Chapter 2

AN: Thanks to anyone who followed, favorited, reviewed, or even read this story! I'll update every Wednesday.

Will slowly creaked the front door open, trying to make the least bit of noise. As soon as he closed it, he looked up to see his dad glaring at him. His heart was racing in pure fear, but he knew he shouldn't be afraid. This had happened before. He let it happen before.

"Where were you? You're thirty minutes late."

His sidetrack with Nico put him off that long? The walk home was pretty long as well. Why did he have to mess up all the time? Why was he such a screw up? Why couldn't he-

"Answer the question," hissed Apollo, "And don't you even think about lying."

"I-I was talking to Mr. Brunner."

He raised a single brow, "About?"

Will knew that if his dad sensed even a trace of untruthfulness, he would talk to Mr. Brunner. If he was caught lying, the situation would grow worse. How much worse? Unimaginable. Will had been there before, and it broke him.

"I was discussing options to avoid detention," he whispered.

"You...what?" Apollo's blue eyes gleamed dangerously.

"I'm so sorry. It won't happen again."

Silence. But Will knew that there was more coming. There always had to be more.

"You...you piece of shit! I work so hard to provide for you, and you disappoint me like this?"

Will stood there, frozen in fear. It's happened a million times by now, and he still couldn't move. He knew what was going to happen next. Move, you idiot! He screamed at himself. Just move your-

Apollo cut off Will's thoughts with a blow to the stomach. It felt like someone had shot him. Will staggered back, clutching his abdomen in pain.

"Go to your fucking room!"

And Will didn't even bother to respond. There was no point in trying anymore. He walked upstairs attempting to ignore the pain in his stomach. He finally reached his room, and he shut the door. The afternoon light shone through the curtains, but he was still in a gloomy mood. He collapsed onto the bed, biting back tears.

Boys don't cry.

Apollo's voice rang through his ears.

Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry. Boys don't-

His phone rang. Will looked at the caller-ID with blurry eyes...it was Lou. But he couldn't answer. Not now. He couldn't be a crybaby in front of his friend. He sighed and clicked decline while bringing his science textbook out.

He was going to study all night.


He finished going through majority of the chapters, but he wanted to read more. The thing about studying- yes, it was forced upon him. But, it was what he lived for. Not studying, exactly. Learning. He loved learning more information; experimenting, testing theories, writing up observations. Learning was what he lived for.

Why did he like science so much? It was...indescribable. He would get lost into his physics book, as if it were a Stephen King novel. Reading a biology book to him was like watching the latest episode of Scandal. He was completely engrossed.

Maybe that's why he liked it. It was the only thing that could distract him. The only thing that made him think of something other than...he needed to take a shower.

Yeah, he thought, a shower seems about nice.

He walked into his bathroom. He stripped his shirt off, but noticed something in the mirror. A big, purple, ugly bruise had formed itself onto his stomach. He lightly pressed on it, hissing from the pain. He pressed on it once again, harder this time, his eyes watering. He sighed and went to shower.


Will went to Mr. Brunner's room early. It was mid-December, and the sky was a cold grey. It was windy. The wind caused Will's shirt to cling to his body, causing an uncomfortable friction with the bruise. Will wanted the sun to be out; there was a sort of comfort he felt in the sun, like everything was going to be okay. But he was stuck with this dull, boring, lifeless grey. He opened the door and found Nico already seated in the classroom.

"Uh, Mr. Brunner, I wanted to let you know-"

He smiled kindly, "Nico already told me you will be working together."

His stare turned to Nico. The brown eyed boy looked up from his textbook, but within seconds his concentration returned to his desk.

"Oh. May I ask what the assignment is?"

"That's for you and Nico to decide."

And Will knew what he was getting at. Mr. Brunner had known that Nico and him wouldn't be able to decide on a project. He was testing them; for what? He didn't know. But this little stunt he was pulling for them to "avoid detention" was definitely a part of something else. He shrugged it off and sat next to Nico.

"When do you want to work on the project?"

"Unlike you, I have a social life. I can't do weekends. After school, today?"

"Meet me at the library."

Nico winced, "Who does things at the library?"

His brow furrowed in confusion, "Me...everyone."

"My house. We'll go to my house."

Will's heart stopped in his chest, "What do you mean? When?"

Nico facepalmed, "Idiota. I mean my house. Tomorrow."

"Okay," agreed Will, mesmerized by the way Idiota rolled so fluently from Nico's tongue. Even if Nico was calling him an idiot.

He turned away from Nico when his dad came into his mind. Oh, no. Would his dad let him go? Would he just think Will was messing around? Will never messed around with anyone. He only ever had two friends. Lou and Cecil. He didn't get to have a social life, he didn't get to have a boyfriend, he didn't get to have fun. What did he get? Will didn't care if his dad said no; he would find another way to go to Nico's house.

Nico's house. He wondered what it would be like. He was excited and nervous at the same time. The very idea of Nico alone made Will's heart do funny things.

"Oh, and Will?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I didn't forget about yesterday," he said.

Will scoffed, "You're delusional."

Nico bit his lip in thought, and Will tried not to explode. Running a hand through his hair, he laughed.

"You know what? I'm not gonna figure this out of my own curiosity. I'm going to figure it out just to piss you off."

Sure, Nico was smart, but he often forgot Will was also intelligent. This was a test to see how he would react. To see how he would handle Nico.

"I'm saying it one last time. I'm not scared of anything."

"Yeah, and I'm Brad Pitt."

"Go back to your science book."

Nico grinned, "We all have things we wish we could be."