The two boys ran through the hallway, laughter echoing through the halls, with a recently-startled Phoebus barking from behind them. Right before Will reached the end goal of the couch in the central living room, Nico lunged forwards, throwing himself onto the couch mere milliseconds before Will.
Gasping and out of breath, Nico somehow managed to find his voice.
"I guess… I win… so give me… the remote," he managed to wheeze out, holding out his hand towards Will from where he was sprawled out on the couch.
Will grinned, shaking his head as he picked up the remote from on top of a bookshelf, hidden to prevent Phoebus from abusing a new chew toy.
"Fine, you won," the blonde conceded, walking back over to Nico and handing him the remote, before promptly seating himself on Nico's outstretched legs.
"Get off, you idiot," Nico laughed, kicking his legs under Will's, but Will, eyes filled with glee, simply pulled his legs up onto the couch in a cross-legged position.
"Make me." Will declared, crossing his arms. Nico narrowed his eyes, accepting Will's challenge, and with unexpected speed, reached out with the hand not holding the remote and jabbed Will right in the side.
Will shrieked, immediately clutching his side, but yielded as the loser of the challenge and leaned over, allowing Nico to pull his legs out from underneath his previously seated form.
"Okay, okay, you win," Will conceded, sitting back down on the couch, robbed of his previous perch.
What wouldn't I give to one day be able to actually have him on my lap, whispered a small voice in the back of Nico's mind.
Resisting the urge to blush for what felt like the hundredth time today, Nico instead flashed Will a playful smile, and turned on the Roku to pick his favorite movie.
"Let me guess," Will mused, eyes now watching the screen as Nico looked through the streaming services. "The Shining? Psycho? The Ring?"
"Is that how you think of me? We're talking my favorite movie here," Nico retorted, finally clicking on Disney+ in the menu.
"Star Wars? Avengers? Pirates of the Carribean?" Will continued, watching Nico click on the search bar.
"I literally did not even know Disney Plus had any of those series," Nico replied, turning to Will. "I can't type with you spewing out words, cover your eyes."
Will willingly obliged, shutting his eyes obediently as Nico typed in a title.
Soon enough, the Disney movie introduction music started, and Will chuckled, eyes still closed.
"Okay, now I have no idea what you've picked. Can I open my eyes now?"
"Not yet," Nico crooned, the sound of birds chirping in the background of the movie filling the room.
From the speakers, an energetic male voice began narrating, "This is the story of how I died. But don't worry, this is a fun story, and the truth is, it isn't even mine. This is the story of a girl named Rapunzel."
Will's eyes flew open, eyebrows raised, as he whipped his head to face Nico.
"Rapunzel?"
"No one else is to know about this, you hear me, Solace?" Nico deadpanned, crossing his arms.
"What? Your secret obsession with Disney? I wouldn't dream of it!" Will chuckled, turning back towards the screen. "I hope I'm in for a good time."
Nico didn't pay as much attention to the movie as he did to how Will reacted to the story unfolding on the screen. Truth be told, he hadn't only picked this movie just because he wanted to see it. After all, Nico had already watched this movie over and over...
In his mind's eye, he couldn't but help imagining Will as Rapunzel, with his mane of glowing golden hair... And himself as Flynn, the awkward, charming, troublemaker of an outcast that showed Rapunzel the world.
Watching Will react to the movie was probably even better than watching the movie itself. Even though Nico was already used to Will's bubbly personality, he wasn't prepared for the outwardly emotional side of Will that came out while he was watching movies.
As the lanterns illuminated the on-screen couple as they sang their duet on the small canoe, Will bounced lightly on the couch cushion, a completely unexpected reaction from the tall, masculine blonde in Nico's eyes.
During the dramatic, suspense-filled parts, he tilted over sideways on the couch, and drew his legs up to his chest in a fetal position, clasping his hands together with worry.
When the events unfolded to reach the intense climax of the movie, he slowly reached out for Nico's arm, gripping it in fear. Nico broke out into a light sweat, inhaling sharply at the sudden contact, but liking the warmth of Will's fingers on his skin.
What truly surprised Nico was when Will's hand found its way to Nico's hand. During the scene where Flynn died, Will slid his hand down Nico's left arm, and threaded his fingers through Nico's. Nico blushed, not daring to look at Will's face, but squeezed Will's hand back in response. He heard a sniffle from the other boy, and looked over to see the uneven breaths Will was sucking in.
Too late, Nico realized that Will was silently sobbing. He smiled sadly, and with his other hand, reached over to pat Will's hair.
"Hey, it's gonna be alright," Nico whispered, echoing Rapunzel's line in the movie. Will only responded by tightening his grip on Nico's hand, as he drew in another shaky breath. "Keep watching, I'll be here."
"B-but, I can't believe he's dead. Her mom killed him," Will mumbled, tears still streaming down his face as he pressed his cheek into the side of Nico's left thigh.
Nico, surprised and saddened at the turn of events, released his hand and placed his hand gently over Will's shoulders, shifting his leg towards Will. The other boy shifted to fully lay his head in Nico's lap.
"Watch what happens," Nico hinted, as Will's tear-filled eyes looked up at him for reassurance.
Will complied, wiping his face with one hand, and looked back at the screen.
"Wait- her tear," Will mumbled, reaching up to grab the hand Nico laid on his shoulder. He tightened his grip as Eugene, on screen, was surrounded by tendrils of glowing light, and both Rapunzel's and Will's eyes widened in shock.
Nico smiled knowingly, still blushing from the feeling of Will's fingers intertwined with his. Will watched in fascination, tears slowing as Flynn's eyes flickered open.
"He's alive?!" Will gasped, releasing Nico's hand and sitting up straight in surprise.
"Yes, oh my gods!" Will cried out in relief, and, overjoyed because his presumed favorite character didn't die after all, he turned to excitedly hug Nico, causing the raven-haired boy to let out a soft "oof" and blush an even darker shade of red.
Their combined weight pushed Nico back and down until he was once again splayed out on his back, Will directly on top of him. After a moment spent in pure shock, Nico put his arms around Will too.
In a very uncharacteristic moment of pure courage, Nico leaned forwards and whispered into Will's ear, "If I had known you would react to the movie like this, I would've made you watch it with me last weekend."
It suddenly dawned on Will that, first of all, he was lying on top of Nico in a very compromising situation, and second, that he was probably crushing the other boy.
Nico had no idea that Will's face (and ears!) could turn so red from embarrassment, watching amusedly as the other boy rapidly sat up, let Nico pull himself back up into a seated position, and then gingerly slid back onto the couch.
"I'm so sorry," Will apologized, folding his hands in his lap. "I know you don't really like being touched out of the blue after what you said last time, I wasn't thinking…"
Will abruptly stopped, at a loss for words. The movie continued playing in the background, sounds of rejoicing after the kingdom rediscovered their lost princess, filling the silence left by Will.
Nico, unsure how to really "fix" the situation, blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"It's okay, I don't actually mind it at all since it's you."
Realizing too late what he said, he quickly tried to change the subject as Will turned to look at him curiously.
"Actually, um, I've been thinking, I had a lot of fun with you the other day when we went out to 'eat'," Nico rambled, drawing air quotations as he spoke, "and I was wondering... Would you want to do that again? W-with me?"
Will stared blankly, the gears in his head visibly turning as he processed all that Nico had just said. Aware that Nico didn't seem to want to dwell on the first subject, Will opted to address the second instead.
"Well, I'm really glad you had fun. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I know it was really stupid though, but-"
Nico shook his head, cutting Will off. "It wasn't stupid, it was unique."
By now neither of the two boys were paying attention to the movie credits scrolling on the screen.
Nico looked up at Will and a ghost of a smile formed on his lips as he reached out with a shaking hand and placed it on top of Will's, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"And thanks for bearing with me," Nico continued. "I never actually thanked you for listening to me overshare that day. I don't know why I told you all that stuff about my family, and my past... but-"
This time, it was Will's turn to cut Nico off as Will moved his hand to interlock his fingers with Nico's.
"No, I'm glad you told me," Will replied. "It makes me happy that you were able to trust me with your memories."
Nico said nothing, but squeezed Will's much larger hand as the credits finished rolling, each reveling in just how right it felt to be together in that moment of silence.
