Not a single drop of alcohol could be found coursing through his veins, yet the lone figure standing in the small club bathroom felt as if he was submerged in the sensation of intoxication. A warm flush had already enveloped his body in a complete embrace, the tingling from where hands had just touched still buzzing on his skin. A shiver ran through Will's upper chest, his fingers trembling as he turned to gaze at his own reflection in front of the glistening porcelain sink his mysterious stranger had just been lounging against.
Was this actually happening? Did he truly just witness that unattainably ethereal acknowledging him in a shared space? Had the ever-so faint scent of strawberries and liquor on the other man, still lingering in his mind, really been close enough to taste?
Was that flirtatious invitation to 'get to know him better' real, instead of one of many faint, shameful, and messy dreams in the morning that had plagued him much more frequently in recent weeks?
Staring himself in the face, Will watched as his chin trembled in the mirror in front of him, the rush of the nerve-wracking and close encounter shuttling pure adrenaline through his veins. He tried to pull in a breath, chest rising with a tremor, before exhaling a rattled sigh, trying to regain control of the situation he found himself in.
If life was a dream, this was one hell of a fucked-up nightmare.
Heartbeats pounding just under his throat, the blonde tore his gaze away from the mirror and squinted at the wall to his left, mentally straining to manifest a miniature clown, or a purple cat, or something strange enough where he'd finally be able to figure out if he was passed out after one too many hits off an indica cart.
It always worked. Once the reins of the nightmare were returned to their rightful owner, the reimagination of the scenario was able to bring him out of the overwhelming anxiety that came with the loss of control. His favorite, imaginary, and violet kitten was about to manifest itself and he could go about his mornings as usual.
Except, this time, the purple cat didn't quite come through for Will as he hoped it would. Fumbling through his pockets, he finally clicked on his phone to see '02:26' on his lock screen, a calendar notification from hours ago titled "text dad you're still alive" the only other adornment on an otherwise silent device.
The palpitations in his chest rose up again, the tumultuous feeling of confirming that this was, in fact, real life, washing over him once more. Balancing himself on the counter as he looked down at his always steady hands quiver with this never-before felt rush of invigoration, Will pulled in another trembling breath, trying to calm his nerves, before pulling open and walking through the bathroom door.
The rich red lighting of the bar was dearly welcomed by his pupils as they dilated, finally free from the blindingly bright fluorescent bulbs. While the anonymity that came with dim lighting was nice, Will couldn't help but admit that for once, the harsh contrast brought by artificial light had its purposes.
In the back of his mind, Will could still see those large, soulful eyes, with just a subtle flick of black liquid eyeliner accenting his already alluring gaze, peering up at him from less than a foot away. He could still see the way the pair of sickly green, almost-faded hickeys on that man's left collarbone screamed for attention in the revealing paleness of the rest of his skin.
No, now there was a name to put to an irresistibly enchanting face. Nico. Of course, Will's pronunciation of the name could never hold a candle to the way Nico said it himself. Just a hint of something foreign lingered in his vowels that slipped away just as the words reached one's ears.
His gaze flitted back over to the nearby bar and once again met with deep brown. Will watched, entranced, as the other seductively wet his bow-shaped lips with his tongue, before whispering something to the bartender, gracing the back of that lucky man's hand with a soft peck, and backing away from the bar, gaze still locked on Will.
Normally, Will wasn't one to chase or even try to pry into someone's relationship status. He would instantly back off at even the slightest indication that someone wasn't single, like the marks so clearly displayed on Nico's neck, or the low-key display of affection he had shown the other blonde while watching Will.
But there was just something about the way Nico moved like he was claiming his territory, the playful but challenging tone of his voice, the very space that he took up in the room. His very presence, while on first impression, gave off a pure, untouched aura, now lit a flaming desire to chase that Will had never felt before in his life. It was as if every cell in Nico's body was screaming "I'm yours if you can catch me", while his lithe form, still directed towards Will, slunk back farther as the gap grew larger.
Frozen, at a complete loss as to what he should do next, Will watched hungrily as Nico started moving smoothly to the beat of the music, desire welling up rapidly as he saw Nico crook a finger towards him before once again disappearing into the crowd, the same way Will had seen him vanish almost two weeks in a row now. His mind and his impulses becoming one, Will finally felt his limbs unlock as he too pushed headfirst into the mob of dancing people.
Too late did Will realize that he was completely out of his element, but by the time the unfamiliar sensations really registered in his mind, the feeling of sweat and flesh and fabric bumping into him from every which way, he had already ventured too far to see the way out.
Jaw clenching, breaths coming fast, Will felt as if the pulsing rhythm was instead being pounded into every inch of his brain, each new touch or brush sending another jolt of uncertainty through his now-uncooperative body.
At his wit's end, two seconds away from bolting out of the club and never coming back, Will finally recognized the same raw, earthy scent that he had been nearly enveloped in earlier. Straining his eyes in the surrounding din of the crowd, eyes finally locked down his target as a body to his right shifted away, revealing the dark, curly flow of hair that, minutes ago, had been closer than in arm's reach.
The glossy black waves were suddenly flipped with a flick, revealing a short undercut and a large, ebony black earlobe piercing, as Will finally caught the gaze of the other man he had been pining over for much too long. A small, crooked smile crept up Nico's face as he traipsed smoothly towards Will, and with a level of grace incongruent with the nature of the very establishment they were in, the veteran extended a hand to the frozen first-timer.
Will, overly conscious of how he was still shaking from the earlier close encounter, clenched his fists in an attempt to steady himself as he shuffled towards Nico's inviting stance. Will stared forwards blankly as he was jostled left and right by stray limbs and hips, and watched as the other man, hand still extended, drew his gaze down Will's petrified form.
Finally, Nico wordlessly closed the arm's-length gap and slid into the space directly in front of the other. As if picking up on the thudding panic building up in Will's chest, Nico instead opted to reach out more gently and placed his hand on the small of Will's back, pulling the two closer together.
"Take a breath, big guy," Will heard Nico murmur silkily. He watched as Nico ran a hand down the side of his left jaw, the sensation accentuated by the sudden fluttering in Will's chest. It was almost freeing, how close in proximity they were from each other. Nothing at all like the suffocatingly empty loneliness of his room.
"Come dance with me."
Nodding, Will exhaled softly as he watched Nico turn around, exposing a slender, pale neck as he turned with half-lidded eyes, drawing Will in once again before turning back to face away from Will. Then, Will stiffened slightly as he felt Nico's smaller hands place his own on that slender waist, the warmth of Nico's skin soaking into Will's fingers from beneath the slit in the thin, silky material. The close touch of another human being stirred up a feeling in Will's chest that he had almost forgotten.
Intimacy.
It had been more than four years since his last girlfriend, and even longer since his last boyfriend. Even then, it was just quick kisses between classes in the hallway and make-out sessions in the deserted band room during lunch. Now, he found himself thrust into a completely foreign, unprecedented situation without a single second to stop and catch his breath.
But unlike how he might have been before this turn of events, Will wasn't so sure he wanted to catch his breath. He wanted to charge in recklessly, to dive down and take the plunge, to lose control over the air filling his lungs. The promise of skin and salvation bundled up in a tight black tank top and skinny jeans sung unspoken phrases of passion and intimacy that had long since been purged from Will's mind.
Suddenly overcome by his underlying urge to take and claim the beauty in front of him, Will gripped the warm body in front of him more tightly, pulling the smaller man in and earning a delicious hum of approval. With Nico pressed against Will's front, he started slowly pushing his weight into Will, the firm curve of his ass a welcome sensation to someone who hadn't felt the touch of another human being in an embarrassingly long time.
While the jeans that Will had showed up in tonight flattered his well-built legs, they definitely did not leave nearly enough room for him to be comfortable in as intimate of a situation as he now found himself in. But he had hardly planned on talking to anyone at all tonight, much less the enthrallingly tantalizing individual that he was now shamelessly pressed against.
Warm but bony fingers gently traced their way up to Will's own hands, still gripping Nico by his toned waist, in stark contrast to the more forceful swaying of Nico's hips that caused Will to move along. The racing of Will's pulse beat in time with the thrumming of the heavily bass boosted music playing from all around them, accentuated by Nico's perfectly rhythmic movements.
That moment in the subway station on that fateful day now seemed like an eternity ago, the untouched, evanescent energy of the man then completely different from the seductive, visceral, and real version of him, who was currently unabashedly grinding against Will's raging hard-on. Will sucked a breath in through his teeth, trying to remain composed between his rising anxiety caused by the unfamiliarity of the situation and his physical desire to push Nico against the nearest available surface and have his way with him.
Not once in his life had Will ever felt this out of control.
He turned his focus away from his inner train of thought in favor of looking down at Nico in front of him, who had closed his eyes and leaned his head back against Will's left shoulder, exposing his right collarbone. The pitch-black piercing on Nico's ear stood out against the rest of his porcelain skin, and without thinking, Will leaned in closer to press his cheek against Nico's head, feeling the warmth from his lightly damp hair bleed into his own body heat.
Clearly, Will was doing something right as his actions drew out a quiet, but pleased sigh from Nico, who responded by tilting his head back further, deep brown eyes meeting Will's baby blues in a tense, wordless conversation. He felt Nico's fingers press more firmly against his own, Will's hands gripping Nico's waist even harder, and Nico started to pull himself even closer to Will.
A trickle of sweat ran down the right side of Will's face. As it traced a path down his jawline, the gentle sensation sending a shiver down his spine, Will finally allowed himself to sink into the new world he had been suddenly thrust into. The moist heat of the throng of people bumping into him from every which way seemed to meld impeccably with the heavy beat of the club music, the blood in his ears pounding along with the rhythm. As he moved in time with the smaller man in front of him, watching the incongruous elegance of Nico's movement, Will greedily drank in the other's strong presence like he couldn't live without it.
A small puff of air left Will's lips as he watched Nico slowly turn around, feeling small but slender hands work their way into the back pockets of Will's jeans. Nico's piercing gaze seemed to bore into his very soul, as if reading all of his deepest desires, before quirking his bow-shaped lips into a smirk. Nico's shoulders bobbed up with a heavy inhale as he gave Will one more press of his hips before pulling away, causing Will to almost whine at the loss.
"Mind escorting me to the bar?" Nico asked, trailing his fingers over the back of Will's thigh. "I could definitely use a drink." While the words were spoken in the form of a question, the tone they were uttered in could be taken as nothing less than a command. Will swallowed dryly, nodding without a sound and following Nico as he turned to head back towards the bar.