Will bouncily jogged towards the subway station with Nico in tow, the latter somehow managing to keep up with Will's breakneck pace. After Will excitedly swiped his way into the station with his MetroCard, Nico following suit (but less enthusiastically), they stood in wait in front of the stop. Once the subway slid into the station, Will immediately hopped into the closest seat, pulling Nico into the seat next to him in all his excitement. And there they sat for the next few minutes.
Will looked down at his lap and then realized he still had his hand on Nico's left wrist. An awkward silence ensued as he gingerly let go, muttering a "Sorry," and grasped his other forearm, now uncomfortable with how forwards he had been. Nico shook his head lightly with the ghost of a smile on his lips, silently communicating that it was alright, but said nothing.
After a few minutes had passed, neither of them had said anything to break the silence. Itching for conversation, Will turned to Nico and asked the first question that came to mind.
"I uh... haven't met your mom yet. What's she like?"
Nico's demeanor shifted from slightly uncomfortable to completely withdrawn, as he reached up to run his fingers through his hair with his left hand. As his hair fell back down, shielding his eyes from the scenery as if it had a mind of his own, leaving Nico with a dark, mourning look.
"She...uh, died in an explosion a few years ago." He whispered, the words so quiet that they were like a ghost of something that had once been alive. Nico swallowed, his eyes hooded and downcast as he took in a shaky breath. The atmosphere grew tense, the sound of the subway car on the rails the only sound in the car.
Will's eyes widened, his hand clenching into a fist as he wished he could take back his prodding question, too late to prevent the pervading words from ever coming out of his mouth.
"I-… I'm sorry for bringing it up... I didn't know..." Will stammered, not sure what to say. He opened his mouth to speak again, but thought again and snapped his mouth shut. He cast his eyes aside and clasped his hands together, wallowing in his shame.
As Will apologized, Nico watched out of the corner of his eye as Will visibly shrunk down in his seat, turning away from him with a hurt look on his face. Something in Nico wanted to make it alright, to say something to comfort the other boy, but Nico pushed it down.
He couldn't just trust someone he basically just met with his messy family history, could he? But on the other hand, Will was the first person in a long time to even ask about his family. There was something about Will, how pure he acted, how trusting he was, or maybe how sunny of an aura he exuded, that just made Nico want to tell him more about himself. For the first time in a long time, he felt listened to. Before he knew it, he was talking again.
"We were coming back from visiting family in Italy and stayed the night in a hotel in D.C. The morning of the flight, Mom was checking out of our hotel when a bomb in the lobby exploded… I was lucky enough to have been far enough away to live, but she... she didn't even make it to the hospital. I was eight."
Will lifted his head and watched Nico—as if sensing his sadness—but was unsure what to say. Nico kept talking, all of the words rushing out of him against his will, looking at his hands as he did so. It was like a dam had burst forth, having been held back for years, refusing to continue to be contained.
"I had an older sister too. Bianca. Two years later, Bianca decided to go on a trip with a couple of her friends to San Francisco to celebrate going into high school. But along the way, an accident happened, and Bianca..."
Nico's eyes welled up with tears, voice cracking when saying Bianca's name. He knew he had to stop talking or else he'd start crying in front of Will. He really didn't want to think about the fact that she was gone... didn't want to relive the pain of watching his Dad drop the phone that night... not here... not now.
Will hesitated for a moment, watching Nico struggling to back his tears in all his hurt, and without thinking, he reached out to lay his hand on top of Nico's, as if to try to comfort him. A rush of warmth flashed across Nico's whole body and he pulled his hand away in surprise.
Nico looked down, still blushing both from the physical contact and the embarrassment of opening up to a near stranger. Mentally berating himself, he pushed himself to at least give an explanation for how he was acting. Here was someone who had tried to help him, as small as the gesture was, and he ended up pushing them away. The least he could do was explain why.
"S-sorry, I-" Nico stammered, "I wasn't expecting to be touched out of the blue."
Will pulled back and looked down at his hand, surprised that he had even touched Nico.
Brows furrowing in worry, Will said, "Oh, sorry. It was a reflex. I really don't like seeing people hurting, and I guess I just didn't know how to help."
Nico would never admit that he missed the warmth of their contact. Will's hands were so warm, and a lot softer than he had expected them to be—What was he doing? What was this boy doing to him? Slightly disoriented, Nico shook it off and curtly replied, "It's fine."
Will bit his lip and looked out the window, still feeling guilty about bringing up a touchy subject. The boys rode in silence until the subway shuddered to a halt. Will immediately brightened up and stood up.
He was about to tap Nico on the shoulder, but hesitated, remembering Nico's words, and pulled back, opting instead to exclaim, "Hey, look, we're here!"
Nico stood up slowly, letting Will lead the way, and stared at the back of Will's shoes until they reached the entrance of the building. Nico looked up at the sign, then turned and gave Will an inquiring look.
"Seriously Will? Chuck E. Cheese? This isn't a restaurant!"
Will grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Hey, they serve good food. Greasy pizza, soda, and all the good stuff!" He laughed, leaning in towards Nico. "It may not be healthy, but once in a while isn't bad, right?"
Nico just rolled his eyes, a small smile taking the edge off what would have been a sarcastic remark as he replied, "Alright, fine. I guess I'll give it a go."
They walked in, sat down at a booth, and spent the next few hours stuffing their faces with junk food and playing arcade games.
At 4 o'clock, in the middle of a shooting game, Nico remembered why Will had woken him up at 7 am, and went to find Will so they could return to work on the project. At this point, they had spent about as much time at Chuck E. Cheese's as they had on their project, which would probably end up biting them in the ass.
After searching the game floor to no avail, Nico finally found his project partner at the prize booth, clutching two enormous stuffed animals.
"Hey buddy," Nico managed to say, before realizing he was eye level with Will's (very shapely) shoulder blades, craning his neck upwards so he could tap Will on the shoulder to get his attention.
Will had the hugest smile on his face when he turned around, which faded away when he saw the disappointed, grumpy look on Nico's face.
"Remember the whole reason you woke me up at the literal butt crack of dawn today?" Nico chided, as the realization dawned on Will that they still had a project to work on. "That project isn't going to finish itself, we gotta go."
The raven-haired boy felt his heart sink a little when Will gave him that sad puppy-dog-eyed look but held onto his reminder firmly. After Will grabbed a couple of lollipops with what was left of their tickets, he handed the lot to Nico, and they headed out.
This time, it was Will's turn to be dragged by the wrist as Nico hurried to the station, and the pair boarded the subway back to Nico's house.
