Song: Agora Hills by Doja Cat
Will pov
1 month later
___
Will had begun to notice a change in Nico's behavior. Since their first greeting wasn't great, Nico had been a little kinder. Not just giving a dry hello, which made Will happy, though he didn't know how he felt about that.
They had even held a conversation. One day, after the bell had rung in Mr. Brunner's class, Will had started to pack up and leave when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey, Will," Nico spoke softly. His voice was deeper than Will remembered. He changed over the summer since sophomore year.
"What's up?" Will responded, keeping his voice friendly.
"We should probably give each other our numbers if we have to work on these assignments after school," Nico stated. That was smart, and Will didn't think of that.
"Oh! You're right!" Will grabbed his phone from his back pocket, the bright yellow phone case contrasting with the black phone Nico had already been holding.
Will noticed Nico had gone into the contacts app, so Will stopped him.
"Wait, there's an easier way." Will placed the top of his phone on Nico's and waited for the familiar vibration of his contact to jump to Nico's phone.
"What was that?" Nico asked, looking at his new contact that had been placed in his phone.
"My friends and I call it 'Touching Tips'." Will smiled. Nico looked at him like he was crazy.
"Absolutely not."
"We do! Hey if you think about it, we just touched tips!"
"No, we did not."
"We touched tips!"
___
That sparked a small, blooming friendship between them. In the hallways, if they passed each other Will would smile at Nico, earning a nod in return.
'I wonder if I can ever get him to really smile.'
___
Mr. Brunner had just finished, to Will's horror, assigning the biggest assignment Will had seen in his life. They had to research how Greek influenced the English alphabet, write an essay, and present a slideshow to the class. All in a month.
How was he even supposed to get started? He rushed out of the class, not noticing Nico had tried to get his attention before he left.
"And, get this." Will swallowed a bite of his lunch. "You have to work with the person next to you. That's Nico."
Cecil groaned while Lou Ellen laughed at his predicament.
"Looks like you're gonna work with your favorite person for a month!" Lou giggled.
"Can you ask for a new partner?" Cecil suggested. Will shook his head.
"Mr. Brunner is exactly the type of guy to listen to the situation and call it a 'bonding experience'. " Will sighed.
His phone buzzed, and Will was surprised to see a notification from Nico.
Nico: (12:56 pm)
Hey, Will
We should probably work on our assignment sometime, Mr. Brunner said we don't have much time in class to do thorough research, and I really need to pass this class. Would you be free sometime after school?
Take care,
Nico
Will may have snorted at his formality. He immediately wrote him back, ignoring Cecil looking over his shoulder.
Will: (12:57 pm)
For sure!
Will: (12:57)
Meet me at my house after school
"Woah woah woah," Cecil interjected. "Pause. I thought you hated him?"
Will shook his head. "I feel like I should, for the sake of my family hating him. But, I think..." Will paused for a second, his mind racing over what he should say. Why did he invite him over? Why doesn't he just block his phone and ask to switch tables?
"I think I want to get to know him."
___
Will had chosen his house because:
1) He knew his friends would go to the cafe by his house, so if he wanted to work with Nico he would be bombarded by Cecil and Lou Ellen.
2) His mom wasn't home until 9pm when she returned from work at the hospital. That would give them plenty of time to work without his mom knowing he was over.
Everything would be fine. And he could get to know Nico and maybe even be friends?
Despite Will telling himself these things, his chest still spiked with paranoia when he heard a knock at his front door.
Will had been sitting at his kitchen table, textbooks waiting patiently in front of him while he waited for Nico. A bowl of goldfish was placed next to them (Will definitely wasn't eating them even though he told himself to wait.)
Will slid off the bar stool, willing his nervousness to take a walk as he unlocked and opened the door.
Opening it, he saw Nico standing hesitantly at the door. Will flashed him a cheery smile, hopefully to ease the awkwardness. It seemed to work, by the way Nico's Shoulders untensed.
"Hey, Nico!" Will greeted, making way for Nico to step inside. He gave a small smile and stepped through the doorframe. Will shut the door behind him, and walked with Nico to the kitchen.
"Do you like goldfish?" Will asked as he opened his textbooks.
Nico nodded, reaching for the bowl of goldfish on the counter. "A lot, actually," He replied, his gaze flickering up the stairway that led to Will's room.
Will was sure Nico was just looking around his house like any new person would. But when Nico turned back to Will with the bowl in hand, Will decided that if his mom came home and saw them, she would be royally pissed.
"Actually," Will began, closing his textbooks, "let's work on this in my room. It's quieter in there." Nico nodded, his chest letting out a sigh of relief. He had no doubt been thinking the same about Will's mom.
"Sounds good to me," he said, stepping beside Will as they made their way to the stairs that led to Will's room.
___
Will has always been happy with his room. He showed off his soccer trophies on his bookcase, which he filled with his favorite authors like Brandon Mull and Rick Riordan (cough).
He had a tapestry of a tie-dye sun hung on the ceiling above his large bed, and LEDs circled his room. He had a mirror to his left and a small desk with a lamp that illuminated a model airplane he was working on. Boxes were stacked under the desk neatly.
He watched Nico take it in, eyes darting from the bookshelf to the desk to the bed, and finally to Will's eyes.
"It looks like a 3rd grader decorated this room," Nico stated in a teasing tone. Will snorted, thinking of a comeback but coming up short.
"Oh shut it." He joked, walking over to his bed and throwing his textbooks on the floor. He sat, patting the spot next to him for Nico, who sat down gracefully.
"Shoot, I forgot to take my shoes off downstairs," Nico noted, sliding his feet out of his Converse. "Sorry if your family is picky about that."
"No worries, you can put them by my door," Will reassured him. He pulled out his worksheet from between a textbook and moved it in the middle of both him and Nico.
"Mio Dio," Nico muttered, "This assignment is stupidly long." He began to pull out his computer and textbooks from his backpack when Will stopped him.
"Woah okay," Will's voice laced with confusion as he stuck his hand out to halt Nico's actions. "What language was that?"
Nico's face had turned red, and Will noticed it contrasted with his pale skin very well.
"Italian," Nico explained, "My mom grew up in Italy, so I grew up speaking it. I don't realize I let some slip through into my English until it's already been said, sorry."
"No!" Will looked into Nico's dark brown eyes, "Don't say sorry! I think it's cool you know two languages." Will replace his sincere look with a playfully mischievous smile. "Besides, Italian is the sexiest language."
This time, it was Nico who snorted. "Oh please, isn't French the language of love, Amore?" He grinned up at Will teasingly.
Will rolled his eyes, smiling. He playfully shoved Nico, earning Nico's hands flying up to push him onto the bed in return. They scrambled to tackle each other down.
Will's hand grazed the side of Nico's stomach, resulting in Nico choking out a laugh and squirming away. Will gasped.
"Your ticklish!" He shouted, a grin erupting onto his face.
Nico shouted back at Will "Don't you dare!"
Will grabbed onto Nico's sides, tickling him until he fell back onto his bed. Nico grabbed Will's arms and flipped him onto his back, pinning him down.
"Noooo!" Will struggled to get up, but Nico's hands were around his wrists and were being pushed into the bed.
Will looked up at Nico's face. The rise and fall of Nico's chest was heavy, each breath shaky and strained from exertion. A flush of pink adorned his cheeks, adding to his allure. A victorious smile graced Nico's lips, small and triumphant. Will couldn't help but mirror his grin, meeting Nico's dark brown eyes that looked down at him.
He had never noticed how they had little flecks of gold in them, like a pool of sweet dark honey, or how his dark lashes were long and suited his eyes perfectly.
Their faces were close, if Will leaned in just a little more their noses would have been touching.
Nico blew on his face to get Will's attention. Will rolled his eyes playfully and wriggled out of Nico's loosened grasp, his cheeks pink. "I let you win."
"Ohh sure sure." Nico teased. "Now are we gonna do our homework or not?"
___
Will had just finished jotting down everything he found about ancient Greece when he heard his front door slam. Nico's head jolted up, eyeing Will's door.
"Will, honey? I'm home!" Will recognized his mom's voice calling from downstairs. Will jumped up, looking at Nico, who nervously looked back.
"Shit!" Will hissed, checking his alarm clock next to his bed. "She's home early."
"Will? Are you here?" His mom called again up the stairs, concern creeping into her tone. Will looked around, spotting his window. He opened it. It wasn't a huge drop, and he assumed Nico thought the same as he scrambled to get his shoes on and grab his bag.
Will looked at his door. He could hear his mom's steps coming up the stairwell, no doubt going straight to his room.
When he looked back, Nico was halfway out his window. He caught Nico's eyes, and he could barely make out what Nico had mouthed before he jumped out the window.
'Text me'
His mom's head popped through his now-open door. "Will, sweety. Did you not hear me calling your name?" She kissed the top of his head. "Why's your window open?"
"Sorry, I was looking at the stars, I didn't hear you come in." Will lied. His mom looked out his window at the sky, before closing it and turning to him, an eyebrow raised.
"Cloudy night, isn't it?"
___
Will closed his eyes, letting the rain of his shower run down his face. He couldn't shake from his mind Nico's smile, and the way his hair fell in front of his face, or how his breathing had been so heavy and his face had been so, so close...
A/N
soooo not me kicking my feet and giggling while i wrote this :P
-b