Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

NICO DI ANGELO

He knocked on the door to the psychology classroom to get Will. He hated asking the teacher- speaking to people was horrible. Will was his only friend in that class, too. All of the rest of them wanted to do schoolwork, for some reason.

Everyone in the class looked up at him but he just stared at Will. It was moments like that when he felt like he couldn't speak English- couldn't speak at all.
The teacher cleared her throat. "Can I help?"
"Uhm- Will."
"Mr di Angelo, what is the problem?"
"I want Will. No! I mean- Mr Fletcher wants Will. Yeah. Can I take Will?"
The teacher sighed. "Solace, go."

Nico left as quickly as possible, hoping his blushing and stuttering wasn't too obvious.
"Thanks," Will said when he left the classroom. "She was just about to check the homework."
"Mhm- yeah. Uhm. Cool."

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes and it was awkward. They just walked around the school, not looking at each other.
"So, you're cousins-" Nico began.
"I'm so sorry about them- please ignore whatever they said to you."
"They added my Instagram-"
"I'll kill them."
"No, it's okay," Nico smiled. "They're funny."
"And annoying."
"Runs in the family," He nudged Will.
"Hey!" Will pushed him back.

Usually, Nico would've hated any form of physical contact, but with Will it didn't seem so bad. The one time Will made Nico touch his hands replayed in Nico's mind all the time. The way Will's hands were shaking- the way they felt and the way he was smiling. Everything. If he could choose to relieve any moment from the last year, that'd be it. Feeling Will Solace's hands touch his.

"So, where do you want to go?" He eventually asked Will.
"Anywhere," he shrugged. "As long as Mr D doesn't catch us."
"Don't worry about Mr D, he likes me."
"He does? He doesn't like anyone though. Heck, he calls Percy 'Peter' everyday."
"Well I'm an exception," Nico shrugged.
"I guess you're just a likeable person."

For the first time, they made eye contact. Will's eyes were an amazing light blue- so detailed even from that far away. They were surrounded with freckles, though it was late winter. Nico could only imagine how many freckles there'd be in the summer. He had a crooked nose which was adorable- his hair had gotten slightly longer, too and-
Nico had to stop himself from thinking about how pretty Will was. It was pointless.

"How's Cerberus?" Will eventually asked, making Nico break the eye contact immediately.
"Uhm- he's good. Adorable. Annoying. Like-" Nico was so close to saying 'you' that he wanted to punch himself. "Like uhm- normal puppies. Yeah."
"Heh. My mom would never let me have a pet- oh, apart from that goldfish I had in third grade. It died after two weeks."
"Oh- uhm. Well, you should come over and meet Cerberus."
"Really? I'd love to- if you're sure. When you're free. That'd be amazing."

"Sure. Oh- come with me to my locker. I have English homework due next class. I hate English."
"I can help you with the homework."
"You're a life saver. I didn't read the novel. Can you read 300 pages in under an hour?"
"No," Will said. "What book?"
"The tale of two cities or something."
"Oh, I read that during the summer. Don't worry."
"You read for fun?"
"Yeah?"
"Nerd," Nico teased.

"Shut up or I won't help you,"
"But you will," He grabbed the books out of his locker.
"And why should I?"
"Because- you're a great friend?"
"I know I am," Will sighed dramatically. "Now let's do your homework."

• • •

Will looked so cute when concentrating. "No- no the other 'too'. Two o's."
"Does it make a difference?" Nico asked.
"Yes. No- that's not American English- it's gray with an a. Grey with an e is British English."
"English. From England."
"Yeah- still. Just trust me. You'll get full marks on this."
"If I get full marks, Mr Blofis will know I cheated."
"Oh well. Just keep going. It's almost break time."
"Fine," Nico rolled his eyes. "The French Revolution? What does that word mean?" he pointed to one of the words he couldn't even read. Why was it so complicated?

Thankfully, Will was patient. He didn't laugh at Nico or call him dumb. He'd just explain the word then continue to help him. Honestly, Nico was kind of disappointed when the bell rang to end their free class. He wanted to spend more time just talking to Will. It made him feel happy, which was a rare feeling.

They stared walking to the cafeteria together. "Oh- uhm- I forgot something in my locker-" Nico said, though he'd intentionally forgotten it. It was dumb, but even thirty seconds longer with Will was the best feeling.
Will laughed. "Time to go back to your locker, then."

They eventually got to the cafeteria, everyone else already there. Hazel smiled at him then looked back down to her food. The only place for him and Will to sit was beside each other, but Nico didn't complain.
Hazel, who was sitting at the other side of him, was giggling silently, head down.
"What do you find so funny?" Nico whispered.
"Nothing. I just don't think you'll be playing Minecraft the night of prom," she whispered back.
"What?"
"Nothing!"
"Hmph."

Hazel just smiled back at him. "One of you are going to have to make the first move."
"Hazel Levesque, I'll kill you if you don't shut up."
"You wouldn't. I'm your favourite person at this table-" she glanced over his shoulder at Will. "Okay, I'm your second favourite."
"Hey- that is not true."
"Okay, Nico."
"And I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Okay, Nico. He probably likes you back though."
He ignored her, trying not to get his hopes up.

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Word Count: 979

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A/N: AH I literally have school tomorrow but won't be able to sleep. I'm dreading it. I have a bunch of science that I'm supposed to have done. Yikes.