Chapter Text
Will was vaguely aware of a person walking in front of him. Leather bomber jacket. Dark hair. He was trying to keep his mind on that vocational counsellor interview he had to go to though. Should he? His mom's pressure this morning was still stinging. Worrying about the future was so overrated. Will wanted to live today, find love, find freedom. Security is worthless if you don’t like your life, right?
He saw the truck turn the corner and instinct kicked in. The guy in front of him was wearing big headphones and was clearly not paying attention. Will grabbed him just in time.
"Whoa! Be careful there!" Will said as they both ended up on the floor, Will underneath the person who'd just nearly been runover by a truck.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He started to try and move backwards and away from the guy, his heart rate going up as if it had been him who just nearly died.
The other guy turned around to look at him, removing his headphones as he tried to step back from on top of Will. He had huge dark eyes that were wide open, obviously stunned by what had just happened. Their eyes met for a few seconds before the guy seemed to manage to pull himself together.
"The fuck are you apologising for?" Came the reply, sharp. Then he inhaled. "I think you may have just saved my life". He scowled, though, as if he was - annoyed? - his life had been saved, but, wow. There was a definite hostility undertone there. What the fuck.
"Uh..."
The guy managed to scramble up to standing, then offered Will a hand to help him stand up. Will lifted his hand automatically - and almost withdrew it at the last moment, confused by the contradicting hostility and helpfulness.
It would be rude to refuse the help, though, so he took the guy's hand and prepared himself to stand up.
The hand was soft and cool. Will's hands were always warm. Both now standing, they looked at each other - hands still connected, for an instant. The guy then blinked and broke eye contact. Letting go of Will's hand.
"Sorry. I guess I should really be saying thanks. I was a little, er, short just now. Um... Are you ok?" His voice was soft. Was there an accent?
"Wha- yes I'm fine. Are you ok? I'm not the one that just nearly died. You really need to watch where you're going!" Will couldn't not say.
"Yes. I probably should." The tiniest hint of a smile appeared in the guy’s face. Will suddenly couldn't think about anything other than seeing that again.
"I'm Will"
"Um. Nico. Thank you for saving my life, Will". He actually offered his hand again, which Will had purposefully not done, given they already, sort of, had had a handshake. Why not? He took the hand again and smiled.
Nico - that was his name, withdrew his hand a little urgently. Did he also feel that sort of adrenaline rush? Will was sure he was blushing.
"Listen. I have an appointment I need to get to. But not for a while. I was just wondering the streets to pass the time. But, if you are not in a rush, I could buy you a coffee to say thanks, you know, for saving my life?"
Will was not expecting this. He stared at the guy. He was wearing all black, except for the dark brown bomber jacket. Hair a little too long, a small piercing on his left eyebrow. Very nice looking. Will realised the guy – Nico – was waiting for a reply. He wasn't normally like this. This situation was confusing him.
"Okay. Don't worry about it. The offer for coffee is still on though. I get it- you don't have to say yes. You could just come and get the coffee and leave". Nico seemed to think Will was trying to turn down the offer - shit.
"No! I mean yes. Coffee sounds good. Thank you, that's kind of you". Will breathed in deep, calming himself down in the process. "Where to?" He said with a smile. Smiling always helped, right?
"I'm sure there's a place just around the corner"
"Lead the way"
Nico started walking and Will walked beside him. The whole incident had happened on a quieter street, but just a block away it was busy. They walked in silence for a few meters. Nico had his hands in his pockets, his headphones around his neck. He kept his eyes looking forward.
"I also need to pass the time, you know. I have a thing I need to go to later. So, I can stay for coffee, if that's alright with you"
Nico's head didn't move much, but Will saw his eyes move sideways to look at him.
"Cool"
Nico led him into a not-so-small place with small round tables. The ceilings were high, the place warmly decorated. Lots of textures. A mix between folksy and minimal that shouldn't have worked but did. Will saw a notice board announcing open mic nights. Community ads. Local artsy classes. Nico led them to a table. Will followed him without thinking, looking around and wondering how he hadn't noticed this place before.
"So, coffee"
"This place is cool! I like it. I don’t know how I haven't noticed it. I must have passed by many times. Do you come here often?"
Nico looked at him, maybe a little impatiently. Just as Will was starting to relax.
"Just a latte, please" Will said softly.
"Be right back" Nico replied, as he turned to go.
"Do you need help? Also - you don’t have to buy? It really was my duty as a human to stop you from being runover"
"It's fine, really, I want to. I’ll just go and order. They'll bring the coffee over. It's my way of saying thank you"
With that, Nico walked off towards the counter. He wondered to himself what he was doing. Ok. He was buying a hot guy a coffee. There was some logic there, right? The guy had probably saved his life. He had definitely saved him from serious injury. And he was hot. But Nico did not have time for this. He was being sent back to Italy. That he should be focusing on.
On the other hand, he had nothing better to do just now, and this was a good distraction. Why not enjoy the time he had left. This guy – Will – had a smile that made Nico feel like he was looking at the sun. He ordered two coffees and went back to the table.
"What's with the notebook?" Will had a black bound notebook on the table that he’d closed as soon as he'd seen Nico coming.
"Just stuff I write" Will said, a little shyly. He hadn't seemed shy so far like, at all. Was he blushing?
"What like, a diary? Or...?
"More like songs"
"Oh, you're a musician?" Nico could definitely picture Will as the lead singer of a band.
"Well, maybe I'd like to be. I play the guitar, played in a band until recently –"
"What kind of music?"
"The band? Or me"
"Both?"
"Well, it started off as a high school band. So we mainly played covers- rock leaning stuff, whatever we liked. Kind of old stuff mainly actually. I wrote a few songs, but we only ever played two of them. One of them was popular with our friends. I guess I don’t yet have a style? But I like to think it’s sort of alt-rock, with an acoustic guitar this time" Will smiled at the memory of the band, as if it was a funny thought. He blushed a little – a bit self conscious, and Nico thought he'd like to see more of that.
"What do you write about?"
"Well. Um. Anything really. Experiences, people I meet. I could write a song about you" Will smiled - was he flirting? It was Nico's turn to blush. He hoped Will wouldn’t notice, trying to keep his expression serious.
"About me? What would you write? I had to tackle this guy to the ground because he doesn't look where he's going?"
"Well, there could be something to say about being in the right place at the right time? Maybe I was fated to save your life. This may be a sliding door moment for you"
“A bit cheesy?”
“Well, I think there could be something to it though – look at this”
He lifted his sweater to reveal his t-shirt. It was the exact same Deus Ex Machina t-shirt Nico was wearing, except Will’s was white. “I mean, how’s that for a coincidence? Also, the only reason I was there is because I had to get off the train one stop early, something wrong with it, and I decided not to wait. I shouldn’t have been there at all. And yet, I was. And I saved your life” Will smiled at him as if he’d just provided an undeniable truth.
"That's bullshit. There's no such thing as fate. It was lucky you were there, and you saw me"
"I'm not saying things are predetermined, but I really think some things are not just coincidences. I like the idea of a bigger meaning to what happens, sometimes - like we're part of something bigger..." Will paused. "And I'm not religious" he added, "but sometimes I look at the stars and feel like there's a reason we're part of this universe"
"I think life is just a series of dumb decisions and indecisions and coincidences that people like ascribe meaning to. It's like the Greek myths - they were trying to explain things that were happening, things that had happened in their history, by making these beautiful stories. But they're just stories, you know?"
"But Greek stories have meanings. They are poetic, they are ways to explain bigger meanings and connections to the universe. All cultures have created these metaphors to understand the world and ourselves. They are about how we relate to the world, to each other. There's so many stories about love, and not just romantic love-“
The coffees arrived. Nico had almost forgotten about them. Hell, he had, for a moment, forgotten that he was about to leave everything, everyone he knew and cared about.
"Thanks" Will said to the waitress, who smiled at him. Nico found himself wondering how Will went through life, everyone finding him likeable – there was no way not to like this guy, right? Was he even aware? He didn't seem to be. He looked back at Nico. "You like Greek myths?"
"I may have had a Greek myth phase". I may have never ended the phase. Nico tried to hide a smile.
"I still like them. Not that I'm an expert or anything, um, sorry-" his phone went off and he looked at it. "Oh. Looks like I now have a free afternoon. I've just been rescheduled for tomorrow"
"Rescheduled for what?" Nico asked without thinking. But before Will could answer, his phone went off. "What. My appointment has also been rescheduled. Shit." He sighed, putting his elbow on the table, and resting his head there. This was not good. Even if it had been a long shot. It was still a long shot though. Just less time. Probably an impossible shot, even more so now.
"Well, that's a coincidence" Will said, lifting an eyebrow - but then he turned serious, his blue eyes warm. "But you look worried. What's your appointment, if you don't mind me asking?
"Just an appointment. It's fine. I'll go there tomorrow. Probably won't make any difference"
Will looked at him. Nico could tell he wanted to ask. He stared back, until Will’s eyes turned away.
"You're quite an intriguing person, you know?"
"I can't say anyone's said that before"
"What's your favourite Greek myth?"
"Um. Maybe Icarus? I also like the story of Kronos, and how he got defeated. Such a charming guy. Do you have a favourite?
"A bit cliché, but the Odyssey. My dad used to tell me the story in chapters, from memory, when I was a child. It stayed with me. There's also Orpheus and Euridice"
"You like a love story?"
"Most people do"
"I'm not most people"
"That, I would agree with. Why don't you, though?"
"I don't believe in love"
"It's not a god," Will said. "It exists whether you believe in it or not.
Nico laughed, and Will laughed too. He’d never thought about it like that.
"You're funny" Nico said, and it was a compliment. Will didn’t seem to take it like that, though.
"Ha, ha. So. As coincidentally we both don't have go rush anywhere now, there's something I'd like to show you. Would you come with me?"
"Go where?" Nico found, to his surprise, that he probably was going to go wherever it was that Will wanted to take him just now.
"Natural History Museum. I have a free entry pass. Long story. Don't ask"
"I've never been"
"Well you can't pass this opportunity then, can you?"
"I guess not?"
With that Will got up, and Nico followed. They walked to the subway and miraculously found seats on the train.
"Aren't we lucky. It's as if the starts are aligning themselves to help me prove my point." They were seating side by side, the carriage nearly empty. It was noisy. Will had to lean close to Nico to make sure he was heard.
Will found out Nico was also in NYU. Probably a philosophy major. He told Nico about his doubts about going to med school, and how much pressure there was on focusing on things now if he was going to do it. He'd been so passionate about it, growing up. But music was also a calling, and he did not want to give it up.
As it turned out, Nico knew a lot about music. He seemed to be into everything from old school jazz to obscure Mexican psytrance. Loved techno pop (unexpected), hated Taylor Swift. Will laughed and told him that was a cliche. They talked about Will's love for country music and bonded over Bob Dylan. Will argued there was no way he didn't believe in love if he was so in love with music. Nico just shrugged.
“It’s not the same” he said.
They left the subway and started walking. Will stopped suddenly, and Nico walked into him.
"Hey!" he complained.
Will didn’t even seem to have noticed. "I'm hungry. Are you hungry? There's this Korean place. They have the most amazing food. And karaoke!"
"Karaoke?" Nico said incredulously.
"Yes. We don’t have to sing. We can just eat. What do you think?"
"O-kay" Nico said cautiously. He was hungry.
The food was indeed amazing. Apparently, Will's half brother had worked here, so he managed to get them into a private booth. The karaoke part of the place wasn’t even open, but Will didn't seem to care. He asked, and they let them in. He had a few half siblings, he said. He called his dad a slut.
"I wish I could be so casual about mine" Nico heard himself say. Before he could even process that, he continued. "I can't even speak to him, really"
"That bad, huh?"
"My mom died when I was nine. He sent me to boarding school soon after"
"Whoa" Will was shocked. But Nico saw there was no pity in his face, the way people – older people – because Nico never volunteered this information to his peers, reacted when they heard this information. Just something closer to righteous fury. Probably not so strong.
"Yeah. Well. I had my sister. So we were together. But only a couple of years later, she died in a car accident" Nico knew he sounded bitter about this, but Will didn't flinch. The surprising part was that he was talking about this at all. He very rarely told anyone about Bianca. Never someone he just met that day.
"Bianca, my sister, would have been a musician. She used to play the piano, and the guitar. It was she who got me into music to start with." Nico had recently started to focus more on the happy memories he had with Bianca. "She'd make me sing" he huffed. Will was looking at him with his head tilted to the side, all his attention on him.
"Do you want to sing? Because we're in the right place, you know?"
"Ha. No thanks. You're the singer. Why don’t you? That’s definitely a better idea" Nico was happy to pull the attention away from himself.
"Well... I'm feeling a little shy, to be honest"
"Oh come on. You've been on stage, right? It's just me now.” He put on his best puppy face – clearly there was no end in what this guy could bring out of him. What the fuck.
It worked, though. He could see it in Will's eyes.
"It's actually harder, with just one person. But okay. What do you want me to sing?"
Will had a really nice voice. And was an accomplished performer. He refused to sing more than two songs, though, so they just sat there, talking. There were multicolour lights in the room, laser disco ball like, no windows to the outside. It was a weird setting, but Nico didn't mind.
"So, your mom is a musician, but she wants you to be a doctor" Nico stated this after hearing Will’s country music love came from his Texan, country singing mom.
"Well, it's not like she's a successful musician. She wants to protect me from a horrible industry, she says. And disappointment. And I did grow up talking about being a doctor. I used to run war hospitals with my toys. Had a whole triage system running" Will laughed to himself. Nico was very easy to talk to. Will found he was telling him all these things he never told anyone.
"I suppose you could try and keep up both things for a bit longer? See how it goes?"
"Yeah. But it's hard"
"Life is hard. And then, you die"
"Oh fuck that. Who told you that?"
"It's true”
“Maybe, but there are nice things too. Like this – if you hadn’t been so distracted that you almost walked into that truck’s wheels, we wouldn’t have met. Or, you know, I could have been looking at my phone…”
“What happens is that we tell ourselves there are reasons for the things that happen, but we’re just making stories up. They don’t really mean anything.”
Will thought Nico was being quite stubborn, and he felt the need to contradict him.
"I think we met today for a reason"
At that, Nico looked up. There it was. That pull Will had felt from the moment their eyes had met. He could get lost there, lose track of time.
"Is Nico your full name? Sounds like it's short for something"
"I'm not going to answer that"
"Why not?
"It's an Italian name. I'm Italian"
"Like, born in Italy?
"Mmhh. In Venice"
"How about your surname?"
"Di Angelo"
"Nice to meet you, Nico di Angelo, I'm Will Solace" he stuck his hand out.
"You're such a dumbass" Nico took the hand nonetheless
"Hey! My mom raised a gentleman"
"Can I have my hand back?"
Will held on to the hand tightly. Nico's hand was cool. Their hands fitted well together. Nico made no effort to take it back.
"So, that's the accent"
"I don't have an accent!" Nico seemed horrified, but there was laugh in his eyes.
"You do. I hadn't been able to pinpoint it until now, it's barely even there. But it's great. I really like it"
"I'll have you know I was born in Venice, but I lived in New York until I was 10 after moving here as a baby, and then again from 17. You, on the other hand, sound southern"
"I do not! I've lived in New York since I was 10"
"You have a Texan mom"
"Well, yes, but I don't have an accent - she does. Barely, actually. Don't tell her I said that"
Will was loving this banter. All this time, their hands were still linked. And suddenly they were very close. Will wasn't sure how it happened, but they were kissing. Will had never been kissed like this. It had never felt like this. He couldn't get enough. And it seemed like neither could Nico.
Eventually they had to stop. They looked at each other - that pull again. Nico looked away first.
"We should go - if you still want to go to the museum..."
Will smiled at him. Nico was serious. Had that been too much?
"Nico..."
"Come on. Let's go now." He smiled, but it wasn't the same smile Will had seen before.
They went back out on the street. Nico's brain was going into overdrive. How had this happened? He had to stop this now. He'd only met this guy a few hours ago. It was nothing. It had to be nothing. There was no option.
"Hey. Nico, slow down. I'm sorry"
"What about? You said you wanted to show me something" Nico could hear the edge in his own voice. He hated himself for it. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Will. He realised he couldn't look him in the eye. He looked ahead again.
"Is this because we kissed? Did you not want to?" Will asked, anxiety in his voice.
With that, the damn broke.
"Listen. I did want to. Fuck. Didn't you notice?" He was raising his voice now. He saw the surprise in Will's eyes. "But I'm leaving. I'm leaving, Will. I'm being kicked out of this country. Tomorrow is my last day. Probably" the last word was mumbled so low that he wasn't even sure Will would have been able to hear him.
"What are you talking about - what? What do you mean you're being kicked out?"
"I told you. I'm Italian" Nico's voice broke, and his eyes filled with tears. "I can't stay. I've appealed. They've said no. I have a flight on Wednesday morning, no way to come back"
They had stopped now. They were making a scene, but Nico couldn't make himself care. Who cared if people stared. He'd be gone soon enough. The city that had become his home. He was not welcome here anymore.
Will seemed to be trying to process what was happening. He was beautiful, Nico realised. He didn’t need this crap.
"You said probably"
Nico took another deep breath. He really should be leaving now. But he seemed unable to move.
"The appointment I had today. It was with an immigration lawyer. I'm trying to find a way to appeal. But it's a long shot. It's too long a shot. I have already packed. I-" he stopped. He felt unable to say anymore. His voice was breaking. This was the trouble with hope. You get your hopes up, it's a long way down.
"I should go."
Nico was angry now. Angry at himself. He should never have let all of this happen. He could see the hurt in Will's eyes. It was him that was causing this. He turned, and started walking. Fast. He heard Will call him once. It wasn't very loud. He didn't turn back.
Will watched him leave. Rooted on the spot.