Chapter Text
“What could that possibly mean?”
“I don’t fucking know! All he said was that he was focusing on other things.”
“Maybe he got a boyfriend when he was in Paris.”
“Nooo, don’t say that!”
Leone and Fugo were in Leone’s room that next morning, decoding the possibilities of Bruno’s meeting. Fugo sat on the bed as Leone frantically figured out what to wear. So far, it looked as if the man were dressed for a funeral. Maybe it was for the best.
“I’m joking,” Fugo said quickly, “...Maybe.”
Leone threw a look through his mirror as he struggled to put on his pants. Black and made of leather, he had already started to regret his decision to try them on. “What if he is actually dating someone?”
“I don’t think that’s something you can actually change. Unless you do something drastic. Look, let’s not focus on that since it’s the worst-case scenario.”
“And what’s the *best-case* scenario?”
“Maybe he realized that he really is into you after all?”
“After four months? No damn way. He would have been way over it by now. It’d be way more likely that he found someone else, and he just wants to let me down gently.”
“Does he even know that you like him to let you down gently?” Fugo asked incredulously, “He probably wants to, um, I don’t know, get past whatever emotionally constipated mess your relationship is.”
“Hey! Ugh…God, I wish Dante were here… he’d have some idea of what to do. And he’d know what to do about it, too.”
“Maybe, he seems cool.”
“He *is* cool. Okay, I’m ready.” Leone gave a little turnaround after putting on a few necklaces.
“Nice! At least you look good.”
Leone smiled a bit. He definitely felt better now that one step was out of the way. “Okay, I think it’s time to go.”
The two walked out the door to find that Bruno was waiting in the kitchen with a coffee in hand. He was looking around the simple room and its basic amenities with an analyzing look. He turned to the two who had just walked in and stood up quickly.
“Good,” he started with a smile, “We can get started on our day!”
“Uh, yeah,” Leone started awkwardly, “I can drive the car, if that’s okay with you. I’ll see you later, Fugo.”
The two threw each other a knowing glance before Leone and his sort-of-kind-of-friend-but-also-boss went on their way to the garage.
And so, on the hour-long drive to the pier, Bruno talked nonstop about his endeavors of his time in Paris. Each new detail made Leone feel more distant from what he thought Bruno would be doing. A party here, getting drunk there, and whatnot had the man both put off from Bruno and intrigued.
“What’s that?” Leone asked, his chin pointing to the bulky case of what he assumed was a camera. But there was more than just that and Leone hadn’t the first idea of photography to even guess what was inside. Actual additional equipment shifted at Bruno’s feet.
“I was hoping to take some photos for my next set of classes. My professor suggested it. And my friend Tizzy said he wanted some fresher ideas to add to his performance.”
“Oh... I guess you like it there. Since you’re doing them favors and all.”
“It’s alright,” Bruno explained. “It’s hard when you’re surrounded by… certain people, but I think it’s going to be worth it.”
Leone hummed but said nothing as they pulled into a lot across the street from the pier. They walked over to the actual boardwalk itself, scanning the horizon that was speckled with islands and the land on the other side.
It was a dreary day; the cold wind blew away the hair into both men’s faces. The brackish water matched the grey sky and sloshed up against the wood they both stood on. Nearby, a couple of fishermen stood with their supplies, setting up for some catches.
“So… what did you want to talk to me about?” Abbacchio asked, not wanting to prolong the rising feeling of anxiety.
Bruno smiled a bit. “Can we just take a minute?”
“Oh, o-okay, sure.” Leone nodded frantically with an apology and turned away. He pulled out his pack of Marlboros and his lighter and took a deep breath of the eventual smoke.
The clatter of Bruno’s camera equipment sounded a few feet behind Leone, and he turned to watch before coming back to ask for help.
“No, thank you.” And instead of putting the camera on the stand, Bruno pointed it up at Leone.
“God, please don’t. I don’t like taking pictures.” The goth waved the other man away, heat rising to his cheeks.
“Why not?” Bruno asked as he moved the camera towards the water. Clicks sounded from the device.
“I don’t know. All the photos I take look bad.”
“I’m sure they turn out fine, maybe you just don’t see yourself the way other people do. You make a perfect subject, you know.”
“I don’t really care what people think of me really…” Leone faltered a moment. “But, uh, how do you see me? Not that it really matters.”
Bruno hesitated briefly with a smile and Leone watched as he turned a bright red. “I don’t know, honestly.” He was quiet for a long while after that and Leone felt as if he was going to be sick at the possible answers that followed, good or bad.
“It’s… it’s sort of what I wanted to talk about,” Bruno explained. “You’re an interesting person, Leone, that’s what I like about you. I-I’m not sure, I thought I wanted to be friends because I wanted to be like you.”
“You want to be like me?” Leone scoffed at the very thought. He was a hot mess; it was a miracle how he managed to get this far in life.
Bruno lowered his camera with a sigh. “Yes, at least that’s what I thought I wanted. But I went to Paris and came back… sort of wanting something else, too.”
“A-and what’s that?”
“I don’t know… I suppose what I’m trying to say is, um, I want to know myself. You were a catalyst, perhaps. And it wasn’t fair to idealize you like that and in a sense, I never really knew you at all in the end. I still don’t.”
Leone relaxed his muscles in relief of this answer, humming idly as he dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. He didn’t know what to think of Bruno now as he stood there, putting his thoughts together.
“When I left, things were not… great to say the least.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Leone apologized, remembering how badly he treated Bruno that morning. Shame built up in his chest. “You leaving kinda frazzled me a bit.”
“Yes, I figured, especially when I put you on the spot. Well, I just wanted to say, um…” Bruno put his camera down and finally faced Leone with a determined face, blush creeping into his cheeks. “I don’t know….”
Hope crept into Leone’s heart. In all the years he had crushed on Bruno, maybe there was a chance the man liked him back. Maybe this was the day he had hoped for a day where it wasn’t him confessing the obvious truth between them.
“I- can we- hang out… or something?”
“What?” The gardener sputtered out a laugh. The hope for a confession quickly died in his head.
Bruno instantly recoiled as he started stammering too, “I mean- I don’t know…! I want to know who you really are, Leone; and in turn, I maybe can know who I am with you.”
Leone let out a confused snort. What was Bruno even talking about anymore? It didn’t entirely make sense. But as he stood there, Leone’s brain did pick something out of the mush the richer man was sputtering out. It was perhaps a plea to stay, to be a constant for the man in front of him.
And in figuring this out, the blond leaned on the railing with a shaky, nervous expression. He shifted where he stood there as Bruno watched him, cautious now and it took every fiber of Leone to not combust there on the spot. Everything in his body told him to abandon ship but he couldn’t.
“I- look, I’m sorry. This whole thing is a fever dream to me.” Leone gestured to Bruno.
“It’s okay! Um, we never got the chance to really get together; what if we do that on my break? You can show me all the things you’re interested in! It’d be more casual.”
The gardener looked away as he thought about it. On one hand, this was his one chance to make things right between them properly and possibly more. On the other hand, his scene was probably not Bruno’s and Leone might mess it up because of that. But there was always that one possibility… He looked up to see Bruno’s hopeful eyes once more and immediately knew what he wanted.
Leone took in a sharp breath and before he could back himself out, he said, “Uh, okay, fuck it! What do you want to know?”
Bruno smiled wide with satisfaction, jittery nerves smoothing themselves out between them. “If you were having a hard day,” he started, “what’s the first place you would go?”
“As of late? My friend Dante. He’s cool.”
“All right, lead the way.”
In this moment, Leone and Bruno were close friends; Leone hadn’t been a fuck up in any instance and their relationship was finding its way back after they had grown apart for a few months.
That feeling was a brief respite before it turned into something new. A genuine connection. And in a way, Leone felt satisfied too.
*****
The car ride was an hour and a half away, midday traffic proving to be a strenuous additive to the estimated time of arrival. However, Bruno made that ride go by as quickly as possible with every story that poured out of his lips. Every word flew and whipped into the wind, chiming effortlessly. And Leone listened intently, focusing hard on the road but found himself engrossed in whatever adventure he was listening to.
“Why the hell would you get a tattoo from a guy in his bedroom?”
Bruno cracked up next to him, helplessly. The whole idea seemed so lighthearted to him. “I don’t know, it seemed alright?”
“Alright? You didn’t get sick?”
“Do I look sick to you?”
“Well, you’re in the car with me, aren’t you?”
“Oh, hush!” Bruno slapped Leone’s arm playfully, the contact light to the touch but was hot on his skin. “He was too attractive to deny.”
“Hey, this is new information!”
“Information that I don’t think you need to know.”
There was a quietness suddenly. The only sound was the engine and the wind that whipped from one open window to the other. Bruno’s voice was playful still, but there was defensiveness behind it that time. But he didn’t explain it and he didn’t add to that story. Leone didn’t need him to, anyway.
He glanced over to see Bruno smiling at the however distant memory behind his eyes and felt a twinge of something inside of his chest. A tightness was building in his neck, proving uncomfortable. Whatever moment the other man was thinking was supposed to be his and it wasn’t. And it was Leone’s fault that it went that way.
“We’re here,” Leone said abruptly, parking the car across the street from the tattoo shop.
The only thing Bruno said in response was that the area was nice and the shop looked quaint enough.
Inside, Dante was finishing up a client, wiping the tattoo down and covering it in Second Skin. Neither he nor his assistant noticed him until aftercare instructions were given and the money was collected.
“Oh, hey Abbacchio! What’re you doing here again?”
Leone froze for a moment, realizing now that bringing his new crush to meet his old crush was, in fact, not the best idea in the world. “Um… I don’t… know.”
“Leone here wanted me to meet you,” Bruno piped up with a smile, “You must be Dante!”
The two shook hands excitedly, Dante fawning over Bruno immediately.
“I knew he was a looker Leone, but you didn’t say how much!” The tattooist leaned in, inspecting a now red Bruno. “He’s cute!”
“Oh, shut the hell up, Dante” Leone said, just as red. He knew his childhood friend was smitten already, just as he was with every man Leone brought in before. “He’s off limits, you know.”
“Let a guy admire beauty, man. Chill out. Anyways, you want a soda?”
Leone forced back a shiver down his spine at the thought of another bruised wrist. “No. Thank you.”
“What kind do you have,” Bruno asked and was soon cracking open a ginger ale. “Dante, this is a nice place you have here, you know. Right in the middle of the city.”
“Thanks,” Dante said casually, cleaning up his area for the next client, “I’ve been tattooing for years here, apprenticeship and all. I inherited it when the owner died. It would’ve been Abbacchio’s too if he hadn’t abandoned ship after the accident.”
“What the fuck, man?!”
“It’s the truth.”
“Like hell it is! You didn’t need to mention that! Throwing me under the damn bus like that…” Leone hunched over with crossed arms. He felt his face scrunch, creasing his makeup but he didn’t care after Dante’s statement.
“Well, I’m sorry for your loss, you two. It looks like you’re doing well for yourself Dante.”
“I am now! To give credit where it’s due, Abbacchio did stick around for a bit after to take care of me. He left afterward. That’s when he started working for your folks, Bruno.”
“Speaking of…” Bruno shifted and smiled coyly. “How much *did* Leone mention me to you?”
Leone looked away as Dante revealed bits and pieces of the story he got that day before Bruno left. Nothing enough to have him suspect that Leone ever liked him to begin with.
Bruno chuckled lightly hearing it all, “Well I guess I’m happy that it was mostly alright things. I’ll add it to the report!”
They continued to talk for a while afterward, Dante poking fun of Leone, retelling stories of how they met and the adventures they had. He also noted that his next client was a no-show and continued to talk even as he was putting the items he needed away.
“Leone was always one step behind me, you know that, Bruno? Like a little duckling. He’s protective, despite the front he puts up.”
“Yeah, ‘cuz of all the BS you pull Dante.” Abbacchio rolled his eyes real hard this time, more than he could care to count already. He turned to Bruno with a sniff, “He put us through all kinda stuff when we were younger, but he doesn’t wanna admit it.”
“Only ‘cuz I wanna make a good impression!”
“Oh please,” Bruno smiled wide, “You don’t need to hide any information to make a good impression on me, Dante!”
“Aww, thank you!”
Leone rolled his eyes again, feeling that same rush of emotion he did on the way here. He pushed it aside for now, however. This was his friend they were talking to. “Whatever…”
Before they could say anything else, the shop door rang open, and everyone turned to see a customer walking in nervously. “Hey,” she started, looking around to figure out who was the tattooist, “Are you guys doing flash tattoos?”
Dante jumped up immediately as he checked his watch, “Well I definitely can, miss! Most flash tattoos are forty-five, how is that?”
“Perfect!”
Leone got up from his seat at the end of one of the chairs with a small huff through his nose. “We’ll get going, Dante.”
“Are you sure?” Dante asked as he riffled through papers he intended to pass to the woman. “I don’t mind you two staying.”
“Yeah, it’s getting late. Getting hungry. Want anything? I can get you something and spin back.”
“Nah,” the man waved him off with a smile, “I got food already. But if you’re looking for suggestions, the Indian place next door is still open today.”
“I’ll think about it. See you later!”
Bruno and Leone sat in the car for a moment, the latter feeling severely drained and mildly irritated in the moment. Thoughts of what just occurred swam around his head and will be for a while.
“Are you okay, Leone?”
A simple nod and he turned on the ignition, peeling away from the lot. Leone didn’t say anything on the way back home and barely entertained Bruno’s further inquiries on his relationship with Dante either. Eventually Bruno got the hint stayed silent the rest of the way.
Bruno repeated the question when they got back home and another time when they got inside.
“I’m okay!” Leone said exasperatedly, “I’m tired, that’s all.”
“If Dante was bothering you, why didn’t you-“ Bruno stopped when Leone gave him a hard, steely look. “I apologize. Goodnight, Leone.”
They both turned around to go to their respected places, but Bruno paused and faced Leone again with a small smile. “I hope you’re in a better mood tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because we’ll be doing this sort of thing again.”
Leone almost groaned at the thought of having to get up and out of the house every single day but thought better of it. This was an opportunity. An opportunity at which he smiled at.
“Game on.”