Mon Cheri (Solangelo AU)

Chapter 6

"Will. Psst. Wake up." Something shook Will's shoulder. He groaned. "Wiiiiiiiiillllll."

Will tried to shake them off but they shook him again. He rolled over and opened an eye hesitantly. It was Cecil. "Why are you waking me up at..." Will looked at the clock by his bedside, "at 2 in the freaking morning? I'm a morning person but not this early."

"Something came up."

"What is it?" He opened the other eye.

"There's a Nico di Angelo waiting for you outside our door."

"What?" He sat up immediately.

Cecil shrugged. "I dunno. See for yourself. He'd been knocking for a while. But if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to sleep." He dragged himself over to his bed and snuggled up.

Will got up and opened the door. Sure enough, Jack Skellington pajama clad Nico was standing there. He looked ashen. His eyes looked glazed over and he stared at the floor. He hugged his arms to himself like he was cold. "You have Netflix?"

That was a strange question at two in the morning. Will nodded anyway.

"Can we maybe um, watch something?"

Will nodded again and opened the door wider, gesturing for him to come in. He took a step forward. Unsure or rethinking his decision to go to Will at two in the morning after not speaking to him since their day together, he hesitated. It'd been two weeks. Nico finally decided it was fine and came all the way inside. He looked around. Most things were the same in every room, save for the decoration chosen by the people who lived there. He stood awkwardly as Will closed the door behind him.

"You can sit on my bed if you like." Will smiled but he wasn't sure if Nico saw it in the darkness. Right, he should turn on the light. He stumbled over to his bedside table and clicked on the lamp. The room was illuminated by a low glow. He saw Nico nod and sit on his bed gingerly, like he was expecting Will to attack and he'd be ready to fight back or run at any second.

Will reached for his laptop and curled back up in bed. He opened the laptop and as he waited for it to load properly he looked over at Nico and patted the spot to his right. Not wanting to make him feel trapped, it was the side not against the wall. He crawled next to him but was careful not to touch him. Will wanted to get closer but he didn't want to startle him. For now, he focused on choosing something to watch so Nico wouldn't look so scared anymore. He chose Doctor Who and they watched the first few episodes from season one in silence. Will watched Nico the entire time, barely paying attention to Rose and the Doctor. He looked like he was struggling to focus on the show and after the fourth episode, maybe around four in the morning, Will finally asked, "Do you wanna talk about it?" He knew something had been troubling him.

Nico steeled. He shook his head once. "Just a nightmare. They happen all the time."

"Are you sure? Obviously something is bothering you or you wouldn't have come to me at two in the morning."

"Drop it, Solace." There was a warning in his voice. One that suggested that if he didn't, it would be a mistake but then he whispered, "Please. I don't want to talk about it."

Will nodded, taken aback by the sound of his voice. But just so he wouldn't feel too alone, he scooted closer to Nico, with their arms pressed together. The back of his hand touched Nico's thigh. Nico looked down at the contact. "Don't get to close, it's dark inside."

Recognizing the lyrics from Imagine Dragons, Will smiled softly. "I'll show you how to escape it. If you'll let me." He tried to catch Nico's eyes but he looked away from the touching and stared right at the screen.