This is becoming a habit of mine...I apologize for the lateness of last week's chapter, so here is another one early...hopefully I can get my crap together next week and actually upload on Monday. But I wouldn't hold out any hope.
Some people asked for a chapter in Will's point of view. I have already written out this entire fanfic, so it's only Nico, but I am currently working on a spin-off of these events in Will's pov. It's slow going, and I have lost inspiration, so I am not even half way done. I will publish the first chapter of that one when I have finished writing it up, but that might not be for a while. Let me know what you think of this new chapter!
The dark haired boy awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. He cursed to himself; he had slept in again. He dashed out of bed, still wearing the clothes from the day before, threw on a jacket and ran out the door, barely remembering to grab an apple on his way out.
His day was a haze of lazy people, lukewarm coffee and paperwork. Lots of paperwork. Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time that day, the pale boy finished up his last assignment and got ready to leave. Taking his jacket off the hook at the door, he strolled out of the building, and started walking home.
It was an unusually warm day for the end of September. The sun was shining, and the sky was clear of clouds. It was a day he would have liked. A long time ago, the dark haired boy and the blond boy would have raced outside, ready to play whatever latest game they had devised to entertain themselves. But not anymore. With a scowl permanently etched on his face, he hunched his shoulders down, and stomped back to his apartment, already done with the memories of his former best friend.
Walking into his apartment, he threw his jacket somewhere near the coat rack at the door, and kicked his shoes off somewhere near the rug at the door. With all the reminiscing he had been doing over the past couple of days, not to mention the near heart attack he had after seeing his ring around the blond's neck, he thought he deserved a relatively nice evening by himself, with no mention or thought of the blond. Nodding to himself, he decided to turn some music on to set the mood. Switching on the radio, he listened to the latest pop crap that was always playing. Scowling again, he flipped through the stations, trying to get a song that wasn't half bad or filled with static. Giving up after he went through all the stations twice, and didn't find anything better than Taylor Swift or classical music, he went back to the horrendous pop music, thinking it was nice background noise while he made dinner for himself.
Bustling around the kitchen, he gathered up ingredients to make pasta. Yes, he was Italian, and yes, he loved pasta. And yes, he was chronically angry. Basically the definition of a stereotypical Italian guy.
Throwing spices and tomato sauce in a pot, he tried to dance along to whatever song was on the radio. And ending up failing and flailing everywhere. And he also stubbed his toe. See, he told himself, this is what happens when you try to be happy. It backfires. But, he continued to dance and prance around his apartment while his pasta cooked, desperate to prove to himself that he could still have a good time without having to delve into his memory box.
Finally the pasta was ready, and a nice-ish song was on the radio. He hummed along to the melody, knowing some but not all the words. It was a slow song, perfect for dancing with your arms around your loved one's neck. But the dark haired boy didn't have anyone to wrap his arms around. There was no one for him, and if he continued pushing everyone away like he did the blond, he might never have anyone to dance to this song with. So much for having a pleasant day by himself without any thought of his old best friend.
Sighing heavily, he took his pasta off the burner, and served himself the largest portion of pasta he could fit on his plate. He ate when he was stressed or upset. It was a wonder he wasn't fat yet, given how often he was stressed and depressed. But, he wasn't overweight by any means, and he wasn't going to break his habit now. So he sat down at the table, and started to eat his pasta.
While he had been thinking to himself if he should repaint his walls to black instead of the cheery blue his sister had insisted would be "simply marvelous," he had started to tune out the radio. He had missed the weather report, the traffic scan, and the multiple ads that no one cared about. But, the next song that came on was enough to snap the dark haired boy out of his contemplative state, and back into reality. Or rather, back into the past.
It had been a bad day. Nico had forgotten his homework at home, again, and the teacher had threatened to call home if it kept happening. The truth was, he was scared of running into his father, so he had snuck out of the house through the back way, skipping breakfast, and forgetting his folder on the kitchen counter. But no one needed to know that. Will had also been absent, which was the cause of Nico's unease. Usually Will called to let him know that he was sick, or was missing a day due to a doctor's appointment. But there had been no phone call today. Paired with his empty stomach and lack of homework, the lack of his best friend was another blow to an already miserable day. Nico couldn't wait to get back home and hopefully visit Will to make sure he was okay. But, it seemed the stars were not aligned for Nico, for his father was home from work early, and was waiting in the kitchen, poised like a hawk, ready to pounce on anything he found offensive. Which happened to be Nico. His father railed on him for so long, Nico's mind started to wander off topic, and he barely had the sense to remember to nod when he was supposed to and keep eye contact. That's how he ended up splayed on his bed with a bruised the size of Hong Kong on his stomach. His father didn't like it when you didn't pay attention when he was talking to you. At least it was able to be hidden under his clothes.
Thoroughly depressed by the day, Nico pulled himself off his bed, and over to his friend's house. Hopefully Will would be able to cheer Nico up. When Nico knocked on the door, he heard scrambling before the lock was flipped, and the door opened to reveal a disheveled Will. Which reminded Nico of his other problem. The way his heart started racing whenever Will so much as looked at him. Nico knew he shouldn't feel like this, especially towards his best friend who was unfortunately a guy. He was disgusted with his heart, and his legs for turning to jelly when Will smirked, and his stomach for getting butterflies when Will laughed. Pulling himself together, he noticed Will was looking at him with an odd expression on his face.
"What's wrong Nico? Something happen?" Will asked gently. Nico could only nod-anything more and he would lose control right on the doorway of Will's house. His friend immediately pulled him into a hug, which Nico gratefully accepted.
"I'm okay," Nico muttered into Will's shoulder. Sometimes Nico cursed Will's height, but at times like this, he couldn't be happier to muffle his voice into his friend's body.
"No, you're not," Will said matter-of-factly. Will could always see past Nico's lies. He was the only one who cared enough to read the truth in Nico's eyes. Today was no exception.
"Was it your father? Did he do something? I swear to God, if he so much as raised his voice at you I'll-" Will was cut off by his friend's small, uncertain voice.
"It was nothing Will. I just got careless. I should have seen it coming, but today was already a rough day and I didn't really want to deal with him and can we just go up to your room?" Nico whispered, fearful of Will's answer. He really just wanted to be comforted by his best friend, and told lies about how everything was going to be okay, even though he knew they weren't.
"Of course we can. You can tell me anything you know that right?" Will asked, with a little fear in his voice, like he wasn't sure what the answer would be.
"Yeah, I know," Nico said, looking down at his feet. Without looking up, Nico could feel the smile oozing off of Will. Unconscious, Nico felt his own lips peel back into a smile. They made their way up the stairs and into Will's room. Nico flopped on the bed, and Will followed without a word.
"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong? Or are we going to play the guessing game again?" Will asked with a hesitant smile playing on his lips. Nico looked down shamefully. He had never liked keeping secrets from Will, and this time was no different. So he explained to his friend about the bad start of the day with his dad, and his lack of homework and lack of breakfast. Then he whispered about the beating he had gotten from his father when he had arrived home from school. But, no matter how much he trusted Will, Nico was not going to tell him about his newfound feelings for guys, for his friend in specific.
"Oh my god Nico. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you today," Will looked down at his lap, as though he felt guilty for leaving Nico alone.
"Wait, why weren't you there at school today?" Nico asked quizzically.
"Well, my sister got sick today and my mom wasn't able to take off work, so I stayed home to take care of her," Will said. "But I should have been there for you today. I should have protected you from your dad. You don't deserve this Nico," Will muttered to himself. Nico was surprised Will cared enough about him to say thing like that. The more Nico thought about it, the more he was confused about Will's emotions. Why did he say Nico didn't deserve it? Of course he deserved it. He didn't turn in his homework, he was a failure who didn't listen to his father, he disobeyed his mother, he had feelings for another guy, he sucked at literally everything, he was ugly, he was stupid, he was short, he was too attached to his friend and couldn't bear to lose him (which couldn't be healthy at all), he was too shy, he had no friends except for Will, he had no siblings and no one to take care of him, his mother ignored him, his father hated him, his hair was too long, his face was too pale, he was too lazy to do anything productive with his life, he procrastinated too much and he shouldn't even be alive and and and-
"Hey hey, Nico, calm down man," Will grabbed his shoulders which were shaking. Nico didn't even realize he was working himself up into a panic attack until Will interrupted his inner monologue. His entire body was shaking with tremors, and he couldn't quite catch his breath. Will hugged him close to his own body, trying to calm him down. He rubbed Nico's back and whispered words to him that he couldn't quite understand, but knew they were meant to comfort him. Slowly, Nico came back to himself enough so that he could hear some of the words Will was whispering to him: You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away. It was the first time he had heard those words, but it would not be the last.
The song on the radio was the same song Will sang to him all those years ago. You are my sunshine. Every time Nico would work himself into a frenzy, Will was there, with his warm body and strong shoulders that would protect him from the world. And the song. The most important thing was the song. Nico came to love that song. He felt like it was their song. Their own, personal song. Outwardly, Nico shoved Will away when he started singing, but inwardly, he basked in the lyrics and the rough, gravelly sound of Will's voice whispering in his ear. This, he thought, this is happiness.
But, like all good things, Will's deep singing voice had to end. And so did the song on the radio. When Nico moved away, he removed anything that could even remotely remind him of that song. Their song. Because Will wasn't always there with the sunshine song. And his sunshine was taken away in the end. Just like all the broken promises he tried to push to the back of his mind, but never quite stayed unremembered.
See you (hopefully) next Monday!