Will clicked his pen, his foot tapping frantically on the ground. He was supposed to be studying for an important exam. Instead, the paper thin walls of his university hall's rooms were driving him crazy. Enough was enough.
Dressed in his Star Wars pyjamas with hair messed up from having a hand run through it many times and slightly bloodshot eyes, Will knocked loudly on his neighbours' door. It occured to him only when the door opened just how insane he probably looked.
"Hey." Percy Jackson grinned. Will shoved his hands in his pockets. Percy Jackson: sports scholarship, skater boy, studying marine biology and dating Will's sort-of friend Annabeth. Annabeth and Will were friendly enough to have a few conversations where she told him all about her degree in Architecture and he told her all about his one in Medicine but she rarely talked about Percy. She brushed it over whenever Will saw her leave Percy's apartment some mornings. It was fair enough. He didn't want to know.
"Who is it?" the voice of Jason Grace called. Will did know Jason albeit not very well. He was dating Will's friend from school, Piper. He was your classic jock and not bad looking. Piper seemed to be pretty headoverheels for him so Will tried to be civil. They held short conversations but nothing too long. He was studying meteorology, if Will remembered correctly.
"Piper's bro, Will!" Percy called back. Will resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Percy and Jason were, in his opinion, overly fond of the term 'bro'.
Will smoothed down his pyjama top and tried to flatten his bouncy curls as Percy stared at him expectantly and Jason poked his head around the corner.
"Hey, man." Jason smiled. "What's up?"
Standing in the doorway, Will could make out the lyrics to the music. It was Green Day. He liked 'American Idiot' as much as the next person but this was ridiculous.
"I was wondering if you could turn the music down. I'm studying for finals," Will asked sweetly.
"Ah, so sorry, dude," Percy apologised. "Nico's becoming a forensic scientist, if I'm pronouncing that right, and he uses the music to concentrate. I may or may not have accidentally thrown his airpods in the loo the other day so he's just blasting it. We forget that people aren't used to draining out Nico Focus Music."
He turned his head towards Nico's door.
"Nico!"
The music stopped abruptly and out stepped Nico Di Angelo.
Where should Will start with Nico Di Angelo? He was 5'4 with messy, shoulder-length, black hair. He had an olive skin tone and freckles all over his nose bridge. He had never seen a colour other than black in his life and black isn't even a colour. More over, he and Will didn't exactly get along. Nico thought Will was too optimistic and bright and Will thought Nico was too pessimistic and gloomy. It wasn't like Will hadn't tried to be friends with Nico but, whenever they talked, it usually ended in insults.
Perhaps more important than that were Nico's eyes. They were deep pools of chocolate, catching under the light and shining. They lit up when he talked about something he loved, which was when the Italian in him came out and his hands started waving around and he talked so quickly it was hard to catch what he was saying. How did Will know this? He spent an embarrassing amount of time watching the person he was supposed to hate.
"What do you want?" Nico scowled when he saw Will. Will sighed.
"I can hear your music through the wall. Can you turn it down?"
"I need it to focus."
"Well, I need to focus too."
Nico folded his arms. "Can't you just wear headphones?"
"Can't you?"
"You can borrow mine, Neeks," Jason interjected. In the split second Will had contemplated how cute that nickname was, Nico's expression had turned from bored to murderous.
"Don't call me that," he said, snatching the airpods Jason offered him and marching back to his room. "See you around, Solace."
A look passed between Jason and Percy that Will couldn't decipher.
"You know, Will," Percy said, "we're having a Christmas party this Friday. Wanna come? I'm sure Nico would love to have you there."
Will snorted. He doubted that. Nonetheless, he could use a break from exam stress and his roommates, Leo and Cecil, would probably be going so why not?
"Alright. Any hideous jumper you want me to wear?"
"Wear whatever, dude. He'll love it either way."
With that confusing statement, Percy shut the door.
'American Idiot' started playing again.
-
Saturday rolled around and Leo and Cecil were bouncing off the walls. Cecil was wearing jeans and a red button-up shirt with mistletoe patterns on it. He'd combed his hair about five times so that he looked nice for his date with his girlfriend, Lou Ellen. However, Leo was taking a completely different approach to looking nice for his date with his girlfriend, Calypso. He was wearing a garish, green Christmas jumper with Rudolph's face on the front, complete with a bright red nose you could honk. Leo had insisted the mistletoe headband he was wearing was a good idea.
Will went with a casual Christmas Star Wars jumper and trousers, deciding that was good enough. He gave in and let Leo make him wear reindeer antlers too.
The party started at six so the boys went over with Will insisting on bringing wine as a gift. In retrospect, giving Jason and Percy wine might not be a good idea. He'd have to place his bets on Annabeth and Piper keeping them in check.
The party was already busy when they got there. Leo and Cecil abandoned him immediately for their partners and Will was left to wander around and talk to people he vaguely knew. He had a brief chat with Thalia about her engagement to her girlfriend, Reyna, and struck up a conversation with Nico's surprisingly nice sister, Hazel, and her boyfriend, Frank. Eventually, he found his friend, Rachel, who was his only single friend. All the talk about couples was starting to annoy him.
"What about her?" Rachel asked, pointing to a girl alone in the corner of the room.
Will shook his head.
"Him?" Rachel pointed to a guy.
"Paolo's not really my type."
Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose. "You say that about everyone. Look, I know you're pining after Nico-"
"I am not!"
"-but that doesn't mean you can't have fun."
"You're single."
"I'm aroace. You're just sad."
Will shoved her shoulder lightly, pretending to be more offended than he was. Rachel laughed.
"Okay, but seriously, Will. You deserve a one-night-stand or at least a good snog. You're sought after, y'know."
Will raised his eyebrows.
"It's true!" Rachel defended herself. "See Drew Tanaka over there? She has a huge crush on you. Go talk to her."
Reluctantly, Will let Rachel push him over. Drew was pretty - you'd have to be blind not to know it - and Will was aware of her crush on him. She twirled her hair on a finger as she giggled far too much at Will's jokes and Will chuckled politely at some of hers. He wasn't really into her but maybe Rachel was right. When she leaned up to kiss him, he didn't object but someone else did.
"Sorry to interrupt," said a voice that really did not sound sorry as Drew and Will were pushed apart. "I need to borrow Will for a moment."
Before, Will knew what was happening, he was in Nico's room face to face with an angry looking Italian. Nico brushed a few of the hairs that fell from his half-up ponytail out of his face, drawing Will's attention to his impeccable eyeliner. He was wearing a black jumper with white reindeer and the words 'Merry Christmas Now Go Away' on it. How adorable and good-looking he looked was currently the only thing occupying Will's frustrated mind.
"Even your Christmas jumper is black," was all that came to mind. Nico huffed a laugh.
"They tried to make me wear a Santa hat," he said. "Never again."
The corner of Will's mouth quirked up. "What's with the dragging me away?"
Nico's brow furrowed. "Drew? You can do better than that."
"Since when do you care?"
"I don't. I feel sorry for you because literally anyone could do better than Drew especially you."
"Especially?" Will's voice took on a tone of surprise. Nico ran a hand down his face.
"Do you know how attractive you are? It's stupid. You're a himbo."
"A himbo? I'm training to be a doctor! Hang on, you think I'm attractive?"
"Aesthetically speaking."
Will cocked an eyebrow. "Sure. How much have you had to drink?"
He was taken aback when Nico took a small step closer to him and gazed up at him through thick lashes.
"Not enough."
Will's heart stopped. The Christmas jumper was baking him alive at this point and every sound felt ten times louder. His breathing quickened as Nico got closer, his eyelids half-lidded. Will's eyes mirrored Nico's as he looked down at the boy who was biting his bottom lip. Involuntarily, Will's hand raised to cup Nico's cheek and his world came to a halt when Nico leant into it.
"What's going on?" Will asked more to himself than to anyone else.
"Something long overdue."
When cold lips met his, Will told himself it was the glass of sherry he had earlier. He was lonely, he thought as his hands moved to Nico's waist. Their kisses started off long and slow. Will's tongue traced Nico's teeth before slipping into the shorter boy's mouth.
There was no shame in finding Nico physically attractive, Will assured himself. Sometimes people make out with a hot person and it doesn't mean anything. Even as he thought it, he knew it was deeper than that. All the feelings he'd been fighting rose to the surface.
Will took control of the kiss, moving them backwards towards Nico's bed. They fell back onto it with Will on top of Nico, kissing his mouth and his cheek and his forehead. Nico closed his eyes and hummed appreciatively, letting out a small gasp when Will's lips landed on his neck.
Will kissed gently at first, tracing over the tender skin. Nico stretched his head to the side, exposing more and burying his hands in Will's curls. Kisses turned to nips and soon there were several marks on Nico's neck and collarbone that wouldn't be going away for a while. The soft moan Nico tried to disguise was the most beautiful sound Wll had ever heard.
"Holy stockings!"
Will lifted his head, earning a small whine from Nico, to see Percy in the doorway.
"Look," Will tried to reason with Percy's shock, "I'm just as suprised as you are to be making out with him."
"Oh, I'm not suprised," Percy admitted with a beam.
"Really, Percy?" Nico grumbled. "Right now?"
"Good for you, Neeks. The pining was intense."
"GET OUT!"
Percy held up his hands and backed away. "Alright. Jason and I will stay with Annabeth and Piper tonight. Enjoy."
He shut the door and Nico went to lock it. Nico leaned against the door, flush face and kiss swollen lips.
"Beautiful," Will muttered as he sat up on Nico's bed.
"Sorry?"
"You're beautiful."
Perhaps it was being kiss drunk that made Will so unusually bold but he didn't care. How could he when Nico was blushing like that?
Nico moved over and straddled Will, looping his arms around Will's neck with his eyes fixed on the Texan boy's lips.
"If this is going to happen more often, you're going to have to get used to loud music," was all Nico said before they were kissing again.
Rachel was going to be so smug tomorrow, Will thought, but it didn't really matter. Not when he had Nico's body pressed against his and Christmas music outside blaring loud enough to cover for them.
-
A/N
Hey, loves! Hope you liked this one. It's a bit longer than normal and I really enjoyed writing it. Any more prompts would be welcome. Also, 3.01k reads is crazy! I cannot thank you enough! And can I just say that anyone who votes and/or comments absolutely makes my day. Thank you for giving me the validation I crave (sort-of joking)!
Ash x