XIII

WILL

"Hey, guys! Are you up there? I hate to interrupt but the food's ready." Naomi shouted somewhere below the attic.

Will and Nico jumped in surprise. The magic brought by the song dissolved in the air. They both blinked and looked around as if they had forgotten that they were still in the attic.

"Err, yes!" Will shouted. "We're coming down."

"I think we should head down," Will said to Nico

"Yeah. . ."

They sat on the dining table enjoying a steak, buttered vegetables and mashed potatoes when Naomi had decided to interrogate them. Naomi sat at the head and the two were sitting opposite to each other.

"So where did you guys first meet?" Naomi asked.

"We met at the hospital." Nico was the one who answered.

"Oh, how? You were Will's patient?" Naomi asked conversationally. She was smiling.

The latter two looked at each other in panic. In all honesty, they hadn't thought of some cover story which Will thought was pretty stupid on their part. Naomi was completely oblivious about their special abilities and it wasn't like he could spring it up to her that they had a guest who was a death angel and oh, her son could literally glow occasionally.

Nico was looking at him like, You answer this one! What am I supposed to tell?!

And Will was like, You think I can answer this one? I don't know what to say too!

Naomi looked back and forth between the two as the latter two continued to silently stare at each other.

Nico glanced back at her. He blurted out the first thing that had come to his mind. "We met because of my sister, who happened to be Will's patient that time and the rest was history, I guess…"

"Oh, so what do you do?" Naomi asked Nico. "Are you working?"

Nico gazed again at Will with eyes speaking and burning with more panic than before. What now? I can't just tell her that my job is to pick souls!

Will bit his lip. He hated lying to his mother but this was a kind of lie that had a valid reason. He nodded briefly at Nico. I've got this.

Will answered. "He's still studying at NYU for his master's degree in forensic medicine."

"Okay," Naomi said slowly looking back and forth again between the two. "But why do I feel like I've just witnessed some telepathic message between the two of you."

Nico cleared his throat and drank his wine.

Meanwhile, Will just laughed it off."You're just imagining things, mom."

"Don't think I haven't been there William." Naomi's eyes were sparkling."When you could understand each other without words, well, that was already saying something. .."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will mumbled, cutting the steak with his knife. He discreetly gazed at Nico. He was surprised to see Nico was already staring at him. Will immediately looked down at his plate. He could feel his face heating up.

"You two are cute." Naomi decided, smiling as she drank her glass of juice. She put down the glass. "Anyway Will, I am going to Austin to visit your Aunt Helen. You know how horrible the reception is at her place so you might not be able to contact me for a while."

"Okay." Will nodded in agreement. "That might do some good to you. You need to get out often. You're looking paler than him." He pointed his fork at Nico. "When are you going anyway?"

"This coming Thursday," Naomi answered. "I might be gone for a week or two, still depends. I might stay longer. Your aunt is getting lonely in there, living alone and all."

"Don't worry about it. Stay there as long as you want. Just call me when you get back here."

She smiled at her son. "Yes, doc."

Soon, they were all standing on the front porch. Will and Nico were ready to leave.

"Take care Mom and just say hi to Aunt Helen for me, yeah?" Will hugged his mom.

"I will and you too, take care and don't overwork yourself," Naomi said. When she pulled away, she turned to Nico.

"It was lovely to meet you, Nico." Naomi smiled at him as she held both of his hands. "Please take care of my son okay?"

"Mom, he's not a babysitter much less I don't need someone who needs to babysit me," Will said.

Nico ignored him and nodded at her. "I will, Naomi and thank you for welcoming me in your home."

Naomi laughed affectionately. "Oh, you're such a darling. No wonder…" Then she turned to Will. "I totally approve of Nico."

"Mom!" Will's ears reddened.

Naomi laughed again. "Now off you go! You don't want to get caught in heavy traffic."

"Bye, mom." Will kissed his mother's cheek. He and Nico walked up to the car. They drove away as Will glanced at the rear mirror and saw the reflection of his mother waving back at them.

Like his mother had predicted, they were stuck in traffic going back to Manhattan.

Will glanced at Nico. "You okay?"

Nico had been silent ever since they had driven off from Will's house.

Nico nodded at him. "Yeah. Actually, I felt better when we visited your mother. She's really nice. I already forgot what it's like to have a mother who worries about you."

"Do you remember what your mother looked like?"

"A little bit. Her name was Maria di Angelo and I have a fuzzy memory of her, Bianca and I going on a walk along the streets of Italy…"

Will just nodded. Will leaned forward to turn on the music to lighten up the mood and to fill the gaps of silence hanging in the air. But then, he immediately regretted his action when the song that echoed around was the very song he had sung to Nico earlier.

Will internally cringed. He felt suddenly embarrassed. Yeah, what were the chances that the Inside Out by The Chainsmokers was first on his playlist? The Fates must have been playing with him.

The blond was about to change the music when Nico had spoken."You're not that bad.."

Will looked at Nico who was staring out the window. "What?"

"I didn't lie when I said that it will make me feel better if you played a song for me. It's effective." Nico continued.

Will wanted to stare a little bit longer at Nico but the cars were moving again so he had no choice but to focus his eyes on the road.

"I am glad that I was able to help somehow," Will said.

"Thank you."

Will smiled. "You're welcome."

After an hour and half of the drive, they reached the underground parking of Will's apartment. They stood at the rear of Will's car for a full minute not knowing what to say, unsure if they should bid goodbyes. It felt like they were both reluctant to end the day.

"So," Will started. "Thank you for coming along, Nico."

"Yeah, I am glad that I tagged along. I enjoyed it." Nico answered

"So, I think I am going up now. . ." Will pointed awkwardly at the elevator nearby.

"Yeah. . . "

"Yeah, bye..." Will turned and walked away. He was 15 steps away (Yes, he was counting) when Nico called him. Will turned around faster than lightning. "Yes?"

"Take care, Solace."

Will tried to hide his disappointment that Nico was going to say something more. He felt stupid to expect anything else.

"You too," He mustered a smile then he quickly walked away, his smile fading.

When he had reached his apartment, he pulled out his key and jammed it into the keyhole. He went inside and went straight to the kitchen. He put down his key on the counter. He walked towards the fridge and got a pitcher of water. He opened his cupboard to get a glass then he poured water on it. He drank it in one go.

"Stupid, Will, to assume that you two have a spark or something. Who am I kidding, right? It was just so impossible to happen." Will muttered as he poured water again on the glass and downed the water.

"You're really stupid." He turned around to put the glass on the sink when he yelped in surprise and dropped the glass. The glass smashed on the floor. Thankfully, Will was still wearing his shoes so his feet were protected from the shards of the glass.

But Will ignored the glass when three feet away from him, Nico was standing and looking down at the smashed glass. "Don't move. Even though you're wearing shoes, thick shards might go through the sole of your shoes."

Will walked towards him stepping on the shards. "What are you doing here?"

Nico hissed. "You idiot!"

"I asked what you are doing here!" Will couldn't help to raise his voice impatiently.

Nico stared at him. "I don't know. . ."

"Are you messing with me, di Angelo?" Will was getting frustrated.

"I honestly don't know." Nico looked away. "It felt like I couldn't just leave like that…"

"Like what?" Will raised an eyebrow at him.

Nico glanced back at Will and stared at him again. There it was again, the familiar hum of energy surrounding them drawing them closer to each other. Though, both of them held their ground when uncertainty between them was still greater than the beat of their hearts and what it was telling them to do.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Nico?" Will hesitantly asked.

"The night that I remembered my death," Nico began, "It was the night that I was supposed to steal something from you…"

Will frowned at him. "Steal?"

"Yeah, and I think it's more proper to steal it from you with you being awake and all."

"Nico, stealing is never going to be a proper thing. It is illegal."

"So should I ask permission then?"

"About what?"

"No. Screw that. I'll just do it." Nico took two strides towards Will and reached for his lips.

Will, on his part, had taken a little while before it sank on him what was happening. Then another moment to let his brain processed it fully so he could do the appropriate action which was to kiss Nico back. Hard.

He didn't mean it to be that way, but weeks of frustration over the guy had set Will on edge. It almost drove him to the brink of insanity. Nico had stumbled back to the edge of the table as Will fisted on Nico's black shirt.

The need for air was what forced the two to separate. They were both gasping for air.

"I really thought that you're a hopeless case…" Will breathed out resting his forehead on Nico's.

"Maybe I really am?" Nico couldn't help but smile.

"Please say it to me, Nico." Will pleaded.

"I like you, you idiot." Nico kissed the side of his mouth.

"Damn it!" Will growled. "Just so you know the feelings are mutual. I like you too Nico freaking di Angelo." Then his lips found Nico's once more.

Once again, they had forgotten that a world exists other than their own.