where it all started pt 2

                                    

                                          
It had all begun at around 7pm the night before. The med student had been microwaving a frozen dinner while furiously scribbling notes taken from a heavy textbook. He was stressed for a final coming up so naturally he hadn't been able to get a good night sleep. To say leorio was tense would be an understatement. He jumped at the littlest sounds and would kick and punch walls out of the blue. So you could imagine that when he heard a faint knocking at his apartment's door, he jumped so high that with his already tall stature he bumped his head on the ceiling. 
                          
"Be right there!" he called shakily while rubbing his head with a grimace. Leorio was used to unexpected visits from his peers and the landlord, however the last thing he could've expected was to open the heavy wooden door to see his old friend, Kurapika Kurta, standing timidly in the doorway. 


                          
"Hey"


                          
"Hey?" Leorio took a couple steps back in shock. Hey??! "Hey is all I get after not hearing from you in months?!?!" Leorio seethed with anger. "Do you know how many times I've tried to call or text and do I get an answer back? No! I've been SO fucking  worried Pika!! What the hell!" He felt extremely conflicted between slapping and hugging him. Leorio rubbed his temples, the familiar grimace returning to his face. He let the small blonde in and shut the door behind him. 


                          
"Listen, I'm really sorry ok I should've called but-"
                          
"No no it's ok, I know your busy" he sighed. He surveyed his friend, a lot about his appearance had changed in just the few months that they had been apart. 


                          
Pikas grey eyes seemed deeper and more sunken, along with his cheekbones. His hair was longer and scraggly as opposed to the usually well kept bob. His proud aire was replaced by a hardened unemotional one. He looked sickly and pale, although his eyes remained resilient. Leorio decided on hugging his friend, taking him by surprise. 


                          
"I'm sorry I popped up out of nowhere" Pika said weakly. 


                          
"Stop apologizing." Leorio scolded, "I'm so glad you're here, I should probably clean up," He motioned to the messy surroundings, then to the couch, "Sit there, I'll make you something to drink"


                          
"No no, I shouldn't stay for too long,"


                          
"Then why'd you come?" Leorio lit a match and dropped it on the stove burner. 


                          
"There's a convention going on in Yorknew so I thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing" Kurapika fidgeted with the collar of his dress shirt, presumably something he was issued to wear along with a suit by his employers, the Nostrade family. "I still need to find a hotel and get settled, I just wanted to see you"


                          
Leorio felt himself smile, "you don't need to find a hotel, just stay here!"


                          
Kurapika tried to decline but Leorio persisted. 


                          
"I'll pull out the couch and sleep there, sound good?" 


                          
"No! I'll take the couch. You're the one letting me stay here you should get to keep your room"


                          
"You're the guest, you get the bed. And I'll even make it and dust the crumbs off for you" 


                          
Kurapika solemnly nodded and forced a pained smile, something very unlike him. 


                          
Leorio was worried. He was used to bickering with him over little things for hours on end. They'd been compared to an old married couple many a time, which ticked both of them off. kurapika giving up that easily irritated him a lot. 


                          
Kurapika sighed and collapsed onto the old threadbare couch, taking note of all the stains and spills. 


                          
"Chamomile or green?" Leorio asked.


                          
"Anything will do, thank you."


                          
"Chamomile it is" he brought over two mismatched mugs and set them on a coffee table with piles of paper and notebooks covering its surface. 


                          
"This really means a lot, I'm grateful"


                          
"No need for the formalities, we're best buds aren't we?" Leorio had never payed much heed to his own appearance but with his 'best bud' inspecting him, he felt a bit flushed. He brushed his butterflies off as stress for his upcoming exam. 


                          
"Have you been getting enough sleep? You look tired" Kurapika probed 


                          
"Yeah yeah I'm fine. I could ask you the same though. How are you getting on?" He anticipated a straightforward answer as those were the answers he usually got from Kurapika, however this time he didn't answer, he just sipped his tea. 


                          
"I'm fine"


                          
"Cut the bullshit what's going on?"


                          
"I'm fine"


                          
"Have you been sleeping?"


                          
"Err... kinda"


                          
"Have you been eating?"


                          
"I try to when I have time!"


                          
"When's the last time you got to properly clean yourself?"


                          
"I-um don't remember"


                          
Leorio groaned, "what am I going to do with you?" He grabbed the mug from Kurapikas slender hands, "go take a shower and wash up, I'll make dinner"


                          
The young man glanced at the pile of frozen pizzas and microwave burrito wrappers in the trash bin and scrunched his nose. 


                          
"A real dinner! I promise!" Leorio said exasperated, "now go or you are sleeping on the couch."


                          
Pika gloomily trudged to the bathroom and shut the door. Seconds later, Leorio could hear the water running. 


                          
He smiled before making his way to the kitchen. Even though he had lived alone for nearly two years now, he had never learned how to cook. And tonight he was NOT in his element. He dialed the number of a local Thai restaurant and placed an order while clearing off the coffee table he intending to use as a place to eat on.