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buoyantsaturn · 4 years

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and they were quarantined (1/1)

summary: oh my god they were quarantined

word count: 6547

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Nico was sick of his friends texting him about some pasta shortage in Italy. Haha, very funny, the pasta country is out of pasta, whatever. He was busy, and he didn’t have time to explain the difference between penne lisce and penne rigate - and no, he would never eat penne lisce.

Nobody ever bothered to tell him what the pasta shortage was really about, and he had to find out for himself when he tried to go out to buy a pack of cigarettes and the security guard told him they were under quarantine. How had Nico managed to live through an entire day of quarantine without even realizing? He blamed it on never leaving his apartment. Still, maybe his friends could have sent him a warning text to let him know to stock up for the next however many weeks.

Whatever. He liked being holed up in his apartment, anyway.

Besides, how long could they really trap people inside their homes? A couple of days? He could ration his half-pack of cigarettes for that long, easy.

Nico decided he would let himself have two more cigarettes that night - one before dinner and one before bed - so just as the sun started to set he stepped out onto the balcony with a cigarette between his lips and a lighter in his hands. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag, then leaned back against the balcony rail, choosing to stare back into his apartment rather than at the one across the courtyard from him.

He had about two seconds of peace before someone behind him called out, “You know those things will kill you.”

Nico glanced over his shoulder, noticing for the first time a man on the balcony behind him. “I hear the plague is going to anyway, so I might as well enjoy this while I can.” He turned around and rested his elbows on the railing, mirroring the position of the man across from him. He nearly choked on his next inhale.

The man was beautiful - tan and blond and he probably had at least a foot on Nico. His hair looked like it was glowing, but Nico wondered if that was just because of the sunset - either way, he finally understood why that time of day was called golden hour. The lighting made this handsome stranger look like a Renaissance painting with his perfect face and lopsided smile and his balcony practically overflowing with greenery.

“Well, since we only have a few weeks to live, I’m Will. It’s nice to meet you.” God, even his voice was nice to listen to, the words slow and drawn out with the slightest hint of a southern drawl. Nico could hear the smile in his voice. “I moved in a couple of months ago, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, uh…?”

Nico blew out a breath of smoke. “Nico. I don’t get out much.”

Will’s smile somehow became brighter. “Well, Nico, I hope we get to see more of each other before we succumb to the plague.”

Nico took one last drag before stubbing out his cigarette. “Yeah, see you.”

Two days later, Nico was still rationing his cigarettes with even more care than he was rationing his food. He started taking his smoke breaks at odd times during the day just to curb his cravings, and had definitely started losing sleep from his restlessness. Even still, regardless of when Nico went outside to smoke - as long as the sun was up - Will would be sitting on his own balcony. He was always reading, sometimes from novels, sometimes from textbooks, and he would always greet Nico with a smile.

“You know, I’m glad you’re lessening your nicotine intake, but I gotta say, it kinda sucks that I’m seeing you less and less,” Will told him one morning - earlier than Nico would normally be up, but he’d hardly slept the night before.

Nico choked on his inhale, and coughed before he could reply. “Well, some of us have jobs to get back to.”

Will rested his chin in his palm and grinned - did he ever stop smiling? It was starting to get annoying. Or maybe that was the flutter in Nico’s heart every time he saw it that was annoying him. “And I think you’re running out of cigarettes.”

Nico blew smoke in Will’s direction. “And what about it? It’s not like you’ve got a pack stashed somewhere that you could give me.”

“No, but I can give you some coping strategies for when you run out.”

Nico stubbed out his cigarette on the railing. “Thanks, but no thanks. I can cope just fine on my own.”

“I’ll be here if you change your mind!”

Nico offered him a two-fingered salute before he turned on his heel and went back inside.

Okay, so, Nico did not bring his laptop out onto the balcony that night just because Will sounded lonely. It was warm for once , and there was a full moon, and Nico can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, okay? Except for, apparently, leave his apartment to buy more cigarettes.

He also was not repeatedly glancing over at Will’s apartment to see if he was coming outside - as far as Nico could tell, most of Will’s lights had been shut off, and he feared that he might have missed his chance to talk to Will some more (except that he had no intention of doing so anyway, so shut up about it).

Just when he was getting back into the swing of things on his current project, he heard the distant sound of a sliding door opening, and then Will’s voice saying, “Oh, sure, you bring your work to me just as I’m heading to bed.”

“Who says I brought my work to you? Maybe I just wanted a change of scenery,” Nico argued. He glanced up to get a look at Will - he’d changed into a loose t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. Cute. It kind of made Nico wonder why Will ever bothered to change out of his pajamas, since he clearly wasn’t going anywhere, and if he could look that soft and comfortable and adorable all the time, then why wouldn’t he?

Will hummed. “I suppose that’s possible, but I just think it’s interesting that you finally brought your laptop outside after mentioning just a few hours ago that you had work to do. So, looking for company?”

“Like I said, I just wanted a change of scenery,” Nico lied.

“Sure you did.” Will took a seat in the singular lawn chair he had on his own balcony and angled it so that he could stare up at the moon when he propped his feet up on the rail. “Don’t you wish you could have a little more human interaction?”

“I thrive in solidarity.”

Will snorted. “You’re funny.”

Nico looked at him with a confused pout. He barely stopped himself from asking, Are you flirting with me? because he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know the answer. Instead, he tried to find some way to change the subject before Will beat him to it.

“So, what are you doing, anyway?”

“Huh?”

“You’re working, right? What do you do?”

Oh, thank god, an easy topic. Nico hardly had to think if he was just talking about work. “I’m a graphic designer. Freelance. And to answer your earlier question, again, I have more than enough human interaction over email. And trust me, if you had to talk to these people every day, you’d isolate yourself, too.”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Will replied. His head rolled to the side so that he could look at Nico as he spoke. “I’m too much of a people-person.”

“Oh. So quarantine must be killing you, then,” Nico said before he could just shove his actual foot in his mouth.

“Eh, only a little bit. See, I have this neighbor that comes to talk to me sometimes.”

When Nico looked up, Will was grinning at him once again. “Oh, you mean me.”

Will’s laugh was musical. Nico didn’t even know what that meant but he knew that was the only way to describe it. It gave Nico goosebumps - or maybe that was just the cool breeze. “Yes, I mean you. Seriously, it’s like everybody else in this building likes being cooped up all the time. I think I’ve spent more time outside than in over the last few days, and aside from you, I think only one person has even opened a window.”

“What do you do?”

“Oh, water my plants, read until I can’t see straight--”

“No, not that,” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “I mean, like, what do you do? Like, for work.”

“Oh! I’m a med student. Yeah, classes usually take up almost all of my day, so I’m paying the rent here on my student loans, which I know isn’t great, but it’s better than being twenty-five and living in a dorm somewhere.”

Nico tried to do the math in his head - did doctors go to school for seven years, or eight? “So, you’re basically a doctor, right?”

“Almost!” Will shot Nico another grin. “This is supposed to be my last semester, but with schools shut down, it’s hard to say if they’ll let me graduate yet. Which sucks, because it’s stuff like this that made me want to become a doctor, you know? I just wish I could be out there helping people, instead of getting stuck in quarantine, all alone. Seriously, I think I might’ve gone crazy already if it weren’t for you.”

“It’s been, what, three days? I don’t think it works like that.”

“Okay, maybe not, but the only other interactions I’ve had in the past couple of days have been virtual lectures, and that hardly counts.”

“Oh, gross.”

Will chuckled. “Yeah, that’s one word for it.” There was a short pause, and after that moment of silence, Will rose to his feet with a sigh. “Well, I really should head to bed.”

“Why?” Nico glanced at the corner of his laptop screen. “It’s not even ten o’clock.”

Will leaned his elbows on the rail. “Yeah, but I have lectures starting at eight, and I need to make sure I’m awake enough to pay attention by the time those start. I should let you get back to work, anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow, Nico.”

As Will returned inside, Nico’s gaze dropped back to his laptop screen. It had gone black a while ago when the computer fell asleep, and Nico didn’t bother waking it back up. He had just come out there for Will, anyway.

Nico only saw Will in passing the next day. He saw Will watering his plants just as Nico was waking up, but was back inside his own apartment by the time Nico had stepped out onto his balcony.

He didn’t have any company as he smoked his last cigarette.

He thought a lot of his symptoms were mostly psychosomatic - just the simple knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to have a cigarette the next day was keeping him up at night, leaving him too tired to concentrate on his work all morning. By noon, he had a dull headache at the base of his skull, and he couldn’t really tell if he was hungry or nauseous, so rather than trying to figure it out, he decided to get some fresh air. Maybe talking to Will would lift his mood a little.

Nico stepped out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of fresh air, and immediately started coughing. Just because he hadn’t smoked in around eighteen hours didn’t mean his lungs were back to normal.

“You alright?” a voice called out to him, and Nico offered his middle finger before he realized that it was probably Will.

Once he stopped coughing, Nico muttered a, “Sorry,” that Will likely couldn’t hear. It was the thought that counted, right?

“You know, it’s a cough like that that should be enough to convince you to quit,” Will said, sounding like his mind was somewhere else. When Nico looked over, his nose was buried in a textbook. “That is, if the quarantine doesn’t force you to quit, first.”

Nico rolled his eyes. Was Will always this annoying, and Nico never noticed because he was too distracted by a pretty face? “Okay, never mind.” He turned on his heel and stepped back inside.

“Wait, Nico, come back!” Will called just before Nico shut the door between them. This time when he flipped Will off, he meant it.

A few hours later, after a meal and a nap, Nico went back outside to apologize. Don’t get him wrong, he still felt like garbage and his headache was somehow even worse than before, but he knew that Will didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Just because Nico was an asshole didn’t mean that he should take it out on an innocent guy.

He stepped out onto the balcony and hissed when the sun hit his eyes, aggravating his headache.

“You look like shit,” Will told him, and something about the tone of his voice made Nico feel even worse - there was no concern, none of the usual cheerfulness that Will usually expressed to Nico. It sounded more like he was forcing himself to stay calm, remain neutral, as if he was guarding himself against Nico. And if that didn’t make Nico feel worse.

Nico groaned and leaned against the railing, crossing his arms and resting his forehead on them. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Will asked, his voice betraying his surprise.

Nico groaned louder. “You know.”

“No, I don’t.” Will frowned at him as he stood. “Are you sick? Do you have a fever? A cough?”

“I ran out of cigarettes.”

“Aw, Spooky,” Will said. “How are you feeling? How can I help?”

Nico lifted his head. “What did you just call me?”

And there was Will’s smile again, so bright it hurt Nico’s eyes to look at. “Spooky. You know, you scared me half to death a couple of times when you came out to smoke because you’re so quiet. I looked up and you were just there. You spooked me, get it?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’re so funny.”

“Thank you. So, what’s up?”

He sighed and rubbed at his temples. “Headache, mostly.”

“Did you take anything for it?”

“Took a nap.”

Will snorted. “I meant, like, Tylenol.”

“Oh. No.”

“You should do that. And drink a lot of water. I’m gonna look up what I can do to help.”

Nico walked back inside and poured himself a glass of water before he started searching through his cabinets for painkillers. When he couldn’t find anything in the kitchen, he went into the bathroom, but still didn’t have any luck. He took his glass of water outside and told Will, “I don’t have any Tylenol.”

“You don’t? Hang on, I’ll get you some.” Will jumped up from his seat and practically ran back into his apartment, returning in less than a minute. “Hey, Spooks, catch.”

Suddenly, something was flying at Nico’s face, and he barely had the time to duck before the pill bottle hit the back of his chair. “What the hell, Will?”

“I said catch!”

“I’m gay, I can’t catch!”

“Sorry, I didn’t know!”

Nico picked up the bottle. “Isn’t this, like, cross-contamination, or something? We’re breaking quarantine code right now.”

“I’m sure this is fine. I mean, have you seen those videos of people all over the world, hanging out on their balconies?” Will asked. “They’re all, like, two feet apart from each other. There’s no way they aren’t sharing things like this. If it makes you feel better, you can keep the bottle.”

“But what if you need it?”

“I think you need it more than I do.” Will shrugged. “Besides, just knowing that you’re feeling better will help me.”

Nico turned all of his attention to the pill bottle in his hands so that he didn’t have to look at the smile on Will’s face. He had to be flirting this time, right? He popped open the bottle and tossed a couple pills in his mouth, chasing them down with water. He kept his gaze down as he asked, “So, you said you were looking up ways to help?”

“Oh, yeah!” Will dropped himself back into his seat and picked up his laptop. “So, pretty much the only thing that will for-sure help you ease off of cigarettes is, like, a nicotine patch or nicotine gum, but since we can’t leave, that’s not really an option. The next best idea I’ve seen is basically to find a replacement for your addiction.”

“What’s really stopping me from walking out of this building right now to just buy more cigarettes?”

Will raised a hand and started to count on his fingers. “Me, I’m guessing there’s still a security guard in the lobby, the patrol cars on the streets, and the fact that the nearest stores are almost definitely shut down.”

Nico sighed. “Alright, fine, I’ll do your dumb addiction replacement thing. How do I do that?”

“You just need to find a healthier addiction, or, like, anytime you get a craving, do one specific activity. This website has a few ideas. Let’s see… Can’t really go for a walk, can’t run errands, can’t go to the gym… You could take a nap, clean your apartment, take a shower, or… Picture the future, smoke-free you, and bask in how much better you’ll feel once you achieve your goal.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I think I’ll risk the patrol cars.”

Nico spent a lot of time working to make up for all the time he spent zoned out when he was supposed to be working. He couldn’t exactly take a shower every time he wanted a cigarette, and he could only clean his apartment so many times in a day, so rather than finding some replacement like Will suggested, he just tried to force himself to work.

He emailed a few clients and reviewed a few of his half-finished projects, trying to decide which one to continue with when he heard a tink, tink sound coming from his balcony.

Nico looked over to see something hitting the window of his sliding glass door. He stood up, leaving his laptop on his desk as he went to investigate. He opened the door to find a small collection of pebbles scattered across his balcony, and looked up to see Will digging through one of his potted plants.

“Were you throwing rocks at my window?”

Will’s head popped up, and he grinned when he saw Nico. “Spooky! Yeah, and it’s a good thing you noticed, because I think I’m out of rocks.”

“Did you need something?”

“It’s my lunch break, and I was hoping for some company,” Will told him. “So? Think you’ve earned a break yet today?”

Nico considered the few emails he’d sent and the handful he had yet to even open and decided, “Give me five minutes.”

Will warned him that insomnia would be another symptom of nicotine withdrawal, and it unfortunately paired nicely with Nico’s usual insomnia, leaving him awake most of the night yet without any energy to work. When he finally eventually passed out, he hardly even noticed that he wasn’t still awake, because his dream seemed so realistic.

He was standing in his kitchen, washing the dishes he’d ignored the entire day before. He didn’t consider that this even could have been a dream, because he’d never had a dream that was so boring. If he hadn’t already been asleep, then the monotony of washing dishes probably would have knocked him right out.

Then, something...changed. He felt more relaxed, somehow, and he thought there might have been some soft music playing from somewhere else in the apartment. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the door to the balcony was open - maybe the music was coming from Will’s apartment. Maybe Nico should say hello.

Before he could move, someone was standing behind him, arms looping around his waist and a chin resting on his shoulder. “Aw, Spooks, you didn’t have to do the dishes,” Will said, pressing his lips to the side of Nico’s neck as he spoke. “You made dinner, you should’ve let me clean up.”

Nico didn’t reply - couldn’t seem to open his mouth - but Will didn’t mind. He gently tugged Nico away from the sink, across the apartment and out onto the balcony. “Come dance with me,” Will said as they stepped outside.

The balcony was so crowded by chairs and plants that the two of them could barely stand together, and a quick glance across the courtyard revealed Will’s empty balcony.

Will spun Nico around to face him, and Nico was finally able to get a good look at him, though something wasn’t quite right. He didn’t have enough freckles, or maybe his hair wasn’t parted to the right side. And was Will really that much taller than him?

“You know, I don’t think I’d mind getting stuck here with you again,” Will whispered, leaning down to rest his forehead against Nico’s. “Except this time it’ll be even better, since I get to touch you--” Will brushed his fingers against Nico’s cheek, “--and hold you--” his other arm tightened around Nico’s waist, “--and kiss you--” and he pressed his lips to Nico’s, and Nico could feel the pressure of the kiss, and he felt the heat of Will’s breath so close to him, and Nico woke up.

He couldn’t manage to pull himself out of bed for another hour, and when he finally did, he went straight out onto the balcony. Will wasn’t there, but all of his plants crowded his balcony, leaving Nico’s bare aside from his single lawn chair and the small scattering of pebbles. Nico picked up one of the rocks, rolling it in his hand as he decided whether or not he wanted to throw it, but the sound of a glass door sliding open made up his mind for him.

Will stepped outside and asked, “Hey, Spooks, what’s up?”

Nico hesitated. Did he really want to talk about this, with Will of all people? “Does withdrawal give you...weird dreams?”

Will leaned against his railing. “A lot of things supposedly give you weird dreams. What happened?”

Nico felt his face heating up, so he dropped his gaze to look down at the courtyard below them. “It was just...really real. Like, I could hear music and... feel things. I don’t think I’ve ever felt in a dream before.”

Will hummed. “It might be the nicotine, it might not.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was prophetic.”

Nico felt himself flush.

“Do you think we could talk more later? I’ve got a paper to write, but… Lunch around noon, twelve-thirty?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be here.”

A thunderstorm rolled in late that morning, leaving Nico to hope that the pounding rain would cease by lunchtime. However, by the time his stomach started to growl, it sounded as though the rain had picked up even more, and Nico’s heart sunk. He got up and made himself some lunch to eat at his desk as he continued to work, and on his way back to his desk, he peeked out the window at Will’s balcony.

His plants had all been pulled away from the railing and closer to the building, probably so they didn’t get destroyed in the heavy rain. Taped on the inside of Will’s door was a piece of paper with a frowny face and a phone number written underneath.

Nico texted the number with a simple, hey.

From: Unknown; Spooky?

Nico smiled down at his phone, his thumbs already firing off a response.

“I miss... oh man, my Mama’s homemade fried chicken,” Will said, dropping his head back against his chair. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I would kill for some fried chicken right now.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for the fried food type,” Nico told him. He kicked his feet up on the railing as he stretched back in his own chair, staring up at the cloudy sky.

“I’m Texan born and raised, baby,” Will said, his voice taking on a deep Southern drawl that had Nico’s ears burning. “My Mama could make a whole meal out of fried foods and it would be the best thing you’ve ever eaten. And the cornbread.” Will rubbed his hands over his face, and when he spoke again, the accent disappeared as if he’d wiped it away. “God, I just wish I could eat anything that I didn’t make for myself. I’m kind of a horrible cook.”

Nico tilted his head to watch Will between the rails. “When the quarantine is over, you should come over for dinner. I’ll cook you one of my favorites from when I was a kid.”

Will looked over at him and grinned. “It’s a date.”

The only alcohol Nico had on hand was Fireball, meaning that every few minutes he found his lips burning and tongue numb from the cinnamon-alcohol mix and Will’s dumb idea to play drinking games. He didn’t know when the game was supposed to end - and he didn’t really want to drink the entire bottle in one sitting - but at least he’d gotten to know some interesting things about Will after he’d gotten tipsy enough to test the waters.

“Never have I ever kissed a girl,” Nico said, smirking when Will took a sip of his own - Captain Morgan, which he was drinking out of a cup, because he was apparently too civilized to drink straight from the bottle.

“Never have I ever kissed a boy,” Will shot back, and Nico frowned as he drank, his heart sinking at the thought that he would probably never have a chance with Will, until the blond lifted his cup to his lips and took a drink. “I lied,” he said with a smirk of his own.

“Cheater. Never have I ever...uh, I dunno, willingly watched a reality TV show.”

“Never? Really? But some of them are so good! And some of them are so dumb that they’re really fun to watch! We should watch one together!”

“How would we do that when we’re, like, fifteen feet apart?”

Will thought for a second. “You have Netflix, right?” When Nico nodded, Will continued, “Go get your laptop, we’re watching Queer Eye.”

“Is that technically a reality show?”

“I think so. It’s real people, right? Why, have you seen it?” Nico shook his head. “Then let’s go!” Will jumped up and ran back into his apartment, so Nico did the same, returning to the balcony after a moment and settling back down. Will reappeared a moment later with his own laptop and said, “Okay, we’re just gonna start with the first episode, and I’m gonna count us down from three to hit play. Are you ready?”

Once Nico had the episode up and ready to go, he said, “Ready.”

“Okay. Three… Two… One… Play!” Nico hit the play button and the episode started, but across the courtyard, Will exclaimed, “Oh no, it’s buffering!”

Nico paused the video right away. “We just gotta give it time to load. What do you wanna do while we wait?”

Will set his laptop on the ground and leaned his elbows on the railing, so Nico did the same. “Questions. Where did you grow up?”

“Born in Italy, grew up in Los Angeles. What’s your favorite candy?”

Will hummed. “Almond Joy. Same question.”

Nico wrinkled his nose up at Will’s answer. “Um, Snickers.”

“Oh!” Will jumped out of his chair. “I think I have some Snickers! Hang on a second.” Will ran back inside, leaving Nico to stare in his windows and watch him move around until he returned with a shiny wrapper in his hand. “Okay, I lied, it’s not Snickers. It’s Twix.”

“Oh my god, I lied, Twix is actually my favorite,” Nico said, eyes widening.

“Okay, this is for you, Nico,” Will said, swinging his arm gently as though winding up for an underhand toss. He threw the candy, but the arc was too high, and it ended up landing on the roof. “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. I’ll buy you another one after quarantine, I promise.”

Nico was torn between mourning his lost Twix and laughing at Will’s horrible throw, but the alcohol that was really starting to hit him decided for him and he almost fell over from the force of his laughter. “That was horrible! I’m gay and I can throw better than that!”

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try!” Will taunted.

“I don’t have anything to throw!”

“Then I guess I win.”

Nico frowned down at the rail of his own balcony, then at the distance between the two. “I’ll just throw myself then.”

He managed to lift a leg over the railing before Will stopped him. “Nico, stop, it’s too far and we’re on the third floor. You’ll die. And I don’t want my Spooky turning into a scary skeleton just yet.”

Nico rolled his eyes, still straddling the railing. “Please, I bet you’re used to guys throwing themselves at you all the time, how is this any different?”

“Because you’re talking in, like, metaphor or something, but this is literal, and you could literally die.”

Nico huffed and pulled himself back over the rail, losing his balance right at the end and falling into his chair. “Alright, fine, I won’t throw myself at you. I get it, you’re not interested. Let’s just watch the dumb show then.”

“Who said I wasn’t interested?”

It took Nico more than a few moments to process Will’s words, and when he finally did, he looked up at Will with wide eyes. “Oh.”

Oh.

Nico’s friends had set up a full day to connect and play video games, which left him stuck on the couch for the entire morning as Percy, Jason, and whoever else happened to jump into the server shouted about their gameplay. Through all the noise of button clicking and his friends’ exclamations, Nico didn’t hear his phone buzzing on the couch beside him and missed a few texts from Will.

When his phone started ringing, Nico didn’t even think about it when he answered the call and immediately put it on speaker phone so that he could play hands-free - and, unfortunately, allow his friends to hear their conversation.

“Hey, Spooky, where are you?” Will asked.

“Who is that?” Jason asked through Nico’s laptop.

“Who the hell is Spooky?” Percy demanded.

“Shut up,” Nico told them, and tried to turn toward his phone without taking his eyes off his screen to say to Will, “Sorry, Will, I’m playing this--”

“Who’s Will?” Jason asked.

“I said shut up!”

“Um, are you coming outside for lunch?”

“Neeks, are you breaking quarantine?” Percy said.

“Dude, Hazel will kill you if she finds out,” Jason agreed.

“I’m not breaking quarantine--”

“We can just hang out later…”

“Will, hold on a second--”

“Aw, Jas, I think we’re interrupting a date!”

Nico glared at his laptop. “It’s not--”

“Just, uh, text me later when you’re not busy, okay, Spooks?”

“Will, wait-- ” Nico glanced down at his phone, but the screen flashed call ended. “Dammit! Okay, when I find the two of you, I’m going to shoot you both to death.”

“Dude, are you ditching your boyfriend for us?” Jason asked.

“He’s not-- Shut up! Let me kill you so I can go eat lunch.”

Percy sang, “With your boyfriend!” before Nico emptied his gun into Percy’s character. “Shit!”

“Jason, get your ass over here so I can kill you!”

Chasing Jason around the map and finally killing him took about ten minutes, which was probably the best Jason had ever played in his life, and only succeeded in frustrating Nico even more. He left the game abandoned in the living room as he ran out onto the balcony, afraid that if he waited even another second, Will might disappear.

He exhaled his nerves when he saw Will sitting on his balcony, glumly eating a salad. He glanced up when Nico shut the door behind himself, but quickly dropped his gaze back to his salad. “Hey. How are your friends?” he asked, angrily stabbing at his salad.

Nico couldn’t stop a smile from blooming. “Are you jealous that I was playing dumb video games with some losers from high school instead of talking with you?”

Will’s cheeks grew red. “I’m not jealous--”

“It’s okay if you are, ‘cause it’s kinda cute.” Will’s head shot up, and this time, it was Nico’s turn to blush. “That’s not… I didn’t really mean--” Nico averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his neck. “Um. How was your morning?”

Will stood, setting his bowl aside, and stepped up to the rail. “You know, maybe I was a little jealous after all.”

Nico glanced up. “Oh?”

“Mhm. I mean, if that’s what it takes for you to call me cute, I can act as jealous as you want.”

Nico grinned. “I think you’re cute either way.”

Nico didn’t know what time it was, but he guessed that it had to be past midnight considering how high the moon was and how far the temperature had dropped. At some point, he and Will had each abandoned their chairs in favor of sitting on the balcony floors, leaning back against the uncomfortable railing so they could stretch out and look up at the stars as they shared quiet conversation.

Will sighed. “You know, I could really go for a hug right now. Or, like, any physical contact with another human being would be nice.”

“A stiff handshake after a boring business meeting,” Nico offered.

Will snorted. “Okay, you got me there. But… Just think about it for a second. I love talking to you, Nico, don’t get me wrong, but… Imagine, instead of sitting fifteen feet away from each other, both behind bars like we’re prisoners in our own homes--”

“Which we are.”

“For our own safety, let me finish!” Will scolded, laughing. When he spoke again, his voice was much, much softer - not in the sense that he was hard to hear, but in a way that made Nico’s heart melt and ache and nearly pound out of his chest all at the same time. “Imagine we’re… sitting on a couch, next to each other. Maybe we’re watching a movie, or maybe we’re just...enjoying each other’s company, you know? We’re holding hands, or...maybe I’ve got an arm around your shoulders. I wish I could just...wrap my arms around you, and hold you close. That just sounds...really nice right now, don’t you think?”

If Will didn’t stop talking to him like that, Nico was going to fall in love with him.

Or maybe he would anyway.

How did he get to the point where this man who was an actual stranger just two weeks ago was pulling at Nico’s heartstrings in a way that made him want to jump off his balcony just in the hopes that he might reach all the way across the courtyard, and damn his touch aversion because he would give Will all the hugs he could ever want and more.

But instead of doing any of that, Nico sat on his balcony, staring longingly at that not-quite-stranger across from him, and swallowed around a lump of emotion in his throat. He croaked, “Yeah, that sounds...nice.”

Nico took his lunch out onto the balcony, but after half an hour of waiting, Will never showed. He tried texting Will a few times, and when he didn’t receive a response, he searched his balcony for those pebbles Will had thrown at his windows all those days ago and tried his own hand. He missed, mostly, but one or two or them hit as far as he could tell, so he counted it as a win. Except for the fact that Will still didn’t appear.

He brought his laptop out onto the balcony to do some work while he waited for Will to come outside, and stared at his screen for nearly an hour, periodically checking his phone for texts that didn’t come. When he finally paused to take in the day around him - the warm weather and the sun shining down on him - he heard something he hadn’t heard in quite a long time.

There were people walking down the street. He could hear cars on the road, the distant honking of horns. There were people out there, and Nico was still stuck inside his own apartment.

He checked his group chats, and sure enough, the most recent texts were in celebration of the end of quarantine.

His heart leapt at the realization that he could finally leave, he could finally see Will with less than fifteen feet between them, and just as quickly as the thoughts filled his head, the dread followed.

Will hadn’t been answering his texts, and probably for good reason. He had only been spending his time with Nico because there was no one else around to talk to. He hadn’t really been flirting at all - he was just nice and funny and made Nico fall in love with him only to break his heart the next day.

So instead of thinking about Will, Nico went back to work. At his desk. With the curtains shut.

And he still couldn’t make himself work.

After nearly an hour of staring at his computer screen, Nico gave up. He stood from his desk, grabbed his wallet and keys and started toward the door. He needed a cigarette.

Then, there was a knock on his door. Probably just someone from building management stopping by to let him know that he wouldn’t be held captive any longer and that he was free to come and go as he pleased. Well. He’d rather stay inside, thank you.

On the other side was Will - tall and blond and freckled and beautiful - with his hands held behind his back and the brightest smile on his face.

“Hey, there, Spooky,” Will said, and revealed his hands, which held a small bag of fun-sized Twix bars. “I got you something.”

“What are you doing here?” Nico asked, his thoughts and doubts once again fighting for dominance in his head.

“I believe you promised me a post-quarantine dinner date,” Will told him, and held out his arms. “Well, here I am!”

Nico took a hesitant step forward, then another, and then his hands were on Will’s cheeks, guiding him into a kiss - short and sweet, leaving no time to overthink or question himself. He didn’t even let himself pull away, instead choosing to wrap his arms around Will and hide his face in Will’s chest.

Will’s arms closed around him, comforting and warm, and while Nico tensed up at first, he relaxed almost immediately.

“You were right,” Nico whispered, tightening his hold.

“About what?” Will asked, pressed his lips into Nico’s hair.

“I didn’t really get it at the time, but… This human contact thing is pretty nice after all.”

Will grinned. “Just wait until we get to cuddling.”

thanks for reading!!

buy me a coffee to get me through quarantine?

#solangelo #will solace #nico di angelo #mine #my writing

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nicostolemybones · 4 years

Text

3 Days + 1: Plus 1

Solangelo Spring Ball 2020 collab with @solangelover

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Linking all these together so make sure you reblog the linked posts, also please go check out my collab partners works! Also posted to ao3, and also FF.N for my collab partner.

@solangeloweek

Will didn't get back until morning, and Nico felt a little empty. He hadn't gotten to get to know Will as much as he'd have hoped to, and whilst he was happy at the prospect of being let out of this place, he'd kinda miss Will's company. He hadn't fully processed why he was so drawn to Will until he'd realised the skeletal butterflies were more than just social anxiety, and now? Now Nico had one mood and that mood was gay panic.

Because now, in order to interact with Will, he'd actually have to approach him, and if there was one thing guaranteed to make Nico go non-verbal, it was approaching people. And Nico would probably freak out and kill all the plants out of nervousness anyway, so, he was thoroughly screwed and isolated if he left the infirmary today. So that left him with the crazy plan of pretending to still be sick or injured, but, that was crazy and obsessive and Will would know he was faking it anyway, so, Nico was doomed to admiring the cute kind guy from afar, and whilst being friends with the cute guy with feelings involved probably would have gotten messy in the long run, the cute guy was still a genuinely kind person Nico would like to have been good friends with, but no, he was destined to be lonely, of course.

Nico took a deep breath. Over thinking his gay panic really didn't work out well, ever.

By this point, he was sitting up in the hospital bed hoping to keep his hospital pyjamas after he was discharged, but also desperately hoping that he wasn't discharged or that Will would maybe wanna spend some time with him. He doubted it, but he still craved it, of course.

It was several hours before Will bounced into the infirmary with a bright grin and a bright glow and an even brighter smile- seriously, just what was this guy putting on his teeth they shined- Nico huffed, realising he hadn't seen a dentist in years, and, much to his chagrin, Will was carrying several leaflets about root canals, fillings, extractions, and braces. You admit to having a dental abscess once and suddenly hot boys want to poke around in your mouth with pointy drills.

"No," Nico said with a warning scowl, but Will beamed at him, his own blue rhinestone braces showing, and honestly? Nico would let this boy take his kidney if he asked. "Okay, fine," Nico relented, fixing Will with a playful glare, "but I want black ones fitted."

"Cool!" Will beamed, "we'll get you booked in for next week for your extractions! Then the root canals, then the fillings, and finally braces!"

"Joy(!)" Nico rolled his eyes, picking at an itchy patch of acne on his cheek. Will had quite a few acne scars on his, although he was also currently going through an acne flare-up right now too.

"So! Are you ready to be discharged today? I just gotta sort out your prescription and book you in for check-ups, then you can go!"

"Can't wait," Nico said with a grin, and Will smiled back, dumping all the leaflets on the hospital table.

"I, will be right back!" Will announced, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "You should get changed, I won't be very long! smell you later!" Nico snorted and rolled his eyes, watching Will leave before letting out a frustrated huff. He supposed he should probably do as he was told and get dressed without arguments.

Will didn't take long to return, as promised, holding a bag of medications for Nico. "Okay, all that's left to sort out now is your discharge papers," Will said, "then I'll process them and book your future appointments, and you can go. You never have to see me again!"

Nico didn't pick up on Will's joking tone effectively, frowning. "Or maybe we could… see each other outside of the infirmary and hang out together?"

Will flushed darkly, a blotchy wine blush spreading over his now ruddy cheeks. Nico cringed internally- he'd gone way too far in asking to be friends, and he'd almost definitely creeped Will out by now, no doubt about it. "Uh- I'd love to! It's a date! I, uh, didn't realise you were into me too, otherwise I'd have asked you out a lot sooner!"

Wait. What? Nico almost corrected him by saying he'd meant as friends, before the smart part of his brain, thankfully, shut him up and prevented him from doing so. He'd just accidentally asked out Will Solace, who had confessed that he'd wanted to ask Nico out first. Nico wasn't going to screw that up now. No way. "It's a date," Nico confirmed, turning a dark cherry puce at the realisation that he'd just rather embarrassingly accidentally asked his crush out, and that now, apparently, he had a date with a boy.

It didn't take very long for Will to sort out all the appropriate paperwork, and he was rather endearingly smitten with Nico, generally more relaxed around him, save for the bright glow. Nico was going to need sunglasses, it seemed. It was… really cute, actually.

Nico had to leave, though- after all, he had a date to plan on a whim, so, with the hope of pulling off some miracle, he told Will to meet him in the strawberry fields before dinner. Will, of course, gladly accepted it, and Nico silently congratulated himself for being smooth.

He headed to his cabin first, pacing around. He needed an idea… a picnic? That was romantic, and Will loved picnics. Maybe Nico could cook and bake, could leave the food on the hot plate and pull it out of the shadows, a private, romantic dinner date, but in the casual format of a non-pressured picnic. That… was actually a good plan, Nico mused. He could totally pull that off, no problem. He just needed a suit, something he could bother his father about, of course.

Will was beyond excited. He'd been on dates before, of course. He'd dated two others in the past, although one girl found him too intense and was pretty biphobic to him, one boy was only in it to date a doctor, and the agender person he dated had to move away. So whilst Will had been on dates before, he was a little nervous of things going wrong.

Which lead him to his current predicament. His siblings had evacuated the cabin and left him alone. Usually he'd love the prospect of being completely alone for a while with no siblings in the cabin and no interruptions to whatever alone time activity he decided to do in that time, but this time, they'd evacuated the cabin because he'd screeched and squealed and stressed so much about his date that they'd decided to simply leave him to it.

Will had the entire contents of his wardrobe strewn across his bed, had tried on the same outfits several times, and had screamed into the void. He wanted to look cute, and babey, but also hot and handsome. He had so many pastel clothes and he could look pretty adorable in them, but again, he wanted to be hot, and Nico would probably be all dressed up. But, then again, being his authentic self was best.

He usually wore clothes that clashed, purely because he could, and he wanted to, so he did. He picked out a pastel lilac hoodie, a little oversized, and some pastel pink and blue jeans where one leg was pink and the other was blue. He figured he looked pretty bi, and he put on some pastel mint trainers to top off his look. He was dressed casually, but more presentable than usual, like he'd made the effort but also like he felt comfortable to be himself too.

He looked to his hair. He had natural curls, although he looked after them terribly- they were salt damaged from all his time spent in the sea at the beach, and he didn't take care of them beyond shampoo- and, unfortunately, dry shampoo more than actual shampoo. So his hair was full of split ends, rougher to the touch then they should have been, and being as he rarely brushed it, he usually had to spend some time working out matts with his detangle spray, which really wasn't made for curly hair and honestly made it ten times worse.

He wasn't very gentle when he brushed it, either, so he ended up with a sore scalp and a palmful of hair, wondering how the hell Nico's curls were back to looking beautiful again after so much damage.

It had to be witchcraft, Will was sure of it.

He wanted the date to go well, badly, and he didn't want to be running late, so he hurried as quick as he could to get ready. He hoped that he was a good date for Nico, because he really liked him, and he kinda really wanted to impress him. He grabbed his stim toy, counting down the minutes until he'd be meeting Nico, except they'd set a vague time, so Will figured he'd give it about half an hour.

Nico cursed loudly, pulling his hand back. He really should not have stuck his hand on the ring to make sure that it was hot enough. He shook his hand, quickly running it under cold water before glaring at the hob as though it could possibly comprehend what it had just done to him enough to feel guilty for it.

He returned to the stove nonetheless, and fixated like a mad scientist on perfecting his food- it had to be perfect. This was a date, and Nico was Italian, dammit, and he'd had to threaten the Stolls not to give him penne lisce because he needed tagliatelle for this and he refused to touch penne lisce with a ten foot pole. That didn't mean he was particularly good at cooking though, so he'd had to rope in some help in the form of Percy, who helped his mom with the cooking and cooked a lot for Annabeth. He picked it up pretty quickly, though, once he'd figured out how to use an oven. Time was ticking away, so Nico quickly went to get changed whilst Percy watched the stove for him.

His dad had, thankfully, sent him a suit to wear, simple black with a dark red shirt and a black bow tie, which Nico had to go and fetch Reyna to help him with. Needless to say, she was a little surprised at his impromptu shadow travelling into her bathroom, being as she was showering at the time, so that had certainly been awkward, but she helped him with the knot and an offer to gut Will like a fish in the event that he mess up, so he quickly shadow travelled back ready for his date.

He managed to plate it up on his own, placing the food on a hot plate to keep it warm, before shadow travelling to the strawberry fields ready for his date. Will wasn't here yet, which gave Nico the opportunity to lay out a picnic blanket and make the area look presentable. He radiated a slight death aura just to keep the ants away, and lighted a candle or two which he kept weighed down to make sure that he didn't accidentally set Will on fire. After all, that would be a terrible first date experience, for both of them.

He was anxious about whether Will would change his mind or not, whether somebody would see him on a date with a boy before he was fully out. He had an irrational fear that this was all an elaborate practical joke, the kind girls at camp had played on him before, only designed to mock and ridicule his sexuality, but then he reminded himself that Will wasn't like that, and besides, he wanted this with his whole being, so of course, he didn't regret his plan and he vowed to himself that he wouldn't regret it even if Will didn't show up.

Will did show up.

And he was breathtaking.

Will couldn't believe his luck. Nico looked… he looked stunning. He looked nervous too, smoothing his hair back and flushing puce, but he was in a suit, an expensive looking suit for a picnic. Will almost felt underdressed, but he could see in Nico's eyes that Nico found him beautiful. Will couldn't doubt that he did when the boy looked at him with such gentle affection and awe.

Will sat down slowly, a blotchy blush spreading down his cheeks as he noticed how the rest of the world seemed to fade away, the strawberry plants providing a nice level of cover and shade without making the space feel too closed in. Will was about to ask about the food when Nico reached into the shadows and pulled out a plate of pasta, placing it in front of William before grabbing his own, and Will decided that this was already the best picnic he'd ever had.

"You made a romantic meal for a picnic?" Will asked with a shy blush, and Nico nodded with a half shrug.

"I wanted our first date to be special and memorable," Nico said, looking down shyly, "you're the first guy I've ever… been on a date with, and I want it to be memorable."

"It's amazing, Nico," Will replied gently, "best date I've ever been on already."

"What if you decide I'm weird or creepy," Nico asked nervously, and Will shook his head adamantly.

"You're a human being," Will replied, "and my friend, and hopefully maybe more, and if I found you creepy, I wouldn't be sitting here now."

"I…ve never had a- a boyfriend before," Nico added nervously, fiddling with his fingers and looking up slowly, and oh… gods, Will melted.

"We can figure it out, together," Will said softly, reaching over nervously to brush his hand against Nico's. Nico pushed lightly against his hand in reciprocation, and Will brushed Nico's knuckles with the back of his hand, blushing at the little gasp that Nico let out from the sensation.

Will decided to be a little bolder, curling his fingers around Nico's own until their palms were pressed together. Nico looked down at their hands, and then up at Will, and it was clear in his awestruck expression that he wasn't used to this kind of affection. Will squeezed his hand, watching the puce blush on Nico's cheeks spread down his neck. Will leaned in a little closer, gently kissing his cheek, but hesitating before he pulled back. He stayed close, eyes searching Nico's face for some sign of consent.

If Will was honest, he'd never had his first kiss, and he hoped it wasn't too soon but he really wanted to kiss Nico, providing Nico wanted to kiss him too, of course. He chickened out, clearing his throat awkwardly and finally turning his attention back to his food.

He immediately noticed how it was most certainly home cooked, because it looked to be too good a quality to possibly have been a ready meal. It smelled amazing, and Will took his first bite. It was warm, and comforting flavour, yet not overpowering on the palette. It reminded him of his mama's cooking- not because the flavours were similar- because they weren't, his mom always used the smooth penne pasta- but because he could tell that it was made with love. Or, rather, affection, at least.

It was a little nippy, and Will noticed Nico leaning into his warmth slightly. Will made a silent note to himself to cuddle Nico sometime, finding himself suspecting that Nico may quite enjoy hugging him, for a while.

"Have-... have you ever had a boyfriend?" Nico asked nervously, and Will blushed a little.

"Not exactly," Will replied, "all my past dates kind of… didn't work out. So far you're probably the best date I've ever had." Nico blushed at that, both boys giggling slightly as they resumed eating. They fell into a comfortable silence, although the conversation soon picked up after eating.

Will learned that Nico really liked all kinds of music, even if he learned more towards alternative music. He liked pirates and vampires and reading, he played mythomagic, which was a shared hyperfixation, they both liked horror podcasts, and both really loved junk food. Even where they didn't have shared interests, they still had chemistry and an easy vibe between them.

Will finally decided to bite the bullet, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Hey Nico…"

"Hm?" Nico furrowed his brows, looking up at Will with a mix of curiosity and trepidation.

"Is it okay if I like maybe try and like- uh- kiss you? Like, on the lips?" Will felt himself go red, although he saw Nico physically turn red.

"I- uh- you- wanna kiss me?" Nico looked shocked, and Will hoped that he hadn't crossed a boundary.

"Uhm… yeah? If- if that's okay!"

"Uh- yes! You uh- you can- um- yeah. You can kiss me."

"Cool! I'm uh… kissing you now, uh… ha." Will took about few seconds to calm his nerves, before pressing his lips to Nico's in a gentle kiss. It was softer than he imagined, more tasteless, but also so much better than he imagined it could be. His first gay kiss was pretty great.

Nico was freaking out in all the best ways, because he was actually kissing a dude. His lips were pressed against a guy's lips, he was kissing him. They were kidding, two boys, in a strawberry field, being gay together.

Nico felt alive.

His heart was pounding wildly, nerves intense and distracting as he kissed back softly, because he was finally allowing himself to act on his gay feelings, to be queer, to engage in a homosexual act, kissing another man.

And it was perfect.

The kiss was sweet and tender and rough and manly all at once, then Will was cupping his jaw and Nico was melting because his calloused hands felt so big and manly against Nico's cheek. Will began tracing his jaw with his finger, and Nico let out a soft whimper, knees like jelly, reaching up to cup Will's jaw and oh… he had stubble and it felt so masculine and hot, and when Will let out a soft gasp, Nico had to pull back to stop the escape of any embarrassing sounds.

Will looked beautiful. His skin was completely flushed, lips shiny and slightly kiss swollen, and Nico's brain was screaming because he'd just kissed a boy in a strawberry field for his first kiss, and that felt amazing to realise.

Nico never wanted anything different from life.

Nico finally felt free.

And that was enough for him.

Will tucked Nico's hair behind his ear, resting their foreheads together with a wide grin.

"Hey," Will beamed breathlessly.

"Hi," Nico greeted, voice shaky with adrenaline as both boys let out as slightly buzzed laugh, high off the adrenaline of a first gay kiss.

"So, we're really doing this, huh?"

"We're really doing this," Nico confirmed, intertwining their fingers together.

Nico was filled with a profound sense of pride, and a sense that somehow, things were going to be okay, that things would work out, and that maybe- just maybe, he was going to fall in love.

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