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After being little more than a wedding photographer for the last few years and barely making enough money to keep his shitty apartment in the city, working on the road was a massive change for Nico. The biggest change of all, besides the fact that he no longer got to sleep in his bed every night, definitely came from the culture shock of following the touring rodeo through the great state of Texas.
He would admit that he was worried about taking the job at first - outwardly because he’d never worked without a real home base, and inwardly because he was never sure when somebody would take too close of a look at him before deciding that a hate crime was in order.
Once he’d started, though, he settled in just fine. The cowboys he’d been charged with photographing during the events were friendly, and always tried to include Nico in the group even outside of event hours. And it turned out that Nico enjoyed photographing action shots much more than he’d ever been interested in capturing a slow-moving wedding.
He had already even chosen his favorite subject to photograph, after only a week or so out on the tour.
There was something about the way that Will Solace caught the light, and the way he could seem so easy going even while riding on the back of a bucking bronco. He somehow still managed to look good even after being thrown off the horse and rolling through the dirt for a few yards.
To make matters worse, Will was a sweetheart, too. It was one thing for Nico to get caught staring a few too many times, but for Will to laugh it off, or tease him about it, or god forbid flirt with him afterwards was too much for Nico. Nico wasn’t going to allow himself to crush on any of the tragically straight cowboys he was being forced to surround himself with, for the sake of his own sanity.
Except that Will wasn’t straight. And he’d openly admitted to liking Nico back.
And there was that time when they’d had a day off, shared a few too many drinks, and ended up making out in the back of Will’s trailer while everyone else was asleep.
Will had confessed to him, late that night and drunk enough that his speech was slurred, that he had a girlfriend back home that he was always running away from. They were high school sweethearts, or so she thought, because Will only really stuck around because it was either play house with Laurel or come out to the whole town, and both options sounded equally terrifying, which had led to him running away with the rodeo.
“Because the rodeo came to town before the circus did,” Will told him jokingly, “and I’ve never been good at walking in clown shoes, anyway.”
Nico had tried to back off once he found out Will was technically still in a relationship, even if he’d emotionally backed out years ago. Nico wasn’t about to let himself become a homewrecker, especially not when he was only in the area on a short contract.
But Will had this magnetizing force to him. Every time Nico tried to put distance between them, Will would smile just right, or call out his name, or walk into a room, and Nico was there.
And even though Nico was supposed to be photographing every competitor from the Triple G Ranch, that magnetizing pull found him as soon as Will walked his horse out of the ring.
After taking a quick glance around him and making sure that nobody was paying him any mind, Nico slipped away from his coveted spot against the fence to follow Will back to the stables.
He tried to move quickly and quietly back to the stall where he knew Will was keeping his horse, and knocked lightly on the doorframe to get Will’s attention. He’d just hung his saddle over one of the stall’s half-walls, and glanced over his shoulder in surprise at the sound, though his face lit up at the sight of Nico.
“Hey,” he said softly, drifting closer as if Nico was the one with the magnetic pull to him, rather than the other way around. “Come on in. Uh, watch your step, of course.”
Carefully, Nico entered the stall, holding out a hand toward Will’s horse before petting down her nose, whispering, “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hello to you, too,” Will told him, his teasing smile only growing when Nico rolled his eyes. “What are you doing down here, darlin’? Don’t you have pictures to take?”
“Even contract photographers get a lunch break.” Nico moved further into the stall and leaned back against one wall before reaching out for Will, pulling him forward by the front of his shirt. He tilted his chin up, his eyes flickering back and forth between Will’s lips and his eyes. “And I’m starving.”
“There’s a concessions stand,” Will pointed out. “I hear this place makes a mean corndog.”
Nico pouted, and tugged on the collar of Will’s shirt. “C’mon. Just a taste?”
Will tilted his head down. “Alright. Since you asked so nicely.”
He captured Nico’s mouth with his own as his hands found Nico’s waist, pinning him back against the wall. Nico could taste the dirt and sweat that clung to Will’s lips, and he drank in the taste like a man in the desert getting his first sip of water in days. It had felt like so long since he’d last gotten a moment alone with Will, and he didn’t want to ever let it end. He kept one hand fisted in the back of Will’s shirt, holding on so tight that he feared he might tear a hole in the fabric.
Will hummed into Nico’s mouth and whispered, “Missed you.”
“Missed you,” Nico shot back as Will started trailing kisses down the side of his neck.
“You should come over tonight,” Will mumbled with his lips pressed to the underside of Nico’s jaw.
Nico gasped at the feeling. “Got a hotel tonight.”
His grip on Nico’s hips tightened. “Cancel it,” Will told him, punctuating his words with a gentle bite on his neck.
Nico shook his head. “You should come over.”
Will’s head snapped up, his eyes wide as they met Nico’s. As Nico’s words seemed to click in his head, Will beamed. “Now there’s an idea!”
Nico couldn’t help but smile back when Will was radiating so much happiness down toward him, and the surge of excitement he felt was almost enough to fully wash away any of the negatives that came with having to sneak around just to see Will.
He pressed forward to draw Will into another kiss, but just as he started to move, Will pulled back, his head turning to the side.
“Did you hear that?” Will asked, and he moved out of Nico’s hold, quickly straightening his clothes.
Nico frowned, his heart fracturing in his chest. “I didn’t hear any--”
“Will?” a voice called through the stables. It could’ve been a stranger, which wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but - it could’ve been Leo.
“Hide,” Will hissed, grabbing Nico by the arms and tugging him toward one of the half walls at the front of the stall before pushing him down to a crouch.
“You down here, dude?” the voice called again, and this time Nico was sure that it was Leo.
Will winced, and shot Nico an apologetic look before he started out of the stall. Nico tried to reach for his hand, just to give it one last comforting squeeze, but Will moved out of his reach at the last second.
“Hey, Leo, what’s up?” Will said, his voice slowly fading as he made his way down the hall.
Once the conversation disappeared entirely, Nico started to count in his head. Thirty seconds hadn’t been long enough in the past, but any more than a minute always made Nico nervous that someone else might show up to catch him where he wasn’t supposed to be.
He reached twenty, and glanced up to meet the eyes of Will’s horse. She was staring back down at him in a way that Nico couldn’t help but think was judgemental. At thirty seconds, she snorted and shook out her mane, almost like she was scoffing at him for being so stupid as to believe that Will would ever choose to be with him publicly.
Nico had been right about the homophobia of the South, though while he wasn’t willing to push himself back into the closet to make those around him more comfortable, he’d managed to align himself with someone who would hurt everyone around them before allowing anyone the chance to hurt them back.
At forty-five seconds, Will’s horse had turned away, unwilling to even look Nico in the eyes any longer. Nico figured that was fair - it really was pretty pathetic of him to let someone shove him so closely toward the closet that he was almost back inside, instead of standing up for himself like he’d promise himself he would from now on.
The buzz of kissing Will had faded after fifty seconds, and Nico wasn’t sure how much longer he would be willing to hide out in the stables, so he pushed himself up. He left the stall and made sure that the door latched behind himself, and prepared himself to ignore Will for the rest of the afternoon, because he knew that was the treatment that awaited him as soon as he left the stables.
Worst of all, he was pretty sure he’d stepped in horse shit.