Against His Will | Solangelo | High School AU

#16

**A/N: I am so sorry about spacing on my uploads. Been super busy lately, it's late it's here :) Enjoy!**

Thalia spent two hours getting Nico ready. He was going to wear a sweatshirt with jeans but Thalia said Nico had no fashion sense and needed help.

"Percy said I looked good," Nico argued.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Now you definitely need to change." She dragged him to his room and went through his closet. "Here," she said. "Put these on... Wow, you actually have some adorable outfits in here, why don't you wear them?"

Nico chuckled and began changing. "Because I don't want to be described as adorable. They were mostly things given to me by other people in hopes that I would change the way I dress, but it didn't really work."

Nico looked at himself in the mirror and raised his eyebrows. He was still dressed in dark colours, but he looked... good. He was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with ripped dark blue jeans. It was simple and that's exactly why he liked it.

"I still think the hoodie would have worked," Percy said when he saw Nico.

Thalia punched his shoulder. "It was a sweatshirt, Idiot. And tell him he looks nice."

"What's the difference between a hoodie and a sweatshirt?" Percy asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Hoodies have zippers," Nico said automatically. When he noticed the weird looks from Percy and Thalia, he explained himself. "I only wear hoodies and sweatshirts, trust me, there's a difference."

Percy glanced at his watch. "Come on, we should get going. We're going to be late."

;;;

Twenty minutes later, Nico was walking into the cafe. Will stood up to greet him. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up," he said.

Nico sat down, and Will did the same. Nico sighed. "I sat in Percy's car for fifteen minutes debating on whether or not I was going to come inside."

Will stayed silent for a beat before saying, "I heard about what you said to Luke."

Nico shrugged. "I was pissed off. He deserved it."

Nico was expecting Will to blow up at him. Yell at him. Something. Anything. He wanted him to because then he could tell himself everyone was the same. Will rested his hand on Nico's, and it took all of Nico's control not to flinch away. He didn't want to flinch away because Will was touching him--in fact, Nico liked the way Will's hand felt on his--but because he wasn't used to being treated the way Will was treating him.

Like a person.

Will took a deep breath and started the speech he had been practising all day to himself. "Nico, I'm not going to walk out on you," he said. "I love you, and it hurts me to see you not comfortable in your own body, but I understand if you want nothing to do with me, so for that reason, if you can look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me, I will leave for good."

Nico tried three times before giving up. "I can't," he said. "God, I always made fun of people in the movies for not being able to do it, but I can't. They're just words."

Will smiled softly. "Funny how a made-up construct for communication can be more impacting than any weapon."

Nico laughed. "You sound like an English teacher."

"Shut up," he said, but there was no meanness behind his words. "Everything is going to be okay, Nico."

Nico scoffed. "How could you possibly know that."

"I don't," Will said. "But I'm optimistic."

Nico smiled. "I'm not."

"That's okay," he said. "I have enough optimism for the both of us."