A/N: Chapter 18 is here, and the Stolls are gonna cause some trou~bleeee! Enjoy, babes ;)

18

Will

Will quite literally fell off his chair, sliding under the dining room table and crouching with his knees pressed to his chest. Oh, gods, I didn't know they'd be here. What if they see me? What if I see them? I'm going to murder Cecil when he gets back down here!

Nico leaned over to peek at Will under the table with a raised brow. "Um, Will, are you alright?"

"Yep," Will said quickly, still trying not to panic. "Fine. Just fiiiine."

"Then... why are you hiding under the table?"

He looked up at the Italian, who was still staring at him with curious, slightly amused brown eyes. "Um... hiding? I'm not hiding." He nervously slid back up into his chair, but he couldn't help but glance around nervously. The Stolls weren't that bad, but... Will didn't exactly have the best history with them...

So as soon as Cecil was back, Will grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him into the kitchen, away from the crowd. "What are the Stolls doing here?!" he hissed. "You didn't tell me... he would be here!"

Cecil shrugged nonchalantly as if he didn't hear the underlying panic in Will's voice. "I dunno. Like I said, guess the word traveled farther down the grape vine. No biggie."

"No biggie?!" Will was about ready to strangle Cecil when Nico poked his head past the kitchen threshold. "Will? You okay in here?" He ducked all the way into the room and walked over to stand in front of him, crossing his arms and studying Will with a scrutinizing look. "You're acting weird."

Will quickly shook his head. Gods, he couldn't bother Nico with this. It was way too embarrassing, and frankly, something he wished would go curl up in a basement somewhere and die. Something he never wanted talked about or brought up ever again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. While Will was still standing there processing Nico's words, Cecil spoke, the beer he'd had totally demolishing any sort of filter he'd had. "Will's ex is here," he whisper-shouted conspiratorially, holding one hand in a cup around his mouth and leaning slightly towards Nico as if that would prevent Will from hearing. "It didn't end well between them and he's scared to face—" Before he could say anything else to further damage his will to live, Will clapped a hand over his mouth with a glare that could wither grass.

But it was too late. Nico turned to him with wide eyes. "Your ex? Who is she?"

Will winced. Shit. This is not how he'd wanted to tell Nico he was gay, not at all. "He," he eventually corrected in a low, embarrassed mumble, feeling slightly like he wanted to curl up in a ball and die. (Okay, maybe more than slightly.) "His name is Conner..."

Nico seemed almost... relieved? He breathed out a sigh and rested a hand on Will's arm, almost gripping it. "Will, it's cool. We've all had to deal with exes." He gave him a small smile. "Let's just enjoy the party." His smile morphed into one of his usual wide, mischievous grins, and Will felt relieved himself. "Besides, if he tries anything, I promise I'll knock him out for you. Deal?" He held out a hand, still wearing that familiar grin.

Will gave a short laugh, feeling a warmth spreading through his chest as he accepted Nico's handshake. "Deal." As they started walking back towards the dining room, Will grabbed Nico's hand. Not in a hand-holdy way, but rather a quick squeeze. "Thanks." He smiled, a real, genuine smile that he usually reserved for Lou or his dad. "Really."

"Don't worry about it," Nico said, waving a hand. Will caught him smiling as they sat down, and a shiver of electricity traveled down his back. He couldn't seem to keep the grin off his face now. He still hadn't found a way to tell Nico he was in love with him, but every moment he spent with him, every smile they shared, every touch—they all helped him gain just a bit more courage.

Will found himself forgetting about Conner and Travis' presence as the night progressed, and he played games, danced, ate, and laughed with Nico. It may not have been an official date—not yet—but it was the most fun Will had had in ages. Currently, they were in the kitchen getting drinks (after having worn themselves out dancing), laughing over somebody's terrible, drunk dance moves.

While Will was taking a swig of soda, Cecil came parading into the kitchen followed by several giggling girls. (Will rolled his eyes.) "Hey, Will, just the man I've been looking for!" He threw an arm around his shoulders and leaned heavily against him, giving him a wide, toothy smile.

"Why were you looking for me?" Will asked, semi-suspicious now. Nothing good ever happened when Cecil was "looking for him".

Cecil grinned. "Party games, man! Bringin' 'em back. You guys gotta join!"

Will quickly shook his head no. "Cec, come on, you've had enough party for now. Besides, you promised you'd lay down for a while after I played a game with you. Whatever happened to that, huh?"

"Yes, and technically you didn't finish the game," Cecil said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You left early and didn't even get to go!" He nodded to emphasize his point as Will scoffed and shook his head again. "Yes, Will, you know I'm right! Now come on or I'll kick you out!" He stumbled out laughing before Will could say anything else, closely followed by the gaggle of giggling girls.

Will turned to Nico with an exhausted look, causing the Italian to burst out in a fit of laughter. He rested a gentle hand on Will's shoulder—he tried to ignore the rapid spiking of his heart-rate—with a smile. "Come on, we might as well do it. Who knows? It could be fun. Right?"

Raising an eyebrow, Will shot the shorter boy a wide, proud grin. "Well, look at the little shy boy coming out of his shell."

Nico rolled his eyes and lightly hit his shoulder. "Shut up. Let's go out there before your friend makes good on his threat."

"After you, my little social butterfly," Will said with a flourish, squealing and bursting into laughter and Nico aimed a punch for him. They ducked into the dining room together, still laughing. It stopped when Will looked ahead and locked eyes with Conner across the table. The warming feeling in his chest a second earlier was replaced by a cold one of dread as he stopped, seeming almost frozen to the spot.

Nico followed his gaze and his eyes locked onto Conner's tall, broad form. Seeming to understand immediately, he reached out and squeezed Will's hand, startling him into looking over at him. The Italian gave him a reassuring smile that immediately filled him with a sense of safety. "It's okay," he said quietly, so just Will could hear. "I'm right here with you." He flashed him a joking smirk and leaned slightly into him. "I've got a mean right hook ready for him."

Will laughed, feeling all his nerves wash away, and nodded. As they went to sit down, he caught Conner staring at their linked hands, his eyes narrowing to slits. Will's brows furrowed in confusion, but he wrote it off and sat down beside Nico, who released his hand to pull his chair closer to the table.

He could still feel Connor's eyes on them, but it bothered him less knowing that Nico was by his side.

This newest game was a simple one of truth or dare, which Will was grateful for. Truth or dare was much safer than seven minutes in heaven or spin the bottle. He was hoping to not have to go for a while, but unfortunately, Cecil had other ideas. He placed a bottle on the table in front of Will with a devilish grin. "You go first, Will. Spin away."

Will's shoulder slumped and he nodded with a dejected sigh. "Yeah, okay..." Nico shot him an amused grin as he reached forward and gave the bottle a good, hard spin. It flew around the circle several times before landing on a petite ginger-haired girl he didn't know. Sighing inwardly, he asked the cliché question. "Truth or dare?"

The girl bit her lip, giggling nervously. "Um, truth?"

There were a few boos, but the girl ignored them as Will floundered around in his head for a good question. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?"

As the girl turned red and starting telling her story, Will relaxed in his chair with a relieved sigh. Nico leaned over to him and whispered, "Nice question, sunshine. You're practically the Picasso of truth or dare."

"Shut up," Will said with a laugh, shoving Nico's shoulder with his own. "Like you could do any better, death boy."

"I can, and I will," Nico retorted with a playful grin. He raised his voice to say, "I'll go next!" Shooting Will a wide grin, he reached forward and gave the bottle a good spin. It landed on an athletic brunet boy, who rolled his eyes when Nico asked him 'truth or dare'. "Dare. Duh."

Nico flashed an evil smirk, which made Will sweat in nervous anticipation. He knew Nico could be devious, but he felt bad for whatever he would force the poor boy to do. The brunet seemed to share his feelings of unease as he studied Nico nervously. The Italian's eyes sparkled with amusement as he said, "Alright, I dare you to switch clothes with the girl on your left." His grin widened. "And I mean completely."

Both the girl and the boy looked mortified, and as they got up and headed to the bathroom to change, Will gave Nico a wide-eyed look. "Wow, you are evil. Geez."

He waved a hand in mock embarrassment. "You flatter me, Solace." He grinned. "But I did say I could do better, didn't I?What do you say? Do you concede?"

Will laughed and rolled his eyes slightly. "Yeah, yeah, I give. You're the unofficial king of truth or dare. Happy?"

"Very," Nico said with a satisfied smirk. Before they could talk more, the girl and boy came back, the girl's clothes tight in all the wrong places on the boy, and his completely dwarfing the small girl. This elicited a roar of laughter from the gathered crowd at and around the table, and Nico and Will joined in as the two sat down, looking incredibly embarrassed.

"My turn!"

The game progressed this way, and luckily Will managed to avoid getting picked—though Nico had already been dared to drink an entire jar of pickle juice. But he knew he would have to go eventually, and his time did come, though not at all the way he'd wanted.

Travis Stoll's spin sent the bottle spinning so fast it was just a blur. Will's eyes tracked it around and around and around until it finally came to a slow, deliberate stop. His eyes traced the bottle's directed path, and he felt a jolt of cold shock in his chest as he realized... it was pointed right at him. He gulped.

"Truth or dare?" Travis asked with a wide grin, his blue eyes full of mischief.

It didn't matter what he said. Either way, it would end up being either bad or embarrassing for him. This was half of a pair proclaimed as the kings of pranking. He was doomed. But which one had a better chance at not making him die of embarrassment? Probably... "Dare," he said hesitantly, his palms already sweating from nervousness.

Travis grinned, and Will's heart dropped into his stomach. "I dare you... to kiss the person directly across from you."

Will paused. That wasn't so bad. His gaze slowly traveled from Travis, who sat to his left, to the person across from him. His breath caught in his throat, nearly causing him to choke, as he met a pair of familiar blue eyes. No. No no no no nononono. Will stared at Connor in horror, feeling frozen in his dread. This couldn't be happening. He wouldn't.

Before he knew what he was doing, Will said, very loudly, "No!"

Travis stood and pointed at him accusingly. "You have to! It's the rules of the game!"

Will stood as well and shot Travis the fiercest glare he could muster. "I won't!" He pushed away from the table and made to walk past him, towards the door, but Travis grabbed his wrist and spun him around. "Will," he said darkly, his grip tightening against Will's wrist painfully, "sit down."

Before Will could do anything, he was suddenly pushed back, safely away from Travis. He looked up with a shocked look to see Nico gripping the boy by his shirt collar, his chocolate eyes dark and nearly murderous. "Do that again and I'll fucking kill you. Got it?" His voice was a low growl, every syllable dead serious.

A wide-eyed Travis nodded quickly, and Nico released him and took a step away, towards Will. "Come on, Will. Let's go."

"Um, y-yeah," Will stuttered, tripping in his haste to follow him. "Sure."

He cast a glance back to see Connor holding his brother's elbow, who was glaring daggers at them, looking like he wanted to kill them. "That kid's fucking insane."

Will turned back around to stare at Nico's back. Did he really just do that? Threaten to kill Travis... For me...?

The car ride back to Nico's house seemed to go by almost too quickly, and by the time they got there, Will had had quite a bit of time to think. As he got out to walk Nico to his door, he clenched his fists and squared his shoulders. He walked Nico to his door and paused on the porch. The boy turned around to look at him, his face cast in shadow by the porch light behind his head.

"I had a nice time," he said with a shy smile, clasping his hands together and leaning against the door. "It was... fun."

Will smiled. "Yeah, it was." He traced the curve of Nico's sharp cheekbone with his eyes before he remembered what he wanted to do. Hesitantly, he leaned forward and brushed a kiss against Nico's cheek, barely a touch. He pulled away quickly, hoping the dark somewhat hid his flushed cheeks. "Thanks for, you know... Travis."

Nico was standing there staring up at him with a shocked expression, and Will quickly turned and leaped off the porch, unable to stand there any longer lest he die of embarrassment. "See you!" He practically sprinted to his car, almost dropping the key several times in his fumble to get it in the ignition. Only when he was several blocks from Nico's house did he slow down. He pulled over on the side of the road and ran his hand through his hair, sucking in a ragged breath. Did I really just do that...?

He slouched in his seat and rested his head against the cold steering wheel, closing his eyes. Well, whether I wanted to or not, I guess that confession is coming sooner than expected...

A/N: Aw, full Solangelo not yet completed. BUT SOON, MY KIDDIES! This chapter was a bit longer, so I hope that makes up for it XD As always, remember to follow and favorite to show your support, and review with comments, corrections, suggestions, overall thoughts, and opinions, because all feedback is greatly appreciated :)

P.S.: Once again written on my super-touchy laptop, so my apologies for any mistakes! Also, we're almost to 100 follows! Just 15 more and we're there! A huge thank you one again to everyone who has been supporting this story. Ily guys 3