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Nico had been able to talk to ghosts for as long as he could remember, which is why he wasn’t surprised when he moved into his new rental house to find it haunted, despite the landlord claiming that no one had ever died on or around the property.
He tried to ignore the ghost as much as he could by not reacting to the things he said or by not looking directly at him. It was easier said than done, because this ghost talked a lot. He would comment on the healthiness of the groceries Nico bought, or pick on him for the shows he liked to watch. He would sing obnoxiously loud and off key whenever Nico was trying to finish up some work. There were even a few times Nico caught the ghost staring at his ass or saying things about how nice Nico looked in a certain lighting - it was things like those that were the hardest to keep a straight face around.
After the first month, Nico couldn’t take it anymore. He just wanted to enjoy some cereal for dinner while he binged about a half of a season of Parks and Rec on Netflix, but the ghost was lecturing him on the sugariness of his cereal and how he couldn’t just eat that for dinner, and that they’d already watched the third season of Parks and Rec that week, so couldn’t they watch something else for a change?
At that point, Nico glared directly at the ghost and held out the remote to him. “Fine,” he snapped, “you pick something.”
If he’d known that acknowledging the ghost was all it took to get him to shut up, he’d have done it a while ago. “You can see me?” the ghost asked in a whisper. “And hear me?”
“Sometimes I wish I couldn’t,” Nico replied.
“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”
Nico sighed. “Most ghosts I talk to haven’t had anyone to communicate with in so long that they won’t shut up around me once they find out that I can hear them. You, on the other hand, seem to be the opposite. You just won’t shut up, period.”
The ghost ducked his head shyly. “I’m sorry, I just get kind of bored, you know? But I’ll try to be quieter. Just let me know if I’m being annoying, and I’ll shut up, okay? Oh, and by the way, I’m Will.” He held out a hand to shake, but seemed to remember that it was pointless, that Nico’s hand would just phase right through.
“Nico,” he replied.
Once they got used to each other and learned how to not piss each other off, they got along surprisingly well. They would sit around and talk a lot whenever Nico had the time, and they would have movie marathons on the weekends to show each other their favorite movies. It became clear soon enough that Will hadn’t seen a lot of the newer movies from the past few years, so Nico tried to give him a chance to catch up, while Will almost always requested movies from the eighties or nineties.
Nico tried to learn more about him, but the ghost couldn’t seem to remember much about his time as a human, other than the foods he’d liked to eat and the TV he’d liked to watch. He couldn’t even remember the years during which he’d lived, and his jeans and flannel that he always wore didn’t help to indicate the time period, either.
It was rare, but sometimes Nico would bring one of his friends over - though it was more like they’d shown up with maybe fifteen minutes notice and demanded that Nico spend time with them to make sure that he wasn’t going to forget how to interact with people altogether. Will had started asking about Nico’s friends as soon as they would leave, wondering how Nico met them and if they knew that Nico could talk to ghosts.
It was after six months of pretty much living with Will that Nico couldn’t keep him a secret anymore. He met up with Jason for coffee one day, prepared to explain how he’d come to have a ghost for a new best friend, though he had no idea how to go about actually explaining anything. Jason knew about his ability to speak with ghosts, at least, so that was a start, but he knew as soon as he started talking that he shouldn’t have said, “I think I like someone.”
Jason beamed and slammed his hands on the table as he leaned in. “That’s great! Who is it? Do I know them?”
Nico shook his head. “I...doubt it. Um. He’s been staying with me for a little while, and, um. I don’t know what to do.”
“Have you tried telling him how you feel?” Jason asked.
Nico slouched in his seat. “It’s...too complicated for that.”
“Why? Is he straight? Is he dating somebody?”
Nico shook his head. “No, he’s… He can’t--”
“Let me meet this guy,” Jason said with a frown. “I wanna know first hand why he can’t date you. Is he at your house right now?” He was out of his seat and walking toward the door before Nioc could stop him.
They raced to Nico’s house, and while Jason beat him there, he had to wait at the front door until Nico came up to unlock it. He walked inside first, letting Jason follow him in before closing the door behind him.
“Where is he?” Jason asked, and Nico saw Will’s head poke over the back of the couch with a confused pout that Nico couldn’t help but think was adorable.
“On the couch,” Nico replied, and nodded to Will. “Will, you remember Jason from a couple weeks ago?”
Jason frowned as his eyes scanned the couch, though only a short moment later he seemed to realize what was happening. “Oh. He’s dead.”
“Well, you don’t have to be so blunt,” Will said.
“He’s a ghost,” Nico told Jason.
Jason rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. “Of course. Only you would have a crush on a ghost.”
Will perked up immediately. “A what? Did you say you have a crush on me?”
“Just because you can’t see him, doesn’t mean he can’t hear you!” Nico shouted at Jason, and turned to Will to say, “And I’m not talking to you about this right now!”
Will smiled at him, propping his chin up on his fist and sang, “You have a crush on me!”