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Will was hiding something. Nico wasn’t sure what, and he definitely didn’t know why, but it had him worried. The last time Will had spent so much time decidedly not talking to Nico was all the way back during their very first tour opening for Lost Heroes. It had turned out then that Will had gotten himself a secret gym membership, using it to hide away in the back corners of some twenty-four-hour gym wherever they had ended up across the country, beating out his anger into a punching bag so that he wouldn’t take it out on anyone in the band.
If Will was hiding things again, did that mean his anger was back with a vengeance? Was it something Nico had done, and that was why Will wasn’t talking to him about it?
Was Will trying to make Nico take the hint that they were over so that he wouldn’t have to say it himself?
Could he really have decided that, after three albums, ten tours - which didn’t even count the one they had kicked off last week - and living together for almost five years, they were just done?
Nico couldn’t accept that. After all the shit he’d gone through to make sure he had Will in the first place, he wasn’t going to give up without a fight. And if Nico and Will were good at one thing, it was fucking fighting.
(Besides, Nico had heard that tattoo removal hurt, and he wasn’t about to get Will’s initials removed from over his heart.)
(A small part of Nico’s brain was already trying to think of ways that he could turn WAS into something signifying the past tense of their relationship - and the rest of Nico’s brain wanted to grab that idea by the throat and squeeze until it agreed to keep its mouth shut.)
He couldn’t even really snoop around to try to suss out the problem before things came to a head. Even if Will didn’t keep his phone and wallet on him at all times, Nico knew him well enough to know that there wouldn’t be anything of note in either of them. Sure, his wallet might have a gym membership card tucked away somewhere, but Will still went every so often just to keep in shape - unless he’d been lying to Nico for years now. He didn’t keep in contact with people over text, always preferring different modes of direct messaging with different people. (Will and Lou exclusively communicated through Snapchat, for example. It made Nico think that maybe Will didn’t want any record of his conversations with anyone - at least not in a way that could be so easily discovered.)
They were almost always together, anyway, so it wasn’t like Nico would have even had the chance to snoop if he wanted to. Between rehearsals and soundchecks and band dinners before the show, then warmups and performances and eventually falling into bed together to sleep through the next twelve hours, Nico didn’t have a chance to be suspicious of Will, let alone for Will to have time to do anything incriminating to begin with.
Maybe that was the problem - they were always together. Maybe Will felt suffocated by the fact that Nico was always by his side. Maybe if Nico just gave him some space whenever he could, then Will could start to relax, and everything would go back to normal.
Or, Will would finally have the chance to run and never look back.
Nico had tried talking to some people about it - Lou and Kayla first, because Will would definitely talk to them about anything important, if he wasn’t willing to bring it up to Nico (which was a thought that made Nico’s heart sting, like the tattoo of Will’s initials was trying to burn itself out of his skin). When they didn’t say anything that wasn’t vague and entirely unhelpful, Nico went to Cecil next, though Cecil brushed him off with the excuse that he had too much work to do. Nico was almost tempted to use his authority as CEO to get Cecil to spill the beans under threat of termination, but he wasn’t that cruel. And how would he know that Cecil wasn’t already telling the truth, that he had nothing to spill?
He complained to Jason about it next, not because he thought Jason might know anything, but because it felt like nobody would talk to him. He even dragged Jason up to the office of the CEO rather than hanging out in his little shoebox office on the studio floor, just to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard if Nico started raising his voice.
“What makes you think Will is hiding something from you?” Jason asked once Nico had gotten through most of his venting.
Nico’s mind went blank.
What had been different? Will still kissed him, told him he loved him, held his hand under the table at dinner - things that were just for them, never for anyone else to see. But it almost felt like Will was only doing those things because Nico wanted him to, not because he wanted to. They used to laze around in bed for hours after waking up, just to talk - about work, about their music, about the idea of getting married someday - but they hadn’t done so for months, and Nico couldn’t put his finger on why. Maybe that part was Nico’s fault - he’d had a lot more work pushed onto his plate ever since taking over the role of CEO.
For a second, Nico thought it was all in his head - that Will wasn’t acting any different from before, it was just that Nico’s life had just become a bit more stressful outside of his relationship.
Then he realized: things were different - and Nico was the problem.
Nico wasn’t sure what would be the best course of action. He could try talking to Will, but that made him nervous about unintentionally starting an argument that they wouldn’t be able to resolve before taking the stage that night on the other side of the city. He thought about wordlessly trying to smother Will with all of the love and affection he could muster in the hopes that it would mend whatever cracks might’ve been forming in the relationship.
That, though, might tip Will off to the fact that something was wrong, which could lead to a conversation that Nico wasn’t sure he was ready to have, which - still - could lead to an argument before that night’s show.
He ended up going with option number three by default: ignoring the problem altogether, because he couldn’t decide on a better course of action. He told himself that he was just giving himself time to think things through, to try to form some sort of strategy for how to approach the issue at a time when they didn’t have a performance happening in just a few hours.
The only problem was that Nico had decided to do his thinking while locked away in a practice room, plucking away at the strings of various guitars he held on his lap as he made up melodies and basslines on the spot. He hadn’t been watching the time, and wasn’t even entirely sure what he did with his phone, so he nearly jumped in surprise when the door swung open and Will stepped into the room.
Nico took a deep breath, trying to keep his expression neutral even as his heart started pounding in his chest.
“Hey,” Will said as he quietly shut the door behind himself, a smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You weren’t answering your phone. Is everything alright?”
Nico hummed quietly and nodded, turning his gaze back to the guitar in his lap, though he couldn’t get his fingers to move across the strings.
He heard footsteps crossing the room, and then Will was kneeling down in front of him, resting his arms across Nico’s thighs and gazing up at him. “Nico,” he said softly, and lifted one hand until he could angle Nico’s chin so that he met Will’s eyes. Will’s smile brightened instantly. “Hi, baby. We have a dinner reservation soon. Think you can be ready to go in, like, five minutes?”
Nico hesitated. What did it mean that, as soon as Nico decided to try giving Will some space, Will took that choice away from him?
“Not hungry,” Nico lied, his mind glossing over the handful of chips he’d had for lunch hours earlier.
“Come anyway,” Will insisted, pressing forward. “We’ve been dying to try this place, remember? And it’s our last chance for the next few months while we’ll be out on tour. And if you don’t eat something before the show, you’ll either be grouchy or unconscious by the end of it.” When Nico still didn’t seem interested, Will lowered his voice and added, “And best of all, your favorite person in the whole world will be there.”
Some of the ice in Nico’s chest started to melt at the look in Will’s eyes, just enough to give him the courage to say, “You invited Hazel?”
Will’s grin flipped into a pout in a second, and faster than Nico could stop him, Will pushed himself away overdramatically and announced, “Nope, never mind, dinner’s canceled.”
“Will,” Nico called after him, feeling a smile tug at his lips as Will started back toward the door. “Will, wait! Baby,” Nico tried, laughter in his voice as Will finally came to a stop with his hand on the door. Nico lifted the guitar from his lap and rose to his feet. “Alright, just give me a second to clean up, and we can go.”
Will spun around, a grin on his lips as he leaned back against the closed door. “I knew the puppy eyes would work.”
Nico rolled his eyes as he hit the switch on the amp he’d been using, and started wrapping up cords. “It was less the puppy eyes and more the fact that I didn’t want to listen to you whine for the rest of the night.”
“I thought you liked the sound of my voice,” Will said, his pout returning, though not quite to full force.
Nico moved the chair he’d been using back against the wall, then crossed the room until he stood directly in front of Will, sighing heavily. “I do. I love your voice, and I love you, but if you whine at me, I might have to kill you.”
“Aw,” Will said, reaching out and winding an arm around Nico’s waist. “I love you, too.”
Will leaned in for a kiss, and Nico let him at first, though after a few seconds, Will apparently needed to be reminded that they had dinner reservations to get to.
“I knew that,” Will said, his voice breathy and his smile dazed, and he opened the door with one hand while grabbing Nico’s hand with the other, then pulled him out of the room.
Nico barely managed to hit the lightswitch on his way out.
Nico tried to act normal through dinner with the band, then as they made their way to the venue together. Will had finally seemed to drop his focus on Nico once he started warming up his voice. Lou joined in shortly, running harmonies for a few choruses as she stretched out her arms. Kayla was across the room, touching up her makeup and tying her hair back, mouthing along with the words even though she didn’t have a microphone on stage.
With everyone occupied with themselves, Nico found the perfect opportunity to sneak out of the dressing room.
He didn’t intend to go far - the opener had already come offstage, meaning he only had about ten minutes before he needed to be heading down the backstage hallway - but he needed some air. All he wanted was to clear his head before he had to take the stage and watch from behind as Will conducted an overflowing stadium of fans - he needed some fucking air.
Nico found a fire exit that had clearly been tampered with enough that the emergency alarm wasn’t set off when he pushed it open. Knowing that it would lock behind him, Nico searched the ground both inside and out for a doorstop, but the biggest rock he could find was just out of reach from the door.
This was going to be very, very stupid of him.
Nico pushed the door open as wide as he could, using all his might to launch off the door and dive for the rock on the ground. With the force of his push, though, the door sprung back on its hinge and closed faster than it should have, latching shut a millisecond before Nico could catch it with the rock in his hand.
“Fuck,” Nico whispered, but it was okay. He tried knocking on the door, calling out for someone to open it up, but he hadn’t seen anyone wander down to that end of the hallway since they’d arrived that night. Next, he tried patting his pockets, intending to call for help.
No fucking phone.
Five years with this band was going to go straight down the toilet if he didn’t find some way to get back inside in the next five minutes.
What he did next was, well. Not one of his proudest moments.
He had to round the side of the building before he could find someone from security. Of course, the guard didn’t believe him when he said he was Nico di Angelo, because why would the fucking CEO of a record label be hiding out in the alley behind the concert venue, dressed in a muscle tank and jeans that were more hole than denim? And because I’m the fucking drummer only seemed to piss the guard off even more. When Nico had to demand that the guard fucking google him, Nico knew he had hit a low point in his life, but at least it worked. The guard still seemed a little bit skeptical as to whether or not Nico really was the guy in the pictures, but the important thing was that Nico was able to get back into the building.
He ran for his dressing room, already able to hear the voices of the massive crowd chanting in anticipation, even through the walls. When he reached the dressing room, he found it empty, and took off towards the backstage hallway, knowing that the others had probably already been dragged off by stagehands.
Nico ran faster than he ever had in his life, and nearly plowed straight into Kayla before he was able to stop himself, hunching over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
“Sorry,” Nico wheezed, and reached out to drop a hand on Lou’s shoulder to help him stand upright again. “Sorry, I--” Drums now, embarrassing story later. “Let’s go.”
“Woah, wait,” Will demanded, stopping Nico with both hands on his shoulders as Nico tried to press forward toward the stage. “What happened? Are you okay? We couldn’t find you anywhere.”
Nico nodded his head frantically. “Fine, I’m good. We need to go.”
“We have something important to do first!” Will exclaimed.
“The important thing we have to do is go on stage,” Nico insisted, and glanced back over his shoulder for support, but neither Lou or Kayla seemed to have any interest in moving a muscle. “What the fuck is the matter with you guys? We have a show!”
“It’ll be fine,” Will told him, keeping a tight hold on Nico’s shoulders so that he didn’t run away while his eyes darted every which way, as if in search of something - or some one. When he found it - them - he smiled brightly, and raised a hand in greeting, giving Nico just enough freedom to turn and see who was coming.
Jason and Hazel, both wearing VIP passes, approached from the other end of the hallway. Hazel had her camera in hand and strapped around her neck, while her camera bag hung at her hip, and Jason had a folder clasped in his hand. They were both smiling just as bright as Will, which had Nico unnerved.
“Whatever the fuck this is,” Nico growled, “we do not have the fucking time.”
“Chill the fuck out, Neeks,” Lou insisted, giving him a light shove.
“I will not! This venue has a very strict cutoff, which means that the longer we hang out back here, the less time we’ll have for water breaks once we get out there!” Nico explained, but no one else seemed to care. Oh, they were gonna fucking care when Nico had to lead them straight from one song into the next before anybody had a chance to grab a water bottle.
“Baby, relax,” Will told him, aiming that smile down at Nico, and fuck if it didn’t make his pulse slow down. “I had this all planned out, up until somebody disappeared, so, sure, there’s a bit of a delay, but--” He let his hand slide down Nico’s shoulder until he was clasping both of Nico’s hands in his own, and Will lowered himself onto one knee. “Nico, baby, will you marry me?”
Seriously? This had to happen right fucking now?
“We’ve been over this,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes. “I have agreed to marry you hundreds of times at this point. Was this whole spectacle really necessary for something you already knew?”
Will’s grin only grew. “Well, yeah. Because I was kind of hoping you’d marry me right here, right now.”
Nico must not have heard that right. “Huh?” The crowd right on the other side of that wall was getting louder, Nico was sure of it, so they were messing with his ability to hear the man directly in front of him. That made sense, right?
“Well, you see, I had this idea that seemed super romantic at the time, and it really would’ve been a lot better if we weren’t so stressed out and rushed by the, uh, current circumstances, but, um. I have the paperwork, and it’s going to expire if we don’t use it today, and it’ll be void as soon as we take it into another county, anyway, so-- Oh! And Jason got ordained, and Hazel’s here to take pictures, obviously, and Lou and Kayla can both sign as our witnesses.”
Will squeezed Nico’s hands, almost nervously, and finally seemed to realize that he was still kneeling. He pushed himself up, standing toe to toe with Nico, smiling down at him as he said, “Basically, um, the thought process was, what better time and place to get married than backstage, right before we go on? And then it’ll be like the next three months of touring and traveling is, like, a big, extended honeymoon, you know?”
“Ew,” Kayla finally spoke up, “don’t call it a honeymoon when your sister’s going to be there.”
“You’re not invited to that part,” Will shot back, though Nico was too stunned to pay any attention to the bickering siblings.
Did this mean that there hadn’t been any problems between them? Had Will just been acting differently because he was secretly planning their surprise wedding? Nico really hadn’t done anything wrong?
“Yeah,” Nico said, cutting into whatever comeback Kayla was about to say, “let’s do it. Let’s go, hurry up!”
Will’s head snapped back toward him, his face full of surprise at first before he broke out into another grin. “Fuck yes, let’s go, Jason!”
Jason stepped closer to them, letting his folder fall open in his hands as he pulled out a small stack of notecards. He flipped through them quickly, muttering, “Sorry, I planned a whole-- No time for that-- There we go. Nico di Angelo, do you take Will Solace to be your husband?”
“I do,” Nico said, not an ounce of hesitation in his voice.
“Will Solace,” Jason continued, “do you take Nico di Angelo to be your husband?”
Will beamed. “I do.”
Jason flipped through a few more cards. “Uh, I think I skipped the ring part. Do you have rings?”
Nico’s heart started to sink before suddenly his hand was being ripped out of Will’s, and something small, round, and cool to the touch was being pressed into his palm. Nico didn’t even have to think about it before he slid the ring onto Will’s finger, and a second later, Will mirrored the motion with a ring of his own.
“By the power vest-- The power-- Can’t read my own fucking handwriting,” Jason grumbled, squinting down at his notecard and even going so far as to lift up his glasses, as if that wouldn’t make things worse instead of better. If Nico hadn’t been so fucking giddy, he might’ve cheered just from hearing Jason curse. “Whatever. State of California and some shitty internet service says I can legally marry you, so I pronounce you, uh, legally married. Kiss your husband!”
Cheers went up from everyone around as Will pulled Nico in by the waist, blending in with the crowd awaiting them and nearly drowning out the clicks of Hazel’s camera shutter.
Will muttered something against Nico’s lips that had him pulling back so that Will could repeat, “Paperwork. Paperwork, we have to do the paperwork!”
Jason started pulling out long legal documents from another pocket of his folder, but they definitely didn’t have the time for that.
“Nope!” Nico insisted. “Not right now. We’ll do it after the show. Everybody get the fuck on stage, right fucking now!”
“Even me?” Hazel asked, and managed to get a snap of Nico’s face right when he turned to face her. “Congrats, Neeks.”
Nico felt all of the tension drain from his body at the sight of Hazel’s smiling face, and he dragged her into a hug, pressing a forceful kiss to her cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered to her, “I’m so glad you were here. And Frank better give you a wedding ten thousand times better than this one, or I’ll kill him.”
Hazel snorted, shoving Nico back. “Are you kidding? This was perfect!”
He was pretty sure there were butterflies fluttering around in his stomach that went on a frenzy as soon as he turned toward the stage, instantly finding Will’s silhouette as he pulled his guitar strap over his head. “You’re right,” he said, “it was.” He turned back toward Hazel, reaching for her hand to give it a squeeze. “I’ll see you after, right?”
“I’ll be here,” she promised. “Now go!”
Nico ran for the stairs. He gave Lou and Kayla each a gentle push toward the stage once it looked like they were both ready to go, but once he reached Will, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for one more kiss.
“I love you,” Nico told him as he released his hold.
“Love you, too,” Will replied with hearts in his eyes. “And this is going to be the most amazing show we’ve ever played.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Maybe once you finally get on the fucking stage. Go on, already.”
He gave Will a shove toward the blinding stage lights, and watched and listened as the crowd went wild over him.
They could all cheer all they wanted - but Will was always going to come back to Nico.
Once Will finally reached his microphone at center stage and began his greeting to the crowd, Nico took off toward the drum kit, ready to play the best show of their lives.