Solangelo Oneshots

Gas Station Pizza Pt. 2

Nico took a deep breath. Okay, nothing to worry about here. He’d been on dates before with all sorts of people. A cute boy that he accidentally got arrested was nothing. He met Leo on a dating app and set the tablecloth on fire (which was actually how he discovered that Leo was a pyromaniac and he had unrelatedly decided that friendship was the better option). And now Leo was dating Jason of all people (note to self: check up on the signals that someone’s in trouble in a relationship).

“William Solace.” The words rolled over in Reyna’s mouth as she stalked around Nico, who was ready to go. Reyna was his roommate/older sister/terrifying captor.

“Yes, that’s his name,” Nico said, crossing his arms. Reyna came to an abrupt stop in front of him.

“And you’ll message me when you arrive and when you set off home?” she demanded. Nico nodded.

“Yep and we’re going to Demeter’s so we’re literally ten minutes away. If I’m in trouble I’ll text you “hounds of hell”, if I get in a car I’ll send you the license plate and if I eat anything I’ll make sure to have the royal food taster test it before me,” Nico finished, deadpan.

Reyna punched his shoulder. “Hey! It’s only because I care about you. And because you have shit taste in men.”

“Shut up.” Nico rubbed his shoulder, smiling. “I’ll keep you updated. I’ll stay safe.”

Reyna’s expression settled. Nico knew she’d been through some hard things and her protectiveness was a response to the trauma. If anything, he felt honoured to be considered worth protecting.

Reyna pulled him in for a hug. “Don’t get kidnapped.”

Nico scoffed but hugged back briefly. “I won’t. I’d fight.”

“You’re a five foot five skinny white boy. You can fight but you can’t win.”

Nico lay a hand over his heart. “Rude! Bye, Rara!”

“I told you to stop calling me that!” she called after him as he slipped out of the door.

Nico drove down to the gas station, trying to feel as calm as he could. Will wasn’t here yet. That was good. He couldn’t get the guy arrested and then show up late to the date. He might scare him off.

His eyes lit up as Will stepped through the door. He was ridiculously beautiful. He looked even better dressed up to the dozen than he had sitting in a jail cell. And Nico had met a lot of people who didn’t seem so hot once they got out of the jail cell.

Nico cleared his throat. “Hi.”

Will took the seat opposite him with a lopsided smile.

“Hi. Nice to meet you under better circumstances.”

Nico chuckled, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry about that. I hope your mother wasn’t too angry.”

“She got over it when I said I had a date.” Will shrugged, glancing around. “Good on you for sticking to your word and actually taking me to a gas station.”

“You asked for gas station pizza and I give you gas station pizza. And a lot of free cereal bars. This place is really into cereal.”

Will laughed. “I can live with that.”

Nico felt himself relax as Will ordered. He could do this. This was nice. It was his first date in a while but Will was so disarming. He was warm and friendly. His eyes crinkled when he laughed, his curls fell into his face and he tipped his head back whenever Nico said something that really got a laugh out of him. Nico had done that twice. He was very proud of himself. He celebrated by staring at the neck exposed and wondering how many dates it would take before he could kiss it.