Remnants of a Group Chat [Valdangelo]

part six

  (A/N: I told you guys I would update every month and it's been almost a year. I'm so fuckin sorry.)

  Sunlight filtering through soft blue curtains stirred Nico from unconsciousness as it fell over him, warming his face and part of his shirtless chest. He kept his eyes closed and realized that an arm was around his waist, so he turned his head and found his lips and nose pressed to soft curls. His mind whispered, "Leo," so he inched closer and inhaled, awaiting that distinct smell of bonfire and cinnamon. Instead, he was met with a foreign apple and honey that was so not Leo, he startled and pulled away, realizing that the person beside him was, in fact, not Leo, if the head of blonde locks and face full of freckles had anything to say about it. He looked to his chest, then to Will's, and dread stirred in his guts. They were both shirtless.
 
  The bedroom door opened slowly and in walked a shirtless Connor Stoll, clad in nothing but a-tad-too-tight-boxers, carrying a tray with a coffee pot and three plates of food. Nico instantly gathered the blankets and covered his chest with them, staring up at Connor.
 
  "Relax, Nico, it's just me," Connor said with a laugh. "I made breakfast."
 
  Nico had seen this in movies before. A one night stand ending with an overly-too-attached partner, which ultimately leads to some lovey-dovey romance. The only thing is, he can't remember much about last night, aside from finally seeing Will again and then eating Chinese. It was all blurred and contorted, and nothing he recalled led him to the conclusion that he was in someone else's bed, practically naked. This wasn't at all good.
 
  "I don't...remember a lot from last night," Nico sheepishly admitted, pulling the blanket closer to him. "Did any of us..." the words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't force himself to spit them out.
 
  "Did we fuck? Nah, man, you just pranced around the house in your underwear for a half hour, sang a little bit of karaoke, almost jumped from the balcony to the pool, luckily I stopped you, and promptly passed out on the coffee table," Connor explained like it was his regular Sunday afternoon, laughing as he nodded to Will. "You totally had him convinced to do it too."
 
  "I'm sorry," Nico automatically murmured, looking to Will, who was still sound asleep and snoring.
 
  "Nah, it's good," Connor waved him off, "Will fell asleep soon after you, and I don't have a guest room, and the couch is cheap and uncomfortable as fuck, so I threw you both on there. I hope that was okay," he said it as more of a sentence, but Nico instantly nodded as relief filled his chest.
 
  "That was fine, thank you."
 
  "Anyway, wake up Sleeping Beauty over there, breakfast is ready."

———

"Hey, Will?" Nico asked as him and the blonde were in the bathroom, about to brush their teeth together, Nico with a spare Connor let him have.
 
"Yeah?" Will inquired, turning to Nico with a raised eyebrow.
 
"You're a lot different than freshman year," Nico murmured, eyes falling to Will's shirtless chest and the hints of stubble on Will's jaw.
 
"Oh! Yeah, yeah...it's been a long journey, I guess. It wasn't as great as some people make it out to be, but I'm...I'm really happy," Will explained with a happy smile. Nico's eyes uninitentally fell to the two scars lining Will's pecs.
 
"I don't want to sound like an overly liberal white lady, but I'm happy for you. And I'm proud of you," Nico said, causing Will to laugh around his toothbrush. "Really, I am."
 
"You were always the first one on my mind when I did all the major milestones and what not," Will admitted, pulling his toothbrush out of his mouth. "When I legally changed my name, when I started testosterone, when I finally got top surgery. When someone called me 'sir' for the first time in public and I came home and I cried. I always wished you were there, or somewhere close, because I wanted to tell you. I always wanted to talk to you about it. And I hate myself for letting my father force me to leave-"
 
"Don't do that," Nico cut him off. "It wasn't safe for you with Luke around, I know that. Better than anyone. Don't blame yourself."
 
"Thanks, Nico," Will said with a soft smile, and began brushing his teeth again.
 
Nico had so many more words to say, so many things to tell him, but he let them fall into a comfortable silence as he began getting ready for the day as well.

———

"Well, I had fun," Connor admitted as he stopped in front of the parking lot to Nico's apartment building. "And I'm glad Will finally found you. Well, technically, I had a part in that as well, so I'm gonna say I'm glad I got Will to finally find you-"
 
"Okay, that's enough," Will cut him off, leaning in the space between the passenger and driver seats. "We need to hang out more. Catch up over brunch or some shit."
 
"Brunch," Nico snorted.
 
"Hey! I'm a white gay boy, let me have my brunch."
 
"Is that what white gays are known for? Brunch?" Connor asked, looking over to Nico, whose look said, 'How would I know?' "I feel like they're more known for gatekeeping the queer community, but sure."
 
"Go off," Will praised, "Yes, Queen."
 
"I'm leaving," Nico interrupted, hand on the door handle.
 
"Wait!" Will called, causing Nico to sigh dramatically and pull away. "I missed you, dumbass, don't go around huffing and puffing and brooding like fourteen year old, emo you."
 
"Snatched, hunty," Connor exclaimed, paired with a snap of his fingers.
 
  "For Christ's sake," Nico whispered.
 
  "What's the ring for?" Will inquired, pointing at the space where Nico was absentmindedly fiddling the band around his ring finger.
 
  "It's um..." Nico found himself smiling, thinking back to when him and Leo first met, to the first time they really kissed under the waterfall, the time they held hands walking to McDonald's, the night Leo had given him the ring. It was all a long story, and he wanted to tell Will all of it. "It's from my boyfriend. We've been together for almost four years," he admitted, eyes dancing to the gold band that caught the sunlight just right. "He's in college in San Antonio right now, his name is Leo."
 
  "Leo," Will murmured, glancing to Connor, who shrugged half-mindlessly. "Last name?"
 
"Valdez..." Nico trailed off. "Anyway, you probably don't know him, but I have pictures-"
 
"Holy fuck, Valdez?! Fire boy?" Connor exclaimed, startling in his seat. Nico felt his eyebrows furrow.
 
"That's not very funny-"
 
"No, dude, the kid was a legend. He could set fire to anything, without a lighter or stick. He was definitely the entertainment of the adolescent ward," Connor explained. "I mean, he was so fucking cool, man. One time this big white dude said some off-handed racist shit and this little, scrawny, couldn't be more than 115 pounds Latino kid floored him without a second thought. Truly an icon."
 
  "Wait, a ward as in a mental hospital? Nico, you're engaged to someone who was in an institution?" Will asked in disbelief.
 
  "That's ironic," Nico commented in defense. "You're fucking one."
 
  "What can I say, I was a child delinquent. Me and my older brother both were," Connor nervously pulled at his steering wheel cover. "I wasn't gonna tell Will about that anytime soon, but uh..."
 
  "Care to explain?" Will asked nonchalantly.
 
  "I was a klepto, okay? My dad left Travis and I on our mother's doorstep, she had a kid of her own, some sort of delinquent as well, and then went batshit crazy. So Travis and I left and lived on the streets. We got caught stealing, blamed it on some mental illnesses we knew we didn't have, and got sent to an inpatient facility. That's all."
 
  "Leo said you guys used to smuggle alcohol in."
 
  "Yeah," Connor laughed, but he didn't sound too happy about it. "Travis never did, he was focused on some 'getting better' shit I wasn't into at the time, and the ward caught me. You know what that got me? Six months in a residential facility. Not my proudest moment." The car was engulfed in a tense silence, so much so that Nico felt like he couldn't breathe. "But I've learned. I've grown. It's in the past, and I know that's not me anymore. That's it. End of discussion."
 
  Nico could tell he didn't like talking about it, so he immediately reached for the door handle.
 
  "Thanks for the drugs, and the fun night. And the ride home. And for reuniting me with Will. We should do this again sometime."
 
  "Oh, absolutely!" Will exclaimed, ruffling Nico's hair from the backseat. "Take care, short stack. Love you."
 
  "Love you. Jolly green giant lookin' ass," he commented, jumping out of the car to narrowly dodge a karate chop aimed at his neck. "Bye, guys! Get home safe!"
 
  He watched the car veer off into the distance, twiddling his thumbs as he approached his apartment door, wondering if Ethan was there waiting for him and what he was going to say. He shook his head. Ethan was his friend. Not even a drunk-induced-probably-fake-confession could change that.
 
  He inhaled deeply.
 
  And a small part of him didn't want to go home.

((A/N: anyway over the summer I had an entire plot line planned out for this book and it was gonna be so fucking good and then my phone broke and I fucking lost. all of it so I've been avoiding this fic for a while bc it made me so angry BUT !! it's break for me so I'm going to rewrite the plot line and hopefully finish this book lmao we'll see tho))