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Nico di Angelo is on his third glass of whiskey when his wandering eyes land on what could possibly be the most beautiful face he's ever seen in his life. No exaggeration.
The man looks straight from the Olympus with his tanned body and cheekbones that seem like they've been carved by gods themselves, and his golden blond hair radiates like a morning sun even under the dim lights of the bar.
Okay, maybe a little exaggeration.
The man is sitting some tables away from Nico, with two other people who keep supplying him with funny anecdotes and jokes. Nico knows this because the beautiful man hasn't stopped grinning the whole time Nico’s noticed him.
Not that he's been staring or anything. Definitely not.
Nico's attention is taken away by the two men sitting beside him, busy in some boring work related conversation.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" Jason raises a concerned eyebrow towards Percy when he asks for another shot of tequila.
"Oh, I don't think even this is going to be enough for tomorrow," Percy responds, his voice surprisingly coherent considering the number of drinks he's had.
"Why's that?" Nico asks, his attention fully on Percy.
"The interns join tomorrow, and I just know they're gonna be the source of my headache, at least for a month."
"Oh god, don't remind me," Jason groans into the table. "Remember that one guy last year, the one that was with me in the editing department? I had to fight with him about the correct use of em dash and en dash."
"Ugh, Ethan. I hated that guy. But he was a breeze compared to that other guy Luke—"
Nico tunes them out. He loves his friends, but it's hard to listen to their boring work life when he could be looking at the eye candy— ahem, at other people.
So Nico turns to the table where the beautiful man— Sunshine for convenience— is sitting. Sunshine is looking straight at him, smiling like he knows something Nico doesn't, and did he just wink? Nico feels his face heat up and diverts his eyes to focus on something else, anything but the stupidly hot man who probably figured out Nico had been staring. And If Sunshine is gonna look at him like that all the time, he'll need something to drink.
Nico asks his friends if anyone wants anything, and excuses himself to the bar.
"One whiskey on the rocks please," Nico asks the waiter and feels a presence beside him while waiting for his order.
Apparently gods don't want to give him a break 'cause fuck, it's Sunshine.
And he's standing not two feet away from Nico.
"Hey, I want to test a hypothesis and I was wondering if you could help me with it?" Sunshine asks and damnit, he sounds like he's been gifted by Apollo himself. Or maybe not, if he's resorting to lame pickup lines.
Nico gives Sunshine a once over after collecting himself and smirks. "No, I didn't fall from heaven, because I'm not an angel. There, hypothesis failed."
Sunshine laughs at that, and Nico himself can't stop grinning in pride. There, I put that smile on his face. "Oh no no, I wasn't— although I wouldn't be so sure— I was going to ask something else."
"And what would that be?" Nico leans into the counter. It's surprisingly easy now that the ice has been broken, to flirt with Sunshine and watch the effect it has on him and maybe hold his hand and possibly run his hand over that stupidly perfect hair and slam him over the wall and kiss him senseless and— ahem, he's getting ahead of himself.
"My friends told me you haven't stopped looking at me once you started." It's Sunshine's turn to smirk now and Nico just knows he's so, so fucked.
Nico looks behind the man's shoulder and then to his side, searching for an escape route. Maybe he could go back to his table and ignore the man forever, or maybe he can just act oblivious.
"That's not what a hypothesis is. It's an observation," he says dumbly. Seriously? That's the best he's got?
Luckily, this doesn't deter Sunshine at all. "No, my hypothesis is that you wouldn't be opposed to letting me buy you a drink." He tries to appear confident, but Nico can see the tiny cracks in his eyes, filled with vulnerability and hopefulness.
Up close, Nico can trace the contours of his face and nose and his full lips. Sunshine has freckles dusted all over his nose and cheekbones, and Nico wants to count every single one of them, and trace them to make his personal set of constellations, and kiss them and lick them—
Seeing the vulnerability and hopefulness in those deep blue eyes fills Nico with an unusual bout of confidence. Or maybe it's just the whiskey. "Sorry, but I don't let strangers buy me a drink unless I know their name first," he tries for a sultry smile, and judging from the sharp inhale from the other man, Nico knows it's worked.
"I'm Will Solace," he holds his hand out for a shake. Solace. Sol. Sun. Sunshine.
"Nico di Angelo," Nico takes the offered hand and revels in the warmth.
"Angel, huh?" Sunshine– Will grins so wide Nico's afraid he might dislocate his jaw. "So you did fall from heaven."
Typical Will, he smiles, never mind he's known the man for no more than five minutes. "What brings you here, Will?"
Will leans into the counter and beckons him closer as if he's letting Nico on in a secret. He's not going to miss a chance to get closer to Sunshine, so he leans in too. "My friends think I needed to blow off some steam tonight. I'm starting on a new job tomorrow, so I've kinda been on edge lately."
Nico hopes to gods he didn't misinterpret the subtle change in Will's tone. "Oh. And how do you plan on doing that?"
"I can think of some ways, but you'd probably be offended."
The grin fades from Nico's lips in an instant and he can practically hear the blood rush to his face. Will's still looking at him, observing every subtle change in his expression, daring him even.
And just like that, Nico takes the leap.
"How much do you think your friends would miss you if you ditched them?" he manages to whisper, his voice raspy and heavy in his own ears.
"Who do you think kicked me out of the booth and gave me the liquid luck to approach you?" Will leans away from the table, satisfied. "What about your friends?"
Nico looks back to his friends who seem busy talking amongst themselves. "I don't think they have even noticed me gone for so long."
"Your place or mine?" Will asks once they're out of the bar and on the parking lot. "Mine's around ten minutes away."
Nico isn't usually one for one night stands, much less bringing strangers back home. But surely he can make an exception this time; after all, spending the night with the most beautiful man on the planet seems like a damn special case.
Nico takes his hands on his own, and ignoring the warmth that fills him to his core. "Bet you mine's closer."
The ride to the elevator to his apartment is pure hell.
Especially when Will insists on running his fingers up and down his spine, teasing him with his breath on Nico's ears. They're out of the elevator and into his apartment in what feels like a hundred years, and soon Will has him slammed onto the door, and Nico forgets anything that isn't Will's hands and lips and teeth and tongue.
Will pulls back just long enough for him to let out a desperate whine, and brings his lips near his ears. "Has anyone told you that you have the prettiest eyes?" Nico suppresses a shiver.
Any other day, Nico would have melted into a puddle of blushing mess, but now he's just frustrated. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?"
"Maybe you should do something about it then."
The last thing he sees is the raw hunger and a glint of challenge reflected in Will's deep blue eyes, and neither speak a single word all night.
Will wakes up to a mess of dark curls and tangle of limbs holding onto him like a hook on a fishing rod.
He also wakes up to a mild headache and really bad breath, but all is forgotten when he takes a glance at the man sleeping next to him.
Shit.
Now that they're no longer under flashy neon lights and the influence of alcohol, the man looks even more beautiful under the morning sun, like that's even possible. Will's breath hitches because lords above and beyond— if they were to claim him right then and there, he'd still die a happy man.
Will's gaze travels from the man's bare chest to the clock on the wall and fuck, it's 8:30 in the morning.
Will begins untangling himself from Nico, which isn't an easy task considering Nico insists on holding him even in his sleep. Finally, Nico stirs from his sleep. "Hey, I really need to go or else I'll be late for work."
Nico only holds him tighter with a barely audible mumble of "Screw your work," and Will can't help but chuckle.
"Maybe some months down the line, angel, but I can't be late on my first day at work."
The man faces him directly, now fully awake. Well, almost. But instead of making things easier for his poor heart, Nico pulls him closer in one swift motion until their breaths are mingling and lips only inches apart. "Can't or won't?" he smirks, and closes the distance, slow and soft. And Will gives and gives, returning each flick of his tongue and nibble on his lips with equal enthusiasm.
And it's almost a shame to leave like this, but—
"Nicoooo, stop," Will tries to push Nico away, but without much force.
"Come on," Nico insists. "We'll be quick. I promise."
So now he's left with two options. One, resist this beautiful man's advances and be on time for his stupid work, and think that was for the best but secretly hate himself forever. Two, listen to his heart, have a wonderful morning sex with angel, have his brain produce lots of oxytocin, be productive throughout the day, impress his supervisor, maybe, possibly, see Nico again.
Will looks into those obsidian eyes once, and they make the decision for him.
Nico steps into his office with five minutes to spare.
It's still a bit later than usual for him; if there's one thing he takes seriously at his job, it's punctuality. But he isn't too worried about it— he's not worried about anything, to be honest— because he just had the best night in however long with a wonderful man. Will had even vowed call him sometime and sealed the promise with a dirty kiss, leaving Nico wanting for more and more.
Nothing can take away his good mood today, not even when Percy asks him to do the briefing for the new interns.
"C'mon please, I'll owe you big time," Percy practically begs him. "I think I'm still hungover from last night. Speaking of, where'd you go off to? You never answered our calls."
"That's not what's important right now. Can't Jason do it?"
"He could, but he isn't coming until eleven. He has a meeting with one of the writers.”
"Fine, but you owe me big time, Percy. Let me read their CV or something so I know at least something about them."
"No time for that, sorry." Percy ushers him towards the working area, and gestures to a man and a woman sitting on the chairs. Nico doesn't recall meeting them ever before. They must be the new interns.
"Two of them have already arrived," Percy continues, "I guess the other two are on their way soon. You'd think for their first day at work, they'd at least be on time." He scoffs and hands Nico a list of topics to cover during the briefing. "Anyway, you got this. You've got to be tough with them so they take you seriously later."
"Why should I, it's not like they're gonna work under me."
"Fine, so they take me and Jason seriously."
Nico learns the two interns' names as Connor and Valentina, fresh out of NYU and UT Austin respectively. He's just about to start on the briefing when a man with the same height as Nico comes running through the elevator, apologizing left and right for being late.
You've got to be tough with them, Percy had said. So Nico readies his best glare and regards the newcomer. "So you finally decided to grace us with your presence, huh?" The man opens his mouth to say something, but Nico overrides him. "Whatever excuse you have— forgot to set an alarm, stuck in traffic, abducted by aliens, lost your way in another dimension— I really don't wanna hear it. When your job wants you to be here by 9:00, you have to be here by 9:00; not a minute late, not five minutes late."
The man looks a little red by now— whether because of anger or embarrassment Nico has no idea. Maybe he was a bit harsh on the poor guy, but hey, he's just following Percy's advice.
"I'll excuse you this time around 'cause it's your first day," Nico says finally, and the man visibly relaxes, "But you're one minute late any other day and there will be consequences, am I understood?"
A chorus of "Yes sir" is heard from all the three interns.
"Now, as I was saying, welcome to the Big Three Publishers—"
"—Uh, excuse me, sir?" Valentina interrupts him. He gives a short nod before she continues. "The fourth intern hasn't arrived yet."
Right. Percy mentioned four interns this time around.
"There's no need to call me sir, since I won't be supervising you. Jason and Percy will be overseeing two of you each, but they couldn't be here for the orientation. I'm just two years your senior, so just call me Nico or Mr. di Angelo."
They end up waiting for the fourth intern for ten more minutes but they still don't show up, and Nico begins losing his patience. He considers moving on without them when he hears the elevator door open and footsteps run towards them.
Nico turns around, ready to release hell on the latecomer, when he catches a golden mass of unruly hair and fuckfuckfuckfuckthiscan'tbehappening—
His breath stops midway when those beautiful cerulean blue eyes find him and widen comically, and man, he must have done something really awful in his past life to have this befall upon him.
Will looks as if he'd like nothing more than to bolt through the elevator and stay in hiding under a rock for an indefinite amount of time, and frankly Nico doesn't feel any different.
Will walks towards them, slow and unsure, and whispers an apology for being late. Nico just knows he's so fucked it can't get any worse.
A man— presumably Connor— snickers from behind. "Can't wait to see him rip this guy a new one."
Okay, he spoke too soon. Now he's fucked.
Because he can't let Will off the hook for being fifteen minutes late when he just scared the other guy for the same reason, that would be hypocritical. And unfair. And honestly not good for the team spirit.
The fact that Nico was the reason he's actually late is neither here nor there.
"You do realize this is your first day of internship, don't you?" Nico starts small, his voice gaining more weight with every syllable. Just get it over with. "We do not tolerate late comers here, and you'll do good to keep that in mind."
"But—" Will tries to interrupt, but Nico just knows if Will manages to say something, he'll just cave and say something stupid.
"—I really don't wanna hear whatever excuse you have," Nico mirrors the words he said to the other guy just ten minutes ago. "You've already wasted enough time as it is." Oh gods, he's definitely overcompensating now.
"I just—"
"This is your first and last strike; if you're late ever again, there will be consequences. Am I clear?"
Nico wonders if it's too futile to hope Will will forgive him ever, because had the roles been reversed, Nico would have been intentionally late to work every single day just out of spite. I just hope he's a better person than I am.
Will doesn't say anything for a long time, probably trying to process what just happened, but when he does, it's in a deadly calm monotone that Nico could never associate with the flirty tone he'd heard yesterday.
"I'm sorry, sir." Will spits out the last word with so much venom Nico didn’t realize existed in sunshiny smiley Solace. "I'll make sure this never happens again."
Nico's heart breaks just a little because when Will mentioned never, Nico doesn't think he was referring to being late.
The internship in The Big Three Publishers was supposed to be the best thing that happened to Will after he won the Best smile category in a local pageant in middle school (he hadn't stopped flashing his teeth and smiling at random strangers for a week after that).
The publishing company is one of the best and the most popular, and he's had to go through heaps of trouble with hours of dedication to get an internship here.
If anything, it's his stupid friends' fault. He was doing fine— a little nervous, but who wouldn't be? But noo, they had decided he needed to get laid, and took him to that stupid bar and that's where his bad luck started.
Will isn't hurt or anything.
Sure, he was looking forward to calling Nico and meet up again, maybe ask him on a real date. Will's not hurt that this doe-eyed beautiful angel with an endearing smile turned out to be his boss, and scolded him for being late, never mind what or rather who was the actual reason.
No, Will isn't hurt— he's angry and so, so offended (even more so at himself because he was just the tiniest bit turned on—).
Will is alone at the storage room searching for the files Percy had asked him to bring, when he hears light footsteps and someone clears their throat.
It's Nico. Of course it is.
Will flashes his biggest, widest, fakest smile. "Oh I'm sorry, sir, was I breathing too loudly for your liking? Would you like to yell at me again or do you want me to stop breathing altogether?"
Nico's face is a sight to watch. He was confident and sexy yesterday, sweet this morning, and strict later in the morning. But now he just looks uncomfortable and nervous.
"Will, I— I'm not your boss, so please don't call me sir, and well—" He takes a deep breath and tries again. "I'm sorry for what happened this morning."
"Which part? The one where you scolded me for being late or the part where you made me late because you decided you were too horny?"
Nico looks so uncomfortable he's practically squirming. Good.
Nico opens his mouth and closes it, and only this infuriating bastard can look so hot even when he's floundering like a fish. Will continues with his rant.
"You know what, apology not accepted. You yelled at me in front of all those people at my first day, even though it was all your fault— well mine too, since I wasn't opposed to it, I mean you’re really good in bed— that's not the point! The point is, apology not accepted because even if I were to overlook the yelling part, I still slept with my boss."
That's when the real gravity of the events hit him.
Fuck.
"I slept with my boss on my first day at work— no wait, a day before that." This is so much worse he’s losing his mind.
"Well you also slept with me today morning so technically—" Nico starts. The sheer audacity of this man.
Will throws an unimpressed glare at Nico's direction, which promptly shuts him up. "Or, we can ignore that."
But Will can't just ignore that. He's the one that has to live with the fact that he slept with his boss and they always blame the intern and— "It hasn't been a day and I'm already the office slut!"
"Will, calm down—"
"Everyone's gonna know and they're gonna think I'm trying to sleep my way to the top and—"
"Hey, that's not gonna happen." Nico steps closer until he's in Will's personal space, and offers a hand in comfort, but Will pushes him away.
"Easy for you to say, you didn't sleep with your boss the night before your new job—“
Honestly it's so cliché, typical Hollywood romance, just like—
"Oh my gods, I'm Meredith Grey!"
"Will you're not— wait who's Meredith Grey?"
Will lets out a horrified scream. "Oh my gods, I slept with someone who doesn't know Meredith Grey."
Sure, he dreamed of being a doctor as a child but that didn't mean his life had to be fricking Grey's Anatomy. And it doesn't help that his father used to be a world-renowned surgeon with too little time for Will. Who's to say his life won't exactly turn out like her?
"I bet you secretly have a wife, don't you?" Will raises an accusing finger at Nico, who looks positively horrified.
"Excuse me?"
But Will isn't finished, nowhere even close. "And now you're gonna pursue me until I fall in love with you and when I ask you to choose me over her, you're gonna choose her and just leave me, aren't you?"
Nico steps closer again and this time Will lets him. He's exhausted from today's events, and just wishes Nico wouldn't choose her over him.
"Why would you choose her, Nico," Will asks, a little softer this time. "She's not even good to you. What does she have that I don't?"
"What are you talking about, Will?" Nico takes his hands tentatively, and Nico's cool hands help him clear his mind a little. And he feels so stupid for his little stunt. Oh god, Nico must think he's an overdramatic idiot (he is, but Nico mustn't know that this soon).
But Nico doesn't call him out or judge him, only holds his hand firmly.
"Okay, ignoring whatever story you cooked out of gods know where and the fact that I'm very much gay, I'm not really your boss. You'll be working under Percy, surely he told you that. I've been working here for two years, and it wouldn't really be a violation if we— I mean— if you decide to, that is." Nico traces little circles on the back of his hands, soothing his nerves.
"And I'm sorry I had to scold you for being late— I guess I should say I'm sorry for making you late for work, but I had a really great time with you, Will. I'd like to see you again, if— if that's what you want as well."
Nico looks so small and hopeful in that moment, that Will pulls out one of his hands just to put it on top of Nico's, providing him the same warmth and reassurance Nico had been offering him. Will opens his mouth to speak but a knock on the door startles them.
"Will, did you find the files I asked about?" Percy calls out from the door.
And the spell is broken, poof.
"Coming," Will shouts over to Percy who thankfully doesn't come inside, and addresses Nico. "Excuse me sir, but it seems like my work here is done. I should be going, wouldn't want to be late again, now would we?"
Will walks out without a backward glance because if he does, he knows he'll cave too soon.
It's been four days since the new interns joined The Big Three Publishers, and Percy and Jason are satisfied with their work so far.
Percy even attributed their diligence and work ethic to Nico's intimidation on their first day. Little does he know, Nico would give anything to travel in time and erase the whole thing to start anew.
Will is just as passive aggressive as he was on the storage room, and insists on call him sir in a condescending way, even though Nico has clarified about ten times that he's not.
Nico had asked Percy if he knew someone named Meredith Grey and turns out it's a character from the series Grey's Anatomy. And while most times the banter is endearing, sometimes it's hurtful. Just a bit.
On the fifth day, after he returns home from work, Nico gets a call from an unknown number.
"Hey Nico," the caller says, and fuck, he's missed that soft edge on Will's voice.
"Uh, hey Will," Nico stammers into the phone, not knowing how to respond next. "I wasn't sure you'd ever want to talk to me." Great, blowing off his chances before he's even got one.
"Yeah well, I promised to call you, didn't I?" Nico hears a huff from Will.
This is his opportunity to make things right. "Will, I'm really sorry about what happened—" Nico starts, but Will cuts him off.
"—Hey it's okay, really. I'm sorry too for overreacting. I won't hold it over you anymore."
"Really?" Nico responds a bit too early and eagerly.
"Really. And I won't be patronizing and call you my boss."
Thank gods for that, Nico thinks. "Also, for the love of God please stop calling me Sir."
"No calling sir. Duly noted," Will chuckles. "But I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with master or daddy yet."
"Will!"
Will lets out a bark of laughter and gods, Nico wishes he could see his face right now. This man is going to end up killing him one day, and maybe he will enjoy a little too much.
Will's laughter dies into occasional chuckles when he asks, "Maybe we could start over? Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo and I really like you, and I'd really love to take you out on a date."
"Hi Nico, I'm Will Solace and I'd really like to go on a date with you."
"So, Friday evening 7:30 work for you?"
"Depends, will you yell at me again if I'm late?"
Nico can't help his resigned laughter. "You're not letting me forget it anytime soon, are you?"
"Correction, Nico, I'm never letting you forget it," Nico can practically see the smile on Will's face. "Never ever ever."
And Nico's heart suddenly feels a million times lighter because never doesn't sound like never at all.
It sounds like a promise.