After another two hours of work, the two found themselves just about finished with their project work. The arrangement had been made, lyrics written out, and all that was now left for them to do would be recording. The second the score was finished, Will jumped up from his chair, whistling for Phoebus. The golden dog came trotting through the door, and Will sat down on the carpeted floor, Phoebus climbing into his lap for attention.
Nico turned to see Will staring blankly at the floor, absent-mindedly running his fingers through the dog's fur.
I wonder what he's thinking about right now, Nico thought, but then chidingly retorted, He's probably just rehearsing what he has to do for the project.
…I wish he was thinking about me, said the little intrusive thought that slipped into his mind.
Nico once again scolded his brain, Shut up. He can't possibly like me. I'm so messed up and… sad all the time and everybody probably hates me, why is he any different?
He can't possibly like me – we're complete opposites! He's so sociable and outgoing and happy… But opposites do attract- Shut up! You're just going to get hurt again!
Nico squeezed his eyes shut, willing the thoughts to at least quiet down, and returned to staring at their newly-transcribed sheet music. Suddenly, the most beautiful whistled notes Nico had ever heard caught his attention. He whipped around towards the doorway to find…
An older version of Will? Blue eyes, well-built surfer's body, perfect tan, blindingly golden hair. It was all there.
Wow. He's really fucking hot.
"Will~!" The man said in a singsong voice, and Nico could swear he could feel every fiber of his being vibrating in harmony. There was something musical about the way he sounded, something artistic in the way he moved, to the point where Nico had to tear his eyes off the figure to look back at the subject at hand.
"Whataya want from me?" Will muttered in a very, very uncooperative tone, finally looking up at the tall, blonde figure leaning in the doorway, who was twirling a set of car keys around his right index finger.
"Actually, that one's not written or sung by me, sadly, my lovely drinking buddy known widely as P!nk helped create that masterpiece. It definitely is a banger of a song though." The older man grinned, flashing a blindingly white smile that no doubt had caused hundreds of women AND men to swoon. Nico could feel himself falling into that latter category.
"Yes, Dad," Will sighed. "I know you have contacts in the music industry. You don't need to show off about it."
Nico choked mid-swallow. "That's your dad? I thought he was like, a secret older brother or something!"
Will turned towards Nico, exasperation written all over his face. "Yeah, he gets that a lot when going out in public. I keep getting asked by all sorts of random people if I could give them my older brother's phone number."
Will turned back defiantly towards his dad. "A lot of them stop trying when I tell them he's actually my dad, thankfully."
During that exchange, Will's dad had followed Will's eyes to Nico, who appeared very shellshocked, a blush creeping up over Nico's usually very pale complexion.
"I just, I never would have guessed-" Nico stuttered, trying to regain his composure. "You just look very young for your age, sir."
Will's dad let out a loud laugh. "My secret to eternal youth? Moisturizer, twice a day."
The older man shook his head, continuing. "Anyways, none of that 'sir' nonsense. You can just call me Apollo."
"I- I'm Nico. Di Angelo." Nico stammered.
Why am I so flustered right now? Get it together! He clenched his fists in his jacket pockets to try to calm down.
"Ah, yes, Will told me last night that you were coming over to work on a project. It's lovely to finally meet you, I've heard nothing but good things."
Will's eyes glared daggers at his dad, pressing his lips together as if to tell his loose-lipped father to shut up. The younger of the two blondes glanced back at Nico, who, thankfully, seemed to have checked out mentally, not-so-subtly checking out Apollo in the doorway.
Unfortunately, Nico was too far lost in thought to have picked up on the subtle hint Apollo dropped for him.
On top of being hot, he's very easy on the ears too. And he's nice. Damn.
Wait- what am I thinking about my friend's dad?! Why am I such a-
Nico flushed an even darker shade of red, realizing he was staring, and quickly turned away, pressing his face into his palms to try to hide his embarrassment and obvious attraction.
Although, despite Nico's efforts, it was blatantly obvious that he had fallen prey to Apollo's natural allure.
Apollo's mouth curved up into an amused smirk and decided to save the flustered boy some mental strain by returning to what he had dropped by to mention in the first place.
"Anyways, Will, I'm going to have to go out into the city for a few hours, they need me at headquarters for some label paperwork and approval. You two are going to be home alone for a bit, are you alright with that?"
"Yeah, Dad. I've been home by myself before. I think I can handle myself." Will exasperatedly agreed, before turning to Nico. "Now this guy… who knows what sorts of tricks he's got up his sleeve?"
"Got it," Apollo deadpanned. "Before I leave, I'll double-check the lock on the nuclear arsenal in the back."
The two blondes shared a smile, the corners of their eyes crinkling up in almost the same way. Nico turned to look at Will as he smiled, and it finally hit him.
Will Solace was fuckin' hot. Just like a younger version of his dad.
Nico's blush sprung back into full force, and he chose to instead look down at the carpet under his feet. He was going to be alone. In a completely unsupervised house. With Solace. What were the odds?
"Well," Apollo said warmly, "It's nice to see you doing something musical for once. Maybe you'll be able to still try to play music on the side when you become a doctor. You know I would be more than happy to help you out if you wanted to join me in the music industry."
Will's demeanor shifted from lighthearted to a more withdrawn look, a smile dropping off his face.
"Yeah, maybe in the future." Will sighed, giving in and placating his father so he would drop the subject.
Will's dad nodded at Will, as if in agreement, then pushed himself off the doorframe he was leaning against.
"Well," Apollo lifted a hand in farewell as he said, "I should get going now."
"Have fun, you two, but don't get into too much trouble!" Shooting a playful wink at the two boys, Apollo finally turned away and headed towards the door, keys in hand.
The boys were completely silent as they listened to Apollo's engine rev up and leave. Nico, blush slowly fading off his face, wasn't sure what to say in the situation.
I just got caught simping for his DAD of all people, Nico scolded himself mentally. I hope he doesn't try to talk about it-
"So I'm assuming you're now on the 'Will's dad is a DILF' train too, huh?" Will bitterly said, trying to crack a smile. His voice quivered slightly at the end of his question, causing the guilt to hit Nico full force as Will turned away.
"I-," Nico stammered, not knowing what to do. "I'm sorry, I…"
"No, it's okay, really." Will continued. "It happens almost every time I bring someone home, which is why I don't like having people over at my dad's place."
"It just hurts a little, you know?" Will sighed, and Nico watched his shoulders slump down in defeat. "The idea that I could find someone I want to be with, but they still might change their mind after meeting my dad. It feels like I can't escape from his influence in every part of my life."
"I'm sorry Will, I didn't know," Nico said, getting up to sit next to Will on the carpet. "I was not expecting your dad to look almost exactly like you."
Will lifted his chin from where he was resting it on his knees and turned his head to look at Nico. "I mean, what did you expect? He is my dad, he's like half of my genetic source code."
"Yeah, so I guess expecting an old geezer with a potbelly was definitely too much of a stretch," Nico replied, nudging Will with his shoulder. The other boy chuckled softly, a genuine smile growing on his face.
"Besides," Nico continued, "He's not the one I've gotten to know recently, he's not the one that makes me laugh at stupid things he says, and he's not the one that I've gotten comfortable enough to even talk to like this."
Will's eyes widened, and Nico felt himself fall victim to the all-powerful puppy-dog eyes that Will was so good at abusing.
"You really mean that?" Will said, hope returning to his eyes again.
"Yeah," Nico said, nodding briefly. "I really do."
Suddenly, Nico became aware of just how close they were. He could feel Will's exhale lightly stir the air by his cheek, and could see the faint freckles adorning his cheeks, almost completely hidden by his sun-kissed tan.
Sun-kissed, Nico thought, his brain providing him with the lovely image of what Will might look like kissing him, and Nico could feel his face heating up again.
Nico pushed himself away, embarrassed. Will watched Nico quickly turn his face away, and then scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion before finally standing up again.
"Anyways," the blonde said, choosing not to address Nico's reaction this time, "want to take a break and do something else? I've got just about every single streaming service you can think of, we could watch something."
To Nico's relief, Will hadn't said anything more about his incessant blushing. He was more than happy to have an out in the given situation.
"Sure, why not? We definitely deserve a break," Nico agreed, pushing himself up from his seated position.
Will grinned and motioned for Nico to follow him as he turned down the hallway. Nico hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the hallway, lost in thought yet again.
How could I resist that smile? …No, Nico, he chided himself. You cannot be falling for him. Not now. Just... Try to act normal.
"Also, I'm choosing the movie!" Nico asserted, starting to walk towards Will.
"Not if I get there first!" Will yelled back, breaking out into a sprint. Nico let out a laugh before dashing after Will through the house.
