Addicted

7

      "Blue. Mmm... the lighter shade, you know? The early summer morning blue." 
"Wha- ah- how did you know?"  Will huffed, incredulous.  "I'm good at reading people." Nico shrugged. It was true.  "Fine. I'll guess yours.  It's.." He looked Nico up and down, noticing how he loosely had tied his sweatshirt around his waist and was leaning against the back of the chair outside the ice cream parlor, his thin, delicate fingers twirling an almost empty cone against his palm. Will squinted. "You don't have one. You like color combinations." Nico almost dropped his cone.  "What the heck?" He whispered at Will through slitted eyes.  "I don't talk in my sleep, right?" Will laughed. "No.  But you don't look like the kind of person to prefer one over the other.  You look like an artist, you know, with all kinds of colors." 
"Are you sure I don't talk in my sleep?" Now Nico laughed, still a little suspicious.  They got up and started walking, the sunlight filtering through the trees and warming their backs.  Nico loved that feeling, and tilted his head forward, his hair shifting and exposing his neck a little.  Will shifted, then smiled.  This was nuts.  All of a sudden, he felt a tug on his arm, and glanced over at Nico, who's eyes were shining, though his mouth showed no sign of a smile.  "You didn't tell me you had an art store here." Nico glanced towards a small shop across the street and broke away from Will.  "I'm going in." Will shrugged, figuring there wasn't any harm in it. "Okay. Let's go."  They jogged across the street and entered the shop, Nico's hands stuffed in his pockets.  The shop was lined floor to ceiling with supplies, materials stacked on shelves.  Will saw his friend let out a small sigh. "Okay.  I'm going to need your help." 

Only 10 minutes later, Will's arms were sore from carrying all Nico's things.  He had rolled up his sweater sleeves and now he could barely see past the stack of art materials he was holding.  "And.. that should be good."  Nico plucked a canvas from the wall and dragged Will over to the counter.  He steadied the stack and placed it in front of the cashier, smiling politely.  "Thanks, Will." He said quietly as Will wandered a little further away, his interest caught by a bouncy ball near the door.  Then Nico turned towards the cashier.  "I haven't seen you around before." 
The young man didn't look up, scanning a yellow tube of paint.  "I'm not from here." Nico confessed. "I'm only staying for a week." 
"Ah. You an artist? We don't have many artists- you're filling a pretty important niche." He smiled.  "Yeah, I'd like to think so.  I haven't been able to paint or draw for a while now though, because of Uni, so it's nice to be away." 
"At least you can afford Uni." The cashier scoffed. "What's your name?"
"Nico."
"Nice to meet you.  I'm Oliver.  I see you're here with Will.  Lucky you, he's a great guy.  Hasn't been out much lately, though. Personally, I think it's because he works so hard. Tough dude, did what he had to."  He looked up and smiled, then punched a number into his computer.  "That's $59.95." Nico swiped his card from his wallet, then picked up his bags. "What do you mean, 'what he had to'?" Will nudged him from behind. "I am right here, you know." 
"Yeah, you should probably just ask him. It's not my place, you know. See you, Will. Nico. Have a good day." Oliver gave him a smile and handed their bags over the counter.  "Yeah, you too." Will took a few of the bags from Nico's hands and pushed the door open, shooting a smile to Oliver as they left. 

"Hey, what did he mean when he said that?" Nico adjusted his grip on the bags, leaning a little to the heavier side. His hair slid into his eyes.
"Said what?" Will chuckled. He lifted his arm to brush the hair away, then hesitated. Too soon. The blonde's fingers shook a little and he pushed his arm against his stomach. Butterflies? 
"He said something about doing what you had to?" 
Will was quiet. 
"It's okay. You don't have to tell me anything." Nico smiled a little and shrugged.  The rest of the walk home was only filled with the sounds of footsteps on the sidewalk and the birds in the trees.