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Opposites attract or don’t.
Nico always leaned toward the latter because he couldn’t find why anyone would ever be attracted to him. Like always, there was Will Solace to prove him wrong.
When Will asked him out, to say that Nico was shocked would be an understatement. Hell, he shadow traveled away to the Underworld. There he proceeded to talk with one of the skeletal servants. Granted, it didn’t say much except for groans and the click-clack of bones knocking against each other, but it was a great listener. Not like it had much of a choice anyway.
Afterward, he’d gone back to the infirmary where he found Will pretending to be immersed in his paperwork. Nico apologized profusely for running away while Will stared at him blankly. A part of Nico wanted Will to be mad at him, but he would later find that the blonde could never find a reason to be angry at him. It confused Nico greatly as to why someone who was as perfect as Will would want anything to do with him.
But gradually, Nico learned to accept himself—the bad and the good parts. He learned to love himself as much as Will loved him. Sometimes, it was a lot of work—to think positively—but Will never failed to remind him that there was always a reason to look forward. For that, Nico loved him.
Because even though Will was quite literally the epitome of sunshine while Nico would categorize himself as midnight rain, proving that they were very different from one another. One thing was for sure—they both thrived under the same sky. Without sunshine, there wouldn’t be rain, and without rain, there would be too much sunshine; thus, a harmonious balance between the two forces.
-
1.
“Austin, back me up here. Tell Nico that Angelica was clearly the superior Schuyler sister and her solo is way better,” Will exclaimed loudly, making sure to point his words into Nico’s chest.
Nico flicked his hand away and frowned, turning to Austin who was busy nibbling on a loaf of bread, glancing between the two of them.
“No way. Eliza is obviously better. Her storyline is much more constructed and her songs are more emotional and heartfelt.”
Will clicked his tongue and was about to retort when Austin stood up abruptly, waving his hands in a jazzlike motion.
“You know what, on second thought I’m not hungry. You guys need to resolve your issues, preferably not over Hamilton, please, and thanks.” He calmly stated before walking off.
Nico hmphed and turned to glare at Will.
“Eliza is better. Better. B-E-T-T-E-R.” He enunciated each letter like an obnoxious little kid until Will could no longer hold in the laugh threatening to break on his face. It made Nico warm inside as if he’d just drank a steaming hot cup of tea on a cold winter’s day.
Will snorted and playfully shoved Nico away. “You’re an idiot.”
Nico stuck his tongue out at him, joining in on the apparently contagious laughter. “No. I just have taste unlike you.”
Will smirked, the sunlight glimmered in his eyes like crystals, and he leaned in close enough to whisper. “You’re right. I think my taste is bad if I put up with you.”
Nico gasped, lips parting open in genuine shock, and put a hand up to his chest. “What the hell was that for? You offend me.”
Will giggled, hiding his face in the crook of Nico’s neck. He could feel the blonde’s hot breath puffing on his skin and had to bite his lip to contain his smile.
“I won’t take it back unless you admit that Angelica is better.”
Nico gently pried Will away from him and shook his head. “Never.”
“Fine then, no kisses for you,” Will countered.
Nico subconsciously pouted. “Hey, that’s not fair!”
Will smiled that dazzling and so damn attractive smile of his and Nico almost conceded right then and there. “All’s fair in love and war, darling.” He slurred in that slight Southern drawl that had Nico unknowingly leaning in. The wicked gleam in his eye told Nico that he knew exactly what he was doing too.
Nico pouted again, apparently reduced to a big baby in their petty arguments. “How about a truce?”
Intrigued, Will raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What do you suggest?”
“That Peggy is clearly the most superior,” Nico said smartly.
Will chuckled. “Oh, you’re smart, aren’t you? Fine. I accept.”
At that, Nico hummed happily, pulling Will closer by grabbing his t-shirt. “Good. Now kiss me, you idiot.”
Will did.
“Ew, get a room, you losers!” Clarisse shouted as she walked by. Nico flipped her off without breaking contact with Will, too busy absorbing the sunlight from his boyfriend to care what anyone else was thinking about him right now.
-
2.
“I left to use the bathroom for one second and I came back to this,” Nico said, absolutely disgusted and appalled. “Will, I trusted you!”
Will leaned back in his chair and smiled innocently. “What? I figured you should try something new.”
Nico glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child. “I’m okay with trying something new, not disgusting.”
“Pineapple on pizza isn’t disgusting. It’s not that bad,” Will pointed to the slob on the table. The monstrosity that was pineapple on pizza.
“Pineapple on pizza is literally illegal in Italy because they know how bad it is!” Nico fumed, refusing to even sit down because he didn’t want to smell the greasy fumes of the trash on the table.
“Babe, you know I love you, but you eat mint ice cream. You have no right to judge what you’ve never tasted.”
Despite everything that was happening, Nico still found it in him to blush at the pet name. He hmphed and sat with a dramatic, drawn-out huff. “Fine. I’ll try it if only to shut you up. But I promise I won’t like it.”
Will rolled his eyes but the tiny smile creeping its way onto his face revealed his true emotions. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He handed the slice to Nico, who scrunched his nose at the sheer sight of it.
Nico lifted the pizza up to his mouth and took a deep breath before nibbling on the edge. When it tasted okay, he continued until he bit into one of the pineapple chunks. Instantly not used to the cold and sour sensation, he started flailing his legs and making muffled screams because he couldn’t open his mouth.
Nico heard Will’s sigh followed by a chuckle.
“Just eat it, oh my gods, you’re such a drama queen.”
Nico chewed hastily and swallowed, afterward, drinking two big gulps of cold water. He fanned the air around him, breathing heavily at the atrocity that he just consumed. Will watched him with an amused and hopefully fond expression on his face.
After the pizza had been digested and Nico could formulate the taste, he hesitantly went back in for a second bite. On second notice, he found that the taste wasn’t as bad as he originally thought. Strangely, the tartness of the pineapple balanced the sweetness of the pizza sauce and Nico didn’t find himself hating it that much.
“Well, what do you think?” Will asked after a moment of silence.
Nico put the pizza slice back down and wiped his fingers on a napkin. He kept his gaze down, afraid to look at the smug expression he knew would be on Will’s face.
“It’s…not bad.” He confessed in a whisper.
Nico would eat two whole pineapple pizzas if it meant that grin (as smug as it was) on Will’s face would stay like that forever.
-
3.
“Will, we are not painting the walls yellow!” Nico pushed his boyfriend away from the aisle of yellow and frankly, in his opinion, ugly-ass shades of paint.
Will pouted and linked their arms together, pressing closer in a way he knew Nico wouldn’t be able to resist, and damn—it was hard not to. Even after four years together, long after they’d left camp and started college at NYU, Nico was still finding more and more ways to fall in love with Will every single day. It was impossible not to when his boyfriend was so damn beautiful and kind.
Nico groaned, prying the other man away. “I am not having our apartment look like a clown house.”
“Oh and let me guess. You want to paint the walls black to match your cold-hearted soul?” Will seethed.
Nico blushed and exclaimed loudly. “Hey, I left that phase behind years ago!”
“Did you though?” Will egged him on, that devilish smirk reappearing on his face as he inched closer.
“I did,” Nico stated.
They started pushing each other and wrestling their arms—entangling them together—which somehow diverted into a heated make out session in the middle of the paint aisle until they were interrupted by the sound of shopping cart wheels scraping against the tiled floor.
Nico broke apart, panting slightly with his face flushed from their previous engagements as well as embarrassment, to find an old lady strolling down the aisle, her face completely blank.
He tried his best to smile politely but it came out rather sheepish.
“Oh, don’t mind me, deary.” The old lady giggled as she slowly but surely made her way down the aisle.
When she finally turned the corner, Nico took one look at Will and they both combusted into bouts of hushed laughter.
“You’re such a dork,” Will muttered lovingly as he wrapped strong arms around Nico’s waist.
Nico buried his face in the other man’s chest, taking a whiff of his scent, and retorted. “Says you.”
“So what color should we paint our walls?”
Nico glanced around the multitudes of swatches but his eyes zoned in on one that caught his eye. He plucked it from the shelf and swished the paper around.
“How about midnight blue?”
Will smiled. “Classy.”
-
+1
“Can you repeat that one more time?” Nico asked his sister, Hazel, who was on the phone. He rescanned the produce aisle of the supermarket and scratched his neck like a clueless puppy.
Hazel sighed and her voice came out slightly distorted as she exasperated. “Tomatoes, Nico. Tomatoes for pasta sauce. Honestly, it’s not that hard.”
Nico groaned. “You know I suck at this. I got it, thanks.”
Hazel’s cheery laugh rang out. “Whatever. Will is sure to appreciate your hard work. I’ll catch you later then.”
She hung up and Nico smiled at the thought of cooking for his boyfriend, who was honestly the hard worker in their relationship (he was in med school). He quickly pocketed his phone and bagged the freshest, plumpest tomatoes he could find before grabbing his other groceries and heading to checkout.
-
Nico got home and started preparing the fancy pasta dish that he’d gotten from Hazel. Cutting the tomatoes was tedious since he’d never cut fruit before and he almost sliced his finger off trying to clean up the ends. Then, he had to boil the pasta and time it perfectly so that it wasn’t too hard or soft. Afterward, Nico put together the whole dish and wrapped it up. When he was satisfied with his meal, he ran to take a shower after smearing tomato paste all over his cheeks.
Nico barely stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair, when the door clicked, signaling the sound of Will coming home.
Nico widened his eyes and stood there like a deer caught in the headlights as he watched the door swing open. Will stepped inside dressed in blue scrubs carrying a heavy-duty backpack. His hair was messy and his eyes seemed a little dim until they locked with Nico.
“Nico!” Will exclaimed, dropping his bag as the door closed behind him. His gaze trailed downward and stayed there for a long time, much to Nico’s embarrassment.
“Hi. You’re home early,” Nico mumbled. He padded out and engulfed Will in a tight hug, burying his nose into the blonde’s neck. Will smelled like the clementine sanitary spray the hospital he worked at used.
Will wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him in closer. The next thing that Nico knew, he was being peppered with kisses all over his cheeks, forehead, and jaw.
Nico laughed and pushed Will away. “Stop! What’s that for?”
Will pouted. “I missed you.”
Nico settled for a smile, his chest feeling warm as he let out a content hum. “Are you hungry? I made dinner.”
Will gave him a surprised look. “You? You made dinner?”
“Yes,” Nico deadpanned, poking his chest. “I can do things like that for my lovely, hard-working doctor boyfriend.”
Will grinned, his eyes softening considerably as he pulled Nico in for another mind-melting kiss. “ Soon-to-be doctor, my love. And yes, I’m hungry, let’s go see what you’ve cooked up.”
Nico shooed him into the kitchen. “Let me get dressed first.”
Will pouted at him again as he waddled into the kitchen. There was a devious glint in his eyes as he said, “Aw but I was hoping I could feast on two meals.”
Nico’s pulse stopped and the heat rushed to his cheeks as he spluttered, “Wha— Oh, shut up!”
-
“Wait, why is this actually good?” Will said around a forkful of pasta. The light was dancing in his eyes like the flickering flames of the candles that Nico had lit and placed around the table.
Nico smiled and hummed, reveling in his victory. “See. I can do things!”
Will smiled. “Yes, you can, love.”
Nico grabbed Will’s hand and placed it on top of the table. “Did I ever tell you how much I love hearing you call me that?”
“Then you’ll never stop hearing it from now on.”
The smile on Will’s face was as genuine and bright as the light of a new dawn. He was stunning.
Will cleared his throat and dropped the fork, letting it clatter onto the plate. “I actually wanted to give you something.”
Now it was Nico’s turn to look surprised. He raised an eyebrow, signaling Will to go on.
There was a faint blush on Will’s cheeks as he reached into the pockets of his pajama pants. “I was hoping I could do this looking more decent but I think now is as good as any time.” He pulled out a small black box.
Nico’s eyes widened even more and he could only watch in stunned silence as Will popped open the lid, revealing a silver ring inside.
“Will…” Nico gasped breathlessly as Will took Nico’s hand, squeezing it in his own.
“Listen before you say anything,” Will started. His eyes were glossy but the smile on his face never faded. “We’ve been together for years and I never thought I could love someone with my whole heart as much as I love you.” He took a deep sigh, glancing down at the unfinished pasta dish. “Um, I’m not asking you to marry me. I know that you’re not the marriage type and neither am I to be honest, but I think we’re both on the same page…enough that I can give you this as a symbol of our love.”
When he was finished with the speech, Will looked up at Nico with tears pooling in his eyes. “So what do you say?”
Nico let out a loose, breathy laugh and nodded. “Yes. Yes, you big dumb idiot. I mean, I know we’re not getting engaged but, still, yes.”
Will grinned with excitement and took the ring out to slip it onto Nico’s right ring finger. “I don’t need to marry you to know that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Nico shared the excitement and he moved around the edge of the table, climbing into Will’s lap. He snuggled closer to the blonde’s chest and kissed the place where his heart was. “Just to be clear, I'm not opposed to marriage but…maybe in the far future.”
Will kissed his forehead and brushed his bangs out of his face. “Well, you can propose to me when you’re ready.”
Nico hummed. He reached up and wrapped a hand around Will’s neck, bringing him down for a kiss.
Everything was perfect.