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Nico’s not sure how he ended up here in the first place.
One second, he’d been chilling on the couch at home then the next thing he knew, he picked up a call from Drew and found himself getting dragged out of his apartment at 11:00 pm.
Now, here he was in New York’s smallest club, glued between tightly-knit crowds of people as they shot back glass after glass, smoked weed, and danced to the loud music that jackhammered his brain.
Nico grits his teeth for the thousandth time when someone shoves past him in haste to get to wherever they’re going. His grip on his drink tightens and he decides that he can’t stay here for another second. Drew had dragged him here and then ditched him as soon as they arrived, and she was nowhere to be seen among the large hoard of people. It was sweaty and smelly and Nico was already planning the long ass shower he’d have to take when he went back home.
Sighing, he pulls out his phone and types a quick message to Drew, alerting her that he was leaving. He didn’t think she would care, or see the message until the next afternoon, but he wanted to be safe.
Nico throws back his drink, swallows the sweet alcohol, and leaves the cup on a random table. He squirms his way through most of the people and spots the door, eager to get out of there. Just as he’s about to reach the door, a figure whooshes past him so quickly that they knock into Nico and sends him flying a couple of steps backward. There’s the unmistakable cool sensation of water seeping into his shirt and Nico glances down to see a dark, gradually expanding puddle.
“Are you kidding me?” Nico exclaims as he looks up. No one bats him an eye and the asshole who spilled their drink on him is gone. Nico pinches his nose and takes a deep breath. At least in his haze when Drew pulled him off the couch, he’d picked a dark burgundy shirt, and the puddle was barely noticeable in the darkness of the club.
Still, Nico hates the feeling of foreign liquid on his skin so he beelines for the bathroom, slipping inside the room before the door closed completely. Nico accidentally bumps into the guy and he internally groans because now he’s going to have to take more showers.
The guy whips his head around and the apology Nico had ready on the tip of his tongue is swallowed back with a gulp.
What the fuck? Nico’s brain supplies. He’s hot.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” The guy speaks for him, his gaze trailing down. “Shit, I think I spilled my wine on you earlier but I was in a rush to get to the bathroom so I’m sorry about that too…”
The puddle on his shirt is a thing of the past because Nico can barely remember his name in front of the hot man. The stranger has dark blonde hair, possibly dimmed because of the ugly yellow glow of the lights, a sharp jawline, and dark, pretty lashes that fan over his blue eyes.
After a moment in which the only thing Nico had in his mind were variations of fish blubbering noises, he manages to croak out. “It’s fine. Just a shirt.”
The stranger grins and it feels like the room gets brighter. “Okay, cool. I’m Will, by the way. Will Solace.” He sticks his hand out.
Naturally, Nico’s brain and instinct tell him not to take it because lord knows where that hand has been, but his heart thumps and a second later they’re shaking hands. Nico tries and hopes that the smile on his face is pretty.
“Nico di Angelo.”
Nico drops his hand back to his side and Will jerks his thumb backward. “I really gotta pee so um, if you’ll excuse me.” Will flashes a sheepish grin and scurries into a stall.
Nico shakes his head and heads to the sink to check his reflection in the mirror. Thankfully, he’d washed his hair yesterday, but after tonight, he’s going to have to wash it at least two more times to get the club stench out. Nico grabs a handful of paper towels and starts dabbing at the puddle on his shirt. The wine stains the paper a light shade of red and he thanked god that the liquid didn’t do too much damage to his shirt. After drying the shirt to the best of his ability and cleaning his skin, Nico throws the napkins away and washes his hands. At that moment, Will comes out and joins him at the sink. They wash their hands in harmony until the water stops.
“So…did you come here alone or…?” Will asks him as Nico is drying his hands.
Nico shakes his head. “Nah. I came with a friend but I don’t know where she is anymore.”
Will moves to grab the door handle with his bare hands but Nico stops him just in time. He wraps a clean napkin around the handle and pulls it open, gesturing for Will to get out before exiting himself, throwing the napkin in the trash next to the door.
Will watches him with curiosity and Nico feels extra self-conscious as he shrugs, dusting invisible dirt off of his jeans as a lack of something better to do. “Clean freak.”
Will laughs and his eyes curve upward into crescents. “Then what are you doing in a New York club?”
“Like I said,” Nico says with a playful smile on his face. “A friend dragged me here.”
Will hums and it’s a sweet sound. “Fair. Are you leaving now?”
“I was thinking about it, yeah. Got anything better to do?” He looks up at Will, hoping the slight tilt upward of his shoulder and his hooded gaze would be enough of a hint.
Will smirks. “How about a dance?”
Nico chuckles dryly and waves his hands in dismissal. “Oh, no, I don’t dance—”
His protests are cut off when Will grabs his wrist and drags him deeper into the club, away from his sweet escape aka the door. Nico finds that he doesn’t quite mind it, what with the way his chest was feeling fuzzy and warm. He’s pretty sure it has nothing to do with the drinks he’d consumed earlier and everything to do with that hand around his wrist.
Will leads him to a stop and grabs his other hand, forcing Nico to move back and forth to the music. It’s a terrible pop song from the eighties or nineties—he’s not really sure, nor does he care—but Nico lets himself loose and moves to the rhythm.
He hears the sound of Will’s laughter and can’t help but grin at that. His head feels light and stars are starting to form in his vision, the shape of Will’s body turning into hazy, light streaks.
“Woah,” Will murmurs into his ear and Nico registers warm, strong arms around his waist. He hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten. He blinks rapidly and his vision adjusts to Will’s worried face directly in front of him, only centimeters apart.
“Nico, are you okay?” Will asks. His thumb is rubbing circles onto Nico’s waist and Nico can feel the burning sensation on his skin even through the shirt fabric.
Nico has never believed in love at first sight—he thinks it’s stupid and cheesy—but he’s pretty sure that there’s a ninety-percent chance that he’s in love with Will and he knows absolutely nothing about the guy.
“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine,” Nico drawls after a prolonged silence. He’s suddenly tipsy, high on something he can’t quite identify.
Will eyes him up and down and his gaze is equal to lasers burning lines onto Nico’s skin. He feels hot and the sudden rush of blood to his cheeks and his lower abdomen does nothing to quell his pulsing heartbeat.
Nico has no idea what compelled him to move but the next thing he knew, he was surging forward and connecting their lips. He cups Will’s face and presses harder against him until Will starts kissing back. The sloppy noises of their kissing get drowned out by the music and soon, the room gets too hot for Nico to handle. He grabs Will and leads him to the empty street outside. A blast of cold wind hits his face but Nico doesn’t even feel it as he pushes Will up against the brick wall and starts kissing him again.
Will lets out a spectacular sound and Nico blinks and finds himself the one pressed against the wall. Nico’s next exhales come out shaky and ragged as he forces a hand in Will’s hair and pulls him down, tilting his neck up for better access. Will licks and bites at his neck and Nico groans when he nips at a particularly sensitive spot on his jawline.
After some time spent making out outside, they finally pull apart, both breathless and ravished. Will is staring at him with a deep hunger glossing over his eyes and Nico wants to slip his hand underneath his t-shirt and discover the landscape. His lips were swollen and slick with saliva, but they were so scarlet it was the most entrancing shade of maroon. Nico has never seen a sight more beholding—so astronomically beautiful that it should be painted and hung up in the Louvre.
“I guess as far as first meetings go…this wasn’t the worst I’ve had,” Will breaks the silence after their breathing calmed down.
Nico huffs out a laugh and shoves his shoulder lightly.
“It was fun, but I should be going home now,” Nico murmurs regretfully because the sky is starting to turn into a shade of cornflower, which means it’s probably well into midnight and Nico wants nothing but to go home, take a shower, and sleep for the next week. The sound of flapping catches his attention and Nico looks up to see a dove flying past them.
“Yeah, sure…” Will backs off, scratching the back of his neck. It looks like he wants to say more but Nico’s too delirious to try and decipher if the smile on his face is fake or not.
“Yeah,” Nico repeats as he starts walking off. “Uh, you’ll be alright?”
Will nods like an adorable puppy. “Yep.” He pops the ‘p.’ “Get home safe, Nico.”
Nico smiles. “I’ll see you around maybe?”
“Maybe.”
-
Nico wakes up the next afternoon with a raging headache threatening to split his skull open. He groans as he rolls out of bed and lands pathetically with a thump on the hardwood floor.
“What the fuck?” He mumbles to himself. He can’t remember anything except that last night he was in a club with Drew and then… When he got home, he remembers taking a shower before promptly passing out.
Nico heads into the bathroom for another shower. As he waits for the water to heat, he ransacks his brain for any information about what he was doing last night. He doesn’t remember drinking that much, but maybe that was just an imagination. Nico shakes out the thoughts and climbs into the shower, sighing as the hot water warms his frozen body. He relaxes and leans into the walls. When his head slams slightly against the wall, a strikingly vivid memory pops up in his brain.
Oh, god. Nico is gaping now as the memories from last night come tumbling into his brain like it was a slideshow. Will.
He’d met and made out with a hot blonde named Will and Nico had walked away without getting his phone number.
Fuck. Nico berates himself as he slams his head gently against the wall. He wants to cry but he can’t even because his head is muddy enough. Nico sighs but the hot water against his skin only makes him feel colder.
-
“Drew, help me,” Nico whines into his phone. He has the device squished against his cheek while he was attempting to make pasta, carefully stirring the stuff in the pan so that it didn’t burn to a crisp.
On the other end of the line, Drew cackles and Nico can just imagine her kicking her feet in the air as she rolls around in bed. “So what? You met a guy, good for you. I think you owe me a thank you.”
“I literally met and lost my fucking soulmate all in one night. This is not a time for thank yous right now,” Nico complains in an agitated voice. It’s not as if he’s been complaining for the past half an hour. After all, this was partially Drew’s fault so she needed to take responsibility for her actions.
Drew snorts loudly. “Your soulmate?” She says incredulously. Nico can picture the follow-up eye-roll. “Wow, Di Angelo, I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth. Was he that good or something?”
Nico feels the heat rush to his cheeks and he sets the phone down to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead. It’s not because of the cooking.
“Well, we didn’t do anything really, but I don’t know…It was just something about him. I felt like we connected.”
“Did you get his name at least?”
Nico nods even though she can’t see him. “Yeah. Will Solace.”
“Hey, I know him!” Drew exclaims and suddenly Nico’s back is ramrod straight as he grabs his phone, shaking it as if he were shaking Drew’s shoulder.
“What?” He practically shouts.
“Yeah! He works at the clinic I go to. I see him all the time because he’s always behind the counter.”
Nico gathers his thoughts, mind racing at about a hundred miles per hour, and takes a deep, relaxing breath before saying. “Send me that fucking address.”
Drew cackles again and Nico yelps as a mushroom-sized cloud of smoke erupts from his pan, followed by the familiar smell of burnt food.
-
Nico is shaking as he stares at the all-white building. The automatic doors slide open and an elderly woman walks out with a young man holding onto her arms. Nico darts his gaze all around and shakes the jitters out of his system, thinking it would be better to get a move on before someone calls the police on him for suspicious behavior. He’d made sure he was wearing something nice but not too try-hard and actually did his hair, combing it back so that his bangs weren’t in his face.
Nico gives his cheeks a gentle slap and walks in before he chickens out. He’s immediately greeted by the smell of rubbing alcohol, lemon-flavored sanitary spray, and old people—very hospital-y. He weaves his way through the mom and her screaming kid standing outside the doctor’s office and steps into the tiny waiting room. There’s a mom and her kid sitting on one of the chairs and an old couple sitting across from them trying to stay awake.
Nico walks up to the window and taps his fingers nervously on the counter. He hears shuffling behind and notices a figure bent down, scrambling for something.
“Be right with you in a second!” A cheery voice calls out and Nico’s heart skips a beat. He recognizes it and neutralizes his face just as Will stands upright.
If Will were any other person, Nico would’ve burst out laughing and whipped out his camera at the priceless look of surprise on his face. However, it was Will aka the hot guy he’d met at a random bar and made out with so Nico wasn’t really doing much laughing.
“Hi,” Nico blurts out before Will freaks out and calls the police on him for stalking. “I hope it’s okay I showed up. Um…my friend, Drew, told me that you work here.”
Will’s wide eyes relax and he shakes his head a bit. The dazzling smile returns to full force. Nico doesn’t know if he’s imagining, or getting his hopes up, but Will seems even a bit shy.
“Oh, yeah, Drew Tanaka, right? Yeah, she comes here often…” Will drifts off and blushes. Nico wonders why.
“She does?” Nico licks his lips and cocks his head to the side. “I didn’t know she needed that much medical help.”
Will lowers his voice and leans in closer. “Yes, we do everything here. Daily checkups, pediatric needs, shots, and STD testing—you name it!”
“Oh," Nico’s blushing now out of embarrassment. He did not need to know that much about Drew’s personal life. “Got it.”
Will laughs gently and it’s the most delicate sound he’s ever heard. He wants to store it in a jar and carry it close to his heart forever, which goes to show how whipped he is over a guy he met once. Nico wonders if this place also does mental checkups because, at this point, there’s probably something wrong with him.
“Anyway,” Will interrupts his thoughts. “I’m glad you showed up. I was really bummed that I didn’t get your contact info the other night. I would’ve stalked the whole internet if I wasn’t so damn busy.” He admits with a sheepish grin. Nico only finds it endearing. Sure, he doesn’t know much about the guy, who could still turn about to be a serial killer, but all of his logic and reasoning were thrown out the moment they kissed.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page,” Nico smiles. He plays with the pen attached to the sign-in clipboard. “I know we’re virtually strangers, but I’d like to get to know you.”
Will nods and his hair bounces up and down. Under the faint glow of the lamp, he looks like an angel descended from the heavens.
“My shift ends in thirty minutes. We could go get lunch if you want?”
Nico has to bite his lip to contain the huge grin threatening to break onto his face as he nods. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Will huffs out a nervous laugh. “Okay, cool.”
Before Nico can say another word, a loud cough from behind invades his ears.
“Hey, buddy. Can I get my exam now or are you two gonna flirt until I die?”
Nico turns around to flash the guy glaring at him an apologetic smile. “Sorry.” He says, then turns back to Will. He jerks a thumb backward. “I’ll go wait over there.”
Will nods and watches him until he sits down a seat away from the elderly couple. Nico continues to watch him as he regains his focus and helps the bitter old guy into the doctor’s office. Then, they go back to staring at each other and trying not to smile. Nico thinks that thirty minutes has never gone by so slowly.
-
After what felt like the most agonizing half an hour of his life, Nico is finally walking down the street away from the clinic with Will by his side. The blonde is almost a head taller than him but their strides match as they casually stroll along the sidewalk, admiring the nice weather and low traffic.
“I hope it’s not too early to say this but…I think you’re great,” Will breaks the comfortable silence with words that don’t do Nico’s heart any good.
Nico looks up at him with a hopeful beam. “I feel the same. I mean…I feel like we connected and…I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind.”
Will mirrors his look. “That’s good to hear because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either.”
Nico musters his courage and links their hands together. Will seems surprised but easily leans into the touch. Their hands fit perfectly as if Nico finally found the missing piece to his puzzle.
“We should take it slow and enjoy it,” Nico says as they wander into a street filled with cafes and restaurants. The sight gets his stomach rumbling.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Will responds. They pick out a hole-in-the-wall type of place that looks decent and head inside, sitting in the booth farthest from any social interaction where they can be alone in their own bubble.
Will is staring at something on Nico’s chest and he glances down imagining a giant stain, but there’s nothing.
“Is there something on me?” He brushes his hands wildly against his shirt.
Will laughs and the sound draws Nico’s gaze back to him—as if he could go that long without looking at Will’s face anyway.
There’s a faint scarlet tint spread across Will’s cheeks that match the luscious-looking maroon of his lips that Nico can’t get his eyes off of. Will shakes his head and smiles shyly. “Nothing…it’s just…that’s a nice mark you’ve got there.”
Nico grabs his phone and stares at his reflection. Sure enough, there’s a decent-sized hickey, the color of wine, splotched on his collarbone that he didn’t notice because he’d been so busy worrying about his outfit and hair.
“Oh,” Nico murmurs in embarrassment. He covers it up by buttoning the top two buttons of his shirt. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”
Will laughs and he reaches his hand over, placing it on top of Nico’s. “Don’t be. It suits you.”
Nico snorts in amusement and shakes his head fondly. “Well, maybe you can add a few more to my collection later.”
A twinkle flashes in Will’s eyes and he smirks, giving Nico’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Maybe.” He drawls in a low voice.
Nico grins in response and they spend the rest of the day chatting before parting ways. Will doesn’t add more to Nico’s collection but they part with a promise of meeting each other again soon.
That night, as Nico is laying in bed after recounting the events of the day, he giggles uncontrollably into his pillow. He calls up Drew, who snaps at him for disturbing her beauty sleep, but she humors him.
“Make it quick, Di Angelo.”
“Drew,” Nico says sincerely from the bottom of his heart. “Thank you.”