Solangelo One Shots

On the Open Road(p1)

Hey guys, just to let you know that this will be a four-part series, so parts 2-4 will be up later this month!

Nico's POV

It still feels like a dream, pulling out of their tiny suburb town, the excitement of graduation still in his veins like a drug. It still feels like a dream that they're leaving, Will humming in the driver's seat and Nico in the passenger's, their map spread across his lap, their map with the coffee stain splashed across Florida, notes like ghost town?? and grand canyon!! scribbled in the margins, their route traced in bold sharpie across the country. "How much longer till the city?" Will asks, briefly taking his eyes off of Albany's sleepy suburban streets to glance at the map. 

"Just under three hours," Nico says, looking at the carefully marked out stops across their map. "Then it's another four hours until Cleveland, so we're gonna be driving a lot." He laughs lightly. "This is a fun start to our road trip, huh? Seven hours of driving past a lot of nothing." 

"That's what a lot of this is gonna be, you know," Will says. "It is a road trip, after all." 

"I know," Nico says, tracing his finger along the sharpie lines, lingering at the stars that stand out against everything else. "I'm just excited for the prettier parts. The deserts, the beaches. The cities." 

"We're stopping in NYC for lunch." 

"Yeah, but we've been there tons of times." 

"Yeah, but this time is gonna be different. We've been planning this road trip for the past three and a half years." They're deeper into Albany and Nico can see their friends walking down the streets, smiles spread wide as the warm June breeze dances through the air. It feels strange, to not be with the massive groups of friends spending time with each other before they'll inevitably never see each other again. But when Nico glances to his left, he knows he'd rather be in the car with the ac sending chills down his spine, his legs already cramping, snacks bouncing around in the back. When he glances to the left he sees Will, the window open just enough to let in the breeze that toys with Will's blonde hair, the sun streaming through the window and lighting up his face, he's the only one of his friends that matters. 

"Put on some music," Will says, glancing over. "You have the playlist we made, right?" 

"Yeah, hang on." He plugs in the aux cord, clicking on the playlist he's had downloaded for years, the one with hundreds of songs each different than the last, each one holding a different memory. When he puts it on shuffle it's The Ballad of Mona Lisa, and he swears he can hear Will laugh. "What? It's a good song and you know it." 

"Yeah, I know." He shakes his head. "It just brings me back to freshman year, you know? With you blasting that at one in the morning, and then my mom coming to yell at us to shut up." They pass the Thanks For Coming to Albany! sign, the one that plucks them out of the city and spits them out onto the highway. They're surrounded by forests bursting with green, cars speeding past them. Nico hears Will sigh just as Teenage Dream comes on and he glances over. 

"What?" 

"Nothing." Will shakes his head but there's a shadow of a smile on his face, one that looks like it's hiding a hint of sadness. "Are you scared everything's gonna change when we go off to college? Like, we've been best friends for so long, and I don't want to drift apart." Nico smiles, watching the sunlight glint off of Will's face, kissing his skin. 

"Don't worry about it." Nico sets his hand on Will's arm, sparks of electricity running through his body as if he'd rubbed his head against a balloon. "We'll be fine. I'll make sure of it." 

------

Despite the fact that he lives in the same state, New York City had always seemed like it was in a different country. It's loud and crazy, and Times Square always seems like it's the day. There are weird smells everywhere and he's seen someone sprinting away from the cops butt naked at least once during every trip. He loves it.