Solangelo Oneshots

Toxic

"Because I don't fucking care about your dead sister!"

Words sting.

Nico had never understood the expression before. Bees sting. But unlike bees, words did not sting. However, in this moment, he realized the meaning behind metaphor that had for so long confused him. His boyfriend's words.... they stung. He couldn't believe Brandon would say that. He'd always been so supportive of Nico. Especially today, the anniversary of Bianca's death. "B-babe?" Nico asked through tears that had been there even before Brandon's hurtful words.
"No." Brandon said angrily. "I'm not doing this again. You and I, we're not meant to be together."
"I- we could make it work." Nico begged. "I'll stop being sad. I promise, I just need a moment. I'll get better at not bothering you when you're drunk. It can't be that hard, I mean, your drunk self is similar to your sober self, but I'll find a way. I'll look, and I'll search, and I'll never stop searching because I love you. Please don't leave me. I'll do anything."
"Then stop crying about your dead bitch of a sister. She's gone! She's not coming back, and if you don't accept that, I'm leaving."
"Bianca isn't— wasn't..." Nico said, all sadness replaced with anger. "Fine. I'll go." Nico got up and grabbed his bag, already packed from their last fight, and walked out the door. He walked down the stairs of Brandon's apartment and down the street. He kept walking until he could no longer recognize his surroundings. Then he recognized a Rite-Aid, and thought he had gone in a circle. The he realized every Rite-Aid looked the same, and that this particular Rite-Aid was a different Rite-Aid all together.

Nico walked past the Rite-Aid. He checked his phone for the time and saw that it was starting to get late. If he wanted to find somewhere to sleep that wasn't a bus stop, he had to start looking.

Unfortunately, there weren't many hotels in the area. The two that were near him were way too expensive. Who would pay that much for a hotel room? After zero consideration, Nico decided to just walk along until he found a nice 24 hour coffee shop and spend the night there, sipping cappuccinos and staring aimlessly at his computer screen. Fun night.

It took him about another hour to find a Starbucks. This surprised him, as he didn't think anyone was ever more than fifteen minutes from a Starbucks at any given moment.

Nico walked in and sat at one of the many empty tables. He looked around. Almost no one was there. It said 24 hours, right?
"Oh!" A man's head shot up from behind the counter. "Hi. What can I get you?"
Nico walked up to the counter and ordered. "I'll have a vanilla cappuccino please," He read the barista's name tag. "Will."
"Coming right up. Vanilla cappuccino!" Will yelled before turning around and making it himself. Nico didn't understand why he yelled it, since there were no other baristas, but Nico  had had a long day. At this point, all he could do was sip his coffee and laugh at the cute barista's antics.

At one point in the night, said barista looked around the coffee shop, saw the very few customers, and decided the beverage counter would be fine without him. He walked over to the table where Nico was sitting.
"Hi." He said, making Nico's eyes jump from his computer screen in surprise.
"Sorry, Nico. Didn't mean to startle you."
Nico frowned. "How do you know my name?" "You told me when you got your first cappuccino."
Nico nodded. "Ah. Why are you over here, again?"
Will once again looked around the building. "I thought you looked lonely. Do you want me not to be here?"
"No!" Nico all but shouted. "I mean, yes. I mean I'd love to hang out with you."
"Great!" Will smiled.

Nico told Will about Brandon and Bianca. Will told Nico about his cat, Edmund, who was allergic to cheese. They talked about what they did in their free time. But they mostly spoke about the first thing.
"Okay, so, he really said that?" Will asked, chewing a cookie he had stolen from the display case.
"Yeah." Nico replied, not approving of Will's thievery. "Today's the- well, it's past midnight, so technically yesterday. Yesterday was the anniversary of Bianca's death. I usually get really sad, stress-eat a tub of ice cream, and cry on my ex-boyfriend's floor. But he broke up with me because I was sad too much. I was willing to be less sad, or to pretend to be, but he still broke up with me. Then he called my sister a bitch."
Will just sat there for a moment before realizing he was worrying Nico by not responding. "He sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. That... that just really sucks. But you know what Great-Grandma Solace always said? When life throws you a curveball, make lemonade. She wasn't the brightest, but the sentiment remains."
"She sounds nice. A lot like her great grandson."
Will smiled. "Thanks! I think you're nice, too."

Nico didn't even notice it at first. He was too busy talking to Will to hear the text come in. He had never gotten over a break up so quickly. Having Will there helped. Nico liked him, but it didn't feel like a rebound. It was as if he had met Will and immediately gotten over Brandon. But Nico didn't come here to get another boyfriend.
"Oh, Neeks, looks like you got a message." Will said.
"Neeks?" Nico asked, eyebrows raised in a taunting manner.
"Just check your messages." Will shoved his face in his hands to hide his blush as Nico checked his phone.

Brandon: Nico, babe. I'm sorry about what I said.
Brandon: I didn't mean it.
Brandon: In the old days, Picasso ate yellow paint. People said he was crazy. That it was toxic. And it was. He ate it because it made him happy, but also because it would kill him. You're a terrible, toxic person. But I still like you. Because, Nico, you are my yellow paint.

Nico looked up in disbelief. He thought for a moment. Will could be trusted. "Oh my god. Will, look at this." He handed Will the phone and watched as his face reacted to the messages. Will looked up. "First I'd like to say that this guy seems like a dick. Second, way to romanticize depression. Third, you're toxic? Does this guy actually believe what he's saying?" Nico smiled despite the situation. Will actually cared.
"Okay. Blocked his number." Nico said, taking back his phone. "But there's one more problem."
"What's the problem?"
"I don't have his number anymore... but I also don't have yours."
"Oh! Well, I can fix that."

Maybe Nico didn't come here to get another, kinder, boyfriend. But he supposed he hadn't planned on coming here at all. And maybe falling in love with someone you'd just met wasn't the worst thing in the world.