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They knew that growing up would mean getting busy with school and work and struggling to still have a social life despite those things. But Nico and Will never suspected that the only time they could make for each other was when they were running errands or doing chores.
They would go grocery shopping together despite living apart, and they would video chat while making dinner as if to simulate a stay-at-home date. The most time they spent together was when they would take their clothes to the laundromat halfway between their apartment buildings. There, they had two uninterrupted hours - at least - to spend together.
It was Tuesday night, right around seven, and Will was loaded down with laundry bags and running late to meet Nico. Thankfully, it wasn’t his turn to pick up dinner.
Nico was sitting up on one of the washing machines, his laundry basket on top of another to his left and a Panda Express takeout bag on the machine to his right. He smiled when he saw Will walk in, and he removed his basket from on top of the machine. “Hey, Sunshine, I saved you one.”
Will came over, dropped his bag on the ground in front of the machine, and leaned in for a kiss. “Thanks, babe.”
“And I got your favorite,” Nico continued, reaching into the Panda Express bag. “Orange chicken, extra white rice, and an egg roll.”
Will’s stomach growled in anticipation. “I would die of starvation without you.”
“I know you would,” Nico replied and started setting out containers in front of himself. “Hurry up and start your clothes before this all gets cold.”
Will loaded up his washing machine an deven the one next to it before he could finally take a seat next to Nico and dig into his takeout. “So,” Will started, “did you get your final project approved for your psych class?”
The next two weeks were spent with more studying and less talking between them, but that was what happened when there was so much to do and so little time to do it all. Offhandedly, while they were moving their clothes from washer to dryer, Nico said, “My lease runs out in January.”
“Oh, yeah?” Will said.
“I’ve been thinking about whether I should renew it or not,” Nico continued.
“Are you kidding?” Will asked. “It’s a great place, you should totally keep it.”
Nico frowned. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You’ve been telling me all semester how much you hate your apartment. Your lease has to run out soon, right?”
Will sighed. “Yeah, but it’s so close to campus and work, so I can’t really think of a better option.”
He can’t really be that dense, can he? Nico thought. “I guess not,” he said instead, letting the subject drop.
He tried to bring it up again the next week, smack dab in the middle of finals week, by saying, “I think I might want to get a roommate.”
Will almost laughed. “Why? You hate people.”
“I don’t hate you,” Nico tried again.
“But I’m not on the hunt for a new place.”
Nico huffed. “But you could be.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
In the end, Nico decided to wait until after they’d both finished all of their finals and they were already a few days into their winter break. If Nico didn’t do something now, he would miss his chance when Will left for home for the holidays, and Nico would be stuck as the sole name on his lease once again.
“Will you move in with me?” Nico asked, before WIll could even open up the washing machine.
“What?” Will said, obviously surprised. “Where is this coming from?”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me right now? I’ve been dropping hints for like, the last month.”
“Oh. Really?”
“Yes, really, like when I said that--”
“No, not that,” Will cut in. “You really want me to move in with you?”
“Well, yeah,” Nico replied, suddenly sounding almost shy. “Then we won’t have to fight to make time to see each other. Plus, I know how much better you like my apartment than yours.”
Will didn’t respond right away, his mouth having dropped open in realization. “So all those things about-- That’s why you said--”
“Yeah, stupid, you know I would never actually look for a roommate,” Nico told him.
Will stepped away from his machine and moved close enough to Nico that he could slip an arm around his waist. “I can move out at the end of December. Is that enough time to add me to your lease?”
“I think so,” Nico said, straightening the flannel Will was wearing. “I can’t wait to see you more than once a week.”
Will grinned. “We’re really doing this. We’re gonna live together, and we’ll be able to see each other all the time.”
“We can actually be in the same room instead of Skyping all the time,” Nico said.
“I love you,” Will told him, leaning down for a kiss. “I can’t wait to live with you.”
Will moved into Nico’s apartment in January. They were the first thing the other saw when they woke up every morning, and the last thing they saw every night. Nico’s building still didn’t have a laundry room, so they kept their weekly dates at the laundromat down the street.