I Can Figure Out the Point of Anything

[ApplePieLife]

I am loving the slashy trend on here lately, so I thought I'd post something It's kind of long but it's a oneshot. Enjoy!

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

Taylor looked up from his position on the front steps of the art gallery to find a red-haired woman with two kids looking at him intently.

He shook his head quickly, gritting his teeth. "No," he said, "I'm just waiting for someone."

She looked concerned, overly so for a stranger. "You might want to wait inside, darling, it's freezing out here."

He shook his head again, scanning the downtown area for that head of blond hair he knew so well, and the lady was off with a small smile.

He was going to kill Nico this time. He had been out here in the freezing weather for - he checked his watch - almost an hour and a half. It was seriously freezing, too. Snow was visible in small, dirty heaps on the ground among the hurried feet of passerby. Taylor could see his breath as he sighed exasperatedly - and, he admitted to himself, somewhat worriedly.

Nico had really wanted to go to this stupid art exhibit thingie, and now he was blowing Taylor off.Where the fuck was he? Had he managed to get himself hurt in the last few hours? Taylor didn't put it past him either - a few months ago, they'd gone hiking; Taylor had only lost track of Nico for maybe a half hour, but Nico managed to end up laying half dead in a river.

Taylor looked down at his toes. Yep, they were still there - it was hard to tell anymore. Five more minutes and he was going to go home.

Desperately, he tried Nico's cell one last time, leaving an angry message. I don't know where the hell you are, Nico, Taylor thought, But if you're not dead in a ditch - and please don't be dead in a ditch - then I'm going to fucking kill you.

He must look odd to the random passerby - a tall, dark haired teen with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face outside a posh, probably warm gallery.

Okay, that was it, he was leaving. With one last glance around for a blond head, he started back to the small house he and Nico were temporarily sharing. If Nico wasn't there, Taylor could at least make some calls and make sure his boyfriend was safe - he'd gotten held back after class...oh god, maybe he was mad about something.

He'd just have to wait and see.

…...

Taylor burst through the front door, shuddering at the rush of warm air as he looked quickly around the room. It was fairly small, not very furnished - his aunt had moved to Hawaii and let him and Nico rent it out while they were at college.

There was a sofa, however... and Nico was laying on it. Well, now he was sitting up, blinking quickly, looking towards the door with a confused expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" Taylor asked him.

Nico looked like he'd been sleeping, actually, Taylor thought. His face was slightly red, too, and his hair was all mashed up to one side.

Nico blinked. "Yeah... I'm.. I - heh... iggxx’CHOO!.. I'm fine. Why do you look angry?"

"Why the fuck do you think I look angry? Do you know where I've been for the past two fucking hours?"

Nico cocked his head to one side, thinking. Then it dawned on him. "Oh," he said. "Oh, shit. I really wanted to see that."

"You really wanted to see that? How about, hey Taylor, I'm sorry I made you wait outside in the freezing cold for two fucking hours, next time I decide to completely blow you off on a date you didn't want to go to I'll remember to call first!" Taylor yelled. "How about that?"

Nico sat up straighter now, mashing his hair down. "Oh, god. I'm sorry Taylor. Don't kill me. Please don't kill me."

"What the fuck were you even doing?"

Nico looked around him, the blankets on the couch. "I was sleeping."

"That's great. That's fucking great. I can tell you really value this relationship, Nico. Hm, I could go meet Taylor, or maybe call him, but no, I think I'll go take a freaking nap."

"I'm sorry, Tay, I just forgot," he said quietly. He really wasn't acting like himself, but he was probably just trying not to be obnoxious to avoid making Taylor any madder.

Taylor swelled with anger. To think he'd been worrying about this idiot for an hour. "I thought you'd gone and gotten yourself killed or something! I thought you'd, I don't know, gotten mugged on the street! I called your cell phone like ten times! And the house!”

Nico shrugged. He looked like he was blushing, and it was cute, and Taylor hated how he still noticed these kinds of things, even when he was mad.

No apology? Nothing? Taylor's toes were still freezing.

"Just go away, I don't want to talk to you." Taylor wanted to go and change into some warmer clothes.

"Where do you want me to go? Tay...huhh...Taylor. Pl-heh’ISHoo! Heh’mmpshoo!" Nico asked, getting cut off by his own sneezing.

"Anywhere. Out. I don't care. Since you obviously don't give a shit about how I waited for you for two hours, I don't give a shit where you go." His voice was flat.

Nico stood up, wobbling from sleep. "Hey, it's not my fault I fell asleep. God, look at me’”

Taylor sat down, feeling tired and hurt, and cut Nico off, "Did I do something? Were you just mad at me?"

"No," Nico pleaded, "You didn't do anything, I'm -"

"You could have called -"

"I know-”

"Just get out, please, I don't want to talk to you. Please, Nico." Taylor opened the front door for him, wincing at the frigid air, and ignored Nico's big green eyes as his boyfriend was exiled from the house.

Taylor slammed the door and locked it, then waited for Nico to leave.

He didn't. He just sat down on the porch, arms wrapped around himself.

Whatever.

Taylor looked out the window at the shivering form. He looked cold.

Eh, he'd let him in in an hour. In the meantime, he might as well get take a shower and get warm - undo the damage of standing out in thirty degree weather for two hours.

Except half an hour later, Nico was still sitting outside, while Taylor tried to drown out the noise of shivering with the television set.

Any sensible person would, of course, have gone to a friend's house or something to get out of the freezing cold, but one of the amazing things about Nico was that despite his quick wit and sharp intelligence, he had the common sense of one of those squirrels that run out into the road while a car is driving by.

Or he was just determined.

“Hhh-iggnxt! Heh- isshuh! HptCHOO!... ugh.”

That was the third time in the past ten minutes.

Seriously, this was just making Taylor angrier. Why didn't Nico just leave and go to one of his friends' houses? And Nico had lots of friends. Both boys and girls were powerless against his usually happy demeanor, his entertaining rants. His sarcasm kept groups laughing for hours into the night, and his drama queen-like antics never failed to amuse. So why didn't he just leave?

He was waiting for Taylor to crack.

Taylor was not going to crack.

“Hi-ixt! Heh... heh... ngxt! Nico sneezed again, the sound muffled by the door but still audible. Taylor's insides flipped. Was Nico sick? Well, he had been acting kind of odd all week. But if Nico was sick, he would have told Taylor. Nico never held back what he was feeling - that was one of the endearing things about him, sometimes. Other times it was annoying.

Taylor turned up the television, but it didn't help - he could still imagine Nico sitting there shivering, so he turned it off.

Knowing Nico, he would probably be writing his will in his head or describing to himself all the different ways he could die just sitting there.

The sound of teeth chattering came through the door, and Taylor couldn't help himself; he walked over to the window and peered out at Nico through the blinds. He looked so cold and pale - he wasn't crying, Nico hated crying, but if anyone walked by and saw him they would have assumed that he was from the way he was trembling.

Oh god, Taylor thought. I'm a horrible person. I'm a horrible person.

As if he could read Taylor's thoughts, Nico suddenly turned around and looked into the window. Taylor let the blinds drop quickly.

A weak knock came at the door.

"Tay?" Nico's voice was really quiet. "Tay, could you please just let me in? I...hetSHOO!"

He was still kind of mad, but he didn't want his boyfriend to freeze to death either. "You wouldn't be so cold if you just went to someone's house. Why don't you just leave?"

"Because," Nico croaked, "I want to be with you. I - I, ah -" Taylor looked out the window again to see Nico doubled over, coughing.

Ah, his resolve was breaking. Nico didn't even have a jacket, the poor boy.

He glanced at the clock. The two hours were almost up, he might as well wait until then, right?

Nico coughed again. He could have called. He could have called.

He probably was sick. It all made sense. He's been feeling kind of weird all week, and he fell asleep on the couch... of course. Why else would he miss his favorite art exhibit?

Taylor sighed. He'd let him in, and in the meantime he would start a fire and put some chicken soup on the stove, just to show he wasn't a horrible person. And Nico would learn his lesson.

In the middle of clearing the table of dishes, Taylor noticed something behind one of the cups. He picked it up, realizing it was his aunts ages-old thermometer. 102.1. Taylor's stomach flipped again. Okay, okay, I'll open it, he told his conscience.

He put the soup on the stove and then pounded on the door once, loudly, before unlocking it with more force than was really necessary.

When after five minutes Nico didn't come inside, Taylor figured he was either being stubborn or hadn't heard him, so he pounded again. No response.

Maybe Nico had finally taken his advice and left. He opened the door and looked outside, only to see Nico laying there sleeping. He knelt down beside him and laid a hand against Nico's forehead. God, it was still burning.

Taylor tapped Nico. No response. He shook him. No response. Sighing, Taylor lifted Nico and carried him inside. It wasn't so difficult seeing as Nico was like, five foot four and super thin. Taylor laid him on the couch and wrapped him in some of the blankets Nico had been in earlier.

Taylor sighed. Nico had a solid strategy for evaporating Taylor's anger - whenever Taylor was really angry, Nico would manage to get himself into a situation that somehow threatened his health, and by the time Taylor made sure Nico was okay, all the anger would somehow be gone and everything was fine. As long as Nico was okay, then who cared about whatever stupid thing Nico had done in the first place? It worked every time. Of course, Nico didn't do it on purpose - that knowledge might have helped Taylor resist it just a little - no, Nico was just too innocent for his own good, and it made Taylor want to slap him. But of course he couldn't hurt his Nicky. That would be like inflicting all this anxious stress on himself. It made him feel like a mother sometimes - that moment, for example, he was taking Nico's temperature, resting his palm on Nico's cheek, kissing him lightly on the forehead. He laughed. Like his mother ever did any of that for him.

Taylor filled a glass of water and dampened a washcloth for Nico, all the while glancing nervously at the boy on the couch, who was tossing and turning in his sleep.

Oh God, this was Taylor's fault. He'd knowingly dumped his sick boyfriend out in the cold. Nico was going to hate him. Somehow he'd been forgiven for the whole hiking scenario, but after Nico got better he wasn't going to be so forgiving this time. Shit, shit, shit.

Taylor sat down and gazed upon Nico's sweating face. "I'm sorry," he murmured, wiping sweat off of Nico's face with the washcloth. "I'm so sorry, Nico."

Taylor nearly jumped out of his skin when Nico replied, almost grunting, "S'ok... I should have called."

Taylor could hear the soup on the stove boiling, so he made a bowl for Nico and set it on the coffee table. Nico didn't notice. After a minute, he sat back down and said, "You could have told me you were sick, you know."

Nico broke out coughing, but calmed after a minute, relaxing under Taylor's touch. "I think I'm dying," he whined.

Taylor laughed. That was Nico, all right.

"You're cute when you think you're dying, you know that?"

Nico smiled. "Yeah, I know."

"Next time you want to go see a stupid art show, you're going by yourself."

"Yeah, I know," Nico mumbled. "Thanks for waiting for me for two hours, though. Shows commitment"

"I really was worried about you, Nicky." Oops, he wasn't supposed to call him Nicky. He could never help it though, it was such a cute nickname and it fit Nico's likeness perfectly.

"Don't call me Nic - ah... ah..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just, ah... going to... ah... s-sneeze -iih...hihCHOOO!" He did, kind of spazzing, and Taylor laughed while grabbing him a tissue.

"Why do you always do this to me when I'm mad at you?"

"Do what? Sneeze like a spaz? I can't help it, idiot."

"No, I mean make me worry about you. Why can't you just take care of yourself so we can have a proper fight?"

"You want one?" Nico's voice was getting sleepy.

"Isn't it only a good relationship after you've had a big fight?"

"I s'pose you're right. How 'bout next week, then? You can get mad at me because I'll flirt with Dan too much and then you'll retaliate by getting it on with... Spencer. I'll call you... immature, and you can call me a jackass. I think... I'll slam the door in your face and we won't talk for a week. How does that sound?"

Taylor stroked Nico's soft, blond hair. "A week's too long, I think."

Nico smiled mischievously. "Yeah, but the make-up sex'll be good."

"Oh, so that's your plot."

"Yup... I have to get un-sick first, though. You can't get mad at a sick kid, Tay, it's wrong. By the way, I decided that if I die you can have all the shirts you like, plus all of my money... which is like, nothing, but... ihh...bu... ihh... iiittshhh! Taylor, can I have a ti... ihh... tissue?”

Taylor handed him three more. “Ittschhh! Ihh... hehgkCHOO! So,” he sniffled, “what was I saying?”

“I can have all your stuff.”

“Oh yeah! You know, I realized I don't actually have much stuff... but you know that valentine you made me? I want to be buried with that, so you can't keep it to cry over or my ghost is going to come back and haunt you. I hope you know that..."

"You're such a dork, Nico. I hope you know that."

"My head hurts." Nico threw the blanket over his head and Taylor laughed again.

"You have to rest if you're going to get un-sick, Nico."

"I know. But I donwanna move right now."

"I'll carry you to the bed."

Nico smiled. "Sounds good."

"I really am sorry, you know," Taylor whispered softly to an almost asleep Nico as he carried him to the bedroom.

Nico just opened his eyes for the first time since he'd been brought inside and spontaneously pulled Taylor down into a kiss. Taylor didn't respond for a moment, but eventually he recovered from the shock and allowed the kiss. Ah, kissing. For being so small and seemingly innocent, Nico had always been... surprisingly good at this.

Taylor broke off from Nico, remembering something. "Hey, you're sick!"

Nico smiled, still being carried. "I know. That was just my payback. I forgive you now."

"You know, I could just drop you right now." But Taylor set him on the bed and tucked him in anyway.

"You wouldn't drop me," Nico was confident, but his words were slurring together. “Itschh!” He sneezed quickly, quietly.

"Why is that?" Taylor whispered, not wanting to disturb him.

"Mmm, 'cuz you love me, thas why."

"I do. Go to sleep."

"'Kay. I love you, Tay."

"Go to sleep, please?"

"I love you even if you kick m'out of the house when I'm sick n'leave me to freeze, and..."

"Sleep, Nico."

“And you abandon me in the wilderness...”

“Nico...”

“Even if you’re mean and angry...”

"Shut up, Nico."

"Even if..." Nico never finished the sentence, drifting off into sleep. Taylor smiled. Yeah. Even if.

[Zane]

that was really cute! thanks so much for writing it!

[Emily]

AWWWW I WOULD SPAZZ TO SEE NICO'S SPAZZING SNEEZE X) THAT WAS SO CUUUUUTE

AND PLUS IT WAS REALLY WELL WRITTEN

AND I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS SO IT LIKE TOTALLY BLEW MY MIND

AND DAMN THAT WAS GOOD.

[Scion]

Brilliant! Your writing is gorgeous and seriously the dialogue is freaking perfect and the CONNECTION between them is beautiful, AND they're personalities are so distinct and everything and I just...yeah. You're so good. And Nico's funny. And I really liked this. That part at the end, where Nico was making Taylor out to be some big bully was pretty hilarious, too.

[LovelyLinda]

Aww I like!

Really lovely oneshot. You sure there ain't coming more ?

I freaking loved this.

[ichixshiro14]

Wahhhhhh that was adorable!!!! Thanks so much for sharing

[cupkake]

You've succeeded in melting me That was so cute, Nico is sucha cutie and I ADORED that situation. Thank you SO much for writing this!

[Sneezyhugsandkisses]

OMG I never come on this thing anymore well lurking I do >.> but nothing else...really but I just had to come on and say this story was amazing it had a lot of greatness and it was soooo sexy and cute but not being over the top cute or fluff plus talking while Sneezing like crazy :) and angry guys and sooooooooo cute and I hope you write more this was absolutely amazingly sexy! ^^