Nico had considered bailing on his idea a total of like, five times, but he knew he needed to get things off of his chest. He had his phone in his pocket in case Will texted him. That could get him out of this.
It's now or never, he thought.
Tentatively, he knocked on the door to Percy's apartment.
Nico, of course, regretted it right away. What if he's still at Piper's? What if he's busy? What if I don't know what to say? Why did I even consider this?
But, sure enough, Percy answered. He looked at Nico quizzically, and then smiled. "Hi, Nico."
He couldn't help but admire Percy's tanned skin and shiny black hair. It just barely swept over his eyes, his sea green eyes...
"Nico?"
He blinked. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry." Shit.
"Hey, do you want to come in?"
"Yeah, sure."
Percy shut the door behind Nico and beckoned for him to sit on the couch. The apartment looked exactly like his own, except for the changes in paint color. The main color scheme seemed to be blue. Some beach themed decorations were hung on the walls.
"Is there...a reason you're here?" Percy asked awkwardly.
"Noo, I just wanted to show up at your door randomly," Nico snapped.
"If you insist." He smiled sheepishly.
"Shut up, Jackson. I'm here to say sorry."
He raised his eyebrows. "For what?" He was on the opposite side of the couch that Nico was on, legs crossed.
"I kissed you."
"Oh." Percy shifted uncomfortably. "But, hey, we were both drunk, and it was an accident, so it's fine. No hard feelings," he said awkwardly. "And, you know, I've never kissed a guy before. I don't remember the happenings of last night much, but I remember that completely."
Nico looked down at his feet. "...Uhm, would you be willing to hang out again sometime? Maybe just at Piper's place with no drinking. Or kissing."
"Hopefully we can, with all of our busy work and college schedules. I haven't been able to see Annabeth very much lately..." Percy trailed off.
Oh, right. Annabeth. It was always about Annabeth. Annabeth this, Annabeth that. Nico had nothing against her, but hearing about her all the time made his heart hurt. He'd never had anyone to love, unless Hazel counted. And probably Mrs. O'Leary. Percy had all kinds of friends, and he probably had parents that he was close with. There were a lot of pictures of Annabeth and Percy on the wall, he noticed. There were also some with Percy and his (Nico assumed) parents. Of of course numerous works of art by someone named Rachel, who, he had to admit, was an amazing painter.
"Nico? Did you happen to hear someone screaming at Piper's?" Percy cut into his thoughts. "Whoever it was, they were screaming, "Wheel! Wheel!"
"Uhm... That was me, Percy. I wasn't screaming 'wheel.' I was screaming for Will." He bit his lip. Why is everyone questioning that?!
"Who's that?" He turned to look at Nico.
"My..." Friend? Best friend? Roommate? Crush? No, not the last one. "Roommate," Nico finished after a long pause.
"You were screaming for your roommate?" The taller boy was in disbelief.
"Is there a problem with that?" Nico snapped.
"No, not at all. You just don't seem like the type to..." Percy didn't know how to finish his sentence. "Never mind," he finished with a sigh.
"Hmph."
"Do you like him?" Percy blurted out. "I mean, you're probably not, you know, but I mean as an acquaintance."
"Of course I do. He's annoying, but I need to be more social. He helps with that, and he's really- wait, no."
Percy just smirked in response.
"Don't you have a roommate?"
He nodded. "Yep. Her name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and she had a crush on me for a few years. Annabeth was totally jealous, apparently. She said I was dense."
God, I don't blame her for liking him. He's perfect. An idiot, but perfect.
"I've never heard of anyone named Rachel living here, but I assume she's the one who made all the paintings," Nico commented. "What does she look like?"
"She has curly red hair and vibrant green eyes. She's currently at an art school, and she's not home often lately. It used to be awkward; Annabeth told me Rachel was hitting on me all the time when she was around," Percy explained.
"Oh. I see." Nico nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated in his pocket. "Uhm, one sec, sorry." He retrieved it from his pocket, to see, obviously, a text from Will. Who else would it be?
'Where are you? Mrs. O'Leary woke me up, and you're not home. When will you be back?' It read.
"Is something wrong?" Percy asked.
"It's Will. He wanted to know why I wasn't at home; he just woke up from a nap," Nico replied to Percy.
"Why does he care so much about your life?"
"How am I supposed to know, Jackson?"
The green eyed boy shrugged. "Dunno. I want to meet him, though. Is that okay?"
"S-sure," the dark eyed boy stammered. "But, the thing is, I promised I would go with him to dinner. Maybe another time?"
"Sounds good. I'll let you get home now, sorry for keeping you. You're a good guy, Nico, ya know it?"
"I guess. Bye, Percy. You can text me sometime if you want to hang out or something."
"Will do. Later!"
I need to stop seeing this boy before I fall in love with him. Is he better than Will?
~~~
"Reyna, you really need to get a better job than this." Nico was leaning against the McDonald's counter, Will by his side. Will was feeling out of place, but of course he didn't say that.
Reyna was one of Nico's best friends, Will was told, and she was also one of Jason's best friends. Apparently, Nico was a regular at McDonald's, and most of the staff knew him. Will found that very humorous, but Nico had just elbowed him in the ribs.
"Tell you what, I'll get a better job once you start getting a better taste in food. Honestly, the food here sucks," Reyna snickered.
"There's nothing wrong with Happy Meals, Reyna," he argued.
"Whatever you say. Will it be the usual today, or-hey! Who's the guy with you? Did you finally make some friends?"
"Oh!" Nico snapped back into reality; it was like he'd just realized he'd brought his roommate with him. "This is Will."
"Is he...?"
Will noticed the dark eyed boy's face flush. "No, not that I know of," he whispered. He probably wasn't supposed to hear Nico's reply, so he just pretended he hadn't. But he couldn't help wondering what the two friends were talking about.
"Anyways, yeah, usual for me, what do you want, Will?" Nico looked at him.
"Umm, I'll have what you're having, I guess."
"Okay, make it two of the regular, then," Nico clarified to Reyna.
"You got it." She punched a few numbers into the cash register. "That'll be $4.98."
Nico reached into his pocket, but Will stopped him. "Let me pay," he insisted.
"But I promised I would-"
"No buts. Let me."
"It's like five dollars, you weirdos," Reyna remarked. "It doesn't matter who pays!"
"Well, according to William, it does matter," Nico muttered while his friend paid.
"Alright, here's your change." The cashier handed Will two pennies, which Nico insisted should be put in the donation box for the animal shelter.
"Don't we get cups or something?" The blond questioned.
"Pssh, no. Happy Meals come with milk."
"Nico, a Happy Meal isn't going to fill you up. They're for kids."
"Well, then I guess later we'll have to get ice cream to go with it." Nico flashed a teasing smile. Will enjoyed seeing Nico this happy, he made a mental note to take him here more often.
In a few moments time, their food was ready on the tray. The two boys had moved to the side so other people could order, and when Nico saw the food, he excitedly grabbed the tray and followed Will to a table.
"People are staring," Will noted as Nico dug into his hamburger and fries.
"So?"
"Do people always stare at you?"
"Yeah. I don't see any problem with it. It's a free country. If you don't want to come with me, you don't have to."
"Of course I want to. You're never this happy," he replied.
"Then shut your mouth and eat your food, Solace."
So that's what Will did. McDonald's had sort of a weird taste, but he wouldn't dare say that aloud. Nico, on the other hand, was ecstatic. If Will was another customer examining Nico, he would have a hard time believing that he was haunted by nightmares.
"Will, open." The blond looked up from his hamburger to see Nico holding his milk. There was a silvery foil that was slightly picked at.
Will smiled warmly. "Of course." He took the milk bottle and proceeded to pick at it with his fingernails, eventually peeling off the foil. He then handed it back to the black haired boy, who didn't reply.
Nico finished his food later than Will did, and when he looked inside of the box, his face fumed. "What. The. Fuck!" He stormed.
"What's wrong, Sunshine?"
"There's no toy. Did you get a toy?"
Will peered inside of the Happy Meal box and pulled out a package with a small stuffed dog in it. He passed it to Nico, who crossed his arms. "Why the hell did I not get one? I'm a regular here!" He complained.
Will shushed him. "There are other customers here, Nico. Children. Stop yelling and cursing over a toy. If it means that much to you, I'll go get one special for you. Would that satisfy you?"
Nico nodded.
"Okay. You can wait here while I go talk to Reyna."
Will slid his toy over to Nico and stepped out from the booth. He walked up to the counter, where Reyna was still there. Her hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a visor with the McDonald's logo.
"Hi again, Will," she greeted. "You buying ice cream for you and Nico?"
He shook his head. "No. He's pretty pissed off right now; his Happy Meal didn't have a toy in it. I gave him mine, but he's still not satisfied. Could you give me one for him?"
Reyna laughed. "Ha! Sure, of course. He want anything specific?"
"I don't think so."
Reyna came back with a small package in her hand. "Here you are, Will. Be good to Nico, 'Kay?"
"Of course I will. Thank you." Will gave her a little wave before heading back to the table where Nico sat. The mess had been cleaned up, and he was sitting there with the packaged toy, picking at it with his fingers.
"Ready to go, Sunshine?"
Nico looked up. "I guess. Did you get-"
"Yes. You can look at it in the car."
"Okay."
Will extended his arm for Nico, who surprisingly grabbed it, and Will dragged him out from the booth.
"Faggots!" Someone yelled.
"Actually, we're just friends. Check the facts before you call us out," Will snapped back. He didn't even turn towards the voice.
Nico didn't say anything.
The two boys said goodbye to Reyna as they walked to Will's yellow bug.
"I still hate this car's color," Nico remarked.
"Do you even have a car?"
"Well, sort of. My dad has this chauffeur named Jules-Albert who drives me around. Kind of a sketchy guy, but, ya know, I don't have to pay for gas, so it's all good," he explained.
"I see. What kind of toy did you get?"
"Well, yours is a dog, and the one you went to get for me is a kitten. They're cute!"
"I suppose you have that in common with them," Will said nonchalantly.
"What?"
"You're cute enough, di Angelo. Even a straight guy would admit you're good looking."
Nico went silent.
Why did I just say that?! I probably freaked him out. I'm so stupid. Good thing I'll be working tomorrow, I won't be able to embarrass myself any further.
~~~
Welp, another chapter. I'm good at stalling out the Solangelo, aren't I? It'll come soon enough. Anyways, if anyone knows any good ways I can promote this story and get more reads, please let me know. I'd be happier than Nico at McDonald's if this got super popular. Also, any ideas for this (or another) story are welcome. Thanks for sticking with me. Have a glorious day!