Stage Lights (Solangelo AU)

15

"Bye guys! You all did great. I'll be here to watch you opening night," Nico called, waving to his friends as he left the theater.
"Bye Nico!" Several of them called.
He just looked down at his no-longer-white cast and grinned.

As soon as he got outside, he called Will.
"Hey Nico!" Will answered.
"Hi Will," Nico greeted. "How was your test?"
Nico could hear the smile in the other boy's words when he answered, "Great, I made a 96%."
"Nice," Nico said, holding out the e at the end.
Will's laugher echoed through the phone.
"So anyway, I was thinking," Nico started, "do you want to go have dinner tonight? Like, we can actually go eat somewhere. Not just have to sit in my living room."
Will laughed again. "That would be lovely, Nico. But for the record, I like hanging out in your living room."
It was Nico's turn to laugh. "Great."
"So, where are you taking me?" Will asked as Nico held out an arm to signal a cab.
"Well, what are you in the mood for?"
A cab pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped. The driver waved at Nico, who quickly climbed in.
"I know a good place. I'll text you the address. How's 7:30?"
"Where to, kid?" The driver asked impatiently.
Nico quickly told him his address.
"What?" Will asked.
"Sorry, talking to the cab driver," Nico said, talking to Will again. "7:30 sounds good. See you then."
"See you then," Will repeated, and they both hung up.

This is where Will wanted me to come? Nico thought. It looks kind of... shady.
But, he pushed the door open anyway.
"Hi!" The hostess greeted quickly. "How many?"
"Oh, I'm meeting someone. I'm not sure if he's here yet though..."
The girl grinned. "Real cute blond? College age?"
Nico nodded once.
"Yeah, he's back there." The girl jerked her head to the left; Nico looked in the direction and saw Will fiddling with his phone.
"Thanks," Nico grinned and made his way to Will's table.
"Hey, you," he greeted.
"Hi!" Will looked up quickly, grinning. Acting on an impulse, Nico leaned down and kissed Will quickly.
He then sat down on the opposite side of the table and propped his crutches up against the chair.
Before anything could be said, a waiter appeared at their table.
"Yo, I'm Leo and I'll be your waiter this evening. What can I get you fellas to drink?"
"Water," Nico said automatically.
"Same for me," Will requested.
"Two waters, easy enough."
And the waiter bounced back into the kitchen.
"So, how was rehearsal?" Will asked.
"Good, actually. I mean, it kind of made me sad, but they're doing good."
"Well, at least they don't, like, suck or something," Will said bluntly, which made Nico laugh.
Soon, Leo was back with their waters.
"You guys ready to order?" He asked.
"Um, I haven't even looked at the menu," Nico admitted. He wasn't even sure what kind of food they had.
"I don't need to. Me and Jason and Travis eat here a lot."
Nico flipped open his menu. It was Italian food.
Will then turned to their waiter and told him what he wanted.
He then turned to Nico. "And for you?"
"Um, I'll just have the chicken alfredo, I guess."
Leo scribbled on his notepad and nodded. "I'll have it out in a sec."
"So rehearsal was good..." Nico started. "What about you? Actually, what year of school are you?"
Will grinned. "I'm a junior. I've got three semesters left, counting the one that just started."
"And what about after?" Nico asked, genuinely interested. "Are you going to open your own practice, or..."
"Well," Will said, pushing his unruly blond hair out of his eyes, "I'm pretty sure they'll hire me at the hospital. I really like working there, and I think they enjoy my help."
Nico smiled. "Well, they'd be stupid not to. You were the best nurse I had the whole time I was there."
"I was your only nurse, dork," Will laughed.
"Not true," Nico retorted, "a rude lady helped me to the waiting room."
Will laughed again. "Sorry about that."
They were both still laughing when their food came out.
"Thanks," Nico said to Leo the waiter.
"No problem, man. Holler if I can get you anything else."
"Alright, thanks," Will said, and Leo walked off.
Nico stabbed a few noodles and a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth.
"Oh my God," he said, getting a taste. "Will."
He swallowed. "This is the best Italian food I've ever had. And that's saying something because I'm half Italian."
Will's expression changed from a smirk to a raised eyebrow. "You are?"
Nico nodded. "My mom was born there."
"Oh. Cool," Will said.
Nico took another bite of his food. "How did you even find this place? From the outside it doesn't really look very... um, friendly."
"We're college kids," Will shrugged. "We'll eat anything. And it was the closest thing open one night."
"Ah. Cool."
They continued eating until they finished in comfortable silence.
Leo offered them dessert, but they were both too full. So they paid and made their way outside.
"The city sure is pretty at night," Will commented, pushing the door shut.
"It really is," Nico agreed, leaning up against Will. The blond put his arm around Nico and kissed the top of his head. Nico blushed and then turned and rose up on his tiptoes. Obviously getting the message, Will bent down a bit and kissed the shorter boy.
After a few more kisses, they pulled apart, but neither boy went far.
"It's still pretty early," Will said. "You want to come to my apartment and we can watch a movie or something? I think Jason and Travis are out with their girlfriends, but even if they aren't they won't care."
"Okay," Nico smiled up at Will. "That sounds fun."