Solangelo Oneshots and AU's

Next To Me

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Something about the way that you dropped way too many clues for me to remain oblivious, until you stopped and just confessed... I mean, it made me wonder how you thought I was worth all the trouble.

There are over seven billion people on this world. Seven billion. And though you may not meet those seven billion, out of all the people that come and go in your life you still picked me. I suppose it will forever remain a matter beyond me, to be honest.

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Nico first meets him when he finds himself transferred into a new high school mid way through the final semester. It's his fourth school this year, so he doesn't spare any thoughts of what Goode could bring for his future except how long it will take for him to get booted out. He doubts he'll last longer than two months.

Though he doesn't blame them, if Nico was in their shoes he wouldn't want to keep himself around either. He knows he carries too much baggage for a single student, and somehow he always manages to leave a trail of wreckage with every step he takes.

It's what many of the other schools had noted down as 'temperamental behavioural issues' and sure he doesn't deny it but he really does try to tame it. Unfortunately, every instance ends with him lashing out with an anger he just can't control. It's not his fault, people just know how to push his buttons.

Supposedly, it what seems to happen when your entire life is published on paper for everyone to see. Nico could go on and on about it, but to keep it short, it's not particularly easy to hide said 'baggage' when everyone in the town knows about the mysterious fire that killed both his parents and his sister only for one to come out miraculously unscathed.

Nico didn't start that fire. He didn't. He isn't the one to fucking blame for his family's death.

However, when people don't attempt to brutally get a nonexistent confession out of him, they often had tendencies to reach out to him in pity because he knows that not everyone in the world are assholes. But he'd rather have no friend than 'friends' that feel sorry for him, so he just keeps everyone he knows an arms length away from him and ventures through life alone.

When Will reaches out, it's different. His hand doesn't extend with the tremble of sympathy or with the painful ruggedness of a coiled fist, it's just a simple, steady hand. It's from that moment they meet Nico knows something is not the same, but still he denies it because good things never just get handed over to him in life.

"Hey, you need any help with that?"

Nico regards him with a swift glance, occupied with tackling his own problem at hand, losing a fight against trying to balance all his books and bag in his futile attempts to stuff it all into his locker.

"I've got it."

Will doesn't waiver from the cold tone though, of course he doesn't. He's different. "You know it's not bad to let people give you a hand, you know?"

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me."

"Well I just came over because I thought you were cute but what do I know?"

All the books slip out of his grip like a landslide, toppling onto the floor with thuds that catches a couple eyes in the hallway. He fixes his glare upon the open covers on the ground because he can't quite manage lifting his gaze anywhere else because honestly, he's never felt this incredulous in years.

Will Solace certainly had been different, and Nico had no idea then how much of a beautiful, beautiful thing it would become.

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