Will knocked at Nico's door at exactly eight AM on Sunday morning. And as soon as his arm fell to his side, the door swung open. Jason was standing there. He held some roses. Will had a feeling those were not for him.

"Oh, hey Will. You aren't Piper." He frowned a little and pushed his glasses up. Will couldn't help thinking how that action looked incredibly out of place on the golden boy.

"No, I'm here for Nico." Will chuckled. "Is he up yet? We're supposed to have breakfast together."

Jason cast a glance behind him, "Actually, no. I'll wake him for you." Jason left the door ajar and Will saw as he headed to Nico's bed and shook him awake. "Nico, your boyfriend is here to take you to breakfast."

At those words, a deep crimson took over Will's features and Nico's eyes snapped open, a similar blush spreading on his cheeks. "He's not my boyfriend." Both spoke simultaneously.

Jason smiled and made his way out of the room, Will still standing in the doorway. "You kids have fun."

Once he was out of sight, Will shuffled nervously. "Um... So..."

Nico shot him a glare and got out of bed. Once at the door, "I can't, I have a chemistry project due tomorrow. And I haven't even started." He moved to close the door but Will stuck his foot out before he closed the door completely.

"What? Why didn't you say anything?"

Nico sighed and rolled his eyes, "I forgot, now go away." He tried to close the door again but Will's foot was still there. He glared at it, "Move your foot."

"Can I help?"

"What?" He looked at him like what he'd suggested was beyond preposterous.

"I had promised before that I'd help you with your classes."

Nico looked like he'd remembered Will's promise before the dance and closed his eyes, "I don't need help."

Will rolled his eyes, "Would it kill you to accept help once in a while?"

He glared at him but then he agreed with that cute grumpy voice of his and opened the door all the way, dramatically gesturing for Will to come in. "Make yourself at home." His sarcasm made Will smile.

So he decided to take it literally and jumped on Nico's bed, stretching out and putting his hands beneath his head, he then winked and said, "Care to join me, di Angelo?"

Nico's cheeks blushed crimson, "Get off my bed, Solace."

He sat up, "Or you could come and sit by me so I could help you with your chemistry project."

Nico grumbled something in Italian before grabbing a notebook and pen from his desk and sitting by Will.

"See? Was that so hard?"

"Yes." Nico replied.

But then Will started explaining everything and helped Nico through the whole thing. Wanting to be a doctor and studying for it, really helped Will with science. At random times, he'd find himself sprawled on Jason's bed or sitting on the floor still helping Nico, who would end up on his own bed, the desk or the floor next to Will. With something to work on together, they didn't bicker much and found they actually worked quite good together. Will found himself thinking more than once that they made a great team. At some point it'd gotten darker outside and when Will looked at a clock on Nico's bedside table, he found they'd missed breakfast and lunch by hours and dinner by a couple minutes. But Will didn't say anything until they finished the project half an hour later and Jason entered his room.

"Will?" Jason was surprised to find that they were still there and Nico was still in his pajamas. "Weren't you supposed to go out for breakfast at eight?"

Nico turned his desk chair and looked at Jason, "I remembered I had a chemistry project and Will was nice enough to stay and help me all day."

Jason whistled, "Must've been some project."

Nico shook his head, "Whatever, we're done. Will was just heading out."

Will stood up from the floor, "Actually, both of us were. Change of plans, now we're having dinner together. Nico was just about to go change."

Nico sputtered and glared at him, "What? I never agreed to that!"

"You'd promised me a meal together. We missed breakfast and lunch, it's only natural now that we go for dinner together."

Nico huffed, annoyed, "Fine, but I'm not staying out late." With that, he disappeared into the bathroom with a change of clothes.

Jason chuckled, "It's like he can't deny anything from you."

Will blushed at Jason's words, "Of course he can, he's done it plenty of times before."

"If it was before he actually got to know you, it doesn't count."

Will didn't know what to say to that and thankfully that was when Nico came out of the bathroom. He wore a Framing Hanley tee, gray skinnies and black vans high tops. Will thought he couldn't have looked cuter, with his messy hair and a beanie to cover it up. Will didn't realize he was staring until Nico cleared his throat and said, "Well? Let's go."

Will gestured to the door, "After you sunshine."

Nico blushed and glared as he made his way out of the room, "Don't call me sunshine."

Will followed, "Whatever you say say sunshine."

Jason laughed as he saw them off, telling them again to have fun.

They snuck out through the usual passageways in silence and Will led them to the same cafe he'd promised to take him to that morning. Will saw that all the tables inside were full, even at night and they took a seat on one of the tables outside. It was December, and it was cold, maybe they should have waited for one f the tables inside to clear out but they hadn't eaten all day so they were hungry. As they waited for a waitress they looked over the menu and Nico was surprised to find out they also sold pasta dishes at the small café.

"The owner is a big fan of pasta. So naturally, they sell pasta here too." Will said, immediately noticing that Nico was shivering. He hadn't brought a jacket. Will took his own off, thankful that he was wearing a long sleeved shirt and a hoodie underneath. He held it out for Nico, "Here, wear this, you're shivering."

Nico was too cold to protest and took it at once, as soon as it was on, his eyes rounded in surprise, "Wow," he mumbled, almost like he didn't mean to and he was thinking out loud. "It's really soft."

Will smiled, "Know what it's made of?" Nico raised his eyebrows in question and Will replied, "Boyfriend material."

If Nico's cheeks weren't already red from the cold, Will guessed he would've blushed at his answer. It looked like he wanted to reply but then a waitress was at their table, "I apologize that we don't have anymore tables inside, if you like, you could wait for one to open up."

Will looked at Nico, "Do you want to wait inside?"

Nico shook his head and looked at the waitress, "No, it's okay, we can eat out here."

The waitress nodded, "Okay. Would you like me to take your order?"

Will nodded and rattled off what he wanted, then Nico and they waited in silence for their food. When the waitress came back with their order, she took another look at them and said, "You make a cute couple."

Before Nico could say anything, Will looked at him and smiled, "I think so too. Thank you."

The waitress smiled at them and ducked back inside, leaving them alone again.

Before digging into his food, Nico said, "Why do you do that?"

Will looked up from his own food, "Do what?"

"Pretend that you like me."

Will didn't know what to say for a second before he found the right words and they spilled from his lips, "I'm not pretending." He felt a blush spread on his cheeks, and mumbled, "I really like you. I've been drawn to you since I first saw you."

Nico's eyes flashed angrily, "And what's so likable about me? I ignore you all the time and-and I can barely find the courage to be your friend."

Will took a deep breath, "I've seen you smile once, almost twice and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I love how you use your hands so much to express what you're saying," he did use them as lot, Will hadn't exactly noticed until that moment when he thought back on it, "And how cute your voice sounds when you're grumpy. And your personality—Nico—you don't know all that well how to let anyone in. But I noticed you made progress with Reyna and Jason. And I want to help you with that. You're really smart and you don't even realize it. You're really nice too, you think I didn't notice when you nodded your thanks to the waitress after taking our order and bringing our food? I didn't even think to do that. But you did." He paused. "Nico, I like you, a lot. And I want to get to know you even more. And I'm not asking you to be my boyfriend or anything but... I want to spend more time with you. I want to really get to know you."

Nico didn't reply until he finished his food, "I'm not completely sure how to give you that chance. I don't even know how I managed to give that chance to Reyna and Jason."

"Then how about you start by telling me more about yourself? And then I'll tell you more about me."

Nico didn't look up from his plate, "Okay. I hope you're ready for a sob story, Solace."

"I was born ready, di Angelo."