Solangelo One Shots

Nuances of Love

Hi guys! I want to start out by saying how sorry I am for not posting for April, and how incredibly appreciative I am to have such amazing readers. A bunch of you commented on my last post and I know that I didn't respond to any but I just want to say that I read all of them and they meant a lot to me. I'm doing a lot better and I'm really excited to get back to writing, so here's this week's post!

Nico's POV

He groans quietly when he feels the rays of the sun on his back and he blinks open his eyes, finding himself staring into Will's still face. Nico is still clutching a handful of a blanket to his chest, his legs curled up underneath him. He glances away from Will, craning his neck to see the sky still painted in the colors of the sunrise. Maybe falling asleep at six after eating an entire large pizza by himself had some benefits. He hasn't woken up this early in years.

He turns his head back to Will, watching a strand of hair flutter with each soft breath he takes. For the first time in what feels like too long, his face looks peaceful but the dark bags underneath his eyes are evidence of his late nights staying up studying for his med school classes, long after Nico begs him to come to bed. It's nights like those, the nights where the lamp doesn't turn off until two or three in the morning, Nico feels the strongest worry.

He traces his thumb across Will's cheek, his skin smooth underneath Nico's finger. He doesn't move under Nicos' touch, his shoulders still rising and falling in a steady rhythm with his breaths. Will shifts, tugging at the blanket subconsciously and Nico lets him take it, watch as he gathers it up around his chest and sighs softly. His long fingers curl around it and when Nico inches closer he can see the shadow of his eyelashes on his cheek, the dusting of freckles. Nico loves those things about Will more than anything else, the subtle features of his face that add so much depth, the features that only Nico ever gets close enough to see. Still, the bags underneath Will's eyes make Nico's chest hurt and every time he looks at Will's face, they seem like a stain on a porcelain surface.

He stands up, cracking his back and stretching his arms as far up to the ceiling as they can go. Will bullies him relentlessly for his height, reaching up and touching the low ceiling of their bedroom easily as Nico jumps up and down, struggling to make even the slightest bit of contact. But there are other times Nico doesn't mind his height. It means that, for the most part, he gets to be the little spoon.

He brushes his teeth and splashes water on his face as he listens to the sound of Will sleeping in the adjacent bedroom, hearing the sheets shift around his body. When he looks over Will has somehow managed to take up the entire bed, splayed out like a starfish with a toe hanging over the edge. His face is mashed into the pillow, turned towards Nico with his mouth hanging ajar. Nico smiles before turning around, spitting toothpaste into the bowl and washing it down with water. He tucks the toothpaste back into the cup, straightening the various face washes and moisturizers on the shelf. He washes a fleck of toothpaste off of the side of the bowl, scrubbing it until it's glistening. He's never been one for keeping things neat, preferring the messy bachelor type of living where he can't see the floor after a week but Will likes things neat. Nico knows he'll appreciate it.

He pads to the kitchen, careful to slip silently through their bedroom as Will snores on. Normally he's up earlier than Nico, rummaging around in the kitchen before Nico's body has even thought of the concept of waking up before ten. But the late nights have been doing a number on him, with the end of classes looming ever nearer. It makes Nico's chest pang a tiny bit to watch him drag himself through every day, listening to the tapping of Will's pencil long past the sun has set. So that morning it's Nico who brews the coffee, Nico who sits at the tiny table next to the big window in their apartment, watching the bustle of the city underneath him as he waits for Will.