It was a warm summer day. Nico could feel the bark beneath him and he closed his eyes, inhaling the heated July air. He paused for a moment before opening them once more to gaze upwards as the clouds drifted across the sky—like bits of cotton floating across the sea.
It was one of those days where Nico watched the world pass by around him.
Footsteps made him look down.
He resisted the urge to jump when he recognized the head of blond hair and the blue eyes. He hated the way his heart went crazy whenever he was around. If he so much as saw Will his heart would start doing gymnastics in his chest, and it irritated Nico to death.
"What are you doing here, Will?"
Will only smiled. "You've been here all day," he started climbing the tree until he was sat next to Nico, "I decided to visit."
The warm afternoon sunshine warmed the world around them. The clouds had gathered to form a pocket of mist that surrounded them and Nico couldn't help but steal a glance at Will. Will was smiling. Nico looked away quickly, hoping that the heat he felt on his face wasn't a blush.
It was a long while that had passed before Nico spoke again. The sun had come and gone and the stars had appeared in the dark, like crystalline teardrops of pure light strung from the sky.
"Am I beautiful?"
He wasn't sure where the question had come from.
Nico could feel Will staring at him but he refused to turn his head, instead focusing on a particularly small star to the left of his vision. Eventually Will sighed and looked away too.
"Honestly? I can see beauty, but I see it more toned down. It means less to me. Symmetrical faces. Bright eyes. Facial structure. But it's like looking at a sunset—its pretty, but it means nothing."
Nico frowned as Will continued, confused as to where he was going with this.
"But when someone is able to make me laugh and smile, my whole view of them brightens, and momentarily, so does the entirety of my world. That's beautiful, to me."
Will turned to smile at the boy beside him. "And you're beautiful, sweetheart. Don't ever believe for a second that you aren't."
(This is something I've said before and now that I look back on it, it makes me cry...)
