Flatmates - Solangelo AU

NINETEEN

NINETEEN

"Hello?" Nico picked up the phone.

"Hey, Nico, It's Frank. I was wondering if you would want to meet me for coffee?" Came the voice from the other end.

"Umm, yeah, that would work. I'm free until eleven, Will's out, if you wanted to meet here."

Nico could hear both the nerves and relief in Frank's voice. "Okay, I'll be by around ten?"

"Sounds good." They said goodbye and hung up, leaving Nico perplexed. He and Frank got along well enough, but there was no reason for them to ever hang out without Hazel there as well.

Nico got out of bed and got dressed. A corner of his newest tattoo peeked up from the collar of his shirt, so he shifted until it was no longer visible. He didn't like displaying his tattoos, not for fear of judgment, but simply because he didn't feel like he needed to go around showing them off. He knew they were there, and that was enough.

Will had to go in early to watch a surgery today, so Nico just threw together a bowl of cereal to go with his cup of coffee, opening his phone. He debated between texting Hazel and asking if she knew what was going on and deciding he could just wait until Frank came and cleared things up. It might not even have to do with her, so he figured he could hold off.

Nico tidied up the apartment throwing out the trash that was lying around and doing the dishes. Before he knew it, there was a knock at the door. Giving everything the onceover, he went and answered. Frank was on the other side, tugging on his collar. "Come in." Nico moved out of the way so he could enter the flat.

They walked into the kitchen and Nico poured them both coffee, and they sat at the island across from each other. "What's up?" Nico finally asked, dying to know the truth.

Frank cleared his throat nervously, fiddling with a button on his sleeve. "Well..." Frank stopped for a moment. "I want you to know that I love your sister very much." Nico had an idea where this was going. "And I would never in my life do anything to hurt her, ever. So the reason I'm here is to ask your permission to marry Hazel." Frank finally spat out anxiously. "I know it's not really conventional to ask her younger brother, but with circumstances being what they are..." He trailed off.

Nico nodded. "I get it, and thanks. I really appreciate you doing this." Nico thought over what he was going to say. "If you guys want to get married, I won't be able to stop you, and I'm not sure I want to. You're a good guy, and I know Hazel talks about you like you put the bloody stars in the sky."
"So that's a yes?" Frank was much more calm now, and clearly relieved.

"It's a yes. However, if you so much as think about hurting my sister, I will not hesitate to make your death look like an accident." Nico threatened. He'd never actually kill anyone, he didn't have it in him, but being a forensic pathologist definitely made it easy to threaten people. And Frank looked thoroughly warned.

"I won't. I swear it on my life."

"Then, should she say yes, welcome to the family." They both stood up and shook hands. Frank didn't stick around for much longer after that, and Nico went and got ready for work.

"'Sup, loser." Alice greeted him with a smile on her face.

"Hello to you too, stronzi."

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to call the person who covered your shift this weekend." Alice pointed out, and Nico corrected himself.

"Hello to you too, my most favouritest person in the universe."