Solangelo One Shots

The Tree House Club(p1)

This is going to be another one with multiple parts, so I hope you enjoy part one!

Nico's POV- 2006

He watched as Will's mother hammered the final nail into the tree, stepping back and admiring her work with her hands resting on her hips. "There you go, boys," she said. "It's ready." Nico couldn't tear his eyes away from it, the wooden platform resting on the thick branch of the tree with strong wooden walls protecting it from the reaching limbs of the tree, the tiny glass window situated between the panels allowing them a glimpse at the forest that surrounded them. One glance at Will confirmed that he, too, was in awe, his mouth hanging open and happiness shining in his bright blue eyes. "Thank you," they chorused, wrapping their arms around Naomi's waist and squeezed tightly. She laughed softly as she hugged them back; she smelled like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and new flowers blossoming on a warm spring afternoon. 

"You're welcome," she responded, breaking apart and setting her tools back inside of the toolbox, shutting it with a soft click and looking back at the treehouse. "Go on, check it out. It's completely ready. I'll be inside if you need me." She began to disappear into the woods, moving toward the shining light of her house on the other side of the trees. Nico and Will stared at each other for a split second before a wide grin pulled at the corners of Will's mouth, showing off the fresh gap where his first tooth had fallen out. 

"Race you!" he called out, leaping onto the ladder and shimmying up the rungs. 

"Hey, no fair," Nico complained, latching on after Will and pulling himself up onto the platform seconds after Will. Underneath them the small forest that separated their houses seemed even smaller, the leaves at eye level and the birds nest they had been trying to reach all summer a couple of yards away. "Woah."

"Yeah," Will agreed. "Woah." They were speechless for the first times in their lives before Will flopped onto his beanbag, burying his face as far in as it would go. "This is so cool!" he exclaimed, unable to hold back the excitement that was coursing through his veins. "I can't believe your dad got us all this stuff. Check out all these lincoln logs! I've never seen so many in my life." He began to paw through the bucket and Nico sat cross legged next to him, taking the little people out from where they had been stuffed among the lincoln logs and making them dance across the floor in front of him. 

"Yeah, neither can I. I think he felt bad, about my mom and Bianca and all that stuff." He felt tears creeping up into his eyes until he felt a hand on his back and Will was looking at him with his eyes as wide as the ocean, the lincoln logs sitting at his feet. 

"It'll be okay," Will promised. "Mom says that stuff gets better with time. And they'd want you to be happy. They'd be happy for you, that you have this now. You like it, don't you?"

"Of course I like it," Nico responded, pushing himself up. There were crayons sitting in one corner and he grabbed a deep purple, handing Will a bright orange. "We should sign our names. So people know it's our tree house."

"Good idea," Will agreed. "What about here?" He ran his hand across a patch of wood near the entrance, so that anyone who was climbing up the ladder would see their names, the colors bright and bold to mark their territory. Nico nodded and together they scrawled their names on the wood, grubby hands gripping the crayons. When they stepped back they were staring at their signatures, their handwriting spiky and messy but Nico couldn't help but love it.

"We need a name for this," he decided. "What are we?"

"We're the tree house club!" Will grinned, jumping up and down. All around them leaves scattered but their tree house stood strong, supporting them from the bottom up. "We can talk and play and tell each other secrets. First grade is gonna be a hard year, but the tree house club will always be ready for fun."