Solangelo One Shots

I Grow for You, You Grow for Me(p3)

Nico's POV

There's something wrong as soon as he sees Will's text. For a split second, there's a fleeting feeling of joy, better than anything Nico has ever felt before until it comes crashing down as he starts to realize what an absolute, blatant lie the whole thing is. First, there's the fact that just a couple of hours ago, Will was sweating and stuttering at the thought of coming out to his parents. There was no way he changed his mind in such a short amount of time. And his grandparents are even more Christian than his parents, and Will is easily overwhelmed. He would cry at even the thought of coming out to everyone at the same time. Nico considers chucking his phone so hard across the room that it shatters into a million tiny pieces and he never has to read that lie again, but that might be counterproductive. He's tapping his hand on the mattress of his bed, his mind racing. There's a lump in his throat and he can't tell whether or not he's going to throw up or cry, but when he feels the tears rising up in his throat, he knows what's going to happen. 

He curls up on his side, tucking his head in between his knees as tears leak out of his eyes. He doesn't want to cry, not for the second time that day. This relationship wasn't supposed to be hard. He was supposed to be having a good time. But here he is, his back shaking with sobs, the knees of his pants wet with tears, his chest aching. He doesn't want to hurt over love anymore. 

Time doesn't feel like it exists while he cries but when his eyes are finally dry his head is pounding, every part of him achy. He reaches for his phone, pulling it closer to him with his fingers but when he checks his texts, there's nothing. No apology for the lie, no truth. All he wants is an explanation, for Will to tell him that he panicked, that he still needs more time. The lie feels worse than anything he's ever felt before. He can feel the tears welling up again and he wipes roughly at his eyes, pressing hard as if that'll shove all of the emotions deep down into his body where they can't come back up, not now and not ever. He sighs deeply, forcing himself to sit up, dry his eyes one last time, smooth the wrinkles from his shirt. He needs to clear his head. 

His mother barely looks up when he walks through the living room, tear tracks still staining his face and his hair messy on the top of his head. Within seconds she's back to her show, without questioning why her son was shut away in his room for hours, sobbing uncontrollably. There's a hole in his heart where love is supposed to be. 

He grabs his earbuds before stepping outside, the sky painted in shades of pink and orange. It's colder out now and he wraps his arms around his chest, bowing his head down to the sidewalk. The streets are empty and he's glad for that; he doesn't want to cry again in public but the music is bringing up more emotions, and it feels like a very real and very scary possibility. He sniffs, pausing to take a deep breath as he tries to steady himself. He wishes that he had never taken that pause, had instead decided to turn down that tiny street to his right. If he hadn't paused, he probably never would have heard someone call his name. 

He considers turning down the side street anyway, ignoring whoever is calling his name but he winces, turning around to see Percy across the street, a towel slung across his arm. He's only wearing a red bathing suit with a white stripe running down the side, the classic uniform of the lifeguards at the public pool. It's the abs on his stomach, tight from hours spent on the swim team, that Nico is reminded why he fell for Percy in the first place. "Yeah?" his voice is dull and he knows it, despite the fact that he tried his best to sound cheerful. He knows that he failed when he sees Percy frown and he jogs over to him, his flip flops slapping on the ground and his messy black hair falling into his face. He doesn't want to cry, not in front of Percy, but as soon as Percy looks at him with that expression on his face, the one with genuine care, the one that makes the tears spring back into his eyes. He wants to melt into the ground.