This is my first fanfiction in a while, so please forgive me if it sucks, last time I was active was 2011. I've never been the biggest fan of Solangelo, but I do ship it and was haunted by this idea, pun unintended.

Will raced through the carnival, dodging through the crowd of pedestrians and hoping to any spirit in the universe that karma was real and would favor him.

He yelled desperate apologies as he weaved through the crowd, running and twisting his torso between sweaty bodies and hot pretzels. I cannot be late for work on my first day, Will thought. I can't afford to get fired!

"Whoa! Watch out, kid! Nobody's chasing you," a man called out as Will narrowly avoided crashing into his, thankfully empty, baby stroller.

"Sorry!" Will shouted. The moment of distraction was enough for Will to trip on his shoelace that in his haste, he hadn't bothered to tie. Will landed right on his ass by a sign advertising the Haunted House attraction.

He groaned and gazed upwards, where the sun had suddenly been blocked. His jaw went slack when he saw what was blocking the light, as it was definitely not his floppy hair.

A boy around his age stood above him. He opened his mouth to ask, "Are you alright?"

Will noticed a slight Italian accent that caused butterflies to flutter in his stomach. The good kind of butterflies that appear in moments like unwrapping a present or right before a first kiss... Not that Will would know, probably being the only senior in high school who has graduated without kissing anyone at least once. In his defense, there weren't many gay people in his class, and Will had never exactly come out of the closet, despite living in Austin, a pretty LGBTQ friendly city, let alone in Texas.

The boy stared at him expectantly with colorless eyes like broken glass. Will realized that he had never responded to his question.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine! Sorry."

The corners of the boy's mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly as he asked, "You can see me? Why are you apologizing? There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Sorry, old habits... What do you mean, 'You can see me?' Of course I can see you!"

"Uh..."

"Are you part of the Haunted House attraction? You make a hot- I mean, a great ghost," Will asked, cursing himself for nearly calling a total stranger 'hot,' no matter how true it was.

"Er... One could say that," the boy replied.

"Oh, cool, we'd be coworkers!" Will stuck his hand out. "I'm Will Solace, junior medical assistant here."

The boy awkwardly shook his hand, "Um, I am Nico di Angelo." He mussed up his (already messy) dark hair. "And you're about to be late."

"Crap- it's my first day, too... Gotta go. I'll, uh, I'll see you around, right?"

"I hope so. I'd be obliged if you did not tell anyone you saw me, though," he said as Will was beginning to walk away.

The boy, Nico, spoke so formally for his age. It took Will a moment to respond, "Oh, duh, 'cause ghosts aren't supposed to be seen in broad daylight, right?"

When Will turned around, Nico wasn't there anymore. All that was left of him was a pale face quickly retreating into the darkness, with a finger over his lips as if warning him to stay quiet.