's not exactly Bitters, but she's cute," he snorted, patting the space beside him for the cat to get in on the affection. "We could get a dog or another cat or-- I'd love a rabbit, Leo."
 
"A rabbit? Oh, I... I dunno. Bitters is cool because I can let him do his thing when he wants to. Rabbits need attention, right? Plus, rabbits don't purr..." he reminded as he watched the other. "If we were to hypothetically get an official pet, I'd say get a fish first. We can keep Bitters away from it and get the fish some live plants. It would be pretty, right? We could put shiny rocks or even get some snails..." He suggested with a soft hum in contemplation.

"I mean, I might do horribly with Luna and Bitters could hate it. A second cat is a maybe but he would have to be a boy because like hell do I want fo deal with kittens..." he huffed, his eyes sparkling nonetheless.
 
"You don't want to deal with kittens? Why not? How adorable would it be to have a few kittens strolling about the place?" He groaned childishly, though he was barely that serious. He couldn't imagine the stress of caring for them would do Leo any good - having Bitters and occasionally looking after May's dog seemed a good start before they considered any more permanent pets.

He assumed that Luna would be relatively easy for his boyfriend to care for, having heard plenty from both May and Oliver about how 'lazy' the dog was. If the dog stayed primarily still for most of the day, then Leo was the perfect person to care for it, which was why, a week later, Nyle welcomed the corgi in with a wide grin. The sight of May struggling to carry the dog in her arms was amusing to him, even if she huffed at the amusement.

"Shut up, Nyle-- see? She won't even walk to the fucking house, she's so spoilt," groaned May, placing the dog down and watching the small dog curiously sniff at the new environment. Adjusting her outfit -she had opted to dress up as Storm from X-Men because it was her boyfriend's favourite superhero-, she offered a frown at Nyle's clothing. "You aren't dressed yet? Go and get changed, dummy. We have to get moving."
 
If Nyle was going to a party without him, he didn't want someone to creep up on his boyfriend. So, coming down the stairs quickly with the bagged outfit, he pulled it out with a wicked grin, exposing the front to reveal a hideous spider costume, all extra limbs puffy as they stuck out. It was tight in all the wrong places and it was the exact thing he wanted to see his boyfriend in.

"T-Tada!" Leo announced, setting the costume down on Nyle's hands with a nervous smile. "It's the worst costume I could find. It'll look... great on you, though, really," he insisted before moving to lean down, warily moving to rub Luna. "You'll be the life of the party, really."
 
"...You want me to wear that? I know I said you could pick anything you wanted, Leo, but jeez... You really didn't hold back, did 'ya?" He murmured, taking the costume to examine with a neutral frown, which eventually made way for a smile. He hated the costume, but he wasn't going to throw it back in his boyfriend's face. He was happy to wear it and make the best out of the situation - it would be a talking point at the party and it at least showed that he didn't really care what he looked like. It was a bit of fun and he was cool with that.

"I brought you some birthday cake. I know you can't taste it, but it's got plenty of texture, so I figured you'd enjoy it? If not, no worries. I just didn't want you being left out," smiled May as she rummaged in her bag for the carefully wrapped slice of cake, handing it over in the tissue. "It's chocolate, so don't let Luna get near it, don't want her getting sick all over your nice rugs and stuff."
 
All Leo responded with was a devious smile at Nyle, knowing full well that it was horribly ugly and definitely obnoxious... just how he wanted it. Motioning his boyfriend to the bathroom , he snorted eagerly at the thought.

"Go on, then. Don't want to keep May waiting, right?" He reminded before moving to take the cake, observing it carefully. "You... didn't have to do this," he insisted quietly, his devious smile fading to a softer one, an apologetic one. "I bet the cake looks dumb now with a piece missing."
 
"Hey, it's not a big problem - it's just a cake. I didn't want you missing out. I worked, like, all through the night making the cake, I wanted everyone to appreciate my hard work," she grinned, leaning back down to pet her dog. She was rarely ever without the pet, often taking her on her travels, so leaving her in a new environment for several hours did make her wary - but she trusted that Leo would make the dog feel at home. It was a nice, stress-free environment, after all.

"...I like the outfit you picked out for him. It's... different?" She began diplomatically. For all she knew, Leo thought the outfit was cute and she really didn't want to offend him. "Uh... it's... I mean, nobody else is going to wear something like that, so..."
 
"It's horible, right?" He quickly added with a nod. "I mean, I don't want anyone to look at him and try to take him away from me, right? So... why not get him the most horrendous costume I can? Not only will people love it but it'll keep any oglers away from him," he explained before carefully setting the cake on the kitchen table.

"I was going to do something pretty normal like a weird suit or something but that wasn't enough," he insisted, giggling. "Oh, it'll be so funny! I'm gonna take a picture first for Instagram, it'll be hilarious," he nodded, picking Bitters up quickly when he froze upon seeing Luna, choosing to keep him up on the second floor to stop conflict.
 
"I get that. I'm sure he'd put someone straight if they did flirt with him, but I kinda get that the outfit will prevent him going through that kinda trouble, yeah? Besides, it's funny and honestly, I'd rather him go like that than be like the other guys at the party. They'll all be showing off and wearing something showing their muscles off or whatever, it pisses me off," she shrugged, tapping her nails against the small hallway table as she patiently waited for Nyle, her eyes lighting up as he struggled out of the bathroom - getting through a doorway was more of a task than ever given the sheer size of the outfit.

"I look like shit," he grunted with his arms folded, frowning down at the costume. "I feel ridiculous, Leo. I get you like this, and I'll wear it, but... ugh, the things I do for you."
 
"I love it!" He gushed, his cheeks growing pink in excitement. "God, you look ridiculous. How could such a handsome man become so... dumb in just a few minutes. Wait, wait, stay still," he murmured, pulling out his phone to take a quick snap of the other's face, a wicked grin on his own. Once taking the picture, he did move to offer a quick kiss to Nyle's cheek.

"I think this makes up for the party properly," he reminded with a raised brow. "Relax, you look cute! You'll definitely be able to talk to people easier, it's a great conversation starter, right? Oh, god... this is very good," He babbled in clear eagerness as he checked out the arms of the costume.
 
"A great conversation starter? So I can tell them that my boyfriend, the actual love of my life, purposely dressed me up to look like an idiot? I'm sure they'll have a right good laugh," he continued grumpily, though none of it was said with genuine malice or annoyance. If he hated it, he would have ripped it off and refused to wear it. The fact he was smiling to himself and posing for the photo suggested he was fine with making himself look like a fool for a night.

"Right, I'll update you every hour. I'll post to my Instagram so you can keep updated on there. I won't get too drunk, I won't smoke anything I shouldn't. I'm going mainly for the food anyway," he snorted, watching May eagerly head out to the car. "I'll be back by midnight, Leo. No later, I promise."
 
"You better not be," he insisted, though he spoke out of genuine concern rather than some controlling partner. "Just... please be careful. Luna and I will be here obviously, so... god, I don't want to seem overbearing." He murmured before leaning in for a kiss.

"Call me once you get there," he whispered, offering a small smile. "We can get you a bit more drunk when you get home. I signed up for a monthly wine club so we can try them out. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, May."
 
"I won't take my eyes off him, I'll make sure he stays in line," the girl grinned, offering a final goodbye to Luna before ushering Nyle out, knowing it would take a minute or two just to get him in the car and seated comfortably.

In the end, after struggling to get the multiple limbs of the outfit to behave themselves, Nyle was demoted to the back seat, where he offered his boyfriend a final wave from the car before it left.
 
Once the door closed behind him, he realized that he was once again alone. Not only was he alone but he was now faced with a new corgi, one that seemed to at least be calm around him. He didn't really know what to do with the dog and had literally looked up a video on how to play with one, though he seemed frozen in fear as she wandered around.

For all he knew, she could somehow take a shit in the middle of their floor and he didn't really want that to happen, naturally. He also didn't really know if Luna even wanted to play. Picking up a ball, he weakly tossed a ball and watched carefully. It would keep them both busy, he assumed, until he was called.
 
The call came as expected upon his arrival at the party and Nyle proceeded to live-call the other, just to show him what May's apartment was like and how many people were there. He had to stop once his friends arrived. They were under the impression Leo was at work, after all; not that he physically couldn't leave the house because he was a ghost. In replacement of the calls, he updated his boyfriend via text every half an hour, and when he wasn't doing that, videos and pictures of him and the others at the party were being uploaded, either on his account of on other pages, with Nyle being tagged in it.

The updates and the upload of pictures came to a rather abrupt end at around 11:30pm, with nothing from Nyle for a solid hour until he rang Leo... though it wasn't to reassure him that he was fine and would be home soon. Instead, Nyle's breathing was heavy and pained, though even if he wanted to speak, the sounds of panicked screams and gunshot in the background would have overshadowed him.

"Leo? F-Fuck, Leo, listen - listen, okay? Don't talk. I love you, I... I fucking love you and I'll be home soon, I... I promised you I'd be home so I... I will; I'll be home soon," he repeated, forcing himself to continue to speak even if his voice was shaky. He didn't have time to explain what had happened - that a fight had broken out and a drunk gatecrasher had found it appropriate to solve the argument with use of bullets. Having been involved in attempting to break up the fight, Nyle was unfortunately one of many innocents caught in the crossfire. He was in a particularly bad way and easily frightened out of his mind, considering the perpetrator was still storming about outside the closet Nyle was hidden in, but he didn't let on to Leo. He didn't need him worrying. Ideally, he wouldn't have called... but he didn't want to die without telling him he loved him. "...I should have listened, huh? Parties a-are just... they're not great, I... I should have stayed home-- fuck, I should h-have stayed home."
 
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