Solangelo One Shots

Pit Stop

Will's POV

The pebbles that littered the ground flew out from underneath his feet as he stepped from the truck, his body dwarfed by the long rear filled with boxes of chips stacked on top of one another. His growling stomach disturbed the quiet of the night as the gas flowed into the 1500 liter tank and his gaze fell to the small restaurant that sat adjacent to the gas station. Golden light spilled onto the pavement, illuminating the burnt out cigarette butts and ketchup stained french fry containers. He slipped the nozzle back into its holder and pulled his credit card out of his pocket. He needed to go inside and pay anyway, and the rumbling in his stomach wouldn't relent until he gave it something to eat. 

The warmth wrapped around him as the cold wind pushed him inside and his eyes moved over the tight red material stretched over the seats and the coffee stains spread across the table like lakes across the landscape. He couldn't take his eyes off of the scene as he handed his card absentmindedly to the woman at the counter, something about the way the air seemed to shimmer tantalizing. When his fingers curled around the card his attention turned to the menu, an image of a greasy cheeseburger printed next to the small menu. "I'll have the hamburger and a medium fry, too," Will decided. 

"If you just find a seat, I'll bring that right out to you," the woman said. Will stared around at the restaurant, the flickering light pouring over empty seats. He picked a booth in the very back, twiddling his thumbs as the sound of scratching came from the booth next to him and he turned his head to see someone scribbling in a small black notebook, a half emptied milkshake glass sitting next to him. He bent down to take a sip but his hand didn't stop moving across the page. Will couldn't tear his eyes away and after a few seconds the person looked up, his eyes questioning and his smile bemused. 

"Oh, sorry," Will blushed, scratching the back of his head. "It's just- it's just really quiet in here, you know? And I could hear your pen, and I was just wondering what you're writing." 

"It's fine," he said, smiling softly. "Come on, I'll show you if you want." Will blinked. 

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said. "I've been trying to be more outgoing and I'm probably never going to see you again, so if I embarrass myself it won't matter that much. I'm Nico, by the way."

"Will." He slid in next to Nico, peering over his  black clad arm at a page covered in cramped handwriting. "What is it?" Nico shrugged, taking another sip of his milkshake. 

"I come to places like this a lot, places that interesting looking people go. I make up stories about the people I see." He flipped to a page near the front. "This is one of my favorites. It's about a girl I saw in a coffee shop once, a girl with pale pink hair and this odd sort of happiness in her eyes. I decided that she was a matchmaker, traveling across the world and helping them find love because she can't find it herself. She fell for the boy with the chocolate brown eyes at the counter by the way, in case you were wondering." Will smiled. 

"So you came here to do that?" A laugh escaped Will's lips. "What are you doing here?" 

"People at a tiny gas station diner the middle of the night... people like that are usually the most interesting. Lonely, though. They're always lonely." Will shifted and the smile dropped from Nico's face. "Crap. Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," Will said, closing his fingers over his thumb. "You're kind of right." Nico's face fell even more. 

"What do you mean?" Nico frowned. 

"I mean, I'm a truck driver for an off-brand chip company. The pay sucks, I haven't seen my family or made a real human connection in months and I don't even have a real house. I just sleep in motels that the company pays for. I can't exactly say you're wrong."