Chapter Text
I stared up at my ceiling, wondering what the hell had just happened.
Today had been a whirlwind of a day. Sure, I was certain that many people would say that about their day over and over again, but this time, I really meant it. It hadn’t necessarily been a long day at work, and my stupid guardian hadn’t reached out, so in any other circumstances, today should have been uneventful, but of course, this was my life, and it never seemed to work out the way I planned.
But I just hadn’t thought that the reason for today’s mess would be HIM.
“Nico, do you mind showing the new kids around?” The request from fernando seemed like a strange one. Sure, I was used to training the newer employees, but we hadn’t had a new recruit in longer than I could remember. The job payed well, and it was the friendliest place I had ever been, but unfortunately, it had a stigma attached to it. Everyone I knew thought of the restaurant as the place where troubled kids worked; the place where you only applied for if you were in desperate need of money or a bit of love. It made me endlessly upset to know that individuals turned their nose up to the place I called home, so perhaps that was why the news of new hires seemed a bit alarming.
Was this yet another group of snobby highschool kids who wanted to mess around with us before disappearing after a week, or had Fernando found another individual to take under his care. For his sake and the sake of the restaurant, I hoped it was the latter.
“Of course I don’t mind,” I shrugged. Maybe this was a chance for me to make a few new friends. Gods knew I could use some more of those.
Fernando seemed delighted at my offer to help, and he was quick to steer me in the direction of his office, where I was sure the newcomers were seated, waiting eagerly or anxiously for my arrival. I barely had time to slip my apron on and pull my hair back into a ponytail before I was shoved into the office, met with an all too familiar face.
“Hey!” The girl exclaimed. I recognized her as being one of the girls from the other day… the group that had acted as if I were some sort of ghost from their past. Thankfully, she wasn’t acting strange this time, although I was still a bit hesitant of her. What if she had only come here to spy on me? What if she had some personal vendetta against me or my guardian that she was planning to do something about here?
Stop being ridiculous Nico… you read way too many books!
I had to laugh at myself, putting on a friendly face and shoving those rumors aside as I greeted her. After all, as close as the two of us were, I was pretty sure Fernando would not be happy if I treated a new hire like some imposter. And honestly, it would be hypocritical of me.
“I’m-”
“Nico, right?” the girl finished for me. It was a bit unnerving honestly, and I reminded myself to be extra careful around her. I was sure she was harmless and that my fantasies were simply fantasies, but still… one never knew. “I’m Piper! It’s nice to meet you!”
I laughed at her peppy attitude. If she didn’t know my name and hadn’t acted so strange the previous day, I might have considered befriending her. She didn’t seem half bad, and unlike most other people I met, she seemed able to carry a decent conversation.
“It’s nice to meet you too, and I’m glad to see you liked this place enough to come back.”
Piper smirked, shrugging her shoulders in agreement. “Well, I’m glad to see you remembered me. I should apologize, honestly… me and my friends were just having a rough day, and I realize now you probably got a bit creeped out by us.”
I rolled my eyes, suddenly feeling much more comfortable around this girl. At least she could see her and her friends strange behavior for what it was, and not only that, but she had apologized for it. Not many people my age had the class to do something like that, and I had to admit I admired that in a person. “A bit creeped out might be the understatement of the year, but whatever you say, I guess.”
She gave me a strange look, but it was gone before I had the chance to worry over what it meant. She was getting used to working at a brand new place, and knowing the type of people Fernando hired, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was another renegade he had picked up from off the street.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Piper smiled sheepishly, and I had to smile at her apology. She truly was sweet. “Like I said… we’re a bunch of idiots.”
“Well, I’ll have to meet the rest of your idiot friends, I guess.”
“You will!” Piper seemed a bit too enthusiastic at the idea… perhaps she was looking for a few new friends as well. If so, I knew I would be more than willing to fill that position. Despite the strange way they had treated me at first, Piper’s friend group had seemed lovely. They were exactly the type of people I imagined myself being friends with in my past life, except instead of normal college kids, we were heroes and adventurers. I knew it was the stuff little kids would think of when they played pretend, but it was a comfort to me, so who cared what I thought of. After all, I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was real, so it wasn’t as if I was hallucinating.
“You two can make plans to meet up later,” Fernando scolded, and I couldn’t help the small blush that made it’s way onto my cheeks. I hated tardiness, and here I was, getting way behind schedule. “I have to go train the other new hire, so you two better get moving.”
“Sir, yes sir,” I teased, earning an affectionate eye roll from my boss. Not wasting anymore time lounging around the office, I grabbed Piper’s hand, all but dragging her towards the kitchen area of our restaurant. As soon as we were in the place of business, I turned my full attention to her. “So, do you know what you were hired for? Waitress? Cook? Some other position that ‘Nando has yet to inform me of…?”
“You sure talk a lot,” she laughed, and I would have been offended by the comment if it didn’t come from her. I couldn't quite describe it, but there was something about her voice that calmed me down; made me feel as if I would have done anything she’d asked, even if it came at a cost to my own life. It was terrifying, but in a beautiful sort of way.
“And you have a certain way of talking,” I commented. “I’m pretty certain anyone would follow you blindly. I bet boys fall all over you.”
Piper’s brow quirked into the air with amusement. “It’s not just the boys who fall all over me. You should see my friend Annabeth.”
I made a face of disgust. “I don’t think I want to hear about how you and your girlfriend canoodle.”
“You were just as bad… Pining over Percy as if he was the best thing you’ve ever seen-”
“Me?”
Piper looked nervous, and a small part of me couldn’t help but wonder if her offhanded comment had anything to do with why her friends had behaved so strangely the other day. What was so special about me that they felt as if I knew them. I wanted an explanation, but I also knew it was rude of me to ask.
“Oh my gods,” Piper murmured, her cheeks dusted a light pink as she spoke up, clearly embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, Nico… it’s just… you look a lot like one of our old friends. We- we lost him, and ever since then, it’s like we see him everywhere we go.”
“I understand,” I nodded sympathetically. Sure, I may not have lost a friend, but I had lost years and years of my life. Loss was something I tried to forget about; to not dwell on, but I knew that it would haunt me wherever I went.
“Yeah…” Piper shot me a soft smile. “I suppose we can get through it together?”
My eyes widened. “Is that an offer of friendship.”
“Only if you want it to be.”
“Hey!” a third voice joined our conversation. The voice was bright and airy, and it sounded as if it belonged to an angel or ethereal being. It was silly of me to think that of a voice, but once again, I read too many books. “You can’t be dealing out offers for friendships and not include me in the deal!”
I turned around to take a look at the owner of the angelic voice, and…
I froze. Standing in front of me, somehow looking stellar in a slightly baggy apron and cuffed jeans, was quite possibly the most attractive boy I had ever set eyes on in my life. I was right when I had compared him to an angel, but now that I saw him, I would have to say he reminded me more of some heavenly deity… the god of the son, or Apollo himself (though I doubt Apollo could ever be this attractive!)
“Hi,” I finally managed to speak, my eyes unable to tear away from this heavenly boy in front of me. His blonde curls fell like a halo around his head, and his bright blue eyes seemed to entrance me. I had never really found anyone attractive, so perhaps that was why I was acting this way. But anyway… back to his eyes. They seemed so bright and full of life, but the more I looked at him, the more I realized that this boy held a deep sadness inside of him. Maybe he had lost someone close, or maybe he was a boy who Fernando had picked right off the streets, saving him from whatever fate he had been condemned to. Whatever it was, however, I felt the desire to help him, even though I wasn’t quite sure I would be of much help.
Stop it Nico… try and be his friend first, before you go about attempting to fix him
“I’m nico, by the way,” I introduced myself, internally wincing at how awkward he was being. Fernando was right. He needed more friends, otherwise, he would never get out of this weird awkward phase. “And you are…?”
“Will!” The sunshine boy sounded way too enthusiastic, but I found it endearing. “I’m Will. it’s- it’s nice to meet you, Nico.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Will. Are you a friend of Piper’s too?”
Will looked at me, a strange expression on his face, before he smiled once more. Honestly, I wondered if he ever stopped smiling. It certainly didn’t seem like it. “Yeah, Piper and I have known each other for years. I showed her friend around camp once a long time ago.”
“What kind of camp?”
“Just a summer camp,” he shrugged, as if it weren’t a big deal, though something in me told me that it was. The camp must have meant something to him… and perhaps to all of his friends? Had that group I met the other day met at camp? Was that where they had grown so close? A small part of me couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if I had experienced something like that in my past. Maybe I would have had more friends and been happier.
Maybe I did get a chance like that… I wouldn’t know. Piper and Will could’ve been my friends once and I wouldn’t even remember them.
The pain that came with not knowing my past plagued my mind, causing Will to shoot me a concerned look. Somehow, the kindness reflected in his warm eyes only made me more flustered. I could hardly look at him without my brain malfunctioning, and to anyone who knew me, they would have been confused. I was normally an extremely friendly person, so why was this tall, blonde, sunshine boy reducing me to a pile of goopy nerves.
“Well- uh…” I stumbled over my words, feeling my face grow hotter by the minute. “I should- i mena, we… me and piper, should probably get going with- with the tour!”
Piper raised her brow at me, the corners of her lips quirking into a knowing smile, and I immediately wanted to tell her to stop it. Sure, I knew I was being a bit ridiculous, but really… how was I supposed to help it? Will was quite gorgeous.
Of course, with those thoughts swirling around in my head, I only ceased to embarrass myself over and over again for the rest of the day. First off, I was certain that I must have broke the restaurants record for crashing into corners that day alone. The first time was after I pulled piper away, and if it weren’t for the other girl, I would have faceplanted on the tiled floor. The second was caused by just the thought of Will’s oh-so-perfect eyes, which sent me careening into Mitchell, earning quite a few grumbles from my normally shy co-worker.
But the third time, when put in perspective, wasn’t all that bad. I was hurrying back in after taking a breather outside, when I heard the most angelic voice I had ever had the pleasure of listening to. Of course it belonged to Will… as if this boy wasn’t enchanting enough. I had tried to listen in without being seen, but the young blonde was much more perceptive than I’d thought, and it didn’t take long for him to see me. I instantly flushed, making my way over to him, so as not to seem like some sort of creep, but of course, I rammed into one last counter in the process.
“You just keep tripping over things today,” Will laughed fondly, shaking his head at me. I could feel my cheeks pink, but this time, I was far too entranced by him to notice.
“Yeah, well, I can’t help it when you’re standing there,” I teased, but I hadn’t expected my words to cause such an explosion of emotions on the other boy's face. I wanted to comment on each and every one, but now wasn’t really the time, so I figured it would be best to change the subject. I tried to find something we could talk about, and the song he had been singing came to mind. At least that was one thing we might have in common.
“You were singing Anastasia before, weren’t you?” I smiled at him, and I felt pure joy rush through me at the overjoyed look he shot me in return.
“Yeah!” Will gushed, his blue eyes twinkling. “It’s one of my favorite musicals… I’ve been listening to it a lot recently, so I suppose it just got stuck in my head.”
“I get it,” I shrugged. “I like it too, if that’s any consolation.”
“Is that an invitation for me to sing whenever I like?”
I grinned. “Only if I’m allowed to join in when I feel like it.”\
Will’s entire face lit up in a heavenly glow. Honestly… how was this boy real? “I would love that, Nico.”
“Then it’s settled,” I stated, trying to ignore the giddy excitement bubbling up inside of me. ‘We shall be each others duet partners. It’s about time this place got some better music.”