The Drawing

"Come on, Nico!" Will shouted, running down the sidewalk. He was fast for a six year old, and Nico was struggling to keep up.

"Wait up!" Nico cried out. The two ran into the woods surrounding Nico's estate, laughing as they went.

~-0-~

Nico was tired. It had been a long week at school, and he was ready to relax. He breathed in and sighed, relishing the feeling of the warm spring air in his lungs. He was way past ready for summer to come, even though he knew that all he would do is stay inside. He trudged up the long hill that lead to his mansion. He had lived at this house for as long as he could remember, and as far as he knew, his father owned the surrounding land as well. His father was a very successful business man, but he was always on a trip, only coming home for a week or so at a time. Nico didn't mind, as neither he nor his father would consider themselves "social", but he did appreciate the occasional "Hello" from his father.

He opened the door to the smell of cookies, which was rare. His sister, who was the only other person living in the house, hated cooking. She preferred take out, or going to eat with her boyfriend, but when she did cook, it always made the house smell nice. For her to be cooking took a good reason, though.

"Hey, Hazel, what's the big occasion?" He called out. He took off his bag and placed it near the door, and walked into the kitchen. "It smells good…"

Nico stopped talking abruptly as he saw someone sitting on the couch. He was tall and blond, and wore a purple shirt. The guy was sitting on the couch and Hazel sitting across from him in her favorite chair. The guy turned and looked at Nico with at first a look of surprise, which soon turned into a charming smile. Hazel quickly got up and ran over to hug Nico.

"Nico, you remember Will Solace, right? He used to live in one of dad's houses down the street," Hazel asked. Will stood up, walked over, and held out his hand.

"Hey Nico, long time no see!" Will said, still smiling. Nico slowly backed away, much to Will's disappointment. He wasn't ready for this, not now. He wanted to leave. He wanted to escape.

"Nico, what's wrong?" Hazel asked, concerned. Nico's look of upset surprise quickly turned into a dark glare, and he turned and started walking toward the front door. He grabbed his bag and slammed the door behind him, never once looking back to see the hurt, sad face of Will Solace.

Nico's brisk walk turned into a jog, which then turned into a tearful sprint as he headed to his hiding spot. It was an old, small cabin that Nico had made when he was younger, deep in the woods on his father's estate. Over time, he had filled it with old furniture, added a rug, and had it wired so he could have a ceiling fan. He always came here when he was upset.

He opened the door and quickly collapsed on the old couch. He brushed the tears that were streaming down his face and grabbed his sketch book. He didn't like drawing when he was calm, he saw no sense in that, but he found that drawing when he was upset always helped him relax. The cabin was filled with unfinished drawings and doodles, most of them just tossed in random places. Various depictions of people, places, and things crowded the floor and chairs, and different sets of drawing pencils covered the tables. Nico grabbed a pencil and his notebook and flung himself into his hammock, which hung from the rafters of the unfinished ceiling.

Five flung pieces of paper later, Nico felt calmer. He sighed, finally allowing his hand to rest as he leaned back, stretching himself along the hammock. He gazed up at the revolving ceiling fan, and soon he fell asleep.

*~O~*

"Nico?" Will called out. He was worried about him. He always had been. His father had been a doctor, and his instinct was to care for other people. Nico had just been one of those people that Will cared about more than others.

Will trudged through the forest behind Nico's mansion, without really noticing where he was headed. When he had left when he was 11, he hated the fact that he hadn't said goodbye. He never got a chance to come back until now, when he was about to graduate high-school. He had immediately headed toward Nico's place, only to be met by his sister. She and Will hadn't really talked much, but once he tasted her cookies, he felt like they had never been closer. She and Will talked for a while, reminiscing about the times when they were little. When he saw Nico walk through the door, he was shocked. Nico had gotten hot. Will had felt himself blushing immediately but seemingly a split second later, Nico was gone again. He had searched all over the surrounding properties, but to no avail.

Will stopped walking. He found himself in front of an old cabin that need a lot of repairs. But he knew this place. Nico and Will used to play here all the time, playing house. Will would be the business man coming home, and Nico would be the wife waiting for his return, almost always with a meal put together with the food they had swiped from the kitchen earlier.

Will stepped into the cabin, and looked around. The interior was definitely nicer on the inside than the outside. The walls were clean, though covered with half-finished pictures. The floor was covered in paper, and the table covered in art supplies. Finally, Will's gaze landed on the hanging hammock over in the corner of the room. He walked over and saw the sleeping form of Nico diAngelo, and smiled. "Found you," he whispered. He turned around and cleaned a spot off the couch. He grabbed a few of the surrounding drawings and looked at them. Nico had put the date at the top of most of his drawings, and the date at the top of this drawing read August 2nd, 2008. "Right after I left," Will mumbled. The drawing was of a lone boy, sitting in the middle of a pile of roses. The boy's hand was extended toward a silhouette walking away in the sunset. "I hurt him," Will mumbled, a tear running down his cheek. He touched the out stretched hand on the paper, "I'm sorry," he whispered.

*~O~*

Nico woke up and immediately checked his clock. "Shit," he muttered, as he realized that 3 hours had gone by. He sat up and hopped out of the hammock. He looked around the room, and nearly shouted in surprise at the sight of Will focusing on drawing. Will looked up and saw the petrified form of Nico and grinned.

"Good morning," Will joked. Nico just glared at him, but Nico was starting to blush. Will's smile was just so… perfect. And what a good sight to wake up to! "I'm sorry I barged in. And, I kinda cleaned up. Just a little," Will said, shrugging. Nico looked around, and saw all his drawings in neat piles. "I organized it by date," Will explained. Nico raised his eyebrows. He was impressed.

"Thanks," Nico mumbled. He had always meant to do that, and he was grateful Will did it for him. He walked over to the couch and plopped himself down next to Will, who just looked at him. Nico reached over for the drawing Will was working on, and was impressed yet again by the blonde's pencil work. He had drawn a picture of a setting sun reflecting off of the ocean, and it was beautiful. "Wow," he whispered.

"You like it?" Will asked. Nico looked up and saw Will grinning from ear to ear. "I went to the beach earlier this year, and I thought the sunset was a beautiful thing."

Nico nodded. He still felt weird with Will here. They played house here and he was the wife, and if that alone wasn't enough, Nico still felt a strong attraction to Will.

"Hey," Will said, looking at Nico. Nico looked up to see Will's smile gone, replaced with a sad expression. Nico looked at him, with a raised eye brow.

"What?" Nico asked, hesitantly. Will held up the drawing that he found earlier, but for once looked away from Nico.

"I… I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. I don't know what I was thinking…" Will stuttered. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's fine," Nico replied. He wasn't used to being apologized to, and he didn't like seeing Will get this upset. "I'm sorry I ran out like that." Will looked up, tears in his eyes.

"No, no you had every right to," Will quickly replied. He grabbed Nico's hands, making Nico blush. "I know I left without saying goodbye," Will said, looking into Nico's eyes, "but I'm here now. And I'm not leaving anytime soon." Nico's eyes widened, but Will felt Nico's grip on his hands get tighter.

"Why don't you and I go get something to eat, and we catch up. We have 7 years to make up for," Will suggested, giving that smile that made Nico blush harder.

"Wait," Nico said. "Promise me something."

"Anything," Will said.

"Promise me you won't leave me again," Nico said, leaning his head on Will's shoulder. Will grinned and leaned his head on Nico's.

"I promise."

So that happened. This is my first Solangelo fic, so it would be really helpful if you left a review. If you want any more of this, don't hesitate to leave a comment or even PM me. I'm happy to commissions (I'll tell you what I need to know if you want one via PM)!

Until Next Time!