Beginning Notes

This one's for XxBATxX who asked for a follow up of chapter 33. And of course I'm here to write it since, that was too sad and Will deserves his happy ending :(

Also I thought it would fit nicely as a second part of chapter 2 as well, so yeah, this is a continuation of chapter 2 and 33 (which I suggest you go read again if you've forgotten): what if solangelo goes to meet the parents?

Characters belong to Rick Riordan, hope you enjoy.

Nico

Most people wouldn't consider Nico to be the type who'd enjoy cheesy romcom movies, but yet he did. It was absolutely his boyfriend's fault, though.

Ever since the Hephaestus cabin had invented monster-proof laptops, each cabin had their own to share amongst the demigods of said cabin. That meant that Nico basically had a laptop all for himself, since there was no one else in the Hades cabin to share with. Because of this, Will had insisted they use it for weekly movie nights so they could snuggle up together and watch a movie every weekend. And who was Nico to say no to him?

That's how, after having forced Will to binge-watch the Hunger Games with him, he found himself watching a cheesy old romcom that his boyfriend had insisted on watching. And somehow, he actually didn't hate it. Sure, they were very predictable and he couldn't relate to anything because it was a tad bit too straight, but it was still enjoyable and a good way to keep his mind off of monsters, saving the world and all that pizzazz.

However, Nico started to notice a strange pattern whenever they watched these romance movies together: every time there was a 'meeting-the-parents' type scene where the main character would introduce their parents to their partner, or be introduced to their partner's parents, Will would always go to the bathroom, or say he was too tired and go to bed. At first, Nico hadn't really thought much of it, but now that he had figured it out, he couldn't help but notice it every time.

So, when they were watching yet another cheesy romance movie, and Will said that he needed to go to the bathroom during the 'meeting-the-parents' scene again, Nico decided to finally ask him about it.

'Hey, Will?'

'Hm?' he hummed, softly.

'Why do you hate 'meeting-the-parents' scenes so much?'

Will frowned at him. 'What do you mean...?'

'Well, you just always walk away whenever there's a scene where the love interest is introduced to the parents,' Nico explained with a shrug.

'Oh, it's nothing.'

He rolled his eyes. Clearly, it wasn't 'nothing', because his usually bright and sunshiny boyfriend wasn't looking as bright and sunshiny as he normally did.

'Will, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I know something's going on. I'm not blind.'

'Fine, yes, you're right,' Will told him with a sigh, 'I hate those parts of movies. It's just that... I would really want to have something like that too but, well, I don't think my mother would be ready to meet you yet, and yours...'

He didn't need to finish his sentence, Nico understood: Maria di Angelo had died long before Will was even born, so a sentimental 'meeting the parents' moment would basically mean going to the Underworld in the case of Nico's parents. What exactly he had meant with his mother not being ready to meet Nico, he didn't know, but since Will never really talked about his mother, he didn't ask.

Nico hummed to let his boyfriend know that he understood, and closed the laptop. There was no point in finishing the movie with the empty energy that was hanging around them.

'There, now they won't be able to meet the parents.'

Will smiled, and lied down, motioning for Nico to join him, so he did. He laid his head on Will's chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart.

They stayed like that for a little, enjoying each other's company and embrace in comfortable silence.

'You know, my mother is the reason I'm a year-rounder here,' Will said after a while, breaking the silence.

Nico moved his positioning so that he could look his boyfriend in the eyes. They were lying opposite each other now, their noses only a few inches apart.

'She got so mad at me when I came out to her, so I ran away because I didn't want to deal with her homophobia. As soon as she didn't accept me, I cut her out of my life,' he explained, softly.

Nico carefully placed his hand on Will's cheek. 'I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I'm so proud of you for being brave enough to leave it behind you. I know I wouldn't have been able to leave Mama or Bianca just like that...'

'Did they know?' Will asked hesitantly.

Nico thought about it for a moment. 'Perhaps. I don't know. I mean, I was ten when you know...'

Will nodded.

'But I've talked to their spirits a few times.'

'Nico-'

Nico knew what his boyfriend was going to say, so he simply shook his head. 'I've been careful with my powers, don't worry. My point was that I've talked to them about this. I told them about you...'

'Oh.'

'Well... I told Mama about you. Bianca chose to be reborn, so I haven't been able to speak to her spirit anymore,' he explained carefully, his voice falling to a whisper. 'But if you'd want, I could take you to meet her.'

He looked at Will tentatively, waiting for his answer.

'I'd love that.'

Nico smiled. He knew it would mean a lot to Will to meet his mother, even if she was only a spirit, and she'd asked about him the few times Nico had visited her after he and Will had gotten together.

So, the next day they planned their trip to Italy together. It would take longer than usual, since Nico would have to shadow travel both of them all the way there, but he didn't mind. They'd already gone to Chiron and arranged that everything was okay with him too. The centaur had told them that it was okay, as long as they made sure to be careful and take enough nectar and ambrosia.

Since they weren't planning on being gone for too long, they didn't need to pack that much, so they were ready to leave that afternoon already. Nico told Will to take some weapons with him just in case they ran into some monsters, and he obviously brought his Stygian Iron sword with him as well.

'Ready?' he asked Will, holding out his hand to him.

Will nodded and took Nico's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. 'Ready.'

The trip to Italy was quite exhausting, and Nico needed to make two extra stops to rest and make sure he didn't overuse his powers, but they still made it within 24 hours.

When they arrived, they booked a hotel room for the night, and Nico took a quick afternoon nap before he showed Will the way to his mother's grave. Nico had explained that he needed food to summon his mother's spirit, so they ordered some stuff from the room service and then made their way to the graveyard.

Once he was done with everything, and he saw the form of his mother appear before him, he couldn't help but smile.

'Ciao, Mama.'

'Nico, tesoro, it's been so long.'

'I know, I've been... busy. But I brought someone with me today,' he said carefully.

He looked over to Will, who had been waiting on a bench nearby and was now walking over to them.

'Hello, Ms. di Angelo,' he said, 'I'm Will Solace.'

Nico watched as his mother's face lit up in delight.

'Oh, Will, I've heard so much about you!' she said, and Nico felt his face warm up a little from embarrassment. 'It's so nice to finally see you.'

Will smiled. 'The pleasure is all mine, Ms. di Angelo.'

Nico listened to the two of them talk for a little and he felt warm inside. He never thought he'd even ever be able to dream of a moment like this, yet here he was. Sadly, it couldn't last for much longer since his mother's spirit needed to return back to the Underworld.

'Ti amo, Mama,' Nico said with a small wave as he watched her spirit fade.

'Ti amo, tesoro.'

Nico sighed, and placed down the bouquet of flowers he'd gotten, replacing the old, dead ones from his last visit.

'Your mother was so nice,' Will said as they made their way back to the hotel under the dim glow of the streetlights.

'Mhm,' Nico hummed.

That night he played the memory of Will and his mother smiling at each other over and over in his head. If only life was simple enough to give Will the same experience with his mother. Why couldn't she see that Will was the most amazing person ever, no matter who he did or didn't love?

'Hey, Will?' he asked the next morning.

'Hm?'

'Do you think your mother would change her beliefs if she sees that our relationship is completely normal and makes you happy?'

Will sighed, and Nico could see the frown forming on his face. 'I don't know. I hope every day that she'll chance her views and that everything can go back to the way it used to be between us, but I feel like it's no use...'

'Well you deserve all the love in the world, and she needs to know that there's nothing fucking wrong with this.'

'I suppose, yeah,' Will said, shrugging slightly.

'I mean, if you don't want to see her, then we can go back to camp again. Otherwise we could maybe make an extra stop by your house. If you want to, of course,' Nico explained.

It was silent for a moment before Will nodded slowly.

'I... I guess it would be a good idea to talk things out with her. And if she still hasn't changed, then I can close things off with her for good.'

And that's how Nico found himself in some small village a day later, holding his boyfriend's hand tightly for support.

'Oh, gods...' Will murmured as they arrived at what Nico supposed must be his house. 'It's been so long since I've been here.'

Nico looked at him with a small encouraging smile, before he reached up to ring the doorbell. There was a painfully long moment of silence before he heard the faint click of a lock inside. He squeezed Will's hand for support, and let go just as the door opened.

A woman stood in the doorframe. She was tall, and had blonde hair that curled around her ears, along with a freckled face and striking blue eyes that reminded him too much of a certain son of Apollo he knew.

'W-Will?' she stuttered, her voice half a whisper, 'is that you?'

'Hello, mother.'

She let out a shaky breath, before engulfing him in a hug.

Nico watched carefully, noting the uncomfortable look on Will's face.

'Please, come in,' Will's mother said, motioning to the door after she'd released him.

The two of them followed her inside, and sat down on a couch in the living room, as Will's mother went to get them something to drink. When she came back, she handed them both a cup of tea, before going to sit on one of the chairs opposite the couch.

It was uncomfortably silent for a while as they sipped their tea. Nico wanted to say something to break the silence, but he couldn't think of what would be best at that moment, so he continued to sip his tea quietly.

After a while Will's mother finally spoke up.

'So, what brought you here, Will, dear?'

When Will didn't answer, she added in a hushed tone:

'I thought you hated me...'

'I don't hate you.'

'But... you left me,' she answered, and Nico could hear the pained confusion in her voice. 'Which I completely understand- I... I made a horrible mistake and I regret everything I said every single day. And I'm so, so sorry, but I fear you might never forgive me, and that's what hurts the most. Because I know...' She chocked back a sob, and Nico watched as tears started rolling down her cheeks. 'It's all my own fault.'

'B-but I left you that drachma, didn't I?' Will asked.

She reached for her pocket and fished out a single gold coin. 'I carry it with me everywhere, but I didn't want to use it because I was scared you never wanted to see me again.'

Nico looked over at Will, who too, had tears staining his face now. He took his hand and held it tight, hoping to comfort his boyfriend.

'For years I was hoping that you'd use it, that you'd apologise and ask me to come back. That thing's could go back to the way they were.'

'I'm sorry.'

Will sniffed before he continued. 'I'm not sure if I'm ready to forgive you right now, but I will, eventually. If it's okay, I could come back for the summer again?'

His mother smiled and nodded. 'It would make me so happy. And you can bring your friend too, if you want.'

'About that...'

Will looked over to him, and when he met Nico's eyes, Nico squeezed his hand encouragingly as a sign for him to continue.

'This is Nico. He's my boyfriend.'

'Oh, okay. Well, it's nice to meet you, Nico. And I'm extremely sorry that it had to be under these unfortunate circumstances.'

Nico shook his head. 'That's okay, Ms. Solace, I was just here for moral support, really.'

'The name's Naomi, sweetheart.'

After that, everything seemed to go really well: Will and Naomi were both healing and trying to set everything back to normal, and Naomi had even made them sandwiches for the trip back to camp.

'Well... That went so much better than I expected,' Will said when they had shadow travelled back to camp and were picnicking under Thalia's tree, enjoying the sandwiches Naomi had made for them.

'Hm, your mother was nicer than I thought.'

Will frowned at him. 'Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?'

'Whatever you make of it,' Nico answered with a shrug. 'I mean, I was basing it off the tiny bit of information you gave me a few days ago.'

'Alright, that's fair,' he sighed.

'Also, your mother makes great sandwiches. Perhaps I should come in the summer purely for this.'

Will gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. 'So you wouldn't come for your own boyfriend? You hurt me, di Angelo.'

'You're the one dating me, idiot,' Nico said, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend.

'Gosh darn it, you're right. But like, how could I not? You're so cute and adorable, and very huggable, which I love! You pretend to be all dark and broody, but you're literally one of the sweetest people I know. You-'

'Enough with the sappiness, Will,' he complained, playfully hitting the other boy's shoulder, although he couldn't stop the smile that was creeping onto his face. 'How about we actually go finish that movie in stead?'

Will pouted. 'Only if I get cuddles.'

'You'll get your cuddles if I can have the last sandwich.'

'Deal!'

End Notes

I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as usual, it's been a while since I wrote a oneshot for this and I'm out of practice lol

But also! I've been working on another fic for a while and I'm finally posting it! It's a solangelo Hogwarts AU called 'The Moment I Saw You, I Knew You Were a Keeper' and it updates every Saturday! If you're interested, feel free to go check it out and give it some love, I'd really appreciate it :D

As always, you can leave your prompts in the reviews, and I'll see you next chapter. Byeee :)