Archive of Our Own ^beta

Everything was too bright.

Nico felt like groaning and pulling the blankets up over his head, but he thought that if he moved or made a sound or even breathed that he might die. So instead he gave in to the torturous light and opened his eyes. 

It was like the sun was laying in bed beside him. 

All Nico could see was sun-kissed tan skin dotted with more freckles than there were stars in the sky. Blond hair that was cut short on the sides and back but long enough on top to curl in every direction. A face that was halfway turned into a pillow, leaving only one sky blue eye visible. 

When the human embodiment of the sun seemed to register that Nico was staring back at him, his blue eye widened. “Uh,” he started softly, his lips falling open as he seemed to struggle for words. “Excuse me for a second.” Then he pushed his face fully into the pillow and let out a long groan. He sounded exactly how Nico felt. When he ran out of air, he turned his head back to Nico, still only showing one eye as if protecting the other from the light. “Sorry about that. I’m very hungover.” 

“Um.” Nico tugged at the blanket in an attempt to cover more of his bare chest, but stopped when it started to pull away from the other man’s waist. Oh God, was he naked? Wait, was Nico naked? No, he was wearing underwear at least. “Yeah,” Nico whispered. “Me too.” 

“We need water,” the sun told him, and then he was pushing himself out of the bed. Nico hadn’t been a practicing Catholic for at least the last decade, but he found himself thanking Jesus, Mary, and Joseph that the other man was wearing briefs when the sheets fell away. 

He tracked the man with his eyes - tall and lean and pressing the heel of his palm against the side of his head - until he was out of the room. 

Mostly, Nico wanted to gather up his clothes and run. He didn’t know the other man, he didn’t know where he was, and he didn’t remember what had happened to get the two of them there, together. Every part of his brain was telling him to move, go, get out of here, but his body threatened to revolt if Nico so much as turned his head too quickly. 

Before Nico could do more than roll onto his back and prop himself slightly against the pillows, the sun had returned, holding two tumblers filled with tap water. He sat down on the edge of the bed next to Nico’s feet, taking a sip of his own water as he held the other glass out to Nico. He’d drank most of his own glass before Nico took the other out of his hand.

“I don’t even remember getting a hotel room last night,” the sun said into his glass, laughing a bit awkwardly like he was trying to lighten the mood. “Says something about how much I drank last night, I guess.” 

Nico took a drink. 

Did this guy think they knew each other? Did he remember something about how they got there that Nico didn’t? He just sat there on the edge of the mattress, drinking the last of his water, staring off into space while Nico fought down a panic attack. Then, when he had finished, rather than heading back into the bathroom for more, he leaned forward to place his glass on the table at Nico’s elbow. Nico held his breath until he moved away.

The sun ran a hand through his golden curls. He dropped his gaze to the bedsheets and took a deep breath. “Okay, um. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can pretend anymore. I must’ve been really drunk last night, because I don’t know who you are.” He winced. “Sorry. I hope you’re not offended.” 

Nico shook his head, too quickly at first, and had to squeeze his eyes shut to push the nausea back down. He took another sip of water. “No, not offended. I don’t remember you, either.” 

The sun blew out a thin stream of air, bobbing his head for a second before seeming to regret that motion. “Wow, um. I don’t know if that makes me even more anxious or relieved.” He leaned back and propped himself on an elbow, like he couldn’t bear being upright any longer, and ran a hand over his face. Nico thought he looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine, and Nico had never felt more out of place. Then, he was moving again, holding his left hand out to Nico. “Sorry. I’m Will.” 

Will. Nico didn’t know if it fit him. It sounded too plain compared to the... everything about him. He started to reach for Will’s hand. “I’m--” His gaze caught on Will’s fingers, long and thin like the rest of them, and Nico could almost see them dancing across the keys of a piano or the strings of a guitar. Then he caught a glint of something golden near his palm. “Married?”

Will’s eyes widened, and he snatched his hand back. How could Nico be stupid enough to hook up with a married man? Or, no, maybe they hadn’t hooked up, but they’d still woken up in the same hotel room, the same bed. And how could Will be stupid enough to cheat while wearing a wedding band?

Nico pulled his knees up to his chest in an attempt to form some kind of barrier between them. “Sorry! I’m so sorry, um. My name is Nico, and if I had known you were married, then I never would have-- Uh, I mean, I don’t even know if we did anything, but--” 

Will sat up again, his panic having melted away to confusion. “Wait, wait,” he said, waving his hands frantically between them. “I’m not married, I thought you were married! You just said--” 

Nico pointed at his hand. “You’re the one wearing a ring!” 

Will’s eyes dropped to his hand, turning it back and forth and staring down at the ring around his finger, like he had no idea how it could’ve gotten there. He raised his eyes to Nico’s and shot back, “Well, so are you!” 

Nico’s heart stopped. He couldn’t manage to drop his eyes or raise his hand. He didn’t want to see a ring there, so he stared at Will’s hand instead. Even when it disappeared into Will’s hair, Nico tracked the movement. 

“Okay, um.” Will took a quick, deep breath. “You don’t actually think we…?”

Nico shook his head. “I have no idea.” 

Will’s head fell, like the string holding him up had been cut, and he scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay. Okay.” He couldn’t seem to meet Nico’s eyes when he raised his head again, and turned his hand over once more. “I’m pretty sure I’m, like, sweating vodka right now, so would you mind hanging around while I hop in the shower? We should really try to figure out what happened last night, and I think it’ll be easier to talk it through.” 

Nico nodded, still pointedly keeping his eyes up until Will was out of the room. He forced himself to run his fingers over his left hand, to find the ring around his finger just to be sure that Will wasn’t lying. When he found it, his heart dropped into his stomach, and he fought down his nausea once more. 

As soon as he heard the click of the bathroom door, Nico reached for the phone at the bedside. He called the front desk. 

“Hi, I was wondering if you could give me some information about my check in,” he said to the receptionist. 

“Of course,” the woman replied. “Can I have your name, please?” 

He gave it to her.

“Alright, it looks like you and your husband checked in just after midnight last night,” the receptionist told him in a sweet voice, oblivious to Nico’s sharp inhale at the word husband. “You paid using a credit card belonging to Nico di Angelo, and you paid for one night only. That means we’ll be expecting you to check out within the hour.” 

“Is it too late to ask for a later check out?” he asked, tipping forward and pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers to ward off the headache he could feel coming. 

“A late check out will require that you leave by three this afternoon. Will that work for you?” 

“Yes,” Nico answered. “And one last thing - can you connect me to room service?” 

Breakfast had been delivered by the time Will stepped out of the bathroom, looking refreshed and a lot less like death warmed over. And if that was how he had looked while half dead, Nico didn’t know how he didn’t go blind looking at him now. 

“Um. I got room service,” Nico told him from his spot on the bed. He’d picked a t-shirt off the floor at random to put on when he answered the door, and had since returned to the place where he’d woken up. “Sorry, I didn’t know what you liked, so I kind of just...ordered a lot. I might’ve gone overboard. But it’s all on my card, so don’t worry about that.” 

Will shot him an easy smile that had Nico’s heart skipping a beat. If this is what Will did to him when they were both sober, it was no wonder that Nico had gotten himself married to the other man last night while drunk off his ass. 

At first, it appeared as though Will was crossing the room to rejoin Nico on the other side of the bed, but then Nico noticed that he kept looking down. “Something wrong?” Nico asked hesitantly. 

“Clothes,” Will replied. “I must’ve had clothes somewhere, right? I mean, they wouldn’t just let me walk through a hotel like this, right?” He stopped and gestured to himself, though luckily for Nico, his eyes never left the ground. Nico didn’t need to feel any more embarrassed than he already did by getting caught staring.

Nico tried for a shrug, not that Will would see it. “I found this on the floor,” he said, plucking at the collar of his shirt. 

Will looked up. “Oh.” 

“What?” 

“That’s my shirt.” 

Nico glanced down at the shirt. Whatever design had been on it was faded, and the fabric was so thin that it hardly seemed to count as a shirt anymore, but it was soft. Some part of Nico wondered what Will had been doing out in a shirt that had probably been reserved as pajamas for the last few years. He felt his eyes widen in panic and muttered, “Oh, God, sorry,” as he started to tug it off by the back of the collar. 

“No, don’t worry!” Will told him, suddenly perched on the edge of the mattress again, though this time on the opposite side of the bed. “It’s fine. Keep it, you know, for now. What are we eating?” He grabbed a pack of silverware that was wrapped in a napkin and leaned in.

Nico forced himself to relax and picked up his own fork once more. He cut himself a piece off the omelette in front of him. “Texas omelette. Never had one before, so I thought I would try it.” He shrugged with one shoulder. “It’s okay.” 

Will shot him a grin that was so full of delight that Nico had no idea what he’d done to deserve it. “How’d you know?” 

Nico frowned, his eyebrows pulling together. “Know what?” 

“I’m from Texas,” Will told him, his grin somehow turning brighter, “and I love omelettes.” 

Nico let out a puff of laughter. “Lucky guess. Here, have some.” He slid the plate toward Will, who cut off a piece and ate it. 

Will hummed appreciatively. “That’s good. What’s this?” He pointed with his fork to another plate further down the bed, then reached over to pull it close. 

Nico barely glanced at it before guessing, “Apple cinnamon french toast, I think.” He started pulling more plates closer. “And a side of bacon - maybe two sides, I don’t remember. You know, grease, for the hangovers? And biscuits and gravy. There’s a couple different kinds of pancakes - chocolate chip and blueberry, I think - and then there was another kind of french toast somewhere.”

When he looked up again, Will was still smiling at him, his eyes having softened into something that Nico could barely stand to look into. Like Will was pulling him close and whispering sweet nothings in his ear with only a look. But they didn’t even know each other. 

“What?” Nico asked again, dropping his gaze to one of the plates of pancakes. 

“We’re never going to eat all of this food,” Will told him. 

Nico poked at a pancake with his fork. “If it makes you feel any better, I ordered some fruit, too, but I think they forgot it.” He glanced toward the foot of the bed, past the row of plates surrounding them, and spotted something pink behind a fold in the blankets. “No, wait, there it is.” 

They took turns eating off each other’s plates. The two of them had silently decided that instead of picking a plate for themselves and sticking with it, they each had a few bites of everything, like a sampling platter. Will, though, seemed like something of a health nut, and ate more than his fair share of the fruit bowl. That was fine by Nico, since he had kind of wished the hotel had forgotten to bring it. 

“So,” Will said as he speared a grape on his fork, “what do you remember from yesterday?” 

“I went to a bar to get shitfaced,” Nico answered with his mouth half-full of french toast. 

Will’s mouth quirked up at the corner. “Okay, I’m gonna say that was a mission accomplished for you. Why?” 

Nico took the time to chew and swallow before responding. How could he phrase this in the best possible way that wouldn’t make him come off as a pathetic loser? He cleared his throat. “Um. I mean, this might also be a hint as to why we got married, but, um. The straight guy I had a crush on in high school, who has since become one of my best friends, asked me to be his best man.” 

Will’s eyes widened. “Shit.”

“Yeah.” 

“That’s...all? I mean, sorry, that sucks, but I don’t think that explained it as well as you thought it did.” 

Nico shrugged. “That, and the fact that I’ve recently become the only single friend in the group.” He stabbed at the nearest plate of french toast. Whoever thought peaches and french toast would work well together was wrong. “Even my younger sister got engaged before I could get into a committed relationship.” 

Will nodded.

Nico kind of wanted to run away again.

“Your turn,” he said quickly, before a silence could stretch between them. 

“Okay, uh--” Will glanced up toward the ceiling in thought. “Well, I don’t remember going to a bar. A friend of mine was having a rough day, so she invited me over for drinks. I guess at some point we must have left her apartment, but--” He shrugged. 

“That wasn’t as helpful as you probably think it was.” 

Will laughed, and Nico refused to consider any reasons why that ignited his fight or flight response. “Yeah, that’s fair.” Then he snapped his fingers, pointing at Nico with wide eyes as he got an idea. “But I could text her and see if she knows anything!” 

“Oh my God, of course,” Nico said, and in the next second, the two of them were off the bed and hunting for their phones. Will found his on the floor next to the bed, while Nico had to dig through the pockets of the jeans he’d discarded the night before. 

“Damn, it’s dead,” Will muttered. “Any luck?” 

Nico pulled the device out of his pocket and announced, “Got it!” It buzzed in his hand as a new text came through - group chat messages, just like always. He checked his battery - closer to dead than he had ever let it get - and hopped back on the bed. He sent a quick hey sorry i’m alive to his friends before muting the chat. A quick scroll through the messages showed nothing incriminating from the night before, aside from the fact that he appeared to have gone missing sometime after eleven. 

“Find anything?” Will asked, leaning into Nico’s side. He shook his head in response. “Check your camera roll.” 

Nico did. The first few pictures were of the two of them pressed close together, like they were squeezing close to make sure they were both in frame. There was a Just Married banner above them. Next, a picture of them kissing, which Nico didn’t linger on. A picture of them gazing at each other with eyes so soft that Nico thought he might lose his breakfast from the sight. 

Next on the roll was a video, only about twenty seconds long. Somebody else was filming, because Nico and Will were occupied with exchanging rings and saying their I do’s. Nico didn’t linger there, either. 

The next video was much longer.

The camera was pointed downward into a jewelry case, at rows and rows of sparkling gold and silver rings.

Will’s voice, off camera, asked, “What are you doing?” 

Nico, closer, replied, “I’m taking pictures of the rings.” 

“Why?” Will asked with amusement lacing his voice. “We’re just gonna buy them now.” 

“Oh yeah.” The phone was set down on the display case. The case rattled slightly, accompanied by the thump, thump, thump of a finger tapping on the glass. “I think you should get that gold one, because you’re like a ray of sunshine.” 

“Okay, sure,” Will agreed. “But only if you get this silver one, because you’re like… You’re my… Moonlight! Silver, like moonlight!” 

Nico gasped. “Like that gay movie.” 

Will’s voice was softer, closer as he said, “I’m so in love with you.” When he spoke again a moment later, his voice was further away. “Excuse me, can I see this one, please? Yeah, that silver one. Thank you.” Closer again, then fabric shuffling. “Nico-- Uh, what’s your last name?” 

“di Angelo,” Nico answered. 

“Nico di Angelo,” Will repeated, sounding in awe. “I fell in love with you the second I laid my eyes on you, and every second we spend together makes me fall in love with you more. I’ve spent my entire life without you, but now that I have you, I don’t think I could ever go back. So, will you marry me?” 

“Yes,” Nico said immediately, a smile in his voice. “Okay, now it’s my turn.” The case rattled again as Nico leaned against it. Nico’s voice was much louder as he asked, “Hi, can I have this one?” 

A row of rings slid out of view, then returned a second later with one ring missing from the center. 

“Thank you,” Nico said, and moved away again. “Will, um--”

“Solace.” 

“Yeah. Will Solace, I love you, and…” Nico huffed in mild frustration. “How are you so good at this? Um. I love you, and I wanna marry you, so will you marry me?” 

Will’s voice was so quiet, so soft, it could barely be heard. “Of course I will.” 

Silence for a few seconds, then Will’s voice saying, “Okay, we have to pay for these, and then let’s go get married.” 

“I think we pay over here.” 

“Oh, wait, don’t forget your phone!” 

“Oh, shit.” Nico picked up the phone and started to carry it away, the camera angled toward his shoes. “Oh, huh. I was filming.” 

Nico couldn’t move. 

The phone screen went black in his hands, but he couldn’t even find it in himself to check whether it had timed out or died. His heart was racing, and his face felt like it was on fire, and he couldn’t look at Will. 

He had told Will that he loved him. He’d never said that to anyone! (Obviously, Hazel didn’t count.) Not even in the past when he’d been blackout drunk had he said it to his closest friends - and he only knew that because none of them would have ever let him live it down. 

So what was it about Will that could make Nico fall in love with him in one night?

When the silence had stretched on for more than a minute, Will released a breath and whispered, “Wow.”

Nico giggled. He giggled, and the thought of giggling made it even worse, but then he couldn’t stop. Everything about this whole situation was just so absurd, so of course he’d started giggling. And then the giggling turned into full on laughter, holding onto his stomach and falling over laughter that didn’t even stop when Nico hit his head against the headboard or when tears started rolling down his cheeks. 

“What’s so funny?” Will asked, smiling a bit himself as though Nico’s laughter was contagious. 

“It’s-- The whole--” Nico took a few deep breaths, wiping at his cheeks with the backs of his hands. “The most committed relationship I’ve ever been in was a drunken mistake at a bar!” He could barely get the words out before he burst out laughing again, though that didn’t stop him from catching the hurt that flashed across Will’s face.

Will’s hand brushed against Nico’s cheek, and that had him sobering up again in an instant. As he wiped away a new batch of tears with his thumb, Will said, “Let’s not call it a mistake. What about...a happy accident?” 

Nico snorted, and unconsciously leaned into the touch. “A happy accident?” he repeated derisively. 

Will grinned and pulled his hand away. Nico pretended not to miss it. “Yeah! So what if we accidentally got married? We at least have a fun story to tell our friends! And we got to meet and actually remember it, unlike if we had just met at that bar and never saw each other again.” 

Something about the way Will was looking at him made Nico’s heart twist up. “Yeah,” he said eventually. “I guess you’re right.” 

“Okay, give me your phone,” Will said, and held out a hand. “I’m gonna give you my number so we can get together when we’re not actively dying from a hangover, and we can figure out how to, like, divorce, or whatever. Annul, maybe? I don’t know the difference.” 

[To: the literal sun (will): ok so i met with this divorce lawyer who said we basically just need to sign some papers and we’re set]

[To: the literal sun (will): i can give you her number or i can just get the papers and mail them to u but i’ll need ur address] 

[From: the literal sun (will): Do you always use “you” and “u” in the same sentence?]

[From: the literal sun (will): So I talked to my friend, the one that I was with before we got married?]

[From: the literal sun (will): She said that we ran out of booze after an hour and went to “that bar by the community college.”]

[From: the literal sun (will): Then at some point, I said something about “the prettiest guy I’d ever seen,” and she didn’t see me again after that]

[From: the literal sun (will): I have to assume I was talking about you]

[To: the literal sun (will): oh. thanks?]

Nico had mostly forgotten about the man he’d drunkenly married. Sort of. He’d tried to, anyway. He didn’t think about Will while he was at work, at least until Will started texting him. He didn’t think about waking up next to the physical embodiment of the sun until he was almost asleep at night. He did think about going through and deleting all of those pictures and videos in case Hazel ever decided to go through his phone just for fun, until he looked back at them himself and realized he couldn’t erase it all for good. (He moved them into a secure folder instead.)

There was something about Will. There was no possible way for Nico to put it into words, but there was something about him. Something that he didn’t understand, and he wasn’t really sure he wanted to. Most of Will was like that, he realized, the more he pretended not to think about him. 

How could someone so perfectly personify the sun, complete with the exact shade of blue as the sky in his eyes? How could someone make Nico fall so head over heels in love with him in just one night, enough to marry him? (And Nico knew it was love, even if he was drunk then and sober now and all he currently felt towards Will was confusion, he knew it had been love. Even blackout drunk, Nico didn’t take love lightly.) How come Will kept texting him, when they were practically strangers, about to cut their only ties with each other on a legal document? 

And how did he always say the exact right thing to make Nico laugh?

Nico had already sent the divorce papers. He figured that as soon as Will signed his name on the dotted line, he would cut Nico out for good and return to his regular life. Which was what Nico wanted, what he expected. So how come it didn’t sit right with him?

He shouldn’t be thinking about this. Nico had a book to read. He had hated reading as a kid, practically refused to pick up a book before he was in high school, but then nothing had been able to get him to stop. He got a job as an editor at a publishing house a year out of college - when Will had found that out, he’d texted back, You’re an editor and you text like THAT? - and he reviewed books on the side. 

He liked to read. He liked the escape of it. And he didn’t appreciate being interrupted by a frantic knocking on his front door. 

Nico picked up his phone and sent a text to the group chat: whoevers at my door go away.

No one fessed up, and the knocking continued. 

With a groan, Nico shoved himself off the couch. He grabbed the doorknob with a snapping comment ready on his tongue, though he didn’t expect to find the blinding sun on the other side. 

Will was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hall, hunched forward slightly and breathing heavy as if he’d run there. His phone was in his hand, thumbs moving across the screen rapidly, until he looked up at Nico. Then, he grinned. 

“Will?” Nico started, his hand tightening on the doorknob as his heart rate picked up. He watched as Will slid his phone into his pocket, and then he didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. “What are you doing here? Um. How did you know where I live?” 

Will’s mouth dropped open, then snapped shut again as he winced. “Sorry. Uh, shit, sorry. Your address was on the...the papers - on the envelope? - and I wasn’t really thinking. Um. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking, since I totally could’ve just called you, or--” Will dropped his face into his hands and groaned, and Nico’s mind shot back to that morning in the hotel room a week before. “Sorry, you probably think I’m some kind of creep now, but I just really needed to tell you--”

“Will,” Nico cut in. He didn’t loosen his grip on the doorknob, not because he thought he might need to slam the door at any second, but because he needed something to hold onto. He decided to tell Will something that Jason had told him a million times. “Use your words.” 

“I like you,” Will blurted. Nico wanted him to stop there, just for a few minutes so that he could let the words sink in, but Will kept going. “I can’t stop thinking about you, and this might be the stupidest idea I’ve ever had, but what if we, like, didn’t get divorced?” 

Okay, Nico might slam the door on him now. 

“I mean, can’t we, like, try this out and see what happens?” Will asked pleadingly, holding one of his hands out to Nico. Nico was grateful that Will hadn’t crowded into his space, and as much as he wanted to take advantage of that space to shut the door between them, Nico found himself tempted to take Will’s hand. “Worst case, we still get divorced. And, like, whatever. We still have the papers, it won’t cost either of us anything. But best case?” Will took half a step closer, lowering his voice to a hopeful low tone. “Best case, we don’t get divorced.” 

Nico’s heart jumped in his chest. They didn’t know each other, so what about any of this made Will think that there could be a forever between them? 

And what did Nico have to do to feel the same? 

“Do you…” Nico loosened his hold on the door. “Do you really think we could end up with the best case scenario?” 

Will took another step. “It can’t hurt to try.” 

Nico stopped to think. He remembered the texts, the way Will looked at him that first day, how it felt waking up next to the sun. 

Then, he nodded. “Yeah, okay. Let’s try.” 

Will’s smile was brilliant. “Really?” 

Nico puffed out a breath with a small smile of his own. “Yeah, really.” 

Will closed the rest of the distance between them, still holding out one hand for Nico to take. “Nico di Angelo, can I take you out to dinner sometime?” 

Nico took his hand. “I can do you one better.” He tipped his head back into his apartment. “Do you wanna come inside and watch a movie or something?” 

They ended up ordering a pizza and finding some movie on Netflix - something they’d both seen at least once, so it wouldn’t matter that they spent more time talking than paying attention to the TV. Since they both had to work the next day, and since neither of them had been prepared for their spontaneous date, Will decided to leave shortly after the movie had finished. 

Nico walked him to the door, though neither of them made a move to open it. Will ducked his head, looking shy for the first time since Nico had met him. Nervous, frantic, or half-awake and hungover, there was nothing in the world that could make Will Solace any less attractive. 

“Thanks for having me,” Will told him quietly, “and for, you know, giving this a chance.”

Nico shrugged. “Well, it’s not often that I give my stranger-turned-husband a second chance, so you should count yourself lucky.” 

Will grinned. “A second chance? What happened to my first one?” 

“I’ll let you know when I remember why I married you in the first place.” The absurdity of it all made it difficult for Nico to keep a straight face. Should he really be making jokes about Will being his husband? Didn’t that kind of encourage the wrong thing?

“You let me know when you figure that out,” Will told him, his eyes crinkling in the corners from the force of his smile. “In the meantime, I should probably, um--” 

“I’ll text you,” Nico cut in, and winced at how eager he sounded. “Uh, or you should text me. Whichever works.” 

“Alright.” Still, neither of them moved. Nico felt himself building up the courage to speak again just before Will blurted, “I really want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?” 

Nico felt his ears burning as he replied, “Um, yeah. Yes, you should.” 

Will leaned in slowly, one hand resting on the side of Nico’s neck. He let his eyes fall shut, then felt the bump of Will’s nose against his and a puff of breath against his lips before they were kissing. It was nothing more than a press of lips, barely long enough for Nico to even think about reaching out to touch him before Will was pulling away. 

He stayed close, within Nico’s personal space but just far enough back not to feel invasive. Nico didn’t let himself think this time, only reached out to place his hands on Will’s sides to stop him from moving any further away. Will grinned, and Nico’s heart skipped a beat.

“This is so weird,” Will whispered, his thumb brushing against Nico’s jawline. “This feels like the first time I’ve kissed you, even though I know that it’s not.” 

“I get what you mean,” Nico told him, rising up on his toes to chase after Will’s lips. “Play your cards right, and it won’t be the last, either.” 

Will grinned. Then he kissed him.

Again and again and again.

Two months into the relationship, Nico was spending so much time with Will that his list of books to read had grown longer than it had been in a few years. He wasn’t slacking on the work for his actual job, mainly because Will couldn’t distract him at his office - aside from the usual lunch hour texting - but he did eventually have to set a boundary between them.

They came to a compromise: Nico had free reign to tell Will to shut up or kick him out whenever he wanted to read, and Will got to start spending the night sometimes on weekends.

Nico had told him, “You know, if you wanted to spend the night, all you had to do was ask. Or just... pass out, it’s not like I’m gonna stop you.” 

Will had shot him a grin. “And you could’ve told me to shut up whenever. It’s nicer this way.”

So Will started spending the night. And sometimes Nico spent the night at his place. And Nico made vague references to seeing someone in his group chat with his friends, and his friends started demanding that Nico bring his new someone to meet them. 

He’d been getting a handful of those texts throughout the day, though he continued to ignore them. He only checked his phone because he thought it might be Will texting, and when it never was, he went back to his book. He was only a few chapters from the end when he heard a soft, slow knock on his front door. 

Nico wasn’t expecting anyone, and the knock wasn't a familiar pattern, so he pushed his glasses into his hair and got up to check. A glance through the peephole in the door showed nothing, but that was only because Nico found Will leaning to the side with his head against the doorframe. His eyes were hooded and he shot Nico a sleepy smile, but Nico could see something more behind it.

“Hey,” Nico said. “I’m, uh, reading.” 

“I had a hunch you might be,” Will replied, rolling his forehead against the trim to get a better look at Nico, eyeing the glasses on top of his head with a mirthful look. “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah, of course.” Nico stepped out of the way, holding the door open for Will to enter. “But you know the rules.” 

“I know.” Will pressed a kiss to the side of Nico’s head as he passed, and made his way toward the couch. He dropped onto it with a groan, tipping his head back against the cushion while his eyes slid shut. Nico followed after him, sitting on the opposite end with his feet on the cushion between them, watching Will breathe. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

“Are you alright?” Nico asked, poking at Will’s hip with his foot. 

Will sighed. “It’s just been a long day. I’m tired, and I have a headache. Need a nap, but…” He tipped his head toward Nico and cracked and eye open. “I wanted to see you.” 

Nico felt his lips begin to tug upward. “Anything I can do to help?” 

Will shook his head. “Just go back to your book, and maybe wake me up in an hour.” He tipped his head back again and shut his eyes. 

“You can’t nap like that,” Nico told him. “There’s a perfectly good bed right over there.” 

“But you’re right here,” Will replied. 

Nico huffed. “You can’t sleep sitting up. You’re going to hurt your neck, and you won’t find any sympathy from me when you do.” 

“Then I’ll lay down.” Will kicked off his shoes and stretched out toward Nico, wedging himself between the other’s thighs to settle down, chest to chest. He pressed his lips to Nico’s once, briefly, then laid his head on Nico’s chest. “This okay?” 

“Is that comfortable?” Nico asked, a laugh bubbling out of him as he eyed the way Will’s feet dangled over the arm of the couch. 

Will hummed, rubbing his cheek against Nico’s shirt. “Very.” He yawned, and Nico felt Will relax against him. “Read your book. I don’t wanna distract you.” 

“I’ll wake you up when I’m done with it,” Nico told him.

Will replied with a sleepy, “‘kay.” 

Nico picked his book up off the coffee table and opened it back up to the page he’d left off on. Will was asleep by the time Nico started absently running fingers through his hair. 

Seeing as he only had a few chapters remaining, Nico finished the book in only about half an hour. He couldn’t bring himself to wake Will quite yet, so he grabbed his phone and got himself caught up on group messages to kill time. 

Percy wanted to meet up with everyone again before the wedding. Frank suggested a time, Jason suggested a place, and Annabeth demanded that the ladies be invited as well. She wasn’t about to allow Percy to have Bachelor Party Round Two. 

It could never be just a few people with this group. It was almost always all or nothing. And if anybody - more often than not Nico - ever missed a text or pretended they were busy, they would get dragged out of bed to hang out. 

Nico loved his friends, and he was sort of maybe starting to love Will a little bit too, but he didn’t know if he was ready to throw Will to the lions quite yet. Or maybe he just wanted to keep Will to himself for a little while longer. But, of course, if Nico loved his friends, and if he (maybe, sort of) loved Will, then there was no way that Will wouldn’t immediately be accepted into the group. 

When he caught up on texts - though he didn’t reply yet, just mentally reminded himself to do so later - Nico ran a hand through Will’s hair again. “Hey,” he said softly, just enough to break the quiet of the room around them. “Wake up, Sunshine, or you’re never gonna fall asleep tonight.” 

Will made a noise of complaint, his arms tightening around Nico for a moment before he relaxed again. With a deep breath, Will managed to push himself up enough to blink tiredly up at Nico. 

“Hey,” Nico said again with a smile. “Feeling better?” 

“Yeah,” Will whispered, like his voice hadn’t woken up with him. “Waking up to you definitely helped.” 

Nico felt himself warm from the comment. “You know, you could spend the night, too. Wake up to me again tomorrow.” 

Will grinned. “You know I’ll never say no to that,” he replied as he pushed himself up for a kiss.

Nico patted his cheek. “Alright, but before that, you need to wake back up. If you’re staying, then you’re helping me cook dinner tonight.” 

Will leaned into the touch with a hum. “You should know that that’s a horrible mistake.” 

Will’s short nap gave him enough energy to get him through dinner, but not too long after, he was crashing again. He’d put on some sitcom while Nico wrote out a rough draft of his book review, and by the time Nico was finished, Will was nodding off beside him. Nico ushered him off to bed with a promise to join him shortly. 

Nico went through his nightly routine - washing the dishes, washing his face, brushing his teeth (and the newest addition of staring at the wedding ring he now kept in the medicine cabinet in his bathroom) - before joining Will in his bedroom. He’d left the light on for Nico, even though Nico had told him before not to bother since he had long since memorized the layout of the room and could expertly navigate it in the dark. 

When he got into bed, he realized that Will was blocking the path to his phone charger. Nico tried his best not to disturb Will as he leaned over him to find the cord, and learned of his failure when Will whispered, “Hello.” 

Nico winced, but at least now he didn’t have to worry about turning on his phone screen to find the cord. “Sorry, did I wake you up?” 

“No,” Will said with a heavy sigh. “You know when you almost fall asleep on the couch because you’re so dead tired, so you get up to go to bed before it’s too late, and then as soon as you lay down, you’re wide awake?” 

“Sorry,” Nico said again, sparing a glance at Will before continuing his search. “I hate it when that happens.” 

“What are you looking for?” Will asked. He placed a hand on Nico’s lower back as if to steady him while Nico practically draped himself over Will’s stomach in an attempt to locate the cord.

“My charger.” Nico huffed and turned on the phone’s flashlight. He winced at the light, then cried, “A-ha!” when he found the cord. Still laying across Will’s chest, he plugged in the phone, shut off the flashlight, and took when last look at his notifications before setting the phone aside. On his way back to his own side of the bed, Nico dropped a kiss against Will’s lips. “So. Are you doing anything on Saturday?” 

Will rolled onto his side to face Nico, who could already guess what Will’s face looked like even before he said, “I dunno, why?” There were low levels of surprise and curiosity in Will’s voice, almost completely masked by the sound of his excitement. 

“I got a few texts today,” Nico started, for some reason unable to just come right out and say it. “My friends are getting together at a bar, and-- Well, they all want to meet you.” 

He could hear Will’s grin when he said, “You told your friends about me?” 

“A little. They know I’m seeing someone, but I haven’t given up many details. Or, uh, really any details. I like my privacy, and…” 

“And you couldn’t find a way to explain how we met without making both of us sound like we’re insane?” Will filled in for him.

“Uh, yeah, that,” Nico replied, attempting to stifle a laugh and failing. But it was fine, because Will joined in a second later. “So, what do you say? Do you wanna meet my friends?” 

“Darling, I would love to.” Will reached out and wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist to pull him closer, then pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

Nico exhaled about half of his nerves. One question down, one to go. Come on, Nico, you can do this! “And… Can I introduce you as my boyfriend?” 

Will hummed in thought, and for a second Nico thought he might say no, but instead Will replied, “Only if I get to introduce you to my friends as my husband.” 

Suddenly, Nico wished they weren’t in a dark room so that he could see the look on Will’s face. Sometimes, it was hard to tell by voice alone whether or not Will was joking, but his expression was generally a dead giveaway. “Uh--” 

“Just to see how they react,” Will said quickly, and Nico’s brain kickstarted to try to process exactly what was happening. Will wanted to admit that they got married? Or, maybe he wanted to pretend it was a joke? Either way, how would Will’s friends take it? Nico knew that making a joke like that to his friends would lead to some deep analysis of Will as a person to see if he was a good fit for Nico and not some stalker. But Will’s friends had to have a pretty good grasp on his sense of humor, right? “I’ll tell them it’s a joke, I promise.” 

Still, Nico wasn’t completely sold on the idea. Maybe they could talk about it again while the sun was up. “Yeah, alright, as long as they know it’s a joke,” he said, and then added, “So, this means...we’re boyfriends, right?” 

Will trailed his fingertips lightly over Nico’s spine as he hummed again. “Hm, no, I think it means we’re husbands.” 

Nico huffed again, though not quite as exasperated as usual - more of a seriously, Will?

“Alright, alright,” Will said good-naturedly. “Fiances.” 

Nico hid his face in Will’s chest as he started to laugh. 

“Life partners?” Will tried again, clearly trying not to laugh along with him. 

Nico took Will’s face in his hands and pulled him in for a kiss. “Will, please shut up,” Nico told him, then kissed him again. 

“Yeah, okay,” Will agreed. “I’m starting to get tired again, anyway.” 

“Good. Me too.” Nico tucked his head under Will’s chin and closed his eyes. Will continued to stroke his fingers up and down Nico’s back. 

A few beats of silence passed before Will whispered, “Goodnight, my husband.” 

Nico kicked him in the shin, then hooked his leg around one of Will’s. “Goodnight, pain in my ass.” 

Nico wasn’t a very touchy person in public. He made a big stink whenever his friends tried to hug him where there were witnesses, and for a while he’d even hesitated to kiss Hazel’s cheek when he said goodbye. He had certainly never been one for physical displays of affection with a boyfriend, especially not in front of his friends - mainly because they’d never let him hear the end of it - so they would no doubt be surprised when Nico arrived with Will’s hand clasped in his own. 

But Nico wasn’t about to have it any other way. He needed to make it clear from the start that Will wasn’t someone they should even consider trying to scare away. Nico liked him, really liked him, and that evening out at a bar with his friends was probably going to be mortifying, but-- He had Will. And as long as he had Will, he would be okay. 

They were the last of the group to arrive, which Nico had planned intentionally. He was only going to make introductions once, so it was best that they all be around to hear it. Nico gripped Will’s hand tight and led him through the restaurant to a crowded booth. 

Six pairs of eyes greeted them when Nico and Will stepped up to the table, and Nico felt Will’s hand squeeze his own. Will was nervous, but he didn’t look it. 

“Hey,” Nico said. “This is Will.” His friends watched him expectantly. Nico had to fight to keep his smile hidden as he continued, “My boyfriend.” 

A chorus of cheers went up around the table, glasses rattling against its surface as Jason and Percy started pounding their hands against the wood. 

“Are you gonna make room for us, or what?” Nico demanded, already shoving at Jason’s shoulder to push him further into the booth. He sat down in the open space, and pulled Will in behind him. They had to squeeze together in the limited space, but for once, Nico found that he didn’t really mind. 

Once they were settled, Nico squeezed Will’s hand, then pointed across the table to Hazel with the other as he made introductions. “My sister, Hazel, and her fiance Frank. Percy and his fiancee Annabeth. Piper and her fiance Jason.” 

Will’s eyes widened. “Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said all of your friends are engaged. Which wedding did you tell me you’re going to be in?” 

“Oh, he’s in all of them,” Annabeth told him. 

“I’m Percy’s best man,” Nico explained, “one of Jason’s groomsmen, and--” He grimaced. 

“He’s our flower boy,” Hazel filled in with a sunny smile. 

“That’s adorable,” Will said, leaning momentarily into Nico’s side and grinning down at him.

Nico huffed. “I’m gonna need a drink if this is how the night’s gonna go.” 

“I’ll get you something,” Will told him. “Margarita, right?” 

Nico snorted. “No, I’d like to actually remember this night come morning, thanks. Just… Get me whatever, I trust you.” 

“One whatever, coming up,” Will replied, and he pressed a kiss to the side of Nico’s head before slipping out of the booth. 

As soon as Will was out of earshot, Piper leaned around Jason and smacked Nico’s arm to get his attention. “Nico, he is cute!”  

“He’s hot,” Percy agreed. 

Nico groaned, rolling his eyes. “Please, not before I’ve gotten any alcohol.” 

“Where have you been hiding him?” Hazel asked. “You didn’t even tell me that you had a boyfriend!” 

Nico ducked his head with a shrug. “It’s...very new. The label is, anyway. Can I have some of that?” Nico reached for Jason’s glass without waiting for a response and took a sip, immediately cringing at the taste. “Oh, gross, that’s just coke!” 

“I’m driving,” Jason replied, taking his drink back. 

Frank slid his glass toward Nico with a look of sympathy.

“Thank you,” Nico said before taking a sip, then nearly spit it out at the taste of regular soda. “Oh, I hate you.” 

Will returned to the table amidst a wave of laughter. He set a glass in front of Nico, who immediately blurted out, “Oh, good God, what is that.”

The glass was tall and skinny, filled up with a bright blue liquid and at least three skewers of different fruits. Nico could smell the alcohol without even trying, and thought he might die if he actually drank it. Anything that shade of blue could not be safe for human consumption. And yet, he could practically feel Percy eyeing it from across the table. 

“It’s your whatever,” Will told him, setting a beer bottle on the table in front of him. “What, not a fan? C’mon, it’s a drink and a snack!” 

Nico stared at the glass, then raised an eyebrow up at Will. “Uh huh.” He plucked Will’s beer off the table and slid the blue monstrosity toward him. 

Will grinned. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you were gonna say.” He stretched an arm across the back of the booth behind Nico’s shoulders and sipped his drink through a straw. He blinked a few times in surprise at the taste, and right away Nico decided that he would be driving them home that night. 

“So,” Annabeth said, leaning into Percy’s side in a way that made Nico want to lean against Will in the same way. “How’d you two meet?” 

Nico’s head dipped, and he drank a swig of beer to give himself a second to think his words through. He cleared his throat, wincing at how awkward he felt. “Um. Would you believe me if I said I was so drunk that I don’t remember?” 

Percy laughed. “Yeah, I would. Will, you wanna fill in some blanks?”

“Oh, I would love to,” Will replied, and Nico’s head shot up. Did Will remember something that he hadn’t told Nico? Will picked a fruit skewer out of his drink as he continued, “So, we think we were at a bar, but I was wasted too, so I have no idea.” 

Conversation moved on, to Piper asking about Will’s work - which Nico knew could keep Will talking for a week straight, he loved being a pediatrician - to final touches on Annabeth and Percy’s wedding, to the early days of Frank and Hazel’s engagement. They all had a running joke that Annabeth and Percy’s relationship was the guinea pig - they were the first to get engaged, would be the first to get married, and would probably be the first to have kids - and that as long as their wedding went well, then everyone else’s would, too. A small part of Nico’s brain wondered what they would all think about him cutting in line and becoming the new relationship guinea pig. Though he figured his and Will’s relationship probably shouldn’t be considered the ideal blueprint. 

As the night wore on, Nico felt himself relaxing. He ate the fruit off of one of Will’s skewers and leaned against him. Will fit into their group so seamlessly that Nico was honestly having a hard time believing it could be true. It was all just...going so well. And then when Nico decided that he was getting a little too comfortable in public and his brain was thinking sappier thoughts than usual, he switched from beer to water. 

There were a few times where Nico caught Annabeth watching him with an odd look in her eye, but Nico mentally waved it off as her surprise at Nico’s comfort level around Will. At some point during a shuffle around that table that allowed Piper and Hazel out of the booth for a restroom run, Annabeth grabbed Nico’s wrist. “Come help me get the next round,” she told him, and her grip let him know that it wasn’t a suggestion. 

She dragged him up to the bar, then leaned against it as she ordered a single dirty martini before turning her gaze on Nico. He should’ve known this had nothing to do with getting drinks. She also, apparently, wasn’t going to speak first.

Nico crossed his arms. “So, are you gonna tell me why you keep giving me these weird looks?” 

Annabeth sighed in that way she tended to do. Nico winced, because that sigh was usually aimed at Percy. That you know I love you but I can’t believe you’re stupid enough to actually do something like this sigh. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and took a step closer, like she didn’t want to be overheard. 

“I’m going to try to be as polite as possible,” she told him, her tone flat and measured, “and you’re going to explain to me in great detail why your boyfriend is wearing a wedding ring.” 

Nico choked on his next breath. He turned his head away and coughed into his arm as he tried to think of any good reason why Will would still be wearing his ring. And how had Nico not noticed? “Um.” 

“Look, Nico,” Annabeth said, her voice unchanged but her eyes betraying something close to pity. “You’re happy with Will, probably happier than I’ve ever seen you with a guy, but… You have to realize that dating a married man is quite possibly the dumbest idea on the planet.” 

Nico’s heart was pounding. “Obviously that’s a stupid idea. I’m not an idiot, Annabeth, I--” He took a deep breath. “I don’t...know what the ring’s about, but I promise you, he’s not married to somebody else. I swear I’m not helping him cheat. I didn’t even know that he was wearing a ring!” 

Annabeth continued to stare him down for another few seconds while Nico stood with bated breath. Then, finally, she nodded, just once. “Okay. I believe you.” Beside them, a bartender set down Annabeth’s martini. She took the glass with one hand, and clapped Nico on the shoulder with the other. “You might want to ask about his idea of accessorizing, though.” 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I think I will.” 

He followed Annabeth back to their table. Rather than making everyone get up, she slid onto the end of the bench beside Hazel. Nico went to the other end and gripped the sleeve of Will’s flannel shirt, just about ready to drag him out of his seat. “Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Will replied as he slipped out of the booth. Nico took his hand and pulled him around the corner, into the empty hallway that led to the bathrooms. Will leaned against the wall, and Nico stood in front of him. “Everything okay?” 

Nico snatched up Will’s hand, his thumb digging into Will’s palm as his eyes landed on the gold band around Will’s finger. “What’s this?” 

“What?” 

Nico’s mouth fell open. He held Will’s hand up higher between them and hissed, “Why are you wearing your ring?”

“Oh.” Will’s eyes fell as something like embarrassment washed over his face. Nico lowered Will’s hand, but didn’t let go of it - instead, he adjusted his grip to something more comforting than accusing. “I, uh. I guess I forget to take it off?”

Nico huffed. “Why did you put it on in the first place?” 

Will lifted his eyes and smiled at Nico almost sadly as he reminded him in a hushed voice, “Because we got married?”  

“You mean…” Nico paused, letting Will’s words sink in and process. “You’ve never taken it off?” 

“Of course I have,” Will said quickly, holding up his free hand between them. “When I, like, take a shower or wash dishes, but…” He grabbed Nico’s other hand, lacing their fingers together as he tipped his head closer. “I like wearing it, okay? It--” He met Nico’s eyes, and appeared to shrink, like whatever he saw in them discouraged him. “It gives me something to fidget with.” 

“Oh.” Nico felt Will's words like something inside himself was trying to tear its way out. He didn’t know what he’d expected to hear, and he told himself that it wasn’t a declaration of love. Because it was far too early in the relationship for that, rings or no rings. Nico did know that he would do anything to get Will smiling again. “Yeah, I get that. But… Can you take it off, just for tonight? Annabeth just accused me of helping you cheat.” 

Will nodded, clearly disappointed, and slipped his hands out of Nico’s to take off the ring. As he dropped the ring into his pocket, Nico took Will’s face in his hands and kissed him. 

“Thank you,” Nico told him, but what he wanted to say was please don’t be mad at me.  

Will smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes. 

Nico led Will back to the table, feeling like his chest had been hollowed out by the look in Will’s eyes. 

Will fidgeted with his bare hand for the next hour until they left. Annabeth never stopped aiming her strange looks in Nico’s direction. 

As soon as they stepped out of the bar, Nico took Will’s hand and kissed his knuckles, promising that he wouldn’t ask Will to do that again. Nico traced the outline of the ring on Will’s finger the entire drive back home. 

Will passed out shortly after he and Nico fell into bed, but Nico’s mind was moving too fast to allow him to relax. It wasn’t long after he realized Will was asleep that Nico rolled out of bed, careful not to wake his boyfriend as he left the room. He went into the bathroom and flipped on the light. He watched himself in the mirror, just for a few seconds, before he opened the medicine cabinet behind it. 

Nico had left his silver ring on one of the shelves, right next to the toothpaste. So every morning and every night, as he went to brush his teeth, Nico saw it sitting there. Every day, he looked at it, he remembered that he was married even if he didn’t remember the ceremony, but never once did he pick it up - never even thought about it, until that moment. 

Nico picked up the ring. He held it in his hand and rolled it between his fingers. He remembered the look on Will’s face when Nico asked him to take off his ring, and Nico pressed his own down onto his finger. 

He liked the feeling; the gentle weight of it and the chill of the metal against his skin. The press of it around his finger that he could feel like a shock all the way up his arm. There was the ghost of a memory of Will placing that ring on his finger, even if Nico only remembered seeing it on video. He wanted to go back into his room with the ring in hand, just to wake Will up and ask him to put it on Nico’s finger for him. 

And that thought terrified him. 

Nico ripped the ring off his finger and placed it back in the medicine cabinet. He closed the cabinet, shut off the light, and ran back to his bedroom to crawl back under the covers. Nico folded himself into Will’s arms and buried his face in Will’s chest. 

He was just starting to fall asleep as the thought hit him that maybe Will had the right idea about never taking his ring off. It was almost the same as being held in Will’s arms, only constant and smaller. More private and easily hidden, like Will was his and his alone. 

Yeah, he liked the thought of that.

It was another month or so before their schedules aligned enough for Nico to meet Will’s friends. By that point, Nico had gotten more into the habit of spending the night at Will’s place instead of his own apartment, because looking at that ring in his medicine cabinet twice a day every day was starting to make him feel like he was losing his mind. (Yet, somehow, seeing the ring on Will’s finger made him feel unbelievably happy and warm down to his toes.) (He didn’t let himself think about that.) 

Since introducing Will to his friends had gone so well, Nico figured there was no reason to feel nervous about meeting Will’s. He maintained that feeling for the week leading up to their pre-planned movie night with Cecil and Lou Ellen, right up until they were standing in the hallway outside Lou Ellen’s door. 

Suddenly, Nico found his feet stuck to the ground. He almost pulled Will off balance as Will continued forward, but Nico’s death grip on his hand wouldn’t let him go far. “Will, wait--” 

Will stopped on a dime, spinning toward Nico with a mixed look of confusion and concern, though his expression dropped in an instant. “Oh,” he said quietly. “You want me to take the ring off, don’t you.” He didn’t even say it like a question, like he’d been waiting for and dreading the day that Nico finally asked it of him again.

Nico tugged on Will’s hand and pulled it to his chest, covering it with both of his own, just in case Will reached for the ring. “No, no, I promised I wouldn’t ask you to do that again.” 

“Oh,” he said again. The confusion was back. “Then...what’s wrong?” 

Nico took a breath. “Do you think they’ll like me?” His shoulders curled up defensively as he realized how childish he sounded. 

Will broke out into that bright, beautiful smile of his. “Darling, they’re going to love you.” 

Nico huffed, rolling his eyes. That just made him feel even more pressured to be perfect for Will. “Alright,” he sighed. “If you say so.” 

Will cupped Nico’s cheek in his hand. “Nico, darling, if I liked you enough to marry you, then I think they’ll like you enough for a movie night.” 

Nico felt himself flush at the reminder, then scrunched up his nose as an attempt to hide it. “I know you think you’re helping, but you’re not.” 

Will laughed, then kissed Nico’s cheek. “C’mon, let’s just rip off the bandaid.” 

Before Nico could protest, Will was pushing open the door and pulling Nico inside. 

They entered into an open main room, the back of a couch directly to one side and a kitchen tucked into the corner straight ahead. The first thing Nico noticed was Lou Ellen’s vibrant purple hair, and then the absolute mountain of snack foods lined up across the counter.

“Hey, guys,” Will greeted as he shut the door behind them. A head of curly brown hair popped up from behind Snack Food Mountain; that had to be Cecil. Will draped an arm around Nico’s shoulder as he walked them further into the apartment. “This is my husband, Nico.” 

Nico choked on his next breath and elbowed Will in the side, hard enough for Will to let out a tiny oof. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to make that joke.”  

Will aimed his grin down at Nico and replied, “No, you agreed, but I decided it was funnier this way.” 

Nico huffed and crossed his arms, turning his head away in an attempt to hide his smile from Will. “You’re lucky I don’t divorce you on the spot.” 

From across the kitchen, Lou Ellen said, “Um.” 

“It’s a joke, Lou,” Will told her, tucking his left hand into his pocket and squeezing Nico closer with his right. 

“Well,” Lou replied, “thank God you finally found someone with your same weird sense of humor. Nice to meet you, Nico. I’m Lou, that’s Cecil.” 

“Hey,” Cecil greeted. “I hope you like X-Men. We’re watching, like, a lot of X-Men movies.” 

Nico raised an eyebrow. “First Class?”

“Obviously,” Lou answered. “That’s, like, the best one.” 

Cecil rolled his eyes overdramatically. “We’re not doing this again.” 

“Doing what again?” Nico asked, rather than arguing in Lou’s favor.

Will turned Nico toward him and set his hands on Nico’s shoulders. “Nico,” he said, his voice more serious than Nico thought he’d ever heard it, “this is important. Like, probably the most important question you’ll ever answer.”

“Uh, okay?”

“It might even make or break this relationship.” 

Nico snorted. “Sure it will.” 

“Was Magneto right?” 

Was that a trick question? “Obviously.” 

Will and Cecil released simultaneous groans, while Lou Ellen whoop ed in excitement. “Oh, Nico,” Lou said, rushing out of the kitchen to pull Nico out of Will’s hold and lead him toward the couch, “you have no idea how happy I am to hear that. Seriously, I’ve had to deal with these Magneto-haters for years. So, First Class, is that your favorite?” 

“Lou,” Will called after her with a pout, “you can’t just steal my boyfriend.” 

“I can, and I did,” she replied, then sat down on the couch and brought Nico down with her. 

“I’m gay,” Nico reminded her.

“So am I,” she replied, “but I haven’t met another Magneto apologist in forever, so I’ll take what I can get. So, First Class or Days of Future Past?”  

“Days of Future Past is basically a Wolverine movie,” Nico answered. “Not X-Men. And First Class had the world’s first gay superheroes, and nobody can tell me otherwise.” 

Lou grinned and called back to Will, “I’m keeping him.” 

“And to think you were nervous about meeting them,” Will commented as he let them into his apartment later that night. “Of course, had I known that you were a Magneto apologist, I might never have married you. And I definitely would’ve vetoed an X-Men movie marathon.” 

“No marriage is perfect,” Nico replied around a yawn, his cheek pressed against Will’s shoulder, which wasn’t easy to maintain as they walked through the door. “And what’s the fun in agreeing on everything all the time? Arguing about stupid stuff is way better.” 

“What if I don’t want to argue?” Will asked.

“Then tell me to shut up.” Nico rose up onto his toes to press his lips to Will’s. “I do it to you all the time. Are you coming to bed?” 

“I’ll be there soon,” Will replied, kissing Nico’s forehead before heading off toward his kitchen to prepare the coffee pot for the next morning. 

Nico went in the other direction, off to Will’s bedroom where he’d left his overnight bag. It was less an overnight bag and more of a next day bag, because the only things in it that he needed that night were his phone charger and his toothbrush. Everything else - clothes and anxiety medication and reading glasses - he needed for the next day. He’d even stopped packing pajamas when he realized that Will didn’t mind if Nico grabbed a t-shirt out of his dresser to sleep in. And he preferred it that way - sleeping in Will’s clothes, in Will’s bed, in Will’s arms. It was probably the most relaxed he’d ever felt, and the best sleep he’d gotten in years. 

Nico dug through his bag over and over again before he decided that he must have forgotten his toothbrush. He tipped his head toward the open doorway and shouted, “Hey, do you have an extra toothbrush somewhere?” 

“Check in my desk,” Will called back. 

Nico sat back on his heels, his head tilting in confusion. “Your desk? Not in your bathroom?”

“You’ve seen that bathroom. There’s hardly room for a person to get in there. Where would you think I’m hiding an extra toothbrush?” 

Will’s desk was off to his left, and he barely had to take a step in order to start searching through the drawers. Inside the first drawer was a mess, almost as though Will had cleared off the surface of his desk and tossed it into the drawer in an attempt to clean. Nico had to pull a stack of papers out of the drawer just to see if there was anything else underneath, though all he found was a torn open manila envelope with his own name written across the front - his and Will’s, side by side. 

Nico set the stack aside to pull out the envelope. He glanced over his shoulder toward the door, listened to determine whether or not Will was nearby, then peeked inside the envelope. His name was on it, so this wasn’t really any sort of invasion of privacy, right? 

He pulled one page up a few inches, enough for Nico to recognize it as a photocopy of a marriage certificate. Another few inches, and he could see their names and signatures on the certificate. Nico stuffed that paper back inside. What was Will doing with a copy of their marriage certificate - and where did he even get one? Nico had the original. 

He barely had to glance at the top of the next page for his heart to stop beating. 

Divorce Agreement.  

The envelope slipped from his fingers and hit the floor. 

Why did Will have this? Was he going to break up with Nico, and had already planned so far ahead? And was that why his desk looked like it had been cleared in a hurry, to hide this from Nico? What had Nico done wrong?

Was this still about the wedding ring?

Had Will even been wearing his that day?

Nico heard a noise from the kitchen and flinched. He scrambled to stuff all of the papers back into the desk drawer, but shoved the envelope into his bag, tucked underneath his clothes to keep it hidden. 

He went to the next drawer down and ripped it open, nearly pulling it off the tracks with the force. 

“Did you find one?” 

Nico jumped, his head snapping around to see Will in the doorway. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Will said with an easy grin. “Did you find a toothbrush?”

“Oh, uh, no,” Nico replied, and turned back to the open drawer.

“Try the top drawer,” Will said, and Nico froze. “On the other side.” 

Nico did. He found a plastic wrapped toothbrush right away.

“Found one.” Nico got to his feet and carefully did not touch or look at Will as he squeezed past him in the doorway.

Nico was avoiding Will to the best of his abilities, but Will had this way about him that made him almost impossible to ignore. Nico couldn’t stay mad at him, but that just meant that any time he did get angry, it was washed away in a wave of guilt. 

Nico stopped spending the night at Will’s place, and hadn’t recently invited Will into his own apartment. Though Will hadn’t shown up at his door, either, which Nico figured was for the best. He didn’t think he’d be able to turn Will away if he did. He never texted first anymore, and he didn’t respond as quickly as he used to. It was petty, he knew, but Nico was waiting for Will to realize that something was off. 

Or maybe to realize that his divorce papers had gone missing.

At least Nico had more time to catch up on his reading. 

On his day off, he decided to shut off his phone. He wanted to get lost in his books and write a few reviews, uninterrupted. And he did, for a while. He felt productive. He’d earned himself a break after one book, and turned his phone on as he went to find himself something to eat. 

There were a few missed calls, a lot of texts. A handful from Will, but mostly in his group chat. Nico checked those first. 

[From: Hazel; so I got the wildest phone call from my dad this morning]

[From: Hazel; he said he got a call from the credit card company about some abnormal charges to one of his accounts??]

[From: Leo; was it crazy sex stuff]

[From: Jason; why would her FATHER call her about that]

[From: Hazel; so apparently somebody in the family used their emergency credit card to buy wedding rings and rent out a chapel]

[From: Hazel; ew leo no]

[From: Piper; OH MY GOD???]

[From: Hazel; naturally he called me because of my long term relationship]

[From: Frank; please tell me you told him that we didn’t elope]

[From: Hazel; oh I did]

[From: Hazel; but if it wasn’t me]

[From: Frank; oh thank god]

[From: Hazel; and it wasn’t him]

[From: Hazel; then there’s only one other option]

[From: Percy; HOLY SHIT NICO]

[From: Jason; WHEN???]

[From: Hazel; he didn’t say, but at least a few months ago]

[From: Hazel; he said he was “giving us time to come clean” but I guess he got tired of waiting]

[From: Percy; he’s not answering my calls!!!]

[From: Annabeth; oh my god wait]

[From: Piper; ???]

[From: Annabeth; I saw Will wearing a wedding ring at the bar]

[From: Leo; HOLY SHIT]

[From: Percy; AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US???]

[From: Jason; OH MY GOD]

[From: Piper; AAAAAA]

[From: Hazel; !!!!!]

[From: Reyna; good god that kid is a dumbass]

Nico forgot all about making lunch, his head filled with nothing but the pounding of his own heart in his ears. He declined the next call that came through (and the subsequent text from Jason that said, he just sent me to voicemail!) and went to the texts from Will instead. He didn’t bother reading any of them, just started typing.

[To: sunshine (will); you should come over after work]

[From: sunshine (will); You must’ve really been into the book you were reading]

[From: sunshine (will); Are you sure? I’m working late tonight]

[To: sunshine (will); idc i wanna see you]

[To: sunshine (will); we can talk in the morning]

Nico wanted to slap himself after hitting send on that second text. Why the hell would he say something like that? He’d be lucky if Will showed up now.

He grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and took them back to the couch. After one spoonful, he checked his missed calls, finding exactly what he expected - amongst the numerous calls from his friends and sister, there was one from the only number Nico had ever bothered to memorize. After another spoonful, he thought he might cry. As he dug the spoon into the jar for the third time, he called his dad.

“Niccolo,” Hades said after the third ring, and Nico burst into tears. 

He hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about what was going on, and it seemed since he finally could, the words came pouring out of him. He told Hades everything, probably more personal information than he’d told his father in his entire life, at least since he was a kid. He started with the loneliness, the way that he hadn’t even been able to feel happy for Hazel when she first got engaged because he felt like he was always going to be alone. 

Nico told him about waking up next to Will, though in only vague terms. Hades didn’t need all the details. Nico said that he’d been prepared to leave Will behind, had filed for divorce and everything, but Will had convinced him not to. He didn’t know the exact words to say to explain to Hades that he’d never been happier than he was when he was with Will, that there weren’t words strong enough to describe the things he felt for Will. 

“I’m such an idiot, dad!” Nico wailed into the phone, waving his peanut butter spoon around frantically. “This is probably the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made-- But Will said not to call it that, he said to call it a happy accident, can you believe that? It sounds idiodic coming out of my mouth, but it made sense when Will said it. I’m sorry, dad, I promise that I’ll figure out some way to pay you back for the rings and the wedding and whatever.” He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. “I’ll probably have something to give you soon enough, when I sell the rings.” 

“Well, why would you do that?” Hades asked, surprisingly calm considering the way Nico had just unloaded on him. “It sounds to me like you really like this man.” 

Nico stabbed his spoon back into the jar. “I found divorce papers in his apartment.” 

“Oh, Nico…” Hades sighed. “Son, I don’t want you to think that I’m upset with you for getting married, and I don’t need the money back. I’m upset that I didn’t even get the chance to meet the man before you decided that he was the one. You do know that I have a very large fund set aside that I had intended to use for your wedding, right? And that above all else, I want you to be happy?” 

“Did you miss the part where I said that I was drunk and met some stranger who I married that same night?” Nico asked. 

“Did you miss the part where I said that I don’t care, as long as you’re happy?” Hades paused. “Are you happy?” 

Nico rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, dad, I’m so happy that while I was busy falling in love with him, he was off getting divorce papers.” 

“I’m so sorry, Nico,” Hades said softly. “If you’d like, I have a hefty bank account with your name on it that you can use to hire a fantastic divorce lawyer who could tear him apart for you.” 

Nico snorted. “Thanks, dad, but maybe at this point you should just put all that money into Hazel’s wedding instead. At least then it’ll get put to good use.” 

“Now, Nico, what would your sister think if she knew you said that?” 

“Oh, a bigger budget? Yay!” Nico chuckled at his own joke, then quieted down. “Thanks for not being mad at me.” 

“Oh, Nico, I could never be mad at you.” 

Nico waited. 

“Alright, I’ve been angry with you before, and I likely will be again,” Hades amended, “but right now, I’m mostly overjoyed that you felt comfortable telling me about all of this.” 

Nico rubbed awkwardly at his neck. “Well, don’t push your luck.” 

Hades laughed. “Yes, I understand. That’s certainly enough emotional talk for one day. Thank you for calling, Nico.” 

“Yeah,” Nico replied. “Thanks for listening. I’ll let you know if I end up needing that divorce lawyer fund.” 

“And I’ll be hoping that you won’t need it,” Hades told him. “Talk to your husband, and I’m sure you can work things out. Goodbye, Nico.” 

For probably the first time since he woke up next to Will in that hotel room, Nico didn’t flinch at the word husband. Maybe that was because he knew he wouldn’t be one for much longer. “Thanks, dad.” 

Nico hung up the phone, licked his peanut butter spoon clean, then closed up the jar. He didn’t have much of an appetite anymore. 

He cleaned up as much as he could before his energy ran out, preparing for Will’s arrival that night. He brought out the manila envelope, though he couldn’t bring himself to open it. He couldn’t bear to read any explanation for why Will didn’t want to be with him anymore. Instead, Nico left the envelope on the coffee table and picked up the next book on his list. 

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew, Will was kneeling beside the couch, gently prying the book out of his hands. 

“Hey,” Will whispered, smiling at Nico as he marked the page in Nico’s book with a stray sheet of paper. He pressed a kiss to Nico’s forehead. “C’mon, darling, let’s go to bed.” 

Nico hummed and let Will pull him upright, and he walked to his bedroom with Will’s arm around him. He was barely awake for more than two minutes, but it was long enough for him to think about how nice it would be to fall asleep in Will’s arms one last time. 

He didn’t think about the envelope he left out on the table. 

Nico hadn’t plugged his phone in the night before, but when he woke to the sound of his alarm, he found his phone charging on the nightstand on the other side of the empty bed. Will had been there, he remembered that, but there was no sign of him in the room. Part of Nico thought there was a chance that Will had left completely - if he was going to break up with Nico, he might as well grab all of his things and get out while he had the chance. 

But Nico remembered telling Will that he wanted to talk in the morning. After a week of being blown off, Nico figured Will would want to stick around for that talk. He pulled himself out of bed and left the room. 

When Nico stepped around the corner into the living room, his eyes landed on Will. He was on the couch, still in the pajama pants he’d left behind there about a month earlier. He was hunched forward, rubbing at his eyes, his shoulders shaking, and Nico almost rushed to his side to ask what was wrong before he realized what Will was holding in his hand. 

Nico must have made a noise - a gasp, or something - because Will’s head snapped up. Nico was forced to look into those red-rimmed eyes as Will’s sadness burned away into rage. Will rose to his feet with a glare so forceful that Nico flinched. He had never thought that Will could be capable of looking so angry.

“This is how you were going to do it?” Will shouted, shaking the divorce agreement papers in one hand to force Nico into acknowledging them. “You didn’t even have the guts to break up with me face to face? Is this what you wanted to talk about? Why you’ve barely spoken to me for the last week?”

Nico folded his arms over his chest and ducked his head as Will spoke, and while the words rained down on him like knives, he didn’t let any of them sink in. As soon as Will left an opening, Nico reacted instinctively, defensively, and said, “You tell me.” 

Will sighed in exasperation and started pacing. He stepped out from between the couch and the coffee table, but he never made an effort to get closer to Nico. “Okay, let me tell you what this looks like on my end. It looks like you… You got tired of me, I guess, and instead of talking to me about it, you went out and got another set of divorce papers. Then, you invited me over after a week of being weird and distant, saying that we need to talk. And then you just left these out here for me to find, because you’re too much of a coward to look me in the eyes when you break my heart.”

This time, Nico listened from the very beginning. And it was all wrong. “What are you talking about?” he asked, raising his head, even stepping forward in an attempt to meet Will’s eyes. “Those aren’t mine. They’re yours.”

Will held out the papers, practically shoving them into Nico’s hands as he said, “Then how come the only signatures on them are yours?”

“What?” Nico took the papers and angled his body away from Will as he started to flip through them. His pounding heart started to sink when he saw that, while every other line had been signed, it was his own signature staring up at him. But that didn’t make any sense, because these were Will’s. They were in Will’s apartment. They should have Will’s signatures, not Nico’s. The only papers Nico ever signed were from months ago, before they’d started dating. “But that means…” Nico felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he turned to glare up at Will. “What, you held on to these? Why? In case you changed your mind and decided you didn’t want me anymore?” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Will demanded. “You’re the one asking for a divorce, not me.” 

“I found these in your apartment, Will.” 

He stiffened, though his glare didn’t soften at all. “You went through my stuff?” 

“You told me to!” Nico yelled back at him. 

Finally, Will’s expression broke, from fury to pure shock. His mouth even dropped open, which Nico might have thought was funny under different circumstances. Instead, he just felt himself shrinking. Nico walked closer and dropped the papers onto the coffee table, his voice quiet as he explained, “I was looking for a toothbrush.” 

For a moment, there was silence. Nico kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Will to decide that this was the last straw, for him to walk out the door and for Nico to never see him again. 

And then Will was laughing. Low, at first, and quiet enough that Nico thought he might be crying again, but then it expanded into full belly laughs that had him stumbling over to the couch before he fell over. Nico felt his anger rise up again.

“What about this could possibly be so funny to you?” he snapped, his arms crossed once again. 

There were tears rolling down Will’s cheeks again when he answered, “I kept those for you! To save you the trouble of talking to a lawyer again to get another set of papers! I kept them because I was afraid that someday you would tell me you didn’t love me, not because of my own doubts. You’re--” Will got to his feet again, wiping at his tears with the back of his hands. His voice continued to hiccup, though from laughing or crying, Nico couldn’t tell. “I think this is it for me, Nico. You’re it. I… I think I’ve been in love with you since the very second I woke up next to you.” 

Nico’s arms fell to his side just as Will reached a hand out to him. For the second day in a row, Nico felt tears burst out of him. He took Will’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled against the other man’s chest.

“I’m sorry,” Nico whispered, coiling his arms tight around Will’s back. “God, I’m such an idiot. I love you, too. I’m so sorry.” 

Will kept pressing little kisses into Nico’s hair, in between whispers of, “I love you, Nico,” and “I’m so in love with you.” 

There was a bonfire pit on the roof of Nico’s building where everyone was waiting for them. Nico and Will had given directions on how to get up to the roof, though they had yet to make it up there themselves, for they had a few things to bring up with them that still needed to be packed into boxes. Besides, Nico wanted to wait until he was sure that everyone had arrived. He was only going to do this once, after all.

He was in the kitchen, packing a box full of snacks and plates and napkins when Will sneaked up behind him, his right arm winding around Nico’s waist while his left hand seeked out Nico’s own. 

“You’re wearing your ring again,” Will commented, and Nico could feel the smile that Will was wearing as it pressed into the side of his neck. 

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so? Like you ever stopped wearing yours.” 

Will kissed Nico’s cheek. “Of course I didn’t. I’ve been in love with you this entire time.” 

“Yeah, yeah, quit rubbing it in,” Nico said, shaking Will loose. “Sorry one of us was late to the party.” 

“You got there eventually,” Will said, leaning back against the counter as he watched with love overflowing from his eyes as Nico grabbed a roll of paper towel to place in the box. “That’s all that really matters.” 

Nico spun toward him with his arms crossed. “Are you ready to go? Or do you like keeping all of our friends waiting?” 

Will grinned. “Yeah, I’m ready.” 

The two made their way up to the roof, each carrying their own box of supplies, both of which were handed off almost as soon as they met up with their friends. Nico’s hand found Will’s right away. 

“So, um,” Nico said, loud enough to gather everyone’s attention. “I think I have an introduction I need to make. Everybody, this is my husband, Will Solace.” 

A chorus of cheers went up from the group, along with a few wolf whistles. Nico squeezed Will’s hand, and Will leaned in for a kiss. A moment later, they were being pulled away from each other as their friends dragged them into individual congratulatory hugs. Hazel was the first to make it to Nico. 

With her hands on his shoulders, she said, “So, I take it you cleared this all up with dad.” 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, he said he was happy for me. And he said that if we stick it out for a year, then he’ll pay for a vow renewal ceremony.” 

Hazel’s smile was bright enough to rival Will’s. “And what do you think about that?” 

Nico’s eyes searched out Will in the crowd, landing on him almost immediately where he was helping unpack one of the boxes. Just the sight of his husband made Nico relax, with an easy smile stretching across his lips. “I think I’d like to remember marrying him.” 

Just then, Cecil reached into the other box and pulled out a stack of paper. He called out, “Hey, Will, what’s all this paper for?” 

Nico recognized the envelope from across the patio, and his smile grew.

“It’s just tinder,” Will answered, his eyes finding Nico’s with that bright and beautiful smile of his. “Let it burn.” 

Together - across the roof but always together - they watched the divorce papers burn.