hello everyone, it is still i, laxy gage, cleaning up a solangelo fic from years ago that i've grown emotionally attached to!


"I bet you ten bucks they don't have Annabeth," Percy said as they walked into the store.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "They do have Annabeth, Seaweed Brain, but sure. If it makes you happy," she said.

Nico smiled. He had known Annabeth for only 3 years, about half as many as Percy had, but he still understood that you never bet against Annabeth. Percy didn't seem to care. He smiled and ran over to where the store kept the "soda" (it was called pop, not soda, but nobody seemed to care).

Percy, Annabeth, and Nico rummaged around the Cokes, searching for their names. Nico was the first to find his, grabbing the bottle with a triumphant "Yes!". Percy was next, getting his with a smug smile on his face. After about a minute of waiting for Annabeth to get hers, Nico began to doubt there was a bottle with her name on it. Percy was thinking the same and was opening his mouth to speak when Annabeth emerged with her bottle.

"Found it!" she said, holding it up. Sure enough, Share a Coke with Annabeth was printed neatly on the side.

Percy sighed and handed her a ten-dollar bill. She smiled smugly as she took it, and walked ahead of them to the counter. "Don't feel bad," Nico said to him. "Nobody wins against Annabeth."

Percy nodded, a lovesick look on his face. "I know," he said dreamily. "But a man can dream."

Nico laughed and they joined Annabeth at the counter. He was fishing for his money to pay for his soda, so he didn't notice the literal god at the cash register until he looked up and was met with the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen.

He looked like a surfer dude, but a hot surfer dude. His golden blond hair stopped right before his bright blue eyes, looking perfectly tousled, and it made Nico want to reach up and ruffle it even more. He wasn't very muscly, but he looked like he could pick Nico up with his pinky. The white name tag on his shirt read Will.

He blushed as he made eye contact with him. He awkwardly set his Coke on the counter and held his two dollars in his hand. "Alright, your total will be three twenty-five. Would you like a bag?" Will said.

They shook their heads no, handed over their money, grabbed their respective bottles, and headed out. "Have a nice day," Will said. Percy and Annabeth smiled at him, and Nico did the same.

"You too," he said quietly.


"Of course they have Reyna," she argued. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, sure they do," he said sarcastically. Reyna huffed.

"If they have Annabeth, they have Reyna," Annabeth said in her defense.

"Thank you, Annabeth," she said, smiling at her.

"Don't flirt in front of me," Nico complained. They laughed as they pushed open to door to the store.

Will was still working the register. It was only a day after, and he was a complete stranger, but it made Nico feel better. They walked to the Cokes and began looking for their names.

Once again, Nico was the first to get his name. Instead of waiting for the others, he quietly made his way over to the register. "Hi," Nico said awkwardly.

Will smiled at him. "Hi!" he said cheerfully. "Big group," he noted, gesturing to the others. Nico nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Just some friends," he said.

"Just some?" Will asked.

Nico cursed at himself as he felt his cheeks heat up. "Yeah. There's still some people missing," he said. Like you, he thought. Will smiled at him again, taking his attention away from Nico as the girls approached the register.

He got out his two dollars and set his Coke on the counter. Will scanned them quickly and put them back on the counter in front of them. "Alright, your total will be four twenty-five. Would you like a bag?" he asked. Again, they shook their heads and accepted their change. "Have a nice day," he said as they walked out.

"You too," Nico said, this time loud enough to be heard. He saw Will smile in the corner of his eye and a dopey grin was stretched across his lips for the entire walk back to his apartment.


They had to take turns searching for their names with Frank and Hazel. Honestly, it was a bit ridiculous; Frank was a common enough name, wasn't it? After a few minutes of heated searching, Nico had practically shoved both of them away to get his first and get some more time to talk to Will. He told himself that he wasn't embarrassed even as his cheeks traitorously heated up.

"Hello again," Will said, an increasingly familiar glint in his blue eyes.

"How's it going?" Nico asked, praying he sounded confident instead of moronic.

Will shrugged. "Not much. I just run the register, you know," he replied.

Nico smiled. "I'm sure something interesting has happened here," he said.

Will thought for a second. "Well," he said, stretching the 'l'. "I did meet a cute boy," he said, looking at him.

Nico blushed, feeling his heart pick up at the cheesy line. "You think I'm cute?" he blurted stupidly.

Will grinned. "Of course. Have you ever looked at yourself?" he joked. Nico blushed more, but just then the others came to save him. Granted, they didn't know that they just rescued him, but they still did.

Will scanned their sodas, reading their total off the register screen. He didn't bother asking for a bag this time. They paid, but this time Nico was the one to say "Have a nice day."

"You have a lot of friends," Will informed him. He wasn't wrong. The store was small; all eight of them took up a fourth of it.

"Yeah," he agreed. "And it's not even all of them."

Will raised an eyebrow. "That is way too many friends," he said.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Really? You look like the guy to have a lot of friends," he said. Will chuckled. A small silence came upon them.

"It's di Angelo," he said out of nowhere.

Will startled. "What?"

"My last name. It's di Angelo," he explained, blushing. "I mean, you know my first name from the sodas, right? But not my last name." A beat passed. "It's Italian," Nico added.

Will's mouth formed an 'O' shape. "Nico di Angelo," Will said, and Nico decided that he wanted to hear Will say his name for the rest of his life. "Mine is Solace," he continued.

"Will Solace," Nico said, deciding that he wanted to say Will Solace's name for the rest of his life.

Will grinned. "That's me," he confirmed.

"You guys are so cute."

Nico jumped at the sound of Piper's voice. He turned towards the sound of her voice and sound her leaning on one of the shelves, watching them with amused eyes. He blushed as he felt her gaze look over them critically. She walked over to set her soda down on the counter next to Nico's.

"Piper McLean," she said. "I expect to be in the front row at your wedding," she teased. They both blushed, Nico nearly choking, and he made a mental note to never tell Piper anything about his love life.

"Why is my brother choking?" Hazel asked, walking up to them. Why couldn't she have been here a minute ago? Nico thought desperately.

"No reason!" Piper chirped. "This is Will, by the way. Will, this is Hazel. She will also be in the front row at your wedding."

Hazel looked confused but nodded supportively. Nico groaned.

"Oh my god," he said. "We are not getting married," he said.

Will feigned hurt. "Am I not cute enough for you?" he asked, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

Nico's eyes widened. "N-no! You're perfectly cute! I-I just..." he said awkwardly, blushing an even brighter red. Thankfully, the rest of the group came up to save him from further embarrassing himself.

He didn't make eye contact with Will as he scanned their stuff, glaring at the floor when it didn't open up to swallow him whole.

"Have a nice day!" Nico and Will chorused together. They both laughed, making Nico's chest feel weirdly light. After a minute of walking silently at the back of the group, Piper fell into step beside him.

"I'm thinking you could have a fall wedding," she mused thoughtfully. He shoved her away, cursing her the whole time, sending her into hysterics.


Okay, so maybe Rachel was an easier name to find than Nico. But he couldn't stop the jealousy he felt when he saw Rachel Elizabeth Dare talking excitedly with Will. He cursed at himself for it. Will was just a cute stranger.

That mindset was hard to keep when Will didn't even glance at him when he approached the counter.

They were talking about art. Rachel was blabbering on about Van Gogh and Will was listening; he obviously loved Van Gogh as much as Rachel, because as soon as she stopped, he started. He watched the way his eyes lit up when he talked about art, his bright blue eyes shining, lips curled in a small smile. He was adorable, and even more so when he was talking about something he really loved.

I want him to look like that when he talks about me, Nico thought. He blinked. Where had that come from? He didn't exactly have time to think about it, because at that moment, Will decided to notice him.

"Hey, Nico!" Will said, grinning at him. Nico smiled at him.

"I was hoping you would notice me," he joked.

Will chuckled, bringing a hand to rub at his neck. "Oops," he said sheepishly.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Hope I didn't cause trouble in paradise," she said, looking back and forth between the two.

Nico choked, and Piper's voice rang out from behind him. "Don't worry," she said, standing beside him. "It'll take much more to break them up," she said, smiling at her. Rachel smiled back. Traitor.

Piper motioned Reyna over. "Be right back," she said, dragging Reyna to the opposite end of the door. They whispered, not-so-subtly staring and pointing at him and Will. Will looked adorably confused - Will, of course, did not know the depths of Piper's scheming ways, but dread was stirring in Nico's gut as the girls broke apart.

Reyna walked over to Will, Piper trailing close behind and stifling giggles. Nico's eyes widened. She was not...oh my god, she was. She started inspecting Will, glancing at his crooked name tag. Will quickly fixed it and smiled at her, trying to cover up the fact that he was scared out of his mind (and failing). She looked at his mop of curls, lanky arms, and long legs, glaring slightly, extremely intimidating in her silence. She turned back to Nico.

"Seal of approval," she said solemnly.

Five seconds later, her and Piper were on the floor laughing, their abandoned sodas rolling off into the sunset.

Nico sighed and looked at Will. "Sorry," he mouthed. Will grinned, and Nico's heart betrayed him once more as it skipped a beat.


Nico read the name of the store before walking in. Apollo's Heaven. He didn't quite know what that meant, but he didn't exactly care, to be honest. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, then opened the door to the store.

The store was empty, only with Will lazily drawing on himself at the register. He perked up when the bell jingled, signaling that someone entered. He was confused when only a soft pair of cat-like feet were heard. Usually, there was a lot of shuffling and laughing, talking. Now, Nico di Angelo walked quietly and alone into the store.

He headed straight to the drinks. It took him only a second to find Will's name, and he searched a bit more for his. He closed the door, holding Will's behind his back, and walked as confidently as he could over to the counter.

"Hi," he said, willing his voice to sound confident.

"Hello. No friends today," Will noted.

"Um, no, I guess not," he said, tugging at the sleeves of his sweater.

"But, um, I got you this?" he said, willing lightning to strike him down when it came out as more of a question. Regardless, he lifted up the bottle of Coke for Will to see.

Share a Coke with Will.

He grinned and put his hand over Nico's. Nico's heart fluttered. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

Nico grinned at him. "Anytime, Solace. Speaking of time, when does your shift end?" he asked innocently, looking up at him.

Will leaned forward. Their noses were centimeters apart. "I expect you here at five," he said, his breath minty and warm on Nico's lips. "Don't let me down."

Nico blushed and nodded. Will grinned again. "Alright! Your total for the soda with be one twenty-five. Would you like a bag?" he asked. Nico shook his head and handed him the money. He pocketed his change and grabbed his bottle.

"Three o'clock. I'll be here," he promised.

"You better be here," Will said.

Nico grinned. "Have a nice day!" he called, walking out of the store.

Well, he thought to himself, I've got three hours to get ready.


the changes are very light and this still isn't ~stellar~. maybe one day i'll fully rewrite it instead of just cleaning up the original, but we'll see. i'm pretty much entirely off ffnet now, but you can find me on ao3 laxygage (and *maybe* i'll clean up some other fics here as well. mayyyyyyybeeee). in the meantime, have a nice day everyone~