Chapter Text
The bouncer shoves Leone out of the haphazardly thrown-open back door of the bar, shouting something that falls on deaf ears as the man hits the brick sidewalk with a pained thud. The bouncer takes the door by its handle and slams it, cutting off the warm light that illuminated Leone’s face and served as the only source of luminosity other than the flickering street lights.
He drank too much –again– and got into trouble with the bartender. The two men had a screaming match and the bouncer swiftly broke it up. He groans, rubbing the back of his neck, and shakily gets up and off the cold floor. He sways as he attempts to take a step forward, the effects of several glasses of wine and liquor becoming extremely noticeable, but Leone continues to make his way out of the alleyway. Leone raised the half-empty wine bottle in his left hand to his lips, tilting the bottle and taking a swig then lowering it back to his side, he took a few more steps forward. The sounds of his shoes hitting the sidewalk were barely audible, Leone raised his head toward the quickly darkening sky, eyes inspecting how storm clouds rolled in like plumes of smoke. The man’s thoughts were a jumbled mess, they made his head pound, and he raised his unoccupied hand to rest on his temple.
The sky was beautiful, it looked like an oil painting with all the dark and moody colors, but the action of looking up worsened Leone’s vertigo, making him stumble backward and fall once more against the hard ground. This time, however, Leone didn’t grumble or fuss over the pain shooting through his backside, no, he was too focused on the rumbling sky. He watched as the clouds covered more of the deep blue sky, the sound of rain pelting the tops of houses, the gentle breeze brushing Leone’s messy hair. Leone sighed, the sudden chill around him cooling his heated skin, he flinched as a droplet of rain hit just below his left eye. The sudden wetness on his face breaks him out of his drunken stupor and he braces his empty hand on the ground as Leone heaves himself up with a huff.
There it is again, vertigo, Leone stumbles before leaning onto the brick wall of the bar he was just kicked out of. Despite already being drunker than a sailor, Leone takes another swig of the nearly empty wine bottle in his hand, chugging what’s left in the bottle before lifting the lip of the bottle from his mouth and shivering at the cold rain trickling down the back of his neck. The man looks up once again, rain now pouring down as the storm clouds inch their way over Leone’s disheveled form, he’s forced to look down when droplets of water fall into his eyes. Leone brings an arm to his face and rids his eyes of the unwanted drops, he scowls as the wet fabric rubs against his face and smudges his already messed-up lipstick. After a moment of simply loitering by the bar wall, he steels himself to begin walking once more, taking a few shaky steps forward.
The sound of rain hitting stone and brick was overpowering, but then, another sound joined the melody. Leone looked up at the oddity, a man clad in a white suit was holding an umbrella, the drops of water bouncing off the plastic surface and falling to the ground with little grace. The sound was so loud in Leone’s ears, yet impossibly quiet at the same time, deafening. The man in front of him raises his umbrella, revealing his face, he wore an expression that was foreign to Leone. The white of his clothing contrasted heavily with the gloomy area he was placed in, he was so proper, standing with near-perfect posture and looking calm and collected.
Leone realized how terrible he must look compared to the beauty of the man before him.
Slowly, the man in white took a step towards Leone, still prim and proper as can be. He stopped when he was about six feet away from the other and stared into Leone’s eyes. His midnight blue meets Leone’s mix of light yellow and lavender, they share a moment of silence before Leone wavers slightly and stumbles forward. Luckily, he catches himself this time and straightens himself so he’s standing almost at full height, though the slouch in his posture is very evident. He looks at the man in front of him once again, as if etching every detail of his handsome face into his mind, Leone shakily sets down the bottle that has been occupying his hand for most of the night.
The man in front of him lowers his gaze to the wine bottle that is now resting on the wet stone of the sidewalk. He then brings his eyes back to meet Leone’s, and after a moment, he lowers his umbrella. The rain never stops its downpour, so the man is quickly soaked in the frigid water, but even so, he keeps his eyes on Leone. He gently redoes the wrap around the umbrella and seals it back up, as if he never used it, then smiles at the other man with the most kindness Leone’s seen in a while. The softness of the man’s face nearly knocks Leone to his knees, so much kindness shouldn’t be used on him of all men, not after everything he’s done. But that doesn’t stop the man in white, who reaches out to the drunkard with his empty hand, as if beckoning him over.
The siren call shows to be effective, as without much of a second thought Leone nearly trips over his own feet while rushing over to the man. He takes Leone’s frigid hand in his with so much care, the comforting warmth of the man’s hand wrapped around his makes Leone swoon. The man leans in, his face mere inches away from Leone’s, he smiles softly.
“My name is Bruno Bucciarati. And you must be Leone Abbacchio, correct?” The man questions, his cutting through the sounds of heavy rain like a knife through butter, Leone yearns to hear more.
But Bruno asked him a question, so he shakes his head to rid himself of the embarrassing thoughts, he looks at the man and nods slowly. The reality of his name being known by a complete stranger has yet to hit him, it seems. Bruno hums at Leone, then gently pulls the other man’s hand closer as a sign to follow, which Leone does without restraint. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the absolute beauty that was Bruno Bucciarati, but Leone’s common sense has seemingly been thrown out the window.
.End of Chapter 1