You're All I Need [Solangelo AU]

XXIX

We need to talk.

An odd silence filled the room, the only noises being the boys breath. Will felt nervous and panicky, worried he might say the wrong thing and ruin his friendship with Nico completely.

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Okay, let's talk," he tried to say nonchalantly, like he wasn't freaking out on the inside.

Will took a deep breath. "Okay. Wow. Well. Where do I start? Okay. Um. . . I'm sorry, I just. . ."

Nico would've thought his nervousness was cute if he wasn't so nervous himself.

Will sighed and decided to just get it over with and go for it. "Okay, I am sorry. Damn it, Nico, I'm so sorry. About everything that happened with. . . Hades." He said Hades hesitantly.

Nico stiffened. He'd been trying not to think about Will and Hades' fight all day. Every time did. . .

No. He needed to be strong. He couldn't let himself go too far.

So he mustered a small smile. "It's okay, Will."

Will looked at him for a second. "A-are you sure? I don't want you to feel. . . Uncomfortable."

Nico closed his eyes. He'd been feeling a lot of different things around Will today. Nervous, guilty, ashamed. He didn't think uncomfortable was one of them.

"I'm sure."

Although he wasn't completely reassured, he knew Nico wouldn't lie. Will felt a weight lift off his back until he remembered what else he planned to say. A larger weight took the other's place.

"Anything else?" Nico asked after a beat.

"Yes. Well. I like you a lot. . ." Will trailed off, noticing the shocked look on Nico's face.

"You seem surprised?" Will asked nervously. Nico, in fact, did. His eyes were wide, and his facial expression read 'I was NOT expecting that'. Will continued. "Like we didn't. . . Kiss?"

When he didn't respond, Will looked away. He twiddled his fingers and bit his lip. Nico noticed and realized he was just sitting there.

"Oh." Nico silently cursed himself. 'Oh'? "I mean. . . I– I like you too," he said truthfully, turning his gaze to the floor as a blush appeared on his cheeks.

Will's head snapped back to Nico. He felt happiness coursing through him. When Nico eventually looked back to Will, he was grinning.

"Th-this isn't a prank or something, right?" Nico asked nervously.

"What? No! Of course not! Why would I do that?"

Nico shrugged and bit his lip. "I don't know. Past experiences, I guess. . ."

Will's brows furrowed. 'Past experiences'? But judging by the guarded look on Nico's face, he didn't think he'd get an answer out of him.

Another day, Will thought, adding that to his mental to-do list. Right now, he was still absorbing the fact that he liked him back.

"S-so, you really like me?" Nico asked hopefully.

"Yeah. I do."

A small smile appeared on Nico's face. Then he remembered.

"B-but, Will, what about. . . H-Hades? What if he decides. . .?" The sentence was left unfinished.

Will closed his eyes. He had momentarily forgotten about everything that was happening, and now that he remembered, he felt the same uneasiness that he heard in Nico's voice. But he wanted to believe they could get through it. He needed to.

"We'll figure it out," Will said, reaching his hand over to lace their fingers together. "Together."

Will studied Nico. He could hardly believe this was the same boy he had met two months prior. Although they were slowly beginning to fade, his bruises were still evident, and his hair had grown out slightly. He still had that same broken look in his eyes, and was still as pale as can be.

And even if he didn't know it yet, Will couldn't help but love him.

"Yeah," Nico said finally, locking eyes with the blonde.

"Together."

---

spoiler alert: they made out after this