Solangelo Oneshots

Freezing Stairs and a Walmart Sandwich

The stone stairs were freezing and the Walmart sandwich was soggy. The area around the steps to the library was mainly empty and barely anyone walked past as Nico intently watched the seagulls scavange over the pieces of his sandwich he was tossing to them. He wasn't particularly hungry anyway.

The sky was overcast and there was a bitter twinge to the cold but Nico wouldn't be scared inside. That meant facing the librarian and the seven books he'd taken out and either to his dog or the consequences of his sister's latest obsession with slime and making your own jewellery. It wasn't expensive but Nico would rather swallow a slug than apologise to Mr. Thorne with his glinting eyes and twisted smile.

The cafeteria would be filled with the usual bands of people. There would be jocks, nerds, teacher's pets, art geeks, wannabes, fakers and skaters to name a few. Sometimes Nico would find a quiet corner to eat his lunch and avoid a university largely full of delinquents but it was crowded today and he couldn't be bothered pinching his nose around sweaty kids in need of deodorant for an hour so he came here.

Most people came to the library from the entrance on the other side and not the entrance facing the dumpsters but that was part of the steps charm. Silence was so hard to come by. Nico had originally come here as inspiration for the latest project in his photography class, which was to find beauty in unwanted things. Afterwards, he decided he quite liked it here.

One seagull, whom Nico had named Chiron after reading some Greek mythology, had just batted another out of the way. The one indignantly picking himself up from the ground was named Mr. D, which stood for Mr. Drunk on account of the seagull never walking in a completely straight line. They were Nico’s best friends and lunch time television show.

As a boy around Nico’s age approached, he shuffled to the side to let him past but the guy paused and sat down next to Nico. Nico eyed him skeptically. He had a surfer-build, gold hair and eyes the colour of the mould Nico found on the bread at home that morning. He looked surprisingly chirpy for someone hanging out by the trash bins.

"Hi, I'm Will," he introduced himself, setting his backpack down beside him.

"I'm eating my lunch," Nico answered curtly. Will nodded.

"Yes, right. I'm so sorry to disturb you but I'm taking med and I was supposed to take someone's blood pressure in time for the next lesson but funnily enough I didn't so would you mind if I took yours?"

It all spilled out so quickly Nico barely had time to process it.

"What?"

"It'll only take a second," Will assured him. "I have equipment right with me. Please help me out."

Nico sighed. He figured that the quicker he did this the quicker it was over.

"Sure."

Will beamed and started rummaging in his bag. He pulled out his kit and wrapped it around Nico’s arm. As it started to squeeze, Will started to talk.

"Thank you so much for this. You're a life saver. I really meant to do it but there was so much to do and I had to take my siblings to all their activities and help with homework. Our dad isn't around and my mum's usually on tour so I do my best but it keeps me busy. Ah! All finished."

He wrote down the results and put away the monitor.

"That's rough." Nico suprised himself by talking. "My dad's usually away on business trips so I look after my sister. I had this whole plan in my head of going to university and finally escaping far far away from here but I couldn't leave her."

"I get what you mean. I try to make the most of it." Will shrugged. "Well, thanks."

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and stood up but hesitated before leaving.

"Hey, um, I'm around if you ever wanted a full examination."

Nico snorted. "That's your pickup line?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I'm a med student."

Nico laughed. "Okay. But you have to make sure the patient's properly fed too. I'll give you my number so you can keep an eye on me."

He entered his number into Will’s phone. Will looked at the contact name and smiled.

"Nico," he tested it out. "It was nice meeting you. See you later, Nico."

"See you later, Will," Nico said as the boy walked away. He turned his attention back to the seagulls. "Don't look at me like that. He's a dork."

-

A/N

Hey, loves! Sorry I've been gone for a while. I hope you liked this!

Ash x