Oooh, I'm not the OP, but I love all your thoughts on the prompt. I had a sad thought that maybe the breakup had happened after Joe or Nicky had gotten hurt. Like, someone had targeted Nicky because they knew that Joe loved him, or had realized the two were in love and tried to use that against them. And Joe breaking up with Nicky was intended to "protect" him, but it adds to his heartbreak because he's under the impression that Joe didn't feel as strongly as he did, because he lets Nicky go so easily.