The screen faded to black as the credits drew to a close, the next recommended movie starting to play as the two continued to sit silently on the couch, fingers still intertwined. Sitting there, each drinking in the other's presence, it was apparent that neither of the boys were quite sure of what to do in the situation.
I did not think I was going to get this far, Nico thought, grateful that his hair very conveniently blocked off Will's view of his flushed face.
He wasn't sure if his blazing red cheeks or sweating palms were going to calm down any time soon.
Will peeked at Nico sitting to his left out of the corner of his eye as he held his body as stiff as a board, afraid that even the smallest movement would startle Nico into running away like a lost doe in a suburban backyard.
Nico cleared his throat, startling the blonde, who flexed his hand in surprise. Feeling how Will clenched up, the other boy instantly regretted saying anything, but it was too late to go back.
The ensuing silence smothered any remaining sense of calm Nico had maintained, and Nico could feel the panic well up in him as he tried to navigate this unfamiliar situation.
"Uh, we…" Nico mumbled, grasping for words to say. "We probably should get back to work soon," voice trailing off with a slight shakiness to it.
"Crap, you're right!" Will jumped up, reluctantly letting go of Nico's hand as he got to his feet. He turned towards the hallway, immediately rushing out of the room, but then hesitated, checking behind him to see if Nico was following.
Nico stood up in a melancholic state, feeling Will's warmth slowly ebb away in his fingers, causing him to instantly miss having Will's hand in his. Even though it had only been a few minutes, Nico knew he would now constantly have to fight the urge to reach back out and grab Will's hand again.
Quickly, so as to not make the blonde wait around for his slowpoke tendencies, Nico got up from the couch and followed Will back to the hallway in complete silence.
As Will listened to Nico's footsteps quietly mirroring his own from behind, he mentally berated himself for being unable to speak up in the most critical moments.
Where did all that bravado go? Will chided. You heard him say that he didn't mind the physical contact because it was you.
Nico's little smirk, looking up at him as slim, but strong arms pulled Will closer… The memory of it all raced through Will's mind again and Will once again felt his own face and ear tips heat up.
Why didn't you ask what that meant? That was the perfect time to say something about...everything.
Gods, Nico is absolutely stunning and has no idea. Will concluded, pushing open the door to the study.
The silence in the cramped room seemed to be almost deafening, Nico sitting back down at the desk, starting to sketch out empty video storyboard diagrams that he then mindlessly scattered across the surface.
"How can I help?" Will asked, finally sitting down next to Nico, who started explaining his rudimentary plan for the visual part of the project.
Three hours of work in, the atmosphere between the two had returned to what it would have been if nothing had happened during the movie. Completely work-focused, but friendly conversation flowed as the logistics of the project were fully fleshed out.
Outside, the sun teetered on the edge of plunging the sky into darkness, merging day and night into a single breathlessly beautiful sunset.
Golden light trickled in through the blinds like molten gold, bands of light illuminating Nico's face and setting fire to those endlessly dark irises, as if melting chocolate into pure amber. Leaning on the table, arm supporting his head, Will longingly admired Nico's eyes, framed by those long, ebony lashes, as the latter continued to idly chew on the end of one of Will's pens.
Suddenly, Nico turned towards Will, a concerned look on his face.
"Did you hear what I said?" Nico asked, brows furrowing. Will snapped out of the trance-like state he was in, shallowly inhaling, before shaking his head.
"Sorry, I zoned out," Will apologized, eyes darting back to the window in front of them. He reached out to his right, absentmindedly running his fingers over his guitar's fretboard, a quiet dissonance of vibrating strings filling the silence.
"Don't worry about it." Nico said, turning back towards the window. The two sat in silence once again, work for the day finished, but with questions still left unsaid.
Will inhaled deeply, gathering his courage to finally clear the tension between them.
"Did you really mean it when you said you'd want to go to a restaurant with me again?" Will asked, still watching Nico's expression. He watched as Nico's lashes flickered up in surprise, brows furrowing as he processed the question, before once again framing eyes squeezed shut in fear.
This was not a question Nico was prepared to elaborate on.
"I… I did." Nico whispered, inhaling shakily as his stomach lurched, anticipating an incoming rejection.
"Well," Will asked in a hope-filled voice, "could next time hypothetically count as a date?"
When he turned, Nico saw Will watching him, cerulean eyes wide open. With the sunlight illuminating his sandy blonde hair, and the innocent, vulnerable expression on Will's face, Nico felt his heart skip a beat.
Nico felt his mouth go dry as he uttered, "W-what do you mean?"
"I mean," Will said playfully, "Could you possibly be asking me out?"
A slight pink tinge rose up in Nico's cheeks.
"I-If you want me to?" Nico stuttered out, hands quickly moving to cup the lower half of his face and try to regain some composure. He looked down at the papers spread out in front of them, his face burning.
A smile blossomed across Will's face as he let out a small breath, one he didn't realize he was holding, his previously anxious demeanor giving way to delight.
"Text me later," Will said, eyes crinkling up in joy.
Suddenly, he remembered a message Nico had sent the night before. "Wait, didn't you need to be home before dark?"
Nico flipped over his phone to check the time and realized it was just about time for him to leave.
"Ugh, I can't believe you pulled this on me right before I had to go home." Nico groaned and stood up, checking for his things as Will stood and backed up towards the door, still grinning.
"Will you wipe that stupid grin off your face?" Nico said, breaking into his own small, embarrassed smile.
"You look like you just won the lottery."
"It sure feels like I did," Will replied as the pair walked out to the front door. "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the highly sought-after Nico di Angelo out on a date."
Right before Nico opened the door, the exhilarated blonde called out Nico's name, Nico's hand pausing mere inches from the doorknob.
"Nico?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you really going to leave without giving me a hug goodbye?"
"Oh my gods," Nico groaned, rolling his eyes. "You're so needy."
Will stepped forwards until his chest was almost flush to Nico's, forearm pressed into the door above Nico as he looked down at the shorter boy, causing Nico to start blushing again.
"You know, I would also be okay with a kiss goodnight," Will trailed off, tilting his cheek towards Nico.
"Okay, fine!" Nico quickly said, "You can have your fucking hug."
Will was completely taken by surprise when Nico immediately wrapped him tightly in a hug, the intensity effectively conveying Nico's internal desperation and his sadness at having to leave so soon.
Will smiled unseen, watching Nico from above. The half-Italian had his cheek pressed into Will's chest, eyes squeezed shut.
Absolutely adorable, Will thought, before finally reaching out with his free arm to return the hug.
Nico inhaled contentedly, the faint smell of lemon-scented detergent from the fabric of Will's shirt filling his senses.
Finally, Will let Nico go and, before the smaller boy could protest, quickly kissed him on the forehead. Nico smiled lightly in response, before finally reaching to open the door. The soft, quick peck Will had given him had already cemented itself in Nico's memories.
"See you soon, Nico." Will waved as Nico stepped out of the house, the dimming light from the fading sunset backlighting Nico's silhouette.
Nico turned at Will's words, eyes drinking in the sight of Will glowing in the sunlight, looking as if he was completely enamored by Nico's mere presence.
I want him to stick around. Nico finally concluded, satisfied with all that managed to happen in a single day together. For the first time in a long time, it finally seemed that maybe his future wasn't bound to be so dark after all.
"See you around," Nico replied, lifting a hand in response to Will's sendoff.
"Sunshine."
Hello lovelies! I know it has been a hot second since I updated and I am sorry... I hope you enjoyed this chapter though, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to have everything work out. I love hearing what you all think, and knowing someone is interested enough to leave me a quick message means so much more to me than you'd expect!
Thank you all for bearing with me, I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!
