Ex-Nemesis

CHAPTER 16: He was so smart. *cue the face palm*

A/N: OMG WhAt Is ThIs?

An update??

The world is endingggggggggggg.

-

He could've said no.

Hell, he was going to say no.

It was on his lips, the word, ready to roll off and destroy Will's entire genius theory.

But...

Nico closed his parted lips, unable to get the two letters out of his mouth.

Why?

Nico had no clue. Lies had always come smoothly to him. He prided himself on being a smooth talker. Words slipped casually and easily from his lips. He could lie so sincerely that he didn't need to lie twice for people to believe him.

But now...

He just couldn't do it.

Was it the fact that he knew Will wouldn't believe it? Because he could prove his story about Hazel true if he himself was Nico? To prove that he wasn't a bad guy? Or because of that hopeful look in the hero's eyes?

Or was it that... he didn't want to be alone?

God, Nico was so tired of the loneliness, so tired of the solitude. True, he loved being alone, he was a lone wolf.

But being alone and being lonely are two things.

Nico wanted to be alone, but that didn't mean he didn't want to have someone he could go to at times of need and emotion. He needed... no, he WANTED comfort. He craved for it. He was starved of it.

Was he hoping, that somehow, somehow, revealing his identity to Sunshot would establish some mutual understanding between them?

The two of them, masked vigilantes, nursing double identities, understanding each other? Them against the world? (A/N: LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR ALERT!!!)

Nico could see Will waiting, his blue eyes expectant and wide, and Nico responded with...

Silence.

And...

A minuscule nod.

And Sunshot stilled.

Nico looked up to meet his gaze and greeted. "Hey Will..."

"Hey..." Will mumbled back, his face heating up for some unknown reason. He looked Nico up and down, as if trying to connect Ghost King to his classmate and flushed a little more.

Nico frowned at him, "uh... are you okay? You look like you've been holding your breath for way too long."

"You're ho-- I mean I'm hot!"

"Um... okay?"

"Gah! I meant-- isn't it warm in here?"

Nico blinked at this odd behavior, trying to make heads and tails of the situation.

"... not really..."

Will chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, then quickly said, "Anyway! This is so cool! We know each other! This is so exciting!"

"I guess so..."

Nico wasn't really in the mood to share Will's weirdly elated mood, so he just nodded dully. He saw Will's smile slip at his reaction.

"Hey..." Will reached for Nico's hand. He looked at Nico's eyes for permission and when he saw no resistance, his sturdy fingers enveloped Nico's gloved hand.

Nico raised his head, his hood had fallen off, when? He had no clue. His dark hair made its way into his eyes as usual, and he peered at Will through the strands.

"Everything will be fine... we'll get Hazel back okay?"

"We?" Nico asked, surprised.

"Yes, we," Will nodded, his smile was sincere.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

To that, Will countered with what was probably the first and last smartass thing he had ever said in his life.

"Well, how do I know I can trust you?"

Nico pursed his lips, blinking, "fair point."

Will chuckled, "I'm so smart!"

Nico huffed. "That's probably the first smart thing I've ever heard leave your mouth, Solace."

"Hey!"

Nico smirked, a strange sense of comfort settling over him.

It was odd, how he felt around Will...

It was almost like...

Like...

FOCUS NICO!

A/N: Hehehyyyyyyy sorry it's short, but I'm finding the 24 hours of the day not enough. Stay tuned! And pls comment! Constructive criticism is always accepted!

E/N: I owe you and Sadewmi another huge apology. This update was out a week ago, and it just took me forever to publish. I think it's a mix of me being sick, returning to work (which is physically demanding & leaves me sore most days), and being a little overwhelmed with schoolwork (I'm a triple major in university). I came back to Wattpad and had literally thousands of notifications, there's no way I can go through them all. If I missed something important, tag me. Thanks for your patience, and I am so sorry it took this long.