Chapter Text
The last thing Nico di Angelo expected to spend his weekend doing was looking for someone who would agree to fake date him. Of course he’d known he’d need someone to agree to go out with him the minute he promised his father he’d be bringing a boy home, but… it hadn’t actually hit him that he’d either have to ask someone out or ask someone to pretend they were dating him. Neither thought was particularly pleasant, but the asking someone to pretend to date him seemed… more appropriate, if Nico was being honest.
His father had gotten upset with Nico upon receiving his letter a few months ago about the possibility of being gay. It wasn’t just a possibility – he’d known since before he was ten years old, but being fifteen years old at a boarding school gave him the courage to actually tell his family. He hadn’t expected the angry phone call from his father demanding that he apologize for pulling such an awful prank on the people who loved and cared for him. The people who loved and cared for him… ha, that was a joke. If they really cared for him they would have tried to accept him.
The difficulty arose in that Nico had yelled that he had a boyfriend and was bringing him home for Thanksgiving whether Hades and Persephone liked it or not. He’d slammed the phone down before receiving a response, but he’d subjected himself to showing up with a boyfriend. Where the hell was he supposed to find a boyfriend? Thanksgiving was in two months…
“Calm down,” Reyna interrupted, cutting off Nico’s panicked tirade. She’d been gracious enough to listen for the last half hour, but her patience wasn’t exactly abundant, despite how much she and Nico told each other. There was only so much whining and ranting she could tolerate, which was part of what made Nico like her so much.
“I can’t calm down-”
“Go to the GSA or something, I’m sure there’ll be someone there who’ll agree to date you,” Reyna suggested, which received only a scoff from Nico.
“I don’t even know anyone there!” he protested. “I’m not subjecting a total stranger to my fucked up family.”
“Why not ask Percy?” Nico’s expression was all that he needed to shut Reyna down on that one. She’d been the first to know about his horrible crush on Percy, and she’d also been trying to get the two of them together for years, even though Nico had gotten over it, and as far as the two of them knew, Percy was straighter than a rod.
“Jason then?”
“He’d literally murder my family. Not that I’d complain… but-”
“Ooooooookay….” Reyna leaned back in her chair, obviously trying to pay attention but not exactly succeeding. She took her long, black braid in one hand and began to casually weave and unweave it. She was bored.
“I’ve gone through literally every one of our friends and there’s no way I would go out with any of them, even to get back at my family.” Nico slid to the floor, pouting in a way that made him look much, much younger.
“What about Will Solace?”
Nico almost choked when he heard that name. He hadn’t expected anyone to notice how much he stared at the taller, sunshine-y boy who shared Nico’s science class. He’d tried to talk to him a few times, but he’d chickened out just before he ended up doing it.
“I… I couldn’t do that, I…” Nico stammered, doing his best to hide the way his cheeks flushed bright red. He wasn’t supposed to have crushes, but here he was, falling for a boy who was far out of his league.
“Just ask him out, for god’s sake!” Reyna pushed herself out of her seat and pushed it in before throwing her bag over her shoulder and casting a look that seemed to penetrate Nico’s soul. “It’s just a fake date, this time.” Nico didn’t like the way she said this time.
---
Will Solace sat across from Nico in their science class – anatomy and biology. He was always the first one with the answer, and half the time Nico thought he’d probably memorized the textbook before taking the class. He was so passionate about everything in the way that Nico just… wasn’t. It was that, and his smile, and his freckles, and the way his hair caught the light drifting in through the room like a golden halo…
What the hell are you doing? Nico demanded to himself, searching for an answer that probably didn’t exist. You’ve never even spoken to him, why the hell would he give you the time of day?
“-working in pairs for next week’s progress,” the teacher was announcing, droning on in a way that was just… not interesting to Nico. This, however, was interesting. And terrifying. He was always the person people complained about in groups because he didn’t do much talking and just did as much work as he could do – which wasn’t usually as much as everyone else could do.
“-I have chosen the pairs for this project.” The teacher continued, and suddenly Nico became very aware of how much of a mistake he was making hoping that the teacher would pair them together. Several tense moments passes as the teacher read off names, until finally, “Nico and Benjamin,” and “Will and Elaine.” They weren’t together. That was fine, it was totally fine, Nico was calm... he’d just lost his chance to talk to Will Solace. With a mix of relief and resignation, Nico turned to look for Ethan until a sharp movement from Will’s direction caught his eye.
“Excuse me miss, but both Ethan and Elaine are absent, and given the nature of the project,” Will turned to smile at Nico. (Dear god, at Nico! As in… he was directly smiling at Nico!). “I was wondering if Nico and I could work together and get a head start.” Nico was so shocked he almost didn’t hear the teacher’s response, a surprise but pleased ‘yes.’
Of course working together would be the logical thing… they were the only ones without a current partner, and since the project was due so soon…
“I have a few ideas, but I was thinking we could just write things down until we find something we like.”
It took Nico a few seconds to realize that Will was talking to him. Will was talking. To Nico.
“Huh?” Great. Nico must be making himself look like an idiot. Exactly the impression he didn’t want to make.
Will repeated himself, producing a sheet of paper and two pencils.
“Alright,” Nico agreed, shrugging off his aviator jacket, rolling up his sleeve, and grabbing a pencil. The project was about medicine, and well… Nico understood the value of it, he just didn’t understand any of the concepts. Somehow though, the ideas seemed to come more easily, especially when he saw Will’s scrawling handwriting – already looking like Doctor’s handwriting – all of the page in front of him.
“You’ve done a project like this before, haven’t you?” Nico questioned once they had finished up about two pieces of paper full of nothing but ideas. Will’s were all incredibly detailed and fleshed out in comparison to Nico’s.
“No, but I’ve wanted to.”
“You’ve… wanted to do a school project?”
“Yes! I mean… not necessarily for school, but it was a project I wanted to pursue!”
“Maybe we should just use your ideas then,” Nico suggested, deftly switching the topic before he messed things up too badly.
“No, definitely not,” Will shook his head, scanning through Nico’s idea. “The only problem with curing cancer is that it hasn’t been done yet, and we’re high school students…” Will murmured in a voice that clearly said “I think your ideas are good, but they’re childish and unfeasible. No wait, they downright suck.”
“You know a lot about poisons and healthy use of poisonous items,” Will commented, eyes widening in delight. Something seemed to almost begin glowing inside him, lighting him up from the inside out.
“You have an idea?” Nico ventured, unsure how to feel about that possibility. Will nodded eagerly.
“How poison can add to current anesthetics and pain-killers to maximize the efficiency and low cost of medicines while also using resources that haven't been utilized,” Will explained, the smile on his face enough to get Nico fascinated in the subject, even though he may not have understood exactly how they were going to make the project work.
“Sounds good to me,” Nico murmured, hiding the tremor of excitement and anxiety in his throat.
“Great! I’ll text you and we can make plans.”
And that was how Nico di Angelo got Will Solace’s phone number.
---
“Hey, Neeks,” a friendly voice greeted behind Nico while ruffling his hair. At one point, Nico would have flipped out and run away, but now he just ducked away from it and stuck his tongue out at the older boy.
“Hey Percy.” Nico replied, glancing up at Percy, who was much taller than Nico probably would ever be. He hated being short, but then again, it did occasionally afford him some advantages.
“Annabeth told me about your dilemma,” Percy said suddenly, though Nico wasn’t as shocked as he should have been.
“And I suppose Reyna told her.” It wasn’t all that surprising. Reyna and Annabeth were surprisingly close.
“I wouldn’t have minded offering if it meant your dad would leave you alone.”
“I’m sorry.” Nico shook his head abruptly. “I think it would be too award for me.” He was just about to turn to leave when he felt Percy’s hand fall on his shoulder.
“A group of us are playing Capture the Flag later,” Percy explained, flashing Nico an inviting smile. “Would you like to come?”
Nico found himself nodding before he even had reason to do so. He needed something to distract him from his constant thoughts about his father, and about Will. Two very different sets of thought with two very different consequences if he chose one over the other.
“And Nico? If you ever need to talk I’m here. You deserve better than your father.” Percy added, clapping Nico on the back before he left with an, “I’ll talk to you all more in depth later.”
---
The science project was going surprisingly well. Will had done most of it, but he also made Nico feel like he was part of the reason they were moving forwards, even if he really weren’t someone who was doing much. It made Nico feel much better about himself.
Will was sociable and easy to be around, everything Nico wasn’t. It was one of the things that was so untouchable and astounding in the grand scheme of things – Nico didn’t understand how simple Will made everything look. Just like breathing. And the way he talked to Nico, like he mattered, like he wasn’t just part of another grade or another statistic.
“So this would go under…” Nico held out a newspaper clipping about a rare strain of poison that was only found in the sand of certain areas.
“That would go under…” Will considered for a second, the tip of his pencil resting on his lips as he thought. Nico thought it was cute. “I’d put that under poisonous innovations for now.”
Nico reached across the table to set it down, right as Will reached for the tape on the other side of the table. Suddenly their hands were touching and Nico was aware of every millisecond of contact between them. Part of him screamed to let go, but the other part begged him to keep his hand there longer.
“I have to go,” Will murmured, and for a second Nico would have sworn he saw a blush on Will’s cheek.
“Bye…” Nico murmured, left alone where they had been working at the table in the library.
---
“How’d it go, talking to Science Boy,”
Nico blushed, his hands over his face as though he were trying to hide that small fact.
“He likes you!” Reyna concluded triumphantly, though how she got that from just a blush, Nico would never know. Instead, Nico just shook his head and slammed his book shut. He’d been trying to read for class, but it was getting away from him and he honestly didn’t know where to start. Reyna certainly wasn’t helping, even though she was technically supposed to be tutoring him.
“It doesn’t matter. I barely know him and this English assignment is due tomorrow, so I’d rather get it done, thanks.” Nico knew he was being testy, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t really focus on the English assignment because his stupid mind kept replaying the image of Will blushing at the touch of their hands, and the way his golden hair seemed woven with light whenever the sun hit it at the right angle. It was easier to blame his lack of studying on Reyna than to admit the truth of the situation.
“I’m not the best when it comes to relationship advice, but you need a boyfriend and he obviously likes you as much as you like him, so why not go for it?”
Nico squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t believe he had to actually go over this with Reyna. “He’s cool. I’m not. He’s good at school, he has plenty of friends, people actually like him, he’s gorgeous, he’s nice to everyone, and he’s probably incredibly smart… should I go on?”
Reyna had fallen silent, staring at Nico in disbelief. “I can’t believe you,” she muttered quietly before picking up her bag and leaving Nico alone. It hadn’t been the reaction Nico had expected, but it was probably the one he deserved.
---
Nico didn’t write poetry. He hated poetry, but there was something about Will that made Nico want to become one of those pretentious assholes who write poetry about their love lives and make everything so much more dramatic than it has to be.
Nico hadn’t seen Will since the first meet up they’d had to work on the project, and Nico honestly didn’t know how he felt about that. There were things he wanted to talk about, but there really wasn’t much to say at all. Will was a relative stranger, and Nico only knew things about him because he was creepy and watched him sometimes when he had nothing better to do.
“Mr. di Angelo, I would prefer if you paid attention in class, thank you very much.” The reproachful voice of Nico’s algebra teacher reached him way in the back of the classroom.
“Excuse me, sir?” Nico questioned, afraid he’d missed something important. He knew the teacher would likely take offense to his tone, describing it as ‘impertinent’ or some other fancy word, but as usual, it wasn’t necessarily Nico’s intention.
“If you had been paying attention, you would be able to tell me exactly how to multiply two matrices together and when that is impossible. However, I know you were not paying attention, but if you’d like to give it a try I’m sure the class is all ears.”
“N-no… sorry, Sir,” Nico muttered. Hazel turned around from her seat in front of him to give him an apologetic look. She turned around for a second, her hand flying across a piece of paper before handing it to Nico.
Sorry I didn’t say anything. I could’ve gotten you off the hook had it been any other teacher. ☹
The note didn’t really help the situation or the shame Nico felt burning in his cheeks, but knowing Hazel would have supported him was really, really helpful.
Thanks, Nico scrawled back, passing the slip of paper surreptitiously to Hazel.
The rest of the period passed by fairly uneventfully, but Nico found he couldn’t keep his mind on his schoolwork. He wanted to talk to Hazel after class about Hades, but he didn’t know how to broach the topic. Hades had fathered both of them, but he’d been far more of a father to Hazel in her younger years than he’d ever been to Nico. It was like Hades was a completely different man when dealing with Hazel. At first Nico had resented it, but now he was just glad that he had someone else to talk to about this when it seemed so prevalent.
Finally the bell rang and Nico followed Hazel outside after class.
“Hey, can we talk?”
“Sure, what’s up?” Hazel’s bright blue skirt flounced as she turned around to greet Nico.
“I may or may not have come out to Dad.” Nico could already feel his face heating up, but Hazel was smiling.
“That’s wonderful! How did he take it?” Evidently, Nico’s expression was enough to answer that question without vocalizing the worst parts. Hazel often forgot that Hades was far more patient with her than he ever was with Nico. He probably only kept Nico around because he felt guilty that his wife and daughter had both died, and Nico was an unwanted object that couldn’t be thrown away because of the memories attached to him. Hazel was luckier – when her mother died, Hades hadn’t even really known, and Hazel was sent to the boarding school year round. That seemed preferable to Nico than having Hades as a father.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’ve got to give him a chance. I promise you, he’s not all that bad, I’m sure he’s just afraid to love you but if you try…”
“No.” Perhaps the word came out harsher than Nico meant, but he continued anyway. The harshness worked to illustrate his point. “I’m sick of trying to prove myself to him, Hazel! I work day after day to prove that I might be worth something, and he still doesn’t give a shit. I try to make him proud, but the most that ever does is makes him slightly less irritable. I can’t keep trying to make him like me, Hazel, because he never will. I won’t keep pushing myself and trying to change myself just so my father will love me. That isn’t the kind of life I want to live. I want him gone, and out of my life, and I wish he’d spend more time with you, because you deserve the side of him that loves you. You deserve a real parent, but Hades can’t be that for me. He just can’t. Okay, Hazel?” The outburst was completely unintentional, but it seemed to catch Hazel off guard. Part of Nico wanted to run away, but he was tired of running away. Wasn’t that what he had just articulated?
“Okay,” Hazel replied softly, obviously being cautious about what she said. They were so close in age that sometimes Hazel acted as the younger sister, and sometimes as the older, but right now she didn’t seem to know which path to take.
“I’m going to bring a boy home,” Nico announced into the awkward silence that had fallen between the two of them.
“That’s wonderful!” Hazel’s face lit up, likely at just the idea of something else to talk about that wouldn’t start World War III. “Who?”
“I don’t know yet,” Nico admitted, offering a nervous smile. “Part of me wants to ask Will Solace, but he’s way out of my league,” he added ruefully.
“You never know until you try!”
Just once, Nico wanted someone to be honest and say, “Yeah, he probably is. So what are you going to do about it?” Normally that person would be Reyna, but he’d somehow upset her to the point she probably wasn’t going to want to talk to him for the next couple days, or at least until he apologized. There was only one small problem with that: Nico had no idea what he was supposed to apologize for.
“Sooooo… do you know if Will likes you?”
Nico’s first response was a sharp laugh. “He could never like me. I wish, but life’s not a fairy tale, Hazel. Boys who aren’t heroes don’t get the girl. Or the boy. But in modern media, the boy never gets the boy.”
“Alright.” At this point, Hazel had adopted full older-sister voice. “You’re always pessimistic, but this is incredibly, even for you. Care to tell me what’s up?”
Nico stayed silent for a moment, almost feeling like a child being berated by a well-meaning parent. “I told Dad I was bringing a boy to Thanksgiving Dinner. I don’t have a boy.”
Hazel simply smiled, one of those smiles that could either mean something really really good, or something really really bad. In this situation, Nico couldn’t tell what the situation would be.
“I’ve got an idea.”
---
“You’re gay, right?” It was bold and out front, and probably would have sounded smooth if Nico hadn’t said it so bluntly. Or if Nico had waited to say it until Will was more than two steps into the room, about to take his coat off.
“Bi, but yeah, I guess,” Will shrugged, strangely unperturbed by the question.
“Great. I’m gay and I need help making homophobes angry.” Nico hadn’t meant to come out to his crush in such a tactless way, but he supposed if it worked it worked. Hazel probably hadn’t meant for Nico to be so entirely blunt about it either.
“Count me in!” Will grinned, his freckles moving with his skin, almost like stars as they drifted across the night sky so slowly they aren’t noticed by anybody. At least until they aren’t where they once were.
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you to do.”
“I don’t care. Pissing off homophobes is my one goal in life.”
“So you’d do anything?”
It was probably then that Will realized he probably should have been choosing his words more carefully. Nico’s proposal might not be favorable, after all… Nico could see the gears turning in Will’s head.
“Well, not anything, but try me!”
Steeling himself, Nico found the right words. “I told my Dad I’m gay and we had a fight and… I may or may not have told him I’m taking a boy home on Thanksgiving, but I don’t have a boyfriend. If you’re free over Thanksgiving, I guess, if you wouldn’t mind… it would piss my Dad off if I actually showed up with a boyfriend, and none of my friends will go. I mean… if you pretend to be my boyfriend you get a free Thanksgiving meal and probably one day after as well. I guess you could ask for a few favors in order to be reimbursed, and it wouldn’t be anything but pretend, you don’t have to really be my boyfriend…”
“You ramble when you get nervous,” Will commented, a smile tilting up the corner of his lips. “You don’t need to be. I don’t have anything to do on Thanksgiving, so I’ll be more than happy to go and piss your Dad off.” Will fell silent for several long moments before he seemed to gather up the courage to say something. “We’ll need to set boundaries.”
“Of course!” Nico agreed, too astounded by the fact that Will had agreed to actually care much. “Only what you’re comfortable with, and nothing outside of view of my family, especially if it makes you uncomfortable. They just need to believe we’re dating and everything will work out.”
“Sounds good to me.”