I Like Me Better when I'm With You (COMPLETED)

Hidden feelings got me low down, slow down. Gonna have a breakdown

Author's Notes: Chapter title is from Hidden Feelings by Kyan Palmer

***

It's strange how a simple encouraging message could make Will's day brighter. His presentation went well, and somehow everything just felt lighter and looked brighter.

It was a rather slow afternoon in The Oracle, and Will was toying with the idea of getting some of the chocolate cookies to the library tonight. Those cookies were made by Sally, Percy's mom, and Will could have sworn that Sally's cookies were the best on Earth. Despite how good were her cookies, Sally made it without the intention of selling it to have some profits. Sometimes she just felt like she wanted to make some, then Paul would bring it to the coffee shop and put them on the display. People could buy it, but the money that came from those cookies would be saved, and by the end of each month, the money would be donated to a food bank. There were only 4 cookies left on the display now, and Will was about to take two of them when the door swung opened. Will lifted his head up from eyeing the cookies and smile to the people who just walk in.

Well, Will was not expecting it.

First of all, Will did not expect to see that it was Nico who was coming in through that door. Not that he wasn't happy to see Nico. He was always happy to see Nico but it was not something that he would admit even to himself. Let alone to anyone.

He was just not expecting to see Nico to come at this hour, which was much earlier than usual. It was just 6 in the afternoon now. Usually Nico would come at around 7.30, about 30 minutes before Will's shift ended. So yeah, that was unexpected. But pleasantly unexpected.

Another unexpected thing was, to see that Nico was not alone. There was an Asian girl with black hair with him, and she was saying something that made Nico let out a small amused laugh.

That was also unexpected. But an unpleasant one.

Will felt a strange hollowness in his chest, but he tried to smile as he walked to the register.

"Well, hello there!" Will greeted them, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

"Will! Hi!" Nico greeted him, smiling at Will as he brushed off his hair that was covering his eyes.

For a second, Will almost forgot how to breathe, just because of that smile.

"So," Will said, rubbing his hands over his apron. "What can I get for you today, Neeks?"

"Wait. What?" The girl said before Nico could say anything, sounded surprised and amused at the same time. Her eyes darted from Nico to Will and back to Will again. She arched an eyebrow at Nico.

"You never let me call you Neeks," she said, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Oh, shut up, Drew!" Nico said.

Will was juggling himself between trying to tell his heart to go back beating at a normal pace and watching the faint red color dusting Nico's cheeks, when the name rang a bell.

"Drew?" Will asked, angled his neck a little to look at the girl. "Sorry, but are you, by any chance, is a friend of Mitchell?"

Drew's brows raised up at the mention of Mitchell's name.

"Mitchell? Yeah. We went to the same high school. But he's my senior. You know him?"

Will nodded, but before he said anything more, Nico cut him with a question.

"Wait, is it the same Mitchell that you're doing that project with? The one that you had a presentation about this morning?"

Will looked back at Nico, grinning as he nodded. "Yeah."

"How was the presentation?" Nico asked, tilting his head a bit to the left as he kept his eyes at Will.

"It went well, thanks Neeks."

"Can I ask a question?" Drew's voice making the two of them turned to her. She was raising her index finger. "Why do you guys seem to know a lot about each other?"

"Uhm..." Will scratched the back of his ear, feeling heat creeping up his cheeks.

"We're neighbors," Nico said. "Will's apartment is right across of mine."

"But how come you never told me that-" Drew stopped but her eyes gave Will a quick look over. Will's cheeks were practically burning now.

"Never mind," Drew suddenly said, looking back at Nico with a smile on her face. A smile that looked more like a smirk, like she just figured something out.

"Drew..." Nico said and exhaled a sigh as he ran a hand over his head.

Will cleared his throat again from behind the register. "Anyway, what can I get you?"

Drew quickly waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, I'll let di Angelo pick whatever for me. I believe he knows about this place better than me now," she said, flashing a glance at Nico along with a half-smirk.

"I'll just sit right there to wait for you, okay, Neeks?" she said, pointing out to a table with two chairs in the corner. Without waiting for Nico nor Will to respond, Drew turned swiftly on her heels. She made her way to the vacant table, sat there and started fiddling with her phone. Will watched her, in awe but also half-confused with...the things that she just said. Nico cleared his throat, and Will turned his head back to Nico.

"Sorry about her," Nico said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Drew is just... Well... Drew..." He added, offering Will an apologetic smile as he looked up.

Will tugged his lips up into a smile. "Nah... It's fine."

"She is actually a really nice person. Believe me," Nico said.

Will nodded. He remembered what Mitchell said, that it was Drew who helped Nico moved in to Jason's new apartment.

"So, what can I get you?" Will asked, schooling his face into a smile despite a strange heavy feeling in his stomach. "The usual one for you?"

"Yeah. Medium peppermint mocha, please. And a medium flat white for Drew, please."

Oh, so Nico also knew what she usually gets, Will thought a bit bitterly.

"Okay," Will nodded as he quickly scribbled Nico's orders on the cups. He punched in the orders into the register.

"It would be 7.15, please," Will said.

Nico inserted his card into the card reader.

"Hey, Will?" he said as he pulled out his card after the transaction completed.

"Hmm?"

"Drew and me, we... We have this project with two other students and we're meeting them in the Computer Lab in half an hour."

"Oh?" Will arched an eyebrow at Nico, not really sure why Nico was telling him this.

Nico slid his hands into the pocket of his jacket. "Yeah. And.. Well... I don't know when we will finish..."

"Oh..." Will nodded, starting to get what Nico was trying to say.

Nico shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, and he looked a bit hesitant. "I mean, I... I think it will be... Quite late by the time we finish."

"It's okay," Will said, tugging up his lips into a smile despite the stupid pang of disappointment filling up in his chest. "Good luck with your project, then."

"Thanks," Nico said, flashing him a small smile.

Nico turned around, but he was just one step away from the counter when he looked at Will over his shoulder.

"I'll text you, okay?" Nico said.

"Yeah," Will nodded. "Sure."

Nico made his way to the corner of the coffee shop, where Drew was waiting for him.

***

It was 10 minutes past eight when Will walked out of the Oracle. Instead of taking the left turn to the library, he turned right, and started walking back to his apartment.

***