*This was written with Favorite Record/ The Kids Aren't All Right by FOB/This is Gospel by P!ATD (alt rock is my weakness) playing in the background, (I'm convinced that Nico is FOB/ Panic! At the Disco trash) so listen to that while reading for the whole experience*


They hadn't been dating for long, but with the hand holding, the kisses, the hair that was just as soft as it looked...Gods, Nico could get used to this. And with Will having stayed over for the week, (Apparently, the black mold hadn't actually been cleared up, even though Solace had taken off. He'd been staying in a run-down motel when Nico threatened to either pay for his stay at an actual hotel or drag him over to his place til it was all cleared up. "You're not the only one who's allowed to be stubborn, Solace") life was looking pretty good. Even when the whole situation was sorted out and Will had gone back to his apartment and Nico had had to admit, he'd been kind of sad to see him go. One thing he really wasn't miss Will insisting on sleeping in his bed, and Hazel fanning herself at 100/mph whenever Solace went up to his room. But that didn't stop him from going down to the cafe the day after Solace officially left. Even then, he'd had to force himself to sit and read over his conversation with his editor on his laptop until closing time, and not run over there immediately. He was that pathetic, but he wasn't about to make it any more obvious anytime soon.

He flopped down at the nearest table, tapping his fingers impatiently across the surface until he registered a flash of unruly golden hair. Then a very chaste kiss on the cheek from very familiar lips.

"Miss me that much?"

Yes.

"Actually, I'm here for the bagels."

"Mhmm, keep telling yourself that."

"Fine, fine, you win. I just really missed the green tea Frappuccinos."

"You're cold, Death Boy," he whined. Then, "Lemme guess, you're going to insist on paying?"

"Do you even need to ask."

Lou Ellen seemed to appear from thin air.

"Actually," she fished out a wad of dollars from her pocket. Nico didn't even want to know," after all you boys have done for me, the least I can do is get this one. In fact, Will, why don't you take the day off, go spend some quality time with your significant other? It's times like these that either make or break the relationship. And you two want to last, don't you? Don't you two still want to be dating in say, a week?"

She shot a pointed glance at the group of waiters that were not-so-subtly watching from the kitchen. They scattered.

"In fact; why don't I go talk to the boss right now and get you some time off?"

"Well that was weird," Nico said as soon as she left, practically running to the door.

"Oh, I got desensitized to their crazy ages ago. It makes my life much easier. And besides, that girl has insane manipulation skills; she probably managed to get me paid leave til the endtimes. And I have been meaning to visit my dad.. Hey, you should come with, it's the perfect meet the parents opportunity! Well, I mean, parent. It's probably a little soon, too...

Nico?"

"Huh?" he jolted suddenly. He'd been spacing out again, staring at Will's blond eyelashes in the sun as he blinked, trying to work out they didn't get all tangled up.

"I mean, uh, that sounds great!"

He grinned, "You're the best."

Nico groaned, "Sei come la versione umana di un golden retriever. Bene, un golden retriever molto attraente. Beh! Che strano. E stai parlando a te stesso, Nico."

"Any chance you're going to translate that?"

"Gods, no."

"Aaaw, come on, that just makes me even more curious."

"Solace, can you stop talking to your boyfriend and slacking off, and actually bring your boyfriend his order?" came a shout that sounded suspiciously like Lee Fletcher from the kitchens.

Receding into his jacket seemed like a pretty good idea right now.

"Holy Hera I need a break from those two. If Lou Ellen doesn't manage to get me leave then I'm marching in there myself."


Will's car pulled up in the driveway, and Nico was halfway through lugging his suitcases down the stairs when he paused. Oh, gods, he couldn't do this. Why had he agreed to this? Stupid Solace's eyelashes. Stupid Solace.

"Hey, Nico?"

"Coming!" he yelled back, thumping his luggage down the last few steps, cursing when one of the two bags capsized.

He was leaning against his car with sunglasses, arms crossed, basically looking like the record holder for World's Biggest Dork. His face lit up when he saw Nico, immediately running over and giving him an actual kiss on the lips. Right, that's why he'd agreed to do this.

"Thanks for doing this. I know it's a little soon, but I figured I probably wouldn't get a chance like this anytime soon, and..."

"Hey, I'm always up for a mind-numbingly boring, forty-three hour road trips."

He grinned,"we'll see about 'mind-numbingly boring'."


Apparently Will's idea of entertainent was playing terrible music, and singing along to said terrible music loudly and so off key, it took a lot of effort to figure out what the line had originally sounded like. At first, Nico found it undeniably adorable. Sure, the song was so cheery it made Nico want to claw at his ears at his ears to make it stop, but with Will head bopping along and mouthing the words, he strained his face muscles trying not to grin. And failed. Then the dork started singing aloud, and it got a little annoying. Then a lotta annoying. Finally, Nico had to pull the phone out, ignoring Solace's protests, before he last his last shred of sanity. He replaced it with his own cell, scrolling down until he found a suitable song.

Will took it in silence for a while, then, "huh, that definitely wasn't what I expected."

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I don't knw, I guess I pegged you as a depressing heavy metal kind of guy."

"My ears can only take so much shouting. And with you and Lou Ellen in the cafe, I don't need a second dose."

"Why do you think I needed to take a break. Those two will be the death of me."

"Don't you sound like a very concerned mother. Like I said, choiccia."

"I'm not- Fine, fine. But trust me, in my class, almost all the med students are like that."

"Hey, this music is actually pretty good," he added.

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"What's cocky in Italian?"

"Spavaldo."

"Spavaldo," he repeated.

Nico snorted.

They fell into silence, until Will started up singing along again.

"But they haven't seen the best of us yet

If you love me let me goooo

If you love me let me goooooo"

Great, now Panic! At the Disco was ruined for him. Nico gave knocking his head against the window until he passed out some serious thought. And then, mercifully, it stopped.

"Hey, what's your family like?"

He sighed, not answering for a while.

"It's- it's really complicated. And confusing. I don't think I can really explain it."

Well, I probably could. I just don't want to think about all of that right now. Let alone share it out loud to Will Solace, of all people.

It wasn't that he didn't think that highly of him. In fact, it was because he thought so highly of him. He just seemed so bright and happy all the time. Like everything was okay all the time. Will Solace radiated 'life is simple. Things don't need to be complicated unless you make them out to be.'

He just didn't think Solace would understand.

"I can respect that. Heck, I understand that. I have more half siblings than I can count, and I've barely met half of them. It's weird, but I guess that's the way my family is. I guess I've just come to accept that."

Well, that was...unexpected. And before he knew it, he was talking, tripping over words and not stopping. Will stopped talking, so he started.

"I've never stayed in one state for longer than a year. In fact,I moved to NYC a year ago, that was my choice, and this is my record-holding state. At first it was fun. When I was a kid, it was like an adventure, moving from place to place all the time. Then it got frustrating, moving schools all the time, getting my room just the way I wanted it, and then having to pack up and start all over again. I guess my stepfather hated it too, because he and my mom kind of split. He wanted to settle down, have Hazel, Bianca, and I all in one place, and just, be a family. But my mom just couldn't settle down, so they went their separate ways. He married a Persephone. His father was really into Greek mythology. Really, really. He wanted to name him Hades. Like I said, my family is confusing. He was almost named Hades and then he goes and marries a Persephone. And.. I'm rambling."

Will shot him one of his lopsided grins.

"You can carry on, if you want. In fact, I want to hear it. Is that where you got the idea to write about Greek Mythology?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, my grandfather, stepgrandfather, whatever, had a thick volumes full of the stuff. I used to just sit in the attic and read them until someone called me down for dinner. Every single English essay, every single English project, I swear, I managed to fit mythology into everything. I think my teacher gave up with the 'Nico, sweetie, don't you think you should branch out a little? Please, I'm begging you, if I have to read one more assignment about Poseidon, I'm resigning' speech somewhere around Christmas break. "

He practically giggled at that, and the butterflies in Nico's stomach felt like they were trying to make a break for it, hammering against the surface.

"If I were to tell you that my dad owns Apollo and Company, would you go into cardiac arrest?"

"Probably."

"Okay then, my lips are sealed. I'm taking a detour just to drive you to hospital."


After that, Nico didn't mind Will's singing too much. Yeah, to say it was out of tune would be an understatement, but there was something about it, some quality, that almost made it bearable. Maybe it was the exhaustion from travelling, but he felt his eyes growing heavy. He had to blink to keep them open, and Will looked even worse.

"Hey, maybe we should call it a night?"

He rubbed his eye and suppressed a yawn, "oh, I was thinking that ages ago. But I haven't even seen so much as a motel down this street."

Nico didn't say anything, struggling to stay awake. Solace started up singing again, which really wasn't helping.

"And yes, but what a shame

what a shame the poor groom's bride is a-"

"Found one!" he yelled suddenly.

"Oh, thank gods. I was about to pass out at the wheel."

Nico was practically carrying him as they made their way to the abandoned lobby, which was not his idea of fun, considering that Solace was basically twice his size.

The lady at the desk all but glared at them, and Nico returned the favour. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it up to the room. There was only one bed, but he was too exhausted to care, collapsing next to Will, who was out cold in point seconds. Nico curled up, not even bothering with blankets.

In his last few minutes before tendrils of sleep claimed him, he thought about everything. He was going to visit Will's family in a few more days. Maybe even tomorrow, if they really pushed it. Maybe it was just the exhaustion, but he found that he really didn't care. If they were anything like him, he had no reason to be the bundle of nerves he'd been that morning. Will would meet his family was strangely okay with that. He'd already met Hazel, and that had worked out just great. Maybe they'd fight sometimes, maybe they'd even split once or twice. But one thing he was sure about; he was really glad he'd gone to that cafe, really glad said cafe had choiccia, med student dorks for staff, and really glad that med student had decided a certain anemic customer really need a croissant.


Translations: Sei come la versione umana di un golden retriever. Bene, un golden retriever molto attraente. Beh! Che strano. E stai parlando a te stesso, Nico- you're like a golden retriever, how am I supposed to deal with this. A really attractive golden retriever. Well, that was weird. And, you're talking to yourself, Nico


That was it, guys, the last chapter. A big thank you to guilky for bearing with my terrible Italian, and to all my readers, new and old. Thanks for being so great and supportive and just making me smile with all your PMs and reviews. I really didn't expect this little fic to get so popular, and it's all thanks to you guys. I decided this needed closure and this was a good place to stop, even if I really hate ending this. I'm not crying, you're crying

Hes-beauty out!