A/N: Okay so from here out, this is just a series of one-shots all in this AU. They're going to be in a non-linear order, just so you know. I'll always let you know where we're at, though.

This one's set shortly after Will comes to Italy. :3

September

Nico could feel Will's eyes on him. As he led them through the bustling streets of Venice with his hand clamped tight around Will's wrist, he could feel the burn of Will's stare boring into the back of his head. He squeezed Will's wrist as they ducked into a café in an attempt to escape the heavy rain.

"Does it do this a lot here?" Will asked grumpily as he shook his hair free of droplets.

"It's not uncommon, I guess?" Nico shrugged and tried not to feel too disappointed that Will's hand slipped out from his. He stuck his own in his pockets, definitely not pouting. It had been nearly a full two weeks since Will had come to Italy, and between their respective classes and extra-curricular activities, Nico hadn't nearly gotten enough time alone with his boyfriend. He huffed and followed Will toward the counter, both annoyed and amused how the American was gaping at every inch of the place as if they were in a museum and not a simply café.

"What do I want?" Will asked, staring up at the menu blankly.

"How should I know?"

"You can speak fluent Italian! I only know the basics, man." Will huffed. "What's the closest thing to a hot chocolate?"

Nico frowned. "I guess that would be cioccolata calda, but it might be different than what you're used to."

Will snorted. "I'm sure I can handle it! Uh, order for me, though?"

Nico was used to being the mediator between Will and the rest of the country. Will had been taking Italian for two semesters, but he wasn't exactly confident in his abilities to step into a conversation alone just yet. Usually, it meant that whenever Will needed to go shopping or run errands he took Nico and clung to him. While Nico didn't particularly mind the sunny blonde depending on him, he really wanted to do something other than sight-seeing and sharing their dates with the public eye.

He'd been in Will's dorm a few times, but that was just to help the American move in or to pick him up. He really wanted to just put on a crappy movie and curl up on the couch, relax and just enjoy his boyfriend's presence. But Will was dazzled by every aspect of Venice, from the towering architecture to the buzzing city life to the cracks in the roads.

Sighing, Nico ordered for the both of them and paid despite Will's protests. A few minutes later, Nico brought two mugs over to where Will had sat down, looking out the window with a frown. He set one down in front of Will and sat across from him. "I thought it was supposed to be warm and sunny in Venice," Will mumbled.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Weather changes here just like it does everywhere else. Now here." He passed Will a spoon. "Try it."

"What do I need a spoon for?"

"Like I said it might be a little different than what you're used to." Raising an eyebrow, Will did as he was told and scooped up a bit of whipped cream before popping the spoon into his mouth. Nico snorted. "Don't just get the cream," he said and took a spoonful of his own.

Will took a second bite and lit up. "Whoa, that's good. But weird. Is it pudding?"

Nico shrugged. "It's kind of in between being a drink and a dessert."

"Well, whatever it is, it's amazing."

They sat and talked until the rain cleared up a bit then made their way back to Will's dorm on the opposite side of town. Nico was exhausted by the time they made it there. Will was a ball of energy. Anytime he seemed tired he would sit for a few minutes and then be back on his feet, renewed.

"So…" Will drawled as they approached his dorm room. "My roommate is on a tour all weekend." He glanced at Nico with a smirk.

Nico caught his drift immediately. "Yeah?"

"Mmhm. Wanna come in for a little bit?"

A half-nervous, half-excited jolt ran through Nico but he nodded quickly. "That sounds… nice."

Will grinned and pulled him in. It was exactly how Nico pictured it. They put on a random movie, snuggled up on Will's bed, and Nico could hear the patter of the rain hitting the window. He sighed happily as Will's arm pulled him closer. Even though he was more relaxed than he had been all day, his heart was pounding. He really hoped Will wouldn't notice, but when he rested his head on the blonde's chest he realized that they were in the same boat.

"I don't know how you managed to be so cool and collected last year," Will said with a yawn. Nico raised his head to look at him. "Yanno, in America. Didn't you miss home?"

Nico shrugged. "I guess. I had a lot of distractions, I guess."

"I'll take credit for that." Will kissed his hair.

Nico frowned. "Do you miss home?" Will hadn't even been here a month yet. Was he already getting bored of him?

Will hummed. "I miss certain things. Like I'm gonna miss out on Thanksgiving. I know you guys don't celebrate it here but…" He yawned again. "It's one of my favorite holidays."

"You say that about every holiday," Nico said, running a hand through Will's hair as the other boy let his eyes shut sleepily. He hesitated before asking, "Would you… would you want to celebrate it here?" As a response, he heard a small snore. Will had fallen asleep, face tucked into the crook of Nico's neck.

Nico sighed and patted his head awkwardly.

…

November

"Right, so, what exactly is Thanksgiving again?" Bianca asked as they entered the grocery store. She raised an eyebrow at the shopping list. "I mean I've heard of it but do we really need all this?"

Nico shrugged, grabbing a cart. "Don't know. Last year I went to my roommate's house for it and they said it was all about being grateful or whatever. They really just ate."

"All of this?" Bianca gasped, shaking the list at his face.

Nico slapped it away. "Yeah, all of it."

"A whole turkey, peas, potatoes, cranberries, celery, bread, butter, pie crust, pumpkins…" She shook her head. "That's not even half the list. How are we going to carry all of this home?"

"Dad let us use his chauffer."

"Jules-Albert? Oh, God. Why can't you have your boyfriend help us? It's his dumb holiday."

"Because he hates when people make a fuss over him," Nico muttered, glaring at two different cans of cranberries and their respective prices.

"But you're going to do it anyways?"

"That's right." Nico tossed a can into the cart and sighed. "I want to surprise him. And we're going to do all of the cooking from scratch!"

"Go big or go home, I guess. Is Dad going to be there?"

"I told him about it but I believe his exact words were, 'I'll see what I can do'."

"So… no."

"You'll be there, though, right? I invited Hazel and Frank, too. Figured to get as much of the family together while I'm at it."

Bianca grinned and leaned her elbows against the cart. "You're enjoying this."

Nico snorted. "Am not."

"Are too! Look at you, you're practically giddy!"

"Shut up!" Nico snapped, stomping off to find some peas.

Bianca followed him, laughing. "Aw, Nico! I'll be there if it means that much to you!"

"It doesn't!"

"It so does!"

He chose to ignore her. He focused on just getting everything on the list and what Will's reaction would be when he sat down for a proper Thanksgiving meal.

…

"Hurry up," Nico called into Will's dorm, knocking on the door impatiently.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" Will's voice drifted out. Nico heard a muffled crash from inside that was quickly followed by a groan. A few moments later, Will opened the door, muttering curses and rubbing his chin.

"What did you do?" Nico snorted, reaching up to pull Will's chin in the light a bit.

"Tripped on my slippers," he mumbled.

"Only you." Nico pulled back, hands in pockets. "Are you ready to go?"

"Does this sweater look all right?" Will asked nervously, pulling on the hem to show off the thick, dark blue sweater he wore.

Nico's eyes trailed up Will's chest and arms appreciatively with a raised eyebrow. "Since when do you care how you look?"

"Since you invited me to have dinner with your family for the first time!" Will shouted, running a hand through his hair, which looked as though it had been gelled back. He gasped, fled to the mirror hanging above his dresser with a grimace, and started to carefully part his hair to one side again.

"Will, we're just going to my house."

"I have to make a good impression!"

"You've already met my family."

"Yeah, but they're all gonna be there! Watching!"

Nico rolled his eyes at his boyfriend as he stepped over, dodging a pair of duck slippers, and pulled Will's hand away from his hair. "You look fine," he muttered and reached up to ruffle Will's hair until it was back to its usual messy state. "You always do."

Will smiled sheepishly, a pleased red tint on his cheeks. "Ah… well…"

Nico scoffed and rolled up to his tiptoes to push a quick kiss to Will's red chin. "We need to go now or we'll be late. I went to a lot of trouble for tonight and I'll be damned if your hair is going to ruin it."

Will chuckled, hands resting on his sides. "Yeah, just a second."

Whatever complaint Nico had was stifled beneath Will's lips and any resolve to get Will's butt in gear was flushed out by a warm, tingly feeling. When Will eventually pulled away, looking smug, it took a few moments for Nico's thoughts to drift back to him. "Satisfied?" he muttered.

Will grinned cheekily. "For now."

Nico slapped him on the shoulder. "Idiota."

"Oh, I love it when you insult me in Italian," Will said sarcastically as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Just get your coat."

Will saluted him, grabbed it off the hook, and they were off. When they made it outside, Will put his hands in his pockets and somehow, habitually, Nico's hand wound around Will's elbow as they walked. "Is your dad gonna be there the whole time?" Will asked and Nico could hear the anxiety in his voice.

Nico shrugged. "I'll be surprised if he shows up at all, to be honest."

Will relaxed. "Oh. Okay."

"He's not that scary."

"You're just used to it!" Will huffed. "I swear, when he looks at me, it's like he's judging my very soul."

Nico choked on a laugh. "Don't worry. I won't let him try anything."

"How do you say 'hero' in Italian?"

"Eroe."

"Mio eroe!" Will grinned.

He hid his smile in his collar as his hand slid down to tangle with Will's.

…

"I smell something good," Will hummed, wringing his hands together as Nico let him in.

"It better," he said as he closed the door behind them. "I slaved over it all damn day."

"I'm sure it'll taste just as good, too," Will said, kissing Nico's cheek before taking off his jacket and hanging it up.

"Shoes off," Nico reminded him as he kicked off his own and padded into the living room, calling for his sister. "Bi! Will's here!"

"Ciao, Will!" Bianca shouted from the kitchen, sounding anxious. "Uh, Nico? Can I see you in here for a minute?"

Nico glared at Will over his shoulder and pointed at the couch. "Sit. Stay."

"Woof," Will responded, but obeyed as Nico hurried to the kitchen.

"What's…?" His voice trailed off as he gaped in horror at the state of the kitchen. "What did you do?"

"I… I was heating up the gravy on the stove!" Bianca said, dazed. "Next thing I know… boom!" She gestured towards the mess all over the stove, cupboards, and wall. Nico followed her gaze up to the ceiling and started to chuckle. "It's not funny!" she huffed.

"How did it get on the ceiling?" He snorted. "Seriously, even you couldn't mess up that badly!"

Bianca flicked some gravy on him.

"Nice." He grabbed a tea towel and wiped it off. "It's just the gravy, though. We have more of it and tons of other food so don't wor—"

The oven made a strange hissing noise and a bit of smoke started drifting out the vent.

Nico pointed at Bianca. "You." He pointed to the door. "Couch."

Bianca huffed, untied the apron off of her waist, and thrust it into his arms before stomping out, heels clicking against the floor, and walking into the living room. "Hi, Will," Nico heard her say.

"Hey, Bianca. Did you get banished to the couch, too?"

"Yeah. Nico's pretty strict when it comes to his kitchen."

"I see. Uh, you have a bit of gravy in your hair."

Nico didn't pay them much attention after that. He just rolled up his sleeves and got to work on saving dinner. He wasn't about to let anything, including Bianca's negligence ruin Will's Thanksgiving, especially once he had gotten this far.

He was tending to the turkey when he heard the doorbell. "BI!" he shouted.

"Got it!" she answered and a few moments later he heard Hazel and Frank's voices exchange greetings.

"Where's Nico?" Hazel asked loudly, as if expecting him to crawl out from nowhere.

"At his battle station," Bianca said.

"Is Dad coming?"

"He said that Persephone and he would try to show up for dinner but that's debatable."

Nico put the turkey back into the oven, hoping he was cooking it correctly, and sighed. He stood up and turned, making to take off the ridiculous periwinkle oven mitts off, when he found himself blinking at a firm chest.

"You're wearing an apron," Will laughed out.

Nico flushed. "I told you to stay on the couch," he grumbled, looking at his shoes.

Will toyed with the strings on the apron Nico had around his waist. "You're wearing a purple apron," he sniggered.

"It's periwinkle," came Nico's stupid response and he smacked himself in the head with the matching oven mitts as Will held his sides and laughed.

"I just came in to see if I could help." Will wiped merry tears out of his eyes.

Nico was all too aware of the obvious ingredients sitting around his kitchen. He tried to steer Will back out of the kitchen, muttering a mixture of threats and excuses, but Will was like a brick wall. Nico's ears heated up when Will's attention was caught by the various things on the counter. "Wow, you're really going all out, aren't you?" Will whistled. "Is that turkey? Man, I…" He trailed off. "Wait… what's today again?"

Nico crossed his arms and scowled. "I wanted to surprise you, idiota."

"Surprise…?"

Nico shrugged. "Happy Thanksgiving, I guess." Will's stare made him feel uncomfortable. He fidgeted from foot to foot while Will just gaped at him. "Look, if you don't want to celebrate then—" he broke off when Will pulled him into a tight hug.

"Love you," Will said into his hair. "Really, you didn't have to go to all this trouble just for me."

Nico huffed but returned the hug. "What makes you think it was all for you?" It was a weak attempt at a bluff and they both knew it.

Will pulled back, beaming, and squeezed his hands. "You know, I help my mom out with the cooking and stuff. I can help."

Nico made to protest, state that he didn't need Will teasing him for acting like a housewife, but then he broke into a grin and untied the apron. He threw it at Will, who caught it with raised eyebrows. "Start chopping the potatoes, will you?"

Will tied the apron on and struck a pose. "How do I look?"

Nico broke into laughter. "Like I said earlier, you always look good."

…

After dinner had been served and eaten, and none of them could take another bite of pumpkin pie, they took to the living room to talk. Will smiled down at Nico, who had his head on Will's lap and was fast asleep. He kept his hand on the top of Nico's head, rubbing gentle circles to his scalp.

"Here," Hazel said, handing Will a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," Will said gratefully and took a sip, impressed when it was exactly how he took it.

Hazel sat down on the coffee table across from him and smiled down at Nico. "Looks like he tuckered himself out, huh?"

Will grinned. "Yeah." Nico had definitely put his all into making it as authentic of a Thanksgiving as possible. Just as they finished setting all of the food on the table, Nico's father and stepmother arrived. Will's nerves had immediately been stirred, but were quelled immediately by his boyfriend.

Nico had marched right up to his parents and started nagging them both for being late, which led to the funniest fight Will had ever seen. Nico, Bianca, and their parents were all yelling in Italian, making wild gestures that left Will with an inkling of the types of insults that were being exchanged. However, when they all finally sat down, Will could see the upwards tilt to Nico's lips and just how very pleased he was to have everyone together.

Thankfully, Nico's father and stepmother didn't stick around for long. They let the kids enjoy the rest of the night, which consisted mainly of board games, Christmas music, and auctioning off the remaining desserts. Bianca and Hazel told a lot of embarrassing stories about Nico from when he was younger, and Nico barked at them to shut up until he was blue in the face.

Eventually, things had calmed down, and they discovered that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was playing on television. It was a bit strange to be watching it dubbed in Italian but Will had seen the movie enough times with his siblings so it wasn't too bad. Nico had sat next to him and, as the movie progressed, Nico slumped farther and farther into Will, until it led to where he was now, using Will's thighs as a pillow.

"Well, you survived one family get together," Hazel said, looking over to where her boyfriend and Bianca were preparing leftovers. She smiled. "What do you think? Ready to run yet?"

Will chuckled and shook his head. "It was fun. I think I'm finally starting to get used to this family's sense of humor." It had been a bit unsettling, at first, when he heard the di Angelos yell imaginative death threats at each other, but he knew now it was all in good fun and none of the words were really meant.

Nico gave a sigh in his sleep and nuzzled closer to Will, bringing his knees up to curl into a ball. Will started to run his fingers through his dark hair again with a fond smile, thinking about how much Nico had done for him, not just that day but over the last year they had known each other.

Will snorted. "I can't wait to see what he has planned for Christmas."

Hazel shook her head. "Let's see… usually, Bianca forces Dad into a Santa suit and Nico and Persephone get really drunk on wine and start caroling."

Will laughed loudly, slapping a hand around his mouth when Nico gave a disgruntled huff. Hazel giggled and stood, patting Nico on the head before going up to do the same for Will. "I should probably get Frank and go. We have class tomorrow still."

"Right," Will said. "It was nice seeing you again."

"You, too. Oh, and Will?"

Will tilted his head back. "Yeah?"

"Nico's my brother, and I know he's a pain in the neck sometimes." Hazel smiled "But he really likes you. Just be good to him, all right?"

Will flushed. "U-uh… yeah. Yeah, of course!"

As Hazel went to go collect her boyfriend and her share of the leftovers, Will turned his attention back to the sleepy Italian sprawled across his lap. He took a sip of his coffee, feeling overly relaxed.

He was grateful that Nico di Angelo had found his way into that godforsaken McDonald's that Will had been wasting away in, and even more so that he got to call him his boyfriend.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," the radio crackled.

Will took another deep drink of coffee and started to hum along, content to sit there all night and enjoy the feeling of having a whole new family.

A/N: You butter believe that I'm bringing Bianca into this alive and well. Also, Hazel is still Nico's half-sister, but the details of that will be explained in a later story.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans! Enjoy your football, turkeys, and Black Friday preparations! To anyone that doesn't celebrate, have an awesome day and please excuse us Americans as we post ridiculous amounts of pics of pumpin pie. :)