FOURTEEN
"Good morning, Nico." Will called out as Nico entered the kitchen. It had been a week since Reyna had left, and while they were still speaking and getting along fine, Nico had become quiet and had retreated into his shell again.
"Buongiorno" Nico said, carefully stepping around Nyx who was pawing at his leg. Will poured him coffee and came over to pick up the kitten, petting her as Nico sipped from his mug and got started on breakfast.
They ate quietly and it drove Will crazy, but he had decided to give Nico some space. "I have work, so I won't be home to cook." Nico mentioned as he stood up, clearing his dishes.
"That's fine. How did you sleep?" Will asked, trying to make conversation to keep him talking.
"How do you think?" Nico retorted, going to his room to get ready. Will hated seeing Nico like this, but there wasn't much he could do. Nico would speak to him when he was ready.
- - - - -
The next two weeks passed in similar fashion, and due to classes and work, they only ever saw each other for breakfast. "I'm getting another tattoo next Saturday, if you know what you want, there's a space open."
"Oh umm, can I let you know in a day or two?" Will questioned.
"That's fine, I still have to draw up my design for Winona." Nico cracked an egg into the pan.
"Would you be willing to draw something up for me?" Will knew what he wanted but he just hadn't found the right design yet.
"What were you thinking?"
"I want like, a single tree, maybe two, going up my forearm, black because I'm not a huge fan of colour tattoos." Will tried to describe the picture in his head, but he wasn't doing a great job.
"Well you didn't give me much to work with, but I guess I could try to whip something up for you. I was going to work on mine while work was slow today, I'm sure I can squeeze yours in too." Nico set the plate of food down beside Will, but didn't start eating. "Look, I know I haven't been the best flat mate these past few days, but I just want you to know it has nothing to do with you, and I don't regret telling you anything." Nico admitted and Will nodded, smiling.
Neither of them spoke after that, but they didn't need to. Will cleaned up before he headed to class, and Nico grabbed his bag shortly after, heading to work.
The bells above the shop chimed as Nico used his keys to unlock the door. "Winona?" He called out.
"Sorry Nico, you're stuck with me." Alice, Winona's granddaughter, called from the back of the shop. Her parents had named her after the Wonderland book, but she ended up shaving half her head, dropping out of college, and moving across the ocean. She worked at the shop part time and did all the bookings.
"That's fine. Oh, don't book the slot before me on Saturday, Will sounds like a yes. I'll let you know for sure within the next few days." Nico shrugged off his jacket and flipped the rest of the lights on, opening up the shop. He got to straightening the shelves until his first appointment showed up.
Alice didn't like quiet so she always had music playing on the old player Winona had bought when she had first opened up. She had an extensive disk collection and Alice and Nico would take turns choosing the cd throughout the day. The bells chimed again, and a middle-aged man came through, heading to the desk where Alice was sat behind a computer.
"Damn girl, you're hotter than the bottom of my laptop." He said, leaning on the desk, wiggling his eyebrows at Alice.
"If you could just follow Nico to the back, he will get you set up for your appointment." Alice said professionally, disregarding his statement. But the man didn't move.
"I was feeling a little off this morning, but you definitely turned me on." He continued. "Are you a vampire? Cause you looked a little thirsty when you saw me." Alice was clearly done with this. Nico knew she could handle herself, but that didn't stop him from coming closer and staring him down, making the man as uncomfortable as possible.
"Either cut the crap and follow Nico into the back for your appointment or get out. I will not hesitate to use this" she placed a small canister of pepper spray on the desk "should you choose to continue attempts." Alice never broke her sense of professionalism, and she smiled sweetly at the end of her sentence as if she hadn't just threatened to pepper spray the man.
"Lead the way." He said, turning to Nico who started walking to the back room where he had his supplies. He never liked guys like this, but he was a decent human being so as much as he was tempted to accidentally mess up the tattoo, he refrained. When he was done and finished explaining aftercare, he followed him out to the front instead of staying behind and cleaning up as usual to make sure there was no funny business. He paid and left, not saying anything.
"Ugh. Men." Alice rolled her eyes. "Well not you, you're fine, but you know what I mean." She corrected. Nico laughed and headed back to clean up his station. When he was done he pulled out the sketchbook Will had given him for Christmas and got to work on the design.
He had absolutely no idea what to do for Will, but after looking through a few of the books they had and looking up some pictures on the work laptop, he had an idea of where to start at least. He got to work, working and reworking the design until he was happy with it, finishing just as his next client walked in. That was how the rest of his shift continued, going between clients and designing.
It was a long day, and his classes had resulted in an enormous amount of homework, but he finally made it home. He kept dinner simple and left some out for when Will got back before heading to his room to get started on his essays.
A knock at his door startled him, making him jump. "Yeah?" Nico called out, pushing his laptop aside.
"Victor texted me, asking if I had moved out yet. Do you know what that was about?" Will was completely puzzled over the situation.
"Umm that may be my fault?" Nico mentioned quietly, figuring things with Aurora had blown over enough.
"Don't be ridiculous, it had nothing to do with you. And I'm not moving out, this place is cheap and the company isn't bad." Will teased.
"It's the company he is worried about Will, he knows I'm gay. I didn't just ditch you in the middle of the night, he kicked me out." Nico said plainly. It took a minute for the full affect to hit Will, but when it did, even Nico was scared of him.
"What happened to your hands?" Will breathed out after taking a minute to calm down enough to speak. "If he so much as laid a finger on you-"
"I tripped, honest. All he did was kick me out of the house and tell me not to go near your family again. It's not that big of deal, Will. I knew what he thought and it was my choice to go anyways." Nico stated. "It's fine."
"It is absolutely not fine. You were nothing but nice the entire time and he has the audacity to kick you out?" Will was about to start ranting again, but Nico held up his hand to cut him off.
"Will. It doesn't bother me, so don't let it bother you." Nico said, ending the discussion. Will sighed, but nodded his head. "Good." Nico pulled out the sketchbook and opened to the pages where he had come up with a few ideas for Will, handing it to him. "Were you thinking something along these lines?" He asked as Will flipped through the pages before stopping on one, smiling.
"This is exactly what I had in mind. This is so good, Nico!" Will praised his drawings and Nico mumbled a thanks. Will showed him which one he was referring to. "What time are we going in on Saturday?" Will asked, leaning against the doorway.
"Ten. I have to be in at eight to cover for Winona cause she has a doctor's appointment. Yours shouldn't take me too long and I'll get mine done when Winona gets back." Nico stood up and walked towards Will. "If I have to write another word my brain is going to explode. Wanna watch something?" Will nodded and they walked to the living room. It was Nico's choice so he of course put on a horror film.
Will had gotten a lot better when it came to watching the movies Nico liked, but he was still a long ways from being able to watch them without jumping or feeling like he was going to pee his pants. "When I have nightmares tonight I'm blaming you." Will stated as Nico started the movie.
"Turn off the lights."
"Do we have to?" Will tried to reason with him. Everything is worse in the dark.
"Yes." Nico demanded, nudging Will with his elbow until he finally leaned over and flicked the switch. At the first jump scare, Will accidentally flung his elbow into Nico's face, and he emitted a groan of pain. "Dude, it's not that scary."
"You're just saying that because you are completely incapable of feeling human emotion." Will whined jokingly, but then turned his face into Nico's chest as someone's head was severed. "Oh that's fine, just laugh at my trauma why don't you." Will felt Nico's shoulders move even more as he had only made Nico laugh harder.
Every once in a while Will would clutch Nico's arm so tightly he could have sworn he had no blood flow to his fingers. Nyx had come and joined them halfway through, settled contently on Nico's lap despite his complaints and purring softly. Will somehow managed to survive to movie, and as soon as the credits began rolling, he flicked the lights back on.
It was dark outside, and Will stood up, grabbing Nyx from Nico so he could put her to bed. Nico was still sat on the couch, staring out the window when Will came back, now dressed in his pj pants and a hoodie. "How much sleep have you been getting?" Will asked quietly.
"Enough."
"Nico." Will warned sternly.
"Lately it's been closer to two hours." Nico admitted, not making eye contact. Will came closer and held out his hand, Nico took it, not knowing what to expect. Will pulled him into a hug.
"Look, I can't claim to know what you're going through, but I do know that it isn't healthy for you to keep doing this to yourself. I know you don't want sleeping pills, and I completely respect that, but I do think something has to change." Nico tried to pull away after Will said this, but Will just held him tighter, rubbing his back. Nico's breaths were ragged.
"I don't know what you want me to do." He admitted quietly.
"Have you ever considered talking to a therapist or counselor?" Will asked timidly. Nico was about to open his mouth and decline, but Will continued. "I'm not saying you're broken or weak, because that couldn't be farther from the truth, but I do think you might benefit from it, I know I did."
"I'll think about it." Nico relented, and Will finally let him go.
"That's all I'm asking." And Will meant it. He wasn't going to push it, but he hated seeing Nico struggle so much, and the path he was continuing down wasn't healthy for anyone. "If you ever need anything, you can always come to me."
"Umm." Nico hesitated asking his question. "Would it be alright if I asked why you were in therapy?"
"I have general anxiety and panic disorder. I'm doing a lot better, but I still have off days. It was a lot worse a few years ago." Will shrugged. "I'm pretty open about it because it's something a lot of people struggle with. There's no point in pretending it doesn't exist or hiding it like it's something I should be ashamed of."
"But you always seem so happy?" Nico was confused. He never would have guessed this about Will. Will smiled.
"I am happy."
(A/N That's Alice at the top. Anyways, hope you liked the chapter, and thanks to everyone who has voted and commented :) I only have 7k left to write for NaNo, but I don't think I'll be done my story, seeing as I'm writing chapter 18 right now and there is still a lot that needs to be resolved)