A/N: Yes, hi, I'm back with an additional scene for my soccer mom AU! It can be read as a stand alone, but I believe it gets more depth if you know the rest. It takes place in the early stages of Nico and Will's relationship (after the infamous first date but before Nico tells Will about Bianca). You may remember the brief mention that Café Bleu by The Style Council is Nico and Will's as well as Ciara's favorite - so here's why. It's only a small moment from their lives, but it's a pretty significant one. At least to me.
The title as well as the lyrics found from the text are from that beautiful, beautiful album.
We've got a head start for happiness
For our part, guess we must be blessed
For this feeling to be so strong
Tell me is that so wrong?
It's actually a very nice surprise when Nico looks up from his counter and sees Will.
(He's been staring at the same coffee stain for god knows how long, wondering if he cares enough to get up and fetch a wash cloth from the back room to wipe it up. So far he's just been lazy.)
"H-hey!" Nico rounds the counter quickly, meeting Will in a bone crushing hug and a hum against his neck. Will smells faintly of antiseptic. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you're working until five."
Will's lips feel good against his skin, and for once Nico finds himself glad that the record store isn't actually very popular. "I pulled in some favors. Got Lee to finish my shift, god bless that man." Strong arms hold Nico firmly to Will's toned chest. He sends a mental thank you to this mysterious Lee. "Three days is simply way too long to be apart from my boyfriend, it seems."
Boyfriend is a term they have agreed to use now that they have been seeing each other for a little over a month. It's a term neither of them is very fond of, because it sounds silly and makes them feel like they're in high school again (not in a good way), but they use it in lack of a better word. It's a term that makes Will grin wickedly every time Nico uses it, and Nico rolls his eyes every time Will says it, like right now.
"Okay, well, I can't exactly argue with that", he mutters and leans back enough to lock their lips together. The feeling makes Nico sigh; he's missed this, even if he'd never admit out loud that he's become accustomed to the way Will kisses him. Freely, gently, and with so much passion Nico wonders if everyone on a mile's radius can feel it. "It's still weird seeing you here, though."
It's true. Nico is not used to seeing people he actually knows around his store. Ciara comes there every day after school, but other than that Nico likes the way the store is his place. No Piper ruffling his hair every time she gets close enough. No Leo doing… whatever it is that he usually does, threatening to set everything on fire as soon as Nico turns his back. No Jason looking at him like he knows some secret he doesn't, bugging him about his personal life and asking question after another about Will. The record store is a place where Nico can sit back and relax.
Still, having Will there isn't weird in a bad way. The first time Jason had set foot to the store, Nico had been furious for not letting him know beforehand. Now he's just simply glad Will is there. He's… happy. That kind of makes it a bit weirder still, though.
"Well", Will mumbles against his lips, seemingly not willing to break the kiss. Nico can relate to that. He lets his hands travel up and tangles his fingers to the golden locks of curly hair. "I hope it's not too weird." Nico licks Will's lips as a way of answering, and the taller man sighs. His lips taste like vanilla, and Nico briefly wonders if Will bought a new brand of lip balm. "God, Nico…" They lean back just enough to look at each other and take a couple of calming breaths. "I brought lunch, if you're interested."
Nico has a tuna salad waiting for him in the tiny fridge in the back room, but Will has brought brioches and a generous fruit salad from the coffee shop they went to on their first date. Nico brings another chair for Will, and they sit at the counter where Nico can still attend on the young woman that comes in to look for nothing in particular. He resists the urge to roll his eyes when she walks around for five minutes and leaves the store without buying anything.
They eat in relative silence. Will asks him a quick question about his week every now and then, and Nico answers with his typical short sentences. Mostly they just share soft smiles across the counter, Nico feeling Will's eyes linger on his face every time he looks away and feeling himself blush when Will feeds him a piece of pineapple. It's all awfully sweet and romantic, despite it being lunch hour on a Thursday, and oh fuck Will is a huge sap and Nico is falling for his daughter's soccer coach so bad.
"So, what time is Ciara coming from school today?" Will asks when they clean up the brioche crumbles from the counter.
Nico hums and grabs his empty coffee mug ("World's Greatest Dad" – Ciara gave him that for Father's Day three years ago). "They're in the Metropolitan on a school trip, so she won't be back before after I close up here." He holds up the mug and walks towards the back room. "You want coffee? It's shitty, but it has caffeine."
When Nico comes back five minutes later with his own mug in one hand and a second mug in the other (a plain white mug that once had a Beatles logo that has long since worn off now) Will is looking through a small stack of vinyls near the edge of the counter.
"Thanks." Will's smile is small but bright as he takes the mug, and Nico wonders how the man can make his heart flutter like this every single time. "Is there a reason these specific records are here?" Will holds up a Doors album, reading the song titles from the cover.
"They're the ones I usually listen to if I don't feel like listening to the radio", Nico explains and takes his seat behind the counter again. He sets his mug on top of the offensive coffee stain so he won't have to look at it anymore. "Personal favorites, and also some classics that never get old. They're actually all mine, not even in sale."
Will nods and sips on his coffee. He doesn't complain about the taste, even though it's cheap brand and a far cry from the coffee he has brewed Nico those few times they've hung out in Will's apartment.
Nico is looking through his e-mails on the stone-aged computer when Will lets out a delighted sound and draws Nico's attention. "Hey, I actually have this one!"
It's Café Bleu, by The Style Council. Nico hasn't listened to that one in months; it's the last one in the pile. The cover is faded and you can barely make out the name, and there's yet another coffee stain in the front. (Nico really should start using coasters.) Will is looking at the list of songs with a fond smile on his lips, and Nico's heart skips a beat because no one should have the right to be that beautiful, what the fuck.
"Man, I haven't heard any of these in years", Will sighs. "I've never even owned a record player, you know. Cecil had one, back in college, and he's the one who made me buy this. We used to listen to it like, all the time, until we moved out of the dorms."
Nico could sit there and look at Will's soft smile forever. Will looks like he's somewhere far away; like he's back in his college dorm room listening to that album with Cecil. The dusty light of the record store doesn't make justice to Will's features, but he still looks like a fucking model to Nico. All Nico can do is stare and think that Will Solace must be the most wonderful creature ever to walk on Earth, and that it's a miracle he crossed paths with him.
Standing up, Nico smiles and holds out his hand. "Let's listen to that now."
Will blinks. "Now?"
"Well, we have a record player and time to kill. Why not?" Nico feels like he needs to do this, that he simply needs to do this one nice thing for Will after all the amazing ways the other has showered him with affection these past weeks. It's the least he can do.
He turns to set the disc on the player, carefully placing the needle before hitting play. The familiar notes start not much later, and Nico smiles, wondering why he hasn't listened to this for so long. He remembers every beat and every note. He gets flashbacks from when Ciara was younger; barely two and sitting on top of the record store counter while he flipped through stacks of paper; four and helping him cook pasta in their little kitchen; five and dancing around the living room in their pajamas.
"Ciara loves this album", Nico says softly, cherishing the memories. "She has a good taste. Of course, I'm the one who taught her everything about what's good music and what's not, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised."
He laughs a little, turns around, and finds Will staring at him again. Damn that man. Will's got that unreadable look in his eyes again, the one Nico catches on him every so often and can't name, the one that makes his stomach flip and heat rise to his cheeks. It feels odd, feeling this way about someone when he's put his love life on hold for the last seven years.
What's even stranger is the intensity of his feelings. It's been weeks, and Nico already knows he's too far gone to make it out in one piece in case of a crash and burn. He knows Will has him caught off guard most days, and he's willing to give him his all; heart and soul. Nico just hopes Will doesn't yet understand just how big of an effect the coach has on him, how easily his eyes can make his insides burn.
Nico blinks and tries to find his composure. "I – I remember when I first taught her how to use the record player", he says, focusing on sharing the memory so he won't think about the way he would do anything and everything if Will just said the right words. "She was five, I think. Maybe a little young, but she handled the discs with such care… She was so afraid she'd drop them and ruin them." He rounds the counter and then leans on it next to Will, their shoulders barely touching. "She's a lot less careful, now. But she loves the vinyls just as much as I do, so that's a win."
It's then that Nico realizes he hasn't talked about Ciara with Will all that much before – which is weird, considering that she's pretty much the reason they met in the first place. She's been mentioned, of course, but the main focus on their conversations have been their interests, their hobbies, their hopes and dreams. Sure, Ciara is present in everything Nico does, but for some reason he has never before felt free enough to share something that's purely about her, about their small family.
Nico meets Will's eyes again, and there's something in the sky blue orbs that he can only read as gratitude. It feels a little silly; is Will really that happy he shared this small memory with him? But then again, when he thinks about it, he would probably react the same way, if the roles were reversed.
"I bought the record from a street market", Will says, and his voice is just strong enough to carry over the music, but still so soft that it feels almost intimate. It sends a tingle down Nico's spine. "I think it was maybe the second week of college. Cecil dragged me out of the dorms for room mate bonding." He shakes his head a little, seemingly fond of the memory. Nico loves the way his eyes narrow when he smiles. "There was this old man selling vinyls, old and new, and we spent over an hour going through the stacks. I eventually bought the first album I saw just so we could leave and go get lunch."
Laughing a little, Nico bumps his shoulder with Will's. "Why does that not surprise me at all? What with your appetite."
"I bet you would have dug into those stacks head first and only emerged once you'd inspected every inch of every album", Will teases, and the easiness of it all, the way they're able to say just about anything to each other… it feels good. Warm.
Nico still has to work, though. He sits back down just when a couple of customers wander in, and Will takes his seat by the counter, tapping away on his phone, looking like he's been sitting there a thousand times before. Nico doesn't mind Will's presence in the least; in fact, it's calming, comforting, refreshing. He could get used to this.
The customers (two middle aged men who both end up buying some jazz albums Nico doesn't much care for) leave just as the record ends and Will walks to the player to flip the disc. Nico watches the long fingers as they lift the needle delicately, placing it on the disc like it could break with the faintest touch. Will has freckles on the backs of his hands, on his knuckles, on his forearms. Nico wants to explore Will's body and find every single freckle.
Trying to shake the thoughts out so he can focus again, Nico turns back to the computer. He has orders to place. And he has to set up times for the interviews. He doesn't exactly need to hire help, but it wouldn't hurt to have Wednesdays and Saturdays off and still keep the store running.
He's so focused on his calendar that he almost jumps when he feels Will hug him from behind. He quickly melts into the touch, though, marveling on the feeling of being so close to the man without them being all over each other. This is rare, and this is sweet and sappy and romantic and Nico secretly loves all those things. And then he internally laughs, because he realizes what song is playing, and Will is humming to his ear, and oh for fuck's sake this man is absolutely perfect.
"I knew you're a romantic fool, but I didn't realize how bad you have it", Nico mutters as he leans back against Will's chest, lacing their fingers together and hoping for no more customers for the next few minutes.
Will presses a kiss to his neck, right there above his pulse point, and Nico has to focus really hard to keep his breathing even. "I'm full of surprises."
Nico really can't argue with that.
They stay like that for a while, Will humming to his ear and Nico tracing his thumb over Will's knuckles, and Nico almost forgets that they're at the record store, in public, somewhere anyone could walk in any minute. The moment feels so private, so wonderful, and when it ends with the song he finds himself already longing for the next one like it.
Will makes his leave not long after that; he doesn't want to be in the way of Nico's work, and Cecil keeps sending him texts about some crisis involving a box of DVDs and a bar of chocolate, and he really has to go. That doesn't stop him from giving Nico two, three, seven good bye kisses and a promise of a phone call later, and the last thing he does before stepping out the door is giving Nico a wink that makes him flush bright red.
When Nico a few hours later closes up the store and walks home, he has Café Bleu tucked under his arm and a smile on his lips.
I might shoot to win and commit the sin
Of wanting more than I've already got
I could run away but I'd rather stay
In the warmth of your smile lighting up my day
A/N2: If you're familiar with the album, you may have guessed what the song mentioned is. It's the same one I took the ending lyrics from: You're The Best Thing. It's a song I've perceived as Nico and Will's Song from the very beginning of this AU.
Thanks for reading, and please favorite and review, and don't forget to check my other works, too. (You can also find me on Tumblr: significant-what.)