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Nico's grin is entirely toothy and wide; contradictory to his affronting tone.
"You cheated!" he whines despite the evident smile, and Will only crosses his arms boldly across his chest, huffing out a little audacious gasp at the very accurate accusation.
"Did not," Will replies matter-of-factly.
The younger boy finds himself grumbling, a little pout playing on his lips as he gathers the Mythomagic cards. Will knows that they're both well aware of his unregulated tactics to unfairly win the match (Nico being the better player out of the two by far) but if Will ever had a shot at victory, it would only be guaranteed by cheating and that was a road he would be more than willing to take.
When Will's mother calls them down from his room to the kitchen, he can tell that Nico's grumpy attitude hasn't completely worn off, but he knows it's more for show than anything else in order to get him to confess.
And when Nico snatches up the final cookie before Will can even reach for it, he supposes that it's fair enough. Honestly, he'd let him take it anyway, he likes seeing his best friend happy.
"We should play a different game," Nico suggests as he nibbles at the freshly baked cookie, "One that you can't cheat at."
Will remarks, "I didn't cheat."
"Liar," he sniffs, "Can't believe you cheated."
The friendly, childish bickering shoots back and forth and Will hears his mother give a little chuckle at their antics, smile lines crinkling at the corner of her eyes at how they're both as stubborn as the other.
"Okay fine," Nico concedes but Will's not even momentarily convinced, "Let's play a different game: truth or dare?"
The blond gazes at the ceiling in contemplation, humming a little before he decides, "Truth."
Nico's smirk is as sly as a fox and only then does Will realise he's been set up.
"Did you cheat at Mythomagic?" he asks proudly, already knowing the answer.
Will narrows his eyes in faux frustration. "Yes," he admits but it's not bitter due to the way Nico jumps up all too excitedly about the win.
Will supposes that he'd rather be in hell than in Mrs Dodd's history class, or more relevantly have his head snug in the middle of a guillotine as she drones on and on about the French Revolution.
He's long given up taking notes after only writing the date in his book, too bored to function and too unbothered to care. He sits with his back slouched at one of the desks towards the back of the room, resorting to attempting pen tricks than actually attempting to focus on her rambling.
Mrs Dodds faces the whiteboard in order to scribble more things down and Will swears he can just fall asleep then and there, and it's a very near thing until that crumple piece of paper lands cleanly on his desk.
Truth or dare?? it reads, and Will doesn't even have to recognise the neat handwriting to know who wrote it.
As subtly as possible, Will leans back on his chair and faces Nico, who's sitting around three desks away from himself, also looking bored but not as borderline suicidal Will is feeling in the midst of the lesson.
Dare he mouths to him, seeking something at least somewhat thrilling within the double period lesson.
Nico picks up one of the two scrunched up wads of paper sitting on his table, obviously having prepared both of the outcomes. With a gesture warning him to catch, Nico tosses the paper right into his hands -- which is fortunate too due to Will's complete lack of hand-eye coordination.
A little too eagerly, Will unravels the piece of paper but tries to limit the scrunching sound of it to a minimum in a room of complete silence besides Dodds' lecturing voice.
Blue eyes scan the note, and then reads over it again and again and then once more after than at the sheer audacity of the dare.
I dare you to actually pay attention dumbass, she's going to give us a project after this and like hell am I the only one going to be doing all the work.
Scowling so hard at the paper Will thinks he might end up burning holes in it with his glare, so he directs it at the person he calls his 'best friend' and Nico returns an unimpressed and deadpan expression.
Will decides to flip him the bird, Nico rolls his eyes and blows a kiss to him instead.
He's not too sure why, but after the action Will hastily faces the front once more. Maybe it's because he can feel his cheeks flame up a little and wants to hide away from Nico's watchful eyes that he can still feel on his frame.
With a defeated sigh, the blond picks up his pen and pays attention to Mrs Dodds' droning, hoping it would be enough of a distraction to will away his blush.
"Truth or dare?" Will is the one to ask this time. Him and Nico are sat across each other on one of the outdoor lunch tables in the dining pavilion. The sun is beating down on both of them, and while Will looks as though he's basking in the golden rays, Nico -- who's all pale skin and clad in black -- seems as though he'll melt if he steps out of the shadow they're sheltered in.
It's kind of adorable a lesser part of Will's brain unhelpfully supplies, telling him things he already knows. What everyone else would label as weird or mysterious, Will would say it's unique and enticing. Besides, it's not like Nico's known too brood in every dark corner he can find, seeking refuge that only the murk can supply and getting personally offended at even the mere thought of sunshine, he just seems to be more in his element in the cooler drafts and shaded areas; Will's fond of his habits.
Opposites attract, Will's brain pipes up once again, maybe he likes you too, and Will really wishes he could detach his conscious self from his physical self.
"Dare," Nico responds, snapping Will back to reality. He has a fierce gleam in his dark eyes, far too eager for a challenge for a 17 year old but the blond supposes it's a good look on him.
(Not that he doesn't always look good, even somehow while he's drooling on Will's pillow, sleeping like the dead.)
In thought, Will scans the pavilion for inspiration, and he finds it as he catches a certain sea green eyed, black haired heathen approaching their table.
"I dare you to tell Percy he's not your--"
But Will doesn't get time to finish as Percy slides into the seat next to Nico, beaming at both of them with a somewhat knowing look.
"So," he grins, "Will, Nico--"
"--You're not my type," Nico announces stoically, before proceeding take a long, loud slurp of his juice box.
Percy pauses and comprehends the words for a good ten seconds while Will's trying his damn best to bite his lips against the laughter that threatening to slip out.
They both watch as his face goes through a series of emotions: startle, offense, surprise, curiosity and finally confusion, with his eyebrows drawn tight and his lips parted with a question he apparently doesn't quite know how to make into words.
"Wait, wait, wait," he begins, shaking his head to gather his thoughts, "Does that mean you're gay? I've known you for five years, why did no one tell me?!"
Will snorts and then rapidly slaps his hand over his treacherous mouth, but he can't help but let loose when Annabeth invites herself and scolds Percy for being so clueless sometimes. Meanwhile, Nico still slurps at his drink box, fondly gazing at Will as he can barely find the breath to breathe between his laughs.
In all honesty, what Will's dare was going to be was something as mundane as telling Percy that he's not his friend, but when this outcomes includes Percy blubbering like a fish and Nico staring at him as though he's hung up all the stars in the galaxy, well... he can't particularly bring himself to mention it.
While Will isn't against parties and having a good time, he didn't really expect to find himself at one within only one week of college. Truthfully, Will only lets himself get succumbed into this one just in order to maybe meet a few new faces while promising himself to steer clear of any of the alcoholic drinks -- he figures that he wants to wait at least a month before his drunk self makes an embarrassing fool of him.
Yet, that same logic doesn't seem to stop Nico, who appears to be inhaling the drinks he finds himself so quickly that Will's having trouble keeping tabs on him.
Nico's so wasted that his solitary walls crumble chunk by chunk, exposing a flushed and overly giddy side of the Italian that he only ever really reveals to Will.
The thing is, Will knows he has no right to the tugging feeling in his gut as Nico tosses his head back and barks out a laugh with the blond guy he's been chatting with for the past seven and a half minutes. It's like an instinct: beware, Nico having a good time with other people means he's just going to forget about you, and though Will is well aware of how ridiculous the idea is, a darker and more hidden side longs to just drag the boy away and kiss him breathless, letting everyone know that he's taken.
Will rubs a palm down his face at his own jealousy, sighing and deciding that maybe just one drink wouldn't necessarily hurt...
But then as he averts his eyes from the scene and begins to navigate his way to the refreshments table, a firm hand grips his wrist, and Will would startle and yank it away if that spark of contact weren't so familiar.
"Willlll," Nico slurs with a dopey smile, and the sight instantaneously warming his chest. "Where we you? Was looking for you."
The blond's eyes flicker with a flash of doubt, but he cocks an eyebrow regardless, "Didn't miss me too much, I hope?"
It's such a basic question, so when Nico responds with burying his face into his shoulder and grumbles, "Missed you so much," into the cotton of his shirt, Will finds himself as tense as a board.
"Didn't look like it," Will mumbles before he can even think about it. He internally scolds himself for it, knowing it was a rash thing to say and only hopes that Nico didn't hear.
Of course, because fate had never really been in Will's favour, Nico hears and his eyebrows draw together, a frown of confusion between them. "What do you mean?"
Will supposes that the situation could be worse, if Nico weren't drunk off his ass, he'd so be busted of his shameful jealously, only then leading to an extremely awkward one-sided love confession and Nico never being able to look him in the eyes again.
But Will knows Nico, especially drunk Nico, who can't seem to ever remember a fragment of the night after only two drinks.
"Do you mean Jason?" Nico asks and god, that's what that dick's name is. Jason.
It's either Will's lack of response or half murderous expression that completely gives himself away to Nico, and Will doesn't miss the way his eyes shoot higher than his hairline.
"You..?" Nico begins quietly and Will thanks god that he won't remember this come a few hours.
But then, Nico straight-up smirks, with a snarky and daresay flirty edge to the corner of his lips.
Suddenly, Will finds his back thudding with a very solid wall and Nico's very firm hand pressing firm against his chest. He doesn't doubt the boy could feel his heart beating under his palm, running a mile per minute.
Will's too shell-shocked to even muster out a single coherent sound, so when he notices Nico's alluring brown eyes half lidded, staring up at him through thick, black eyelashes, Will supposes he might end up transcending from his body.
Eventually, his brain does catch up. "Nico?" he just about manages to choke out, but his voice sounds like he's just been gargling nails for the past two hours.
"Hm?" he replies and Will's so, so aware of their proximity.
His mind flashes with millions of alerts: It's happening. It's actually fucking happening.
Will licks his lips in an attempt to regain the moisture of his desert dry mouth but Nico's eyes follow it in a way that can only mean one thing. Still, as cautious with their friendship as ever, he begins to ask, "What are you do--?"
"--Truth or dare?" Nico urges out of the blue with a complete disregard of his question.
Gulping and pulse racing, Will can't spare a lot of thought to his answer. "Truth--"
"--I dare you to kiss me," he announces and Nico comes in all too eagerly to bridge the electrifying gap between their lips. God, Will's been waiting for this for most his life and it's finally happening and--
Nico's lips are just about a hairbreadth away when the reality comes crashing down on the blond. With a somewhat shameful and undignified squeak, Will regrettably pushes his best friend away so the distance between them gives him a chance to breathe and has Nico stumbling on his feet.
Once regaining his balance, the way his best friend looks at him almost makes him shatter. Accumulating tears glaze his eyes, and Will can't help but feel really fucking bad.
"I thought..." Nico whispers, refusing to make eye contact.
"When you're not drunk," Will states, and though his nerves are still alight with the thrill of the almost kiss, he says it as solemnly as possible. "I promise we can do that again, just when you're not drunk."
Despite the edging disappointment, Nico's small nod is enough to help Will rekindle his hope. He knows putting an end to it won't be a decision he'll come to regret, in fact Will only feels the anticipation of what's to come increase by a tenfold with the new, unmistakable knowledge.
He likes me back.
Will can't believe he had let himself be so delusional, had built himself so high in hope only to wake up the following morning and realising his own stupidity.
He was drunk you idiot, he had told himself that morning, he was drunk and he had no idea what he was doing.
What little ember of flickering fire there had been even after the realisation has been diminished into nothing but thick ash and smoke slipping between his fingers.
There aren't any charged moments between them, despite the usual exchange in sparks, but Nico does nothing to show any interest in Will that could possibly extend beyond platonic love. In fact, it seems that the boy has detached himself even more, though he's not too sure he can blame Nico for that entirely. They're well into their second term of college now, both busy with essays and deadlines and studying with barely enough time to even see each other outside of lunch.
Will finds himself missing his presence, not only as a long-term crush that leaves a hollow sort of feeling in his chest when he's not around but even just as a best friend. He misses his deadpan humour and his profound stubbornness. Misses seeing his smiles or the way his eyes light up as he geeks whenever Star Wars is even accidentally or indirectly referenced.
"Missed you so much," Nico had said that night a few months ago. While he was drunk, he reminds himself before his chest could bloom too full of fondness.
The two weeks after are uneventful as they invite the term break, a week away from seminars and lectures and Will's waited too long to just sit back and breathe.
In spite of everything, it's only nature that Nico ends up in Will's dorm on the Saturday, lounging on the bed, pillows up against the wall, a pack of cheap, store bought cookies between them and some insanely shitty comedy movie Cecil had recommended playing on the screen of Will's laptop.
It's so solacing that Will doesn't ever want this moment to end, but eventually, the credits roll, and Will prepares himself for the moment to dissipate.
Nico shifts on top of the covers as he gets up, stretching his arms which causes his shirt to ride up only slightly, but enough to have Will averting his gaze unless he fancied being caught stammering with a prominent, pink blush.
Absentmindedly, Will's about to reach out for the final cookie in the packet yet Nico darts in and snatches it away, like an eagle catching it's prey before anyone else can.
The blond doesn't mind and rather laughs at his antics instead. Honestly, he'd let him take it anyway, he likes seeing his best friend happy.
A gentle smile spills across his lips at the familiar moment.
"Why are you grinning like that," Nico asks as he takes a chunky bite at the cookie, and Will can't help but let the nostalgia bubble in him.
"Reminds me of when we were little," he says, "You'd take the last cookie every time as if it were a competition."
Nico pauses for a moment, obviously not really expecting that answer but then he rolls his eyes. "Oh yeah, I remember when you cheated. I deserved that cookie."
Will chuckles, "Still not over it, huh?"
"Still not over how you tried to lie," Nico sniffs.
"Alas, you made me confess eventually."
Nico hums and then the conversation seeps into silence. Will figures he'd say something but he recognises the look of contemplation through the way Nico chews at his lip, deciding instead to give him a chance to say what's on his mind.
"Hey Will, truth or dare?" Nico asks eventually and Will breathes out a laugh, honestly he should't of expected anything else.
Tapping his chin in an exaggerated show of deep thought and concentration, Will settles, "Truth."
There's a determined flash in Nico's eyes then followed by hesitation that would have been so easily missed by anyone other than Will, who suddenly he finds himself rather nervous.
"Do you..." Nico starts, then stops, shaking his head in what Will assumes is an attempt at sterling his nerves. "Do you remember that party? The one we went to within like the first week of college."
It's not as though that very night had been filling a good 90% of his mind since it happened.
"Yes," Will answers easily enough.
Then the nervousness is back, and Nico bows his head and decides to stare intently at the socks on his feet. They're mismatched, one completely black while the other is bright blue and printed with the Superman logo.
"Do you remember, uh, me?" Nico asks hesitantly, "I... I tried to kiss you."
Oh.
"Yes," he answers honestly, "but don't worry about it, you were drunk, I get it--"
"You promised we could try it again, when I was sober."
Oh. Oh.
Unhelpfully, Will's usually very loud brain goes blank, resorting to opening and closing his mouth several time trying to fill the void of his lost words with something.
Will sighs, "You were drunk, I didn't want to hold you against something that you wanted to do while you could barely think straight," he admits, but Nico darts his head up so fast and pins Will with a look that can't be anything if not disbelief. "I thought you had forgotten that it ever happened."
"God no," Nico blurts out, "Fuck, no-- I remember, but I thought that you just kinda regretted what you said or only said it cause you felt bad for me, fuck."
"What?!" he exclaims because he can't help it. Even entertaining the idea that Will wouldn't want to actually follow up with what he had said is hilariously tragic, it's not as though he's been pining his ass off for literal years.
Nico scoffs, "Will, you are such an idiot," but before the blond could even weakly argue back, Nico surges forward and then he's kneeling on the bed and has his lips pressed against his.
His brain still catching up with the thrilling turn of events, Will remains stoic still for a few seconds until it all of a sudden it seems like the most natural thing in the universe to press back into the kiss, warm lips gliding over warm lips. Nico sighs against him, melting into his hands as they come up to cup his jaw, thumbs brushing against those cheekbones, smooth underneath his touch.
When it gets to the point that they're both grinning so widely it's practically impossible to kiss, Will supposed he doesn't mind.
In fact, he decides, in the very moment, that he doesn't mind whatsoever because despite oblivious years they spent mooning over each other, there wouldn't be anything Will would change just so he remember the feel of this moment forever.