Loving The Night Sky (A Wilco Solangelo AU)

Chapte Seven

I'm sorry it's late, but it's pretty long to make up for it, and it's got some juicy stuff in it. The next chapter might be late too, but because schools ending I'm hoping to do more writing over the summer.
Alrighty. Here we go.

Nico's POV

I can't believe I just did that. Everything was going fine, then I just HAD to bring up Bianca. Good going. Now there'll be questions and stuff, and I don't want Will to hate me.
When I walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Solace was there, eating a cookie and getting ready to wash dishes. She was a plump lady, with blonde hair like Will's and she seemed just as happy. She turned around.
"Oh! Hello. You must be Nico. How are you?" She dusted some crumbs off her shirt and smiled at me.
"Hello. I'm fine. How are you Mrs. Solace?" She scoffed at the name.
"Goodness Darling! You don't need to call me Mrs. Solace. I haven't been Mrs. Solace for years." Fabulous. I used the wrong last name. "Call me Dolly. Or even Mom. Here. Have one of these cookies. I can't eat them all, I don't need the pounds." She pushed the plate closer and I grabbed one, sitting down. I was right, she is nice.
"Um...alright Dolly." These were good cookies.
"So, if my youngest described it right, she wants to find a time when she can come see your dog. Is this alright with you, or was she just being a pain?" Dolly questions, grabbing another cookie.
"Oh, Lou Ellen's not a pain! She just really wanted to meet Mrs. O'Leary, but Will said you're allergic to dogs." I explained.
"What did I do now?" Will walked into the room finally, and grabbed a cookie.
"Nothing. Don't interrupt." Dolly told him, waving her hand at him to be quiet, then nodding to me to continue. I smiled a bit.
"I just told her that I would talk to you about having her come meet the dog some other time. That's all. These are good cookies by the way." I grabbed another.
"Oh thank you! William helped." Dolly grinned and looked at Will. He turned beet red.
"I did not! I did homework and stole the dough from you!" Will cried. I grinned.
"Well whoever made them, they're delicious." I stated, eating another. Oops. That's enough for now.
"Thank you," Dolly smiled. "Are you very busy tomorrow? Lou Ellen will want to be with that dog forever. Maybe Will could pick her up from school and you three can go to Nico's house to see the dog, then Will and Lou Ellen can come home. Sound good?" Will and I nodded. "Fantastic. Now eat the rest of these cookies before I do. I've got some dishes to do." Dolly got up and went to the sink. I grabbed a cookie at the same time Will did, and our hands touched. This isn't a popcorn bowl damn it!
Will took his hand away. "You can have that one," he said and grabbed a smaller one. I nodded, but grabbed a different one.
"Do you have any milk?" I asked Will.
"Yeah. It's 2%, is that okay?" He asked, going to the fridge.
"That's fine thank you." He smiled as he poured the milk into a glass. "What?"
"You. You're so formal and it just great. And I may've gotten you a Disney princess cup." He laughed when he turned around. "Your face!"
"You gave me a Disney princess cup that doesn't have Ariel on it! For shame!"

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After eating the rest of the cookies and talking for a bit, I left Will's. Hazel will probably wonder where I am. I don't think anyone else will be home though.
When I walked up the house, I noticed that there was a car in the driveway. Oh great. Persephone's home.
I hurried to the door and opened it a crack. She was in the kitchen. I slid inside and tiptoed up the stairs.
"Nico!" I froze.
"Yes?" I asked hesitantly.
"Where were you?" She was at the bottom of the stairs, a spatula in her hand.
"I was at a friend's house. The dog ran there and I had to catch her, then I stayed and visited." Will counts as a friend, right?
Persephone looked at me disbelievingly. "Was this a male friend?"
Oh no. Here it comes. I took a deep breath. "Yes."
Her face turned red. "Does Hazel know this friend?" I nodded.
"HAZEL!" She screeched, and there was a thud.
"Ow! Coming!" Hazel answered, she walked out of her room, rubbing her butt. "Yeah?"
"You're brother was out seeing a friend. Nico, tell Hazel who it was." Persephone commanded, gritting her teeth.
Hazel looked at me, shocked. I didn't go out much. "It was Will." I told her shrugging. "The dog ran off and was stopped by his little sister, so I stayed for a bit."
Hazel nodded. "Okay." She looked at Persephone. "I know the kid. He's some guy from school. He's friends with Annabeth and them. I'm pretty sure they weren't doing the hanky panky." And with that she waltzed back to her room.
Persephone fumed. I cleared my throat. She glared at me. "What?"
"Nothing! I can talk about it with Dad! It's nothing!" She glared at me and I scurried into my room down the hall. Sheesh. What crawled up her ass and died?
I threw my book bag on the floor and flopped onto the bed. Someone cleared their throat. "Ah!" I flipped off the bed.
"Well that was graceful." Hazel snickered and grabbed my arm, hoisting me off the floor. "Your welcome for saving you butt back there with The Witch. You weren't really doing the hanky panky right?" She sat on my bed.
"No Haz. We did do the 'hanky panky'. His mom made me cookies and his little sister tried to kill me. He's coming over tomorrow with her to see Mrs. O'Leary." I rubbed my face. "I can't believe she thinks I have sex with all my male friends. Remember that time Frank came over and we played Mythomgic? She burst in and started screaming about putting pants back on, while she had her hands over her eyes. You were sitting right there! She literally thinks I fuck all the guys in my life."
"Calm down Nico. She's just an evil step mother. Something bad will happen to her in all due time. And both Dad and I know you wouldn't do such a thing, which is the important part." She ran her fingers through my hair, taking out my ponytails from my spot on the floor.
"Yeah, I know. But why did Dad have to marry her? She's such a bitch! She hate me, obviously favors you, and is a total suck up to Dad. She seriously just uses his money. I wish Mama was still here. I wish she'd come back." The words clogged up my throat. My eyes watered up and I wiped away the tears before they cold fall.
Hazel soothed me. "She would still love to be here. You know that. She loved you. She never would've wanted to leave such a beautiful boy. But fate is mean. Come on Neeks. Cheer up. Dad will be home soon. He'll want to know how school was." She held me close, rocking me back and forth. We stayed like that for a while.
There was a slam of a door and we both jumped. "Hello Darling." I could hear Dad say to The Witch.
I could imagine him kissing her on the check while she stirred whatever was for dinner. He would set his briefcase on the table and sit in one of the chairs to take off his shoes. He'd put on his slippers then,
"Hey kids! Come see me!" Dad called up the stairs, just like he did everyday. Hazel and I got up and walked down the stairs gripping each other's hands.
"How was your first day guys?" Dad asked, standing and giving us a formal hug.
"It was good." We answered, sitting at the table too. The Witch served us dinner. Mac and cheese with extra cheese. I hate cheese.
"This looks delicious Darling! That's good kids. Make any new friends?" Dad dug into the macaroni.
Hazel winked at me before answering. "I did. There were a few freshman in my study hall who seemed really nice. We talked. But otherwise I just hung out with the group. But Nico made a new friend." She elbowed me and made me drop my fork.
Before I could say anything though, Persephone stepped in. "He also spent the afternoon at a boys house." She sniffed as she sat down, flapping her napkin dangerously close to my face.
Dad raised his eyebrows. "Really?" He seemed surprised. "Who'd you say he was Nico?"
"He's Annabeth's old friend. Will Solace. He used to live around here, but when his parents got divorced he went to Washington with his dad. He's nice enough I guess. Mrs. O'leary ran to is house when I got home and his sister fell in love with her. I actually wanted to ask you about that. Um, Will and his little sister Lou Ellen are going to come over tomorrow after school to see the dog. Is that okay?" I looked up at Dad from my mac and death cheese.
He smiled, but before he could say anything, The Witch stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "No! No! No! I will not have you affiliating with boys while no one else his home. Who know's what you'll do! He's not allowed to come over!"
"We'd just be outside!" I protested, motioning to the door.
"Oh god no! Then the neighbors could see. Certainly not!" She said, almost in hysterics.
Dad stood and placed his hands on the table quietly. He dwarfed Persephone, and Hazel shrunk back in her chair.
"Persephone. I believe we've had this discussion. Nico's attraction to boys does not mean that he will jump just anyone's bones. I think that it would be fine for Will and his sister to come see the dog tomorrow afternoon." His voice was deathly calm and quiet. "But Nico," he looked at me. "Next time please ask before you allow people over. I'd like to meet Will before anything more happens."
I started protest, but Dad held up his hand. "Save it. We're going to continue eating, then I will talk to Nico and Persephone alone." He sat back down. The Witch followed suit. The rest of the meal was silent.

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After dinner I went up to my room, and Hazel went to hers. I could her Dad speaking with The Witch downstairs.
"It's unnatural! He's supposed to like girls! Allowing him to hang out with boys will only make it worse. I think you shouldn't allow that William boy over. I don't want the neighbors to.."
"Damn it! Don't you think about him at all? Do youy have any idea how hard it must be to him? To know that you hate him? All the hell he's been through? Having you bitch about the fact he likes guys doesn't help him! I'm honestly just proud of him for telling us. And what do you do?!? You fucking shun him. You just.......urrrgggg. I don't want to ever hear another word of you complaining about Nico and his love life. If the boy is dangerous and you think he could hurt Nico, fine. Fine! Complain away. But until he brings someone home, back off. Let him be a teenager. He just needs some love."
"But that love shouldn't come from a boy!" Persephone protested.
"I'm leaving. I am done with this conversation. Please try to accept my son and his decisions. You don't have to love him, but I don't want any negativity towards homosexuals in my house. At all. Goodnight. I'll be sleeping in the guest room to let this topic cool off." Dad replied. I heard the door to their room close, and Dad shuffle up the stairs in his slippers.
I stared at the ceiling. There was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened. I felt the bed sink as Dad sat down. I looked at that water spot on the ceiling.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"How much of that did you hear?" He asked. I looked at him. He seemed nervous. Hmm.
"Pretty much all of it. Thanks for sticking up for me." I sat up.
"It's not fair that she's so rude to you. You know... I don't care as long as he's good to you. If he's not though, I have to be mean and do something." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah I know. But that's your job. To look out for me. You shouldn't sleep on the coach though. It's bad for your back." I smirked at him.
He grinned. "Yeah, but she snores. One day away from that will be good for me." We just sat for a bit, smiling.
"You know that I don't like him right? He's just some guy I met today and his little sister loves my dog." I peeked at Dad. He nodded.
"I know. But if anything does happen, I want to know him. And I know all your other friends. Minus well meet him too right?" He glanced at me. I shrugged and he got up.
"Invite him to dinner sometime. Persephone is gone Thursday night, if you wanna do it then. Now get some sleep." Dad left and closed the door behind him.
I rolled onto the bed and cocooned myself in the blankets. "I don't like him. I don't like him. I don't like him." I whisper to myself and squeeze my eyes shut.