Loving The Night Sky (A Wilco Solangelo AU)

Chapter Six

WILL'S POV

After Nico and Lou Ellen round the corner I run back into the house. Lou Ellen is going to want him to come inside and that means hat Nico's going to be inside my house. I dash past Mom and she gives me a look.
"Who put ants in your pants?" She calls after me.
"Lou Ellen!" I answer and she bobs her head and continues folding laundry in the living room. I run into the kitchen and think. Do I make it look casual and just do homework and then have to get something when he shows up, or do I make something now? Oh gods. What to do? Which is better?
Mom walks into the kitchen and stares at me as I try to pull my hair out. "What is it Will?" She walks over to me and puts her hand on my arm.
I take a deep breathe. "Remember that guy Nico I was telling you about? Well, he has this dog and Lou Ellen just met it and loves it and Nico told her that she could visit it and stuff and that they would talk about it after they went and put the dog away and they just left and he's gonna be coming back any minute now and and he's gonna be in the house and I want to do something but I don't know what cause I don't wanna seem like I tried but I don't want it to look like I don't care ether or anything and...and...and....." I started pulling my hair again.
Mom touched my arm again. "Will. Take a deep breath. I don't know this boy, but I think that he'll accept you no matter what. He sounds very nice and like he understands. Do what feels right."
I breath in and close my eyes. "Thanks mom." She smiles and nods.
"Now, is there anything I can do to help?" She sits at the little round table in the middle of the kitchen. I glance around the small room at the cabinets and the fridge. "Do you think cookies are good?" Mom smiles.
"Cookies are excellent. I have a chocolate chip recipe that my grandmother used to make and they are to die for." Mom gets up and starts rummaging through a cabinet. "Will you get out the flour and sugar, honey?"
I get up and grab the things she asks for. "So...do you need my help?" She looks up at me, brushing the honey-blonde hair out of her face.
"Do you want to help." I look at my shoes and shake my head. "I thought not. Go get you homework. You can do it out here so went Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome shows up I can meet him." I stuck my tongue out at her and went to get my books and stuff. I realized that Nico has a lot of the same classes as me. We could get together and have study nights. That would be fun.
I sat down at the table and pulled out a book. Oh joy. Math.
---------------------------(Time skippy)
Moms cookies were beginning to smell really good. She'd whipped them up really fast and was baking the last of them when I heard the front gate slam.
"WILLIE! WE'RE BAAAACK!!!!" Lou Ellen shouted from outside.
"COMING!" I answered, as I got up. "Moment of truth." I whispered to myself and Mom grinned as I left the kitchen.
When I got outside, Lou Ellen was on one of her tricycles and was trying to get Nico to sit in the other. She ran over to him and dragged him to one where she made him sit. His knees came to his chin and his arms were tucked close to his body he looked ridiculous, squished into a little pink tricycle.
"Comfortable?" I asked, stepping into the yard. Nico's eyes widened and stood up really fast. If you've ever tried to get out of one a big wheel fast, you know that it doesn't work well. Nico stood up and when his knees hit the handle bars, he fell over and face planted into the ground, his legs all tangled in the bike. I stifled a laugh and tried to help him up.
"Are you okay Nico?" Lou Ellen asked, bending down close. Nico got up on his elbows and winced.
"I'm fine. Except for the to truck stabbing itself into my stomach, I'm all good." Lou Ellen smiled and Nico grimaced. I walked up behind him and hoisted him up, untangled his feet and set him down.
"Thank you." He mumbled and dusted himself off.
"No problem. Sorry about that. She's kinda forceful." We looked down at Lou Ellen who was staring at us, arms crossed, foot tapping.
"Can we go inside now? We have a play date to plan." She grabbed Nico's hand and pulled him towards the house. He looked back at me and I shrugged, following them.
Once in the doorway Lou Ellen dropped Nico's hand and ran toward the kitchen. "Mommy you made cookies! Can I have one?" Nico and I stood there. I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Um.... Thank you. For being so nice to her." He nodded, and glanced at the living room. It was small, and square. But the couch was comfy and the TV worked so it was good. The kitchen was off to one side and I could see Mom talking quietly to Lou Ellen who was mucking on a cookie.
"She's really sweet." He said and I laughed. He smiled. "Well, she talks a lot, but that's good. It means she's happy." I nodded. "Um...do you have a band-aid?" I look at him and he points to his forehead. There's a slight scratch above his eyebrow.
"Oh sorry about that. Yeah. This way." I walk toward the bathroom and he follows me. We pass the kitchen and Mom waves. "We'll be right back Mom." She nods and goes back to Lou Ellen.
"I like your house." Nico says as he looks at the hallway. I follow his gaze and see all the art work on the walls and the baby pictures.
"It's kinda messy and full." I say and turn into the bathroom.
"Yeah. But it feels lived in. Nice. I don't know. There's a nice felling to it. My house feels empty all the time." I nod and hand him a band-aid.
"I know what you mean. My Dad's house always felt like that. I just got back Saturday, but it feels more like home then it ever did there." He puts the band-aid on and I wince when I realize it's got Hello Kitty all over it.
There's a pause as Nico inspects his band-aid. "It's kind of an odd request but can I see your room?" Nico suddenly asks, looking at me, brushing his hair over the band-aid.
"Uh, Sure! It's right down the hall. This way." I lead him out of the tiny bathroom. "I haven't finished unpacking and some of my stuff is still at Dad's house, but.....yeah."
Nico peeks his head in and glances around. The bed isn't make and you can see the Star Wats sheets that I still have from when I was a kid. There's a few posters of the wall that I found around the house that used to belong to Dad I think. My closet is a mess of cloths and unpacked suitcases. An open one sits in the middle of the floor and my books spill out of it. He picks one up.
"You read Harry Potter?" I snatch the worn book from Nico's hand and he raises his eyebrows.
"Sorry. It's just a really special copy and I don't like it when people mess with my stuff." I hold the book close to my chest.
"Oh. Okay Potter-head." He continues to riffle through my stuff and I stare at him. Now he thinks I'm a huge nerd. Great.
"Nice."
"What? What is it?" I pear over his shoulder into my closet and Nico looks back at me. I realize how close I am to his face and I step back.
"Nothing. Just the cloths you have. Seriously, you are the last person I would expect to have a punk side. You have to meet Thalia. You guys could talk fashion." Nico shook his head and started walking out of my room.
"Wait she's dating Luke right?" I slide up next to him after putting The Sorcerer's Stone back on my bed.
"Yes. She was friends with my sister." He replies.
"Hazel?" I ask. Nico stiffens, takes a deep breath, and breathes out hard through is nose.
"No. Bianca."