Chapter Text
The first time Nico met Will, he was sure he had somehow developed tachycardia because of how fast his heart was beating.
He was previously informed by the University that for his second year he would be sharing a dorm with another sophomore named William Solace, but no more information was provided about him. Nico considered himself to be a pretty chill person, so as long as his roommate respected his boundaries they wouldn’t have a problem.
Four hours had passed since his arrival to the dorm, and he hadn’t even had much time to panic about the arrival of his roommate because of all the organization he had been doing in his side of the room. He had put up plenty of posters from his favourite rock bands to adorn the walls on his side (yes, he was a sucker for the bad boy aesthetic), along with some black sheets to cover the bed and a purple lava lamp that his sister Hazel had gifted him some months ago.
He wasn’t near finished with the job, but he was sure that the room had started feeling more homely once he adjusted it to his own preferences. Homely in his own sense however, because he was pretty sure that the majority of the population wouldn’t exactly feel at home with the wannabe vampire deco, so he was hoping his roommate was at least a little bit open minded.
As if manifested by his thoughts, he heard a soft knock on the door and moments later what Nico assumed to be his roommate appeared into his field of vision.
He felt his heart do a little wiggly dance when he came face to face with him. The man he was encountered with was one of the most handsome people Nico had ever met, and it was pretty difficult to surpass those standards as he was sure he had his fair amount of attractive friends.
His roommate – William, he reminded himself, was nothing short of beautiful. He had curly blond hair that seemed to float around his head like a cloud, and tanned freckled skin that made it damn clear he had come from some part of the south. His body seemed lean and athletic, and Nico tried not to question himself too much about how his eyes did a double take at the way William’s arms looked on that white tank top.
And oh, his eyes.
Nico had seen plenty of blue eyes during his life, but none had captured his gaze like Will’s did. He wanted to take a picture of them and use that exact same shade as a wallpaper, but it would probably be rude to do so before introducing himself.
Oh wait, introductions – he was supposed to say something, right?
“Nico Di Angelo”, he firmly said, before the sudden bravery could escape his body, and he stiffly put one hand out as a salutation.
“Congratulations Nico, now you sound like a jerk” he chided himself.
The blond didn’t seem fazed by Nico’s lack of social skills however, and instead flashed him a smile so bright Nico could swear the room lit up. His heart was beating again. Did he ever review his family’s medical history? College didn’t seem like an appropriate time to develop chronic tachycardia.
“Will Solace! Pleased to meet you” he exclaimed delightfully and shook Nico’s hand between both of his. Even his hand was soft, he noted. “Have you been waiting for a long time?” he asked, and carefully dropped Nico’s hand to put his back in his jeans’ pockets. Nico found himself missing the touch. Was it getting too cold inside?
“Uh, no, not really. I was just organizing a bit” he answered, motioning towards his side of the room.
Will chuckled. “I see you like the darkish vibes. Hope you don’t mind mine crashing a bit” he commented, arching a brow at Nico’s decorative choices.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked, suddenly curious about whatever the blond was talking about.
Will snorted. “You will have plenty of time to find out, won’t ya?” he retorted, almost bursting in laughter again as Nico’s brows furrowed together almost instantly “But don’t worry, I won’t keep you waiting much” he conceded and went to get a pair of big blue suitcases. The color was as bright as Will’s eyes, Nico analyzed. Was it his thing to be so bright all the time?
Before he could go down the tunnel of trying to decipher his entire personality, William (“It’s Will”, Nico reminded himself) took out what seemed to be a wooden mobile, like the ones mothers hang from their baby’s cribs. It had a big sun in the middle, with small golden stars and white clouds hanging from threads next to it. Quite pretty, but it did in fact mismatch with his own decoration tendencies.
Will disentangled a few threads that appeared to be twisted and laid the object down in his bed, turning to Nico after he made sure it wouldn’t fall over.
“I hope you’re not an interior design major, because otherwise this room will give you a heart attack” Will remarked, putting a hand in his chin thoughtfully and moving his eyes between Nico’s posters and his new addition to the decoration of the chamber.
“English, actually. And the contrast is quite fun” responded Nico to mask the fact that the decoration was the least likely thing to give him a heart attack in that room.
Will focused his eyes on Nico again and arched a brow. “Didn’t take you for the fun type” he added, and flashed another smile.
“Should I feel insulted?”
“Not at all”
Nico couldn’t decide whether Will was being sarcastic on purpose or not, causing his eyes to unconsciously squint while trying to decipher the other’s motivations, but he decided to change the subject anyways. “You didn’t tell me your major”, he stated.
“Pre-Med, Biology. I’m also doing a minor in music, though”, responded Will easily enough.
That piqued Nico’s interest, and he tilted his head a little. “Oh, I have a friend who’s doing a minor in music too. Her name’s Piper, maybe you know her?” commented Nico, fiddling with the zipper of his hoodie.
“Did that sound weird? What if he doesn’t know her? Obviously not everyone doing the same minor knows each–” started overthinking Nico, but was interrupted by Will’s sudden burst of excitement.
“Piper? As in Piper McLean? Totally! We do, like, all of our projects together” smiled Will, his aura practically overflowing with enthusiasm, and he unconsciously took a step forwards. Surprisingly, Nico didn’t mind. “Where do you know her from?” Will asked, it was his turn to let his curiosity get the best of him.
“We’ve been friends for a while. I’m kinda close with her boyfriend” answered Nico almost truthfully, because “kinda close” was a major understatement for his and Jason’s friendship.
“Oh, I know Jason too. Piper was the first person I really bonded with, so we were practically joined by the hip in the first semester. Then she got with him and the lovebirds spend almost all their free time together” added Will, rolling his eyes in mock annoyance in the last phrase. The playful smile never left his lips, noted Nico. “I’m surprised we haven’t met each other, then. Piper doesn’t talk to many people either, and it’s always the same crowd at reunions” questioned Will, turning his full attention back to Nico and scrutinizing his appearance, almost as if trying to remember if he had seen him before.
“I’m not really at the center of the party, so it’s very possible we didn’t notice each other” suggested Nico, trying to get Will’s attention off of him.
That indeed seemed to appease Will, and he dropped the stare he was holding at Nico. “You’re right. I never stay much time at reunions either, so that might be another factor” he concluded, taking a few steps back and turning his back on Nico to continue unpacking his baggage “I’m so glad I met you now, though. You seem like a genuinely nice person” he added, missing the way Nico’s heart jumped inside his chest.
“Why do you say so?” immediately inquired Nico. Most people didn’t exactly perceive him as approachable or nice, as Will had said.
Will looked over his shoulder while taking out some fairy lights and disentangling the strings “Most people just accept the compliment, you know” he chuckled, but continued with an explanation “Your mannerisms, I guess. And the way you talked about your friends. I might be wrong, but you just look nice. In more ways than one” he winked, and went back to disentangling his fairy lights.
Nico’s entire nervous system tried to reset itself.
He opened his mouth once, closed it, and opened it once again but nothing came out so he closed it again. What the hell was wrong with him, that he couldn’t even get a word out? He wanted to slap himself.
After a few seconds of mental dispute, he got out a worryingly robotic “Thanks. You seem nice, too” and turned to his side of the room so fast he face-planted against the floor.
“Very nice, Nico. Very nice. Italy doesn’t seem so bad now. You just need to tell Hazel and–” pondered Nico, but his whirling thoughts were once again interrupted by Will’s voice.
“Heavens, Nico, are you okay?” asked Will, knelt by Nico’s side, and proceeded to put his hands on his shoulder.
Nico wanted to stay on the floor forever, but he was pretty sure he had gotten a good hit on his nose and was at least 80% positive that dying because of a nosebleed would be the most embarrassing way to leave this world. Besides, wasn’t Will going to be a doctor? He would probably not just stay around while he bled to death.
He slowly got up into a kneeling position and immediately put his finger under his nose. When he got it away from his face, he saw the familiar crimson liquid tainting his finger. “Damn it”, he exclaimed.
“That doesn’t seem very good. Does it hurt a lot?” questioned Will, standing up and stretching his hand to help Nico as well.
Nico took Will’s hand with his clean one and stood up next to him, but overestimated his ability to fully get up because he stumbled a little. Will instantly put his hand on Nico’s waist to support him, and in reaction Nico’s heart started doing somersaults again.
“Is it because of the adrenaline of the fall? Otherwise, I should really go to a cardiologist” Nico debated internally, but remembered Will’s previous question.
“Uh, no, not pain. More like mild discomfort” answered Nico, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could perceive the metallic taste of the blood now.
“Doesn’t seem that bad, then. Stay put” instructed Will, going back to his suitcase and taking out a packet of tissues from the bag. He then turned around and got so close to Nico that he could start counting the freckles on his face. “Here, let me help you”, said Will, taking out a tissue and pressing it against Nico’s nose.
Nico didn’t protest, and instead chose to take advantage of the proximity to take a good look at Will’s eyes, never getting enough of the brightness that they seemed to contain. The color was indeed mesmerizing, and he now noted that he had long blond eyelashes to accompany their charm. His brow was slightly furrowed in concentration too, and upon closer inspection Nico noticed that the tip of Will’s tongue was slightly coming out of his lips.
At the same time, Will passed the tissue over Nico’s lips to clean the blood that had reached them, and Nico took in the way in which the tips of Will’s ears reddened at the action. He felt his own cheeks redden at the realization that Will was quite literally wiping the blood from his face in possibly the softest way any other human being had ever touched him before, but before he could panic further about the situation Will stopped his cleaning and took a step back from Nico.
“As good as new!” he announced, after inspecting Nico’s face to see if he had missed any spots.
“Thank you. I’m not usually this clumsy” declared Nico, still feeling his face growing hot with each passing second now that the reality of his situation sank in.
“Happens to the best of us”, announced Will and mechanically turned to his bed. Nico saw his shoulders shaking a bit, and he was about to ask him if something was wrong when Will suddenly burst into laughter.
Nico stared at him dumbfounded, and Will was practically clutching his stomach now from how hard he was laughing. His laugh was contagious, Nico noticed, because he found himself smiling at the sight before him.
“I- I’m sorry, but it was just so funny. You had to see your face”, Will managed to get out those words before being thrown into another fit of laughter which was only renewed each time he looked at Nico. Nico didn’t think he had made anyone laugh this hard since his suitcase got lost on a trip and he had to use the hawaiian shirts he got from a street vendor for a week (Percy and Leo cried of laughter every time they looked at him).
Nico smirked. “Are you going to laugh at all your patients too?” he questioned, and Will started taking breaths to calm himself down before speaking.
“If they fall face-first into the floor of the hospital, I might” countered Will, smiling so hard Nico wondered how his cheeks hadn’t fallen off his face.
“Then I won’t go into your hospital. I have a dignity to preserve, too” replied Nico, arching a brow and trying to suppress his smile as best as he could.
“I’ll leave you to bleed out next time, then”.
“Isn’t that against the Hippocrathic Oath?”.
“Didn’t know you were a lawyer” argued Will.
“I can multitask” smirked Nico “But seriously, thank you, Will. I don’t know how I can repay you” concluded Nico, smiling sheepishly at Will who had now taken a thoughtful stance.
“You might not know, but I have an idea. How about organizing a reunion at Piper’s?” proposed Will. “Well, knowing Piper she will do all the organizing”, he murmured, “but you have to promise to go”.
Nico pondered the idea in his mind. He didn’t have much to do on the weekends anyways, and as much as he told his friends to fuck off on a daily basis, he actually cared about them. What was there to lose?
“Agreed. Not many people, though. I don’t feel like going to a big party right at the start of the semester” responded Nico, looking at Will to see if that appeased him too.
“Deal! But we should continue unpacking, though. I’ll just text Piper about it later” settled Will, and went back to getting things out from his suitcase.
“Deal”.
“Maybe ‘deal’ is our ‘okay’”.
“Shut up and unpack, Solace” finalized Nico, feeling his heart doing little dances from time to time.
He took out his phone and wrote a reminder: ‘review the family records for heart disease’.