SUNSHINE + SHADOW !

The Not-so-Perfect Life of Will Solace

So, all the oneshots have been third person so far, so I decided to try first person, though that might be kind of a problem because I just read 13 Reasons (didn't want to watch it lmao) and everything I write seems to be in Clay's tone...

Also, this thing is very rushed

Like most of my fics

And if it randomly switches to third person in the middle for like three sentences or something, don't be surprised

I've always wondered about Nico di Angelo. He's the loner, the last to be picked, the sit-in-a-dark-corner one. The quiet kid. Well, not-so-quiet if you try to approach him. I did that once. Well, it didn't end very well. This is how our interaction went:

Will: "Hey."

Nico: "Go away."

Will: "What?"

Nico: "Are you deaf? I said, Go. Away."

Will: "Why?"

Nico: "Because I like being alone?!"

Will: "Why would you like being alone? No one likes being alone."

Nico: "I'll do what I want. And go away."

Will: *finally takes the hint and goes away*

I walked away with a hurt pride, snapped back the next day, and now we're sort of enemies.

Honestly, though? I get why he pushed me away so hostilely. I know what my classmates say about me. Golden boy, Mr. Perfect, Star Student, straight A's, straightforward, straight Will Solace... (Yes, if you recognized that from Little Miss Perfect.) I get why he wouldn't want to associate with someone like me. I wouldn't either, if I were him. How could he tell whether I genuinely wanted to be friends, or if he was just my new charity project?

Sometimes I've regretted that conversation. I wonder what would have happened, had I kept being nice to him. Of course, I had to make myself a dangerous new enemy who I didn't even want to be enemies with. I watch Nico sometimes, when he's not looking—okay, that sounds extremely creepy, but I just wanted to know more, without inducing his infamous death glare. If he caught me staring, I just made some snappy comment and pretended to go do something else. Pushing him even further away. Leading him off the scent. Pretending I didn't have a strange fascination with every graceful curve of his neck, every soft tuft of Stygian hair. After all, I had a reputation to maintain, as Star Student. Straight A's, straightforward, straight Will Solace. (Amity vibes...) Over months, that fascination started taking a shape.

(Sorry, Ordinary just started playing, and I almost deleted the whole document on accident

"I notice how she looks at me
But i pretend that i don't see")

"What're you staring at, Solace?" Nico demanded. I blinked out of my thoughts, jerking my gaze from Nico's bright, cold eyes. I turned away, pretending to scan the clearing, hoping nobody noticed the flush spilling over my cheeks.

"Nothing!" I managed to snap, unable to come up with a smart comeback for once.

"That's all you're gonna say?" Nico's mouth curved into a devious smirk. Keep it cool, Will, keep it cool.

"Well, I wasn't looking at you." Oh, no, no, no, I scrambled to backtrack. "Or, um, anything in particular...?" The raven-haired boy shook his head in mock disappointment, cool and collected as ever. A notion occurred to me: did Nico enjoy flustering me? Did he even know about my fixation? Was he that intuitive? I walked backwards until I nearly tripped over a tree root, then turned and fled for where my friends were arguing over something. I ignored Nico for a week.