Operator, Operator (What's Wrong With My Heart?)

Call 2

Dialing…dialing…

*click*

"Hello?"

Nico twisted the bottom of his t-shirt, nervous. This was new.

"Hey, uh, this is Nico? I'm not sure if you remember me, but-"

"Dude!"

"…?"

"C'mon, Nico. It's been, what, two weeks? Why didn't you call? What happened?"

Will mentally admonished himself. He sounded so demanding, so unprofessional. Urgh.

Nico blinked. So Will…hadn't forgotten? He even sounded worried. Worried about-

Oh.

He cleared his throat. "No, I had to go visit my cousin Jason. He's a lawyer and I needed to ask him about something and I…"

He blew out a frustrated huff.

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine." Will said, shrugging, before remembering that Nico couldn't see him. "So, is there anything you wanna talk about?"

Nico shook his head. "No…I just wanted talk, I guess."

*silence*

*silence*

"…What are you having for dinner?"

"Huh?" Nico asked, momentarily thrown.

That was random. But then again, this phone call was random. Who was he to judge?

"Well, we're having pizza. By "We" I mean me and Hazel. My sister. Not the microwaved kind, the frozen one from the store. Like, the homemade kind. The vegetables come from my stepmother's garden. We make the dough from the scratch, the sauce from the scratch, the cheese… "

He paused, and laughed.

Will liked that laugh. It was choked out, like it took an effort to push it from belly to chest to throat then out into open air. It was real and genuine and it was alive.

"Well, we don't make the cheese from the scratch, obviously. That would be going a bit too far." Nico babbled on, relieved to have something to say.

"I bought the cheese from the supermarket near my apartment. Hazel likes cheddar cheese on her pizza, but I prefer mine with Parmesan. So we compromise: Cheddar on one half, Parmesan on the other. It turns out fine in the end--unless one of us manages to mess up the sauce. Then it's just awful, but no one minds."

This was nice. Talking about something familiar.

He remembered flour streaks on cheeks and sauce on the floor, dough rising and happy faces as they tucked in.

Will smiled.

"Sounds like fun. You're making me hungry now, when all I've got tonight is Chinese takeout." He mock grumbled, letting a teasing edge slip through to make sure Nico knew he was just joking.

…But seriously, he was kinda hungry.

Okay, and maybe there was just the slightest trace of drool at the corner of his mouth, but what could he say?

Nico grinned. It hurt his cheek muscles.

"I'll be sure to tell you how delicious it tasted tomorrow." He said.

Wait.

Tomorrow?

"Urgh, you're an ass." Will laughed.

"I've got to go now. A few of my friends are expecting me. Same time tomorrow?"

He absolutely did not hold his breath in anticipation. Nope.

"Sure. Tomorrow. Bye." Nico said abruptly.

*click*

Nico's head was reeling at the promise.

What had he been thinking?

Will's chest plummeted at Nico's short tone.

What had he been thinking?