Solangelo One Shots

Songs from the Heart

Will's POV

"A one, a two, a one, two-" 

"Hang on, hang on, something isn't right," Nico says. Will groans, turning around to throw him a glare. 

"What is it this time, Nico?" Will asks with a sigh. It's been everything this practice. First, Percy was drumming off the beat, then Jason's guitar was out of tune and now, Nico is stopping them even before they've started the song. 

"I thought we had agreed on counting in normally," Nico said. "Just, like, one, two, three. I don't like the other way." Percy and Jason sigh heavily behind them. 

"You really had to stop us for that?" Will asks. "We were just about to start. I mean, we have our first concert in a week. We have to start actually preparing." 

"Playing in a shitty bar downtown isn't exactly a concert," Nico says. "We get, like, two hundred bucks between the four of us for a night. Besides, I do want to actually start preparing. That's why I'm being so strict." 

"Can we just play?" Jason asks. "Dude, like, come on. We have to practice the songs at some point." 

Nico frowns, strumming at the guitar. He's easily the best guitarist Will has ever met, surpassing Jason by far, but he's been getting on everyone's nerves, especially with stress rising. Will wants to pull him aside, ask him what's wrong, but he's scared Nico might bite his head off if he did. "Fine. But can I count us in?" 

Will rolls his eyes. "If you insist." 

Nico smiles, fingers twitching at the strings of his guitar. "One, two, three..." 

------

After practice, they clean up. Nico and Jason bring their amps to the side of the garage, Will putting away his mic. Percy's mom had been nice enough to let them use her garage to practice so they don't have to store band equipment in the tiny apartment they share between the four of them, but more often than not, they forget to put their things away, leading to a decent-sized rant from Percy's mom. As practice had begun to pick up, Wil had started to push the cleanup. 

"You think he's just stressed?" Percy asks, sidling up to Will. His drum set is shoved in the back of the garage, and he holds his sticks loosely in his hands. 

"Nico?" 

"Yeah," Percy says. "I mean, he's been really on edge lately. It's weird, he's usually pretty chill." 

"I know," Will says. "I know we're all stressed, but I really didn't expect this from him. Especially him." He watches Nico sigh heavily, scrubs the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He sees Will looking and quickly look away. "Do you think you could talk to him? I mean, you're closer with him than Jason or me. Maybe you could get through to him, see what's wrong?" 

"Yeah, I'll talk to him tonight," Percy says. "I mean, he sucks at communicating. Big time. But I'll see if I can find out what's up." 

"Thanks, Perce," Will says. Percy pats him on the back and goes off to do his own thing, raid his mom's fridge, or text Annabeth. Will is left standing in the breezy garage, watching Nico strum his guitar. He plucks out a soft beat that reminds Will of his childhood, cool spring mornings, and a time in the band where their practices weren't filled with fighting. 

------

That night, Will finds that he has trouble sleeping. Even though it's mid-July the night isn't abnormally hot, and the apartment is quiet, but he's lying flat on his back long after two in the morning. In the room to his left, he can hear quiet snores from Nico. Will is sure that his face is smashed into the pillow; he always sleeps on his stomach, and in the room to his right, Percy is talking in his sleep. But those are normal night sounds and yet, Will still can't sleep. Even getting up, padding into their tiny kitchen for a glass of water, and chugging the whole thing, there's no tiredness. He stays awake until the first hints of sunlight, thinking about Nico, about his snappiness at practice, and what could possibly be wrong.