Nico jammed his finger into the elevator button repeatedly, anxious to get upstairs as soon as possible. Once the doors closed, he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and trying to stay composed. But he couldn't help himself. He was grinning when the doors opened on Will's floor.

Nico rushed through the halls, searching for Will's apartment number, 612. He passed 608, no, 610, no, 612! He stopped abruptly in front of the door, knocking more times than necessary. When Will opened it, he was grinning, too. Immediately, Nico flew at Will, tossing his arms around him. Will, shocked at Nico showing physical contact for once, stumbled backward, but Nico pulled away quickly, grabbing Will's arms to steady him.

"I- I saw your text," was the first thing Will stammered out.

"I know! Isn't it amazing!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Around fifteen minutes ago, Nico had texted Will about Tomorrow's Name, the first song they had sung together. Nico had just discovered that it had charted in the top 100 for that week, the week after they released it. For a small, obscure act like Nico, that was mind boggling.

"I can't believe it was so popular!" Will admitted, laughing and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I guess it just needed your spark," Nico said honestly. Will's face turned red, and immediately Nico regretted saying that. But to his surprise, Will just smiled even wider.

"Yeah… I guess it did." Will's froze. "I-I mean, not to take any of the credit or anything. You did almost everything, I really just sang-"

"No, that's not true." Nico held up his hands to stop Will, then playfully punched him in the arm. "Credit where credit is due, Solace. You made some key decisions about what direction to take the song in… it wouldn't be the same without you."

Will looked strangely nervous, so Nico tried for a comforting smile. This only seemed to scare Will even more, though, so Nico figured he must've been grimacing instead by accident. He never was the best at smiling.

"Nico, I…" Will looked torn, like he couldn't decide what to say. "I'm really happy for you."

Nico was still too ecstatic about the song to think about what else Will might have been about to say. "Thank you. But you should be happy for yourself, too. I saw how hard you worked on Tomorrow's Name."

"Not as hard as you."

Nico tilted his head. "No, I guess not. You've been busy working on that new song, hm, Doctor Solace?"

That got Will's attention.

"Yeah… I-I have…"

Nico almost grinned. "I'm excited for that one, too."

"So am I."

Will smiled at him again, because of course he did, because he was just full of smiles, today and always. But this time, there was something different in his face. It wasn't the bright, cheerful beam that Nico had become accustomed to. It was something softer, something deeper, showing fondness instead of optimism. Nico wasn't quite sure what that smile meant, but it made the shadows from the golden light of the window fall on Will's face perfectly. His hair seemed to glow. Flecks of gold became visible in his bright blue eyes.

How had Nico never noticed those before?

"Will…" Nico reached out and grabbed Will's hand without thinking. Will's eyes widened, but he didn't look away. "This is only the beginning."

Will's eyes flickered back and forth between Nico's. "What do you mean?"

Nico didn't know.

He meant a lot of things.

He decided to start with the easy one first.

"I mean… this is only the first song we've done together. Do you know how much farther we have to go? It's- it's exciting. We've only just started."

Will nodded, looking vaguely disappointed "Yeah."

Nico bit his lip, focusing on the sound of Will's breathing. After a moment, he took a step closer. He felt Will's breath on his face. "I- I mean something else, too."

Will still hadn't broken eye contact. "What?"

"I mean that this-" Nico leaned in further, close enough that he could feel Will's heartbeat against his own chest. "-this-" Their hands were still locked together. "-is only the beginning."

Nico hoped Will understood what he meant. He couldn't put it into words. Luckily, Will seemed to get it. He nodded softly, as if in a trance, his eyes locked onto Nico's.

"I'm excited for- this." His gaze flickered down to Nico's lips for a moment.

Nico nodded.

"I… Will, I think I…" Nico trailed off, distracted by Will's freckles. He'd never been close enough before to see them that well, but now, they were only a few inches away. They covered Will's face, as if an artist had flung a paintbrush and cast the tiny dots all over him. Nico again felt the urge to try and count them, just like he had in the ice cream shop a week before.

A strange feeling rising in the pit of his stomach that he didn't think he wanted to stop, Nico lifted his free hand and rested it on Will's cheek, tracing a line of freckles with his thumb. Although his gaze was now on Will's skin, Nico could still feel Will watching him.

"I think…" Nico was whispering now, desperately trying to find the right words for how he felt. "...Can I kiss you?"

That last question was breathed out, more air than words, and it wouldn't have been heard if the two of them weren't so close to each other. But as it was, Will did hear. He nodded, and Nico could see chills raising the hair on Will's neck.

It gave him a strange sense of satisfaction, knowing that he gave Will chills.

Nico took a shaky breath, eyes now fixed back on Will's sky-blue irises, and dipped his head forward, pressing his lips to Will's.

It was an amateur kiss. Will's right hand stayed limp by his side, as he surely had no idea what to do with it. Nico was positive he was squeezing Will's other hand too tight. His eyes were closed, but Nico could feel his hand on Will's cheek shaking, could feel Will's heartbeat racing just as fast as his, could feel Will tilt his head slightly to get a better angle. Every bit of Nico's skin that was touching Will felt like it was on fire, causing warmth to seep throughout his entire body, throughout his head. It filled his thoughts with nothing but Will, Will, Will. Nico let himself drown in the boy holding him.

When they pulled away, panting, eyes gleaming, Nico let out a breathy laugh. All of the nerves and adrenaline built up by the kiss seemed to run out of him at once, leaving him feeling warm and calm. He gazed up at Will, not bothering to police how lovestruck he looked.

"That was…"

"Yeah." Will was beaming back at Nico.

"Yeah," Nico repeated, laughing softly. He wrapped his arms around Will, holding him tight, barely even believing what had just happened.

He had just kissed Will Solace.

Will Solace had kissed him back.

And Nico's lips still hadn't stopped tingling.

A/N: sjgidbgrearb smooch. I hope this turned out okay. I've written kissing scenes before, but I've never actually posted them. If you have any tips/criticisms, don't hesitate to tell me. But I promised you this chapter would be exciting! Thank you so so so much for reading! Only one chapter left...