Solangelo One Shots

Be Proud

Happy pride month everyone!!

Will's POV

There's some strange sort of thrill he gets when he's pressing Nico up against the walls of the locker room after everyone's long gone, his hands around Nico's waist and his tongue slipping in and out of Nico's mouth. Nico's hands are in his hair, clutching his head and Will can hear the beating of Nico's heart against his own chest. He's never been this close to anyone ever in his life, not his friends, not his last girlfriend. But, then again, there turned out to be a reason for that. 

"Hey." Nico pulls his head away, his fingers still buried in Will's hair. "So, this has been going on for a few months." 

"Yeah." Will is grinning as his eyes sweep over Nico's face, his skin glowing in the dim light of the locker room. The school above him is quiet; with summer so close, no one wants to be in the building after 2:05. It's just him and Nico, slammed up against the walls of the locker rooms with nothing to worry about, no chance of anyone walking in. Nothing but sheer excitement. He can hear the quiet beating of Nico's heart. "It's been great." 

"Yeah, so I was wondering," Nico says, pausing. His finger traces a pattern on Will's chest and his heart leaps, and he does his best to control his excitement. What had started out as a casual fling between two people who otherwise had nothing in common had turned into something so passionate he didn't know what to do, but he doesn't want to be so excited that it scares Nico away. "The pride parade is coming up. The one in New York is pretty nice." 

"Oh." Will's heart plummets and he glances at the floor, at the light bouncing off of the linoleum. "Yeah?" Nico frowns, and Will immediately feels bad. 

"I was hoping we could go together." Will fights the urge to wince. Nico presses his lips together, scratching his head and avoiding Will's eyes. "I think you know that this has turned into a little more than we both expected, but it's nice, right?" He grabs Will's hand, giving it a tight squeeze, and Will half-smiles. "What is it, four and a half months?" 

"Five next week." Nico smiles. He looks so beautiful when he smiles. His cheeks brighten and there's a tiny gap between his two front teeth that his tongue presses up against. Will runs a hand down Nico's cheek, feeling the warmth of his body underneath his skin. He's never known what love feels like until Nico. 

"See?" His hands drop down from Will's head to around his neck, fingers curling around Will's arms. "There's something here that neither of us expected and I just- I don't know. I was hoping maybe we could celebrate it." He gives Will a tight smile and Will's heart sinks; it had been so hard for Nico to break down his walls, bring their relationship from nothing more than making out behind the school to nights spent in each other's arms, confessions of love whispered as the moon sheds pale light above them. It had been Will who had pushed for a relationship, Will who had begged Nico to look into the possibility of a real, emotional connection. And here he was, suddenly doubtful of everything that's about to happen. 

"Listen, Nico." His hand wraps around Nico's wrists, staring down at the smooth skin of his arms to avoid Nico's piercing eyes. "You know I love you." He hears Nico sigh but he still doesn't look up. He doesn't want to see the look in his eyes. "But it's fun just sneaking around, isn't it? Like, the thrill of keeping it a secret and everything?" He forces a smile onto his face but when he cautiously glances up Nico's mouth is twisted into a frown, his eyes glassy. "Nico?"

"No, I get it. You don't want people knowing we're together, do you?" Will blows out a shaky sigh, reaching for something to say. "You don't want all of your slightly homophobic but not too much to raise any eyebrows friends to know that you like boys." 

"Nico-" Will reaches to pull him in closer. 

"No, I get it." He jerks away, hugging his arms to his chest. "You don't have to explain. I get it if you don't want to be seen with me." He's about to walk away but just before he's walking up the stairs, he throws a false smile over his shoulder. "It's fun just sneaking around." He marches up the stairs, leaving Will with his hands hanging at his side watching him go. He doesn't move until he can no longer hear his footsteps and when he can't he sinks down against the wall, burying his head in his hands. He feels his back hitch but he can't cry; he won't let himself cry. He presses the heels of his hands into the bottoms of his eyes as if it'll push the tears back in, hoping more than anything that it'll work. He feels a hint of moisture on his skin and he wipes it away with the collar of his tee shirt, blowing out a shaky sigh.