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Tartarus Funeral Home was always holding charity benefits of some sort, which were less about enriching the community, and more a respectable excuse to have monthly parties. This month's benefit was something for the local veterinarians, or the nearby hospital, or something. Nico had stopped paying attention to who they were having these parties for sometime around age fifteen, when he became more interested in finding all the best deserted corners of the funeral home to seclude himself in while the partygoers laughed and mingled in the main hall.
He had only recently started to attend the functions again, after Bianca had died his father had allowed him a few years of social isolation, until Persephone decided it was his duty as Hades' son to be there, even if he was the disappointing drop out of the family. Nico often found himself the subject of the neighbourhood gossip, divulged to Hades via Persephone who was, of course, up to date on these things. The only thing that incentivized him to attend these parties anymore was that he could pass as nineteen, and the functions were always open bar.
That was how he found himself in the upstairs bathroom, perched on the counter, cigarette dangling idly from his hand as he listened to the muffled sounds of music and conversations filter up from the lower floors. Hazel had left a half hour ago, claiming she had to meet Frank as he got off work, and Nico had secluded himself to the upstairs bathroom, the comments of so, what are you planning on doing with your life or you know, there's programs for people like you, and have you considered getting your GED? They were all so condescending and completely oblivious of the fact that Nico was doing perfectly fine as a high school drop out. He was surprised Hades had even told people he had dropped out, but it must have been evident by the lack of grandiose celebration that was expected of Hades for such an event.
It was exhausting, especially when he didn’t have Hazel to field the questions for him, so he found himself sinking in to old habits, this time retreating the the upstairs bathroom with a stolen bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes, expecting to be left alone for the remainder of the night, being bothered only by the occasional teasing text from Reyna.
He was removing his tie from where it hung loosely around his neck, the top few buttons of his dress shirt already undone when the bathroom door was suddenly thrust open, revealing a curly haired blond boy, who stopped at the sight of him, obviously startled.
“Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be in here,” the boy apologized, glancing around the bathroom, eyes settling on the half finished bottle of wine sitting beside Nico on the counter.
“It's alright, if you need the bathroom I can get out of your way,” Nico shrugged, giving the boy a once over and putting his cigarette out in the fake flower arrangement beside him before pushing himself off of the counter.
“No, no, it's fine, I don't need to use the bathroom,” the boy assured him with a small smile, he was taller than Nico, and leaned casually against the door frame as he talked.
“Then why are you in here?” Nico asked confused, leaning back against the counter, picking his suit jacket up from where he'd discarded it on the floor and draping it over his arm.
“I could ask you the same thing,” the boy responded, glancing questioningly at the bottle of wine still sitting on the counter.
“Fair enough,” Nico conceded, grabbing the wine and taking a large swig before placing it back on the counter. “I'm Nico.”
“Will,” the boy smiled, reaching out to shake Nico's hand, Nico hesitated for a second before shaking.
“So, if you're not here to use the bathroom, are you here to steal shit, or escaping the party?” Nico asked pointedly, hopping back up on the counter, kicking his heavy boots absently against the cabinet doors.
Will laughed, throwing his head back, and showing off his perfectly straight teeth. “Escaping the party, but if you see anything worth taking, let me know, we could be partners in crime.”
“Afraid that'd be a little difficult for me,” Nico said solemnly, and then, at Will's confused expression, elaborated, “My father owns the place, I don't think it counts as stealing until I'm taking, like, the caskets.”
“Oh, your Hades' son?” Will asked, entering the room further and leaning against the wall opposite Nico. After Nico nodded affirmative he continued, “My dad's Apollo, apparently they've been friends for like ever. My dad's the reason I'm here tonight, actually, says it's a great place to make connections. Wonder why we haven't met before, if our parents are so close.”
“Well, I only moved in with Hades about eight years ago, and then moved out again last year,” Nico shrugged, pulling a knee up to his chest.
“I guess you're used to these functions then,” Will said, loosening his tie. “I've always hated them, and I've only had to attend for the past two or three years.”
“If you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of hiding in the bathroom, so I'd go with no, I'm not used to these functions,” Nico deadpanned, taking another sip of wine, before holding it out towards Will. “Want some?”
“Sure,” Will shrugged, taking the bottle from Nico. He took a long sip, grimacing as he swallowed. He passed the bottle back to Nico and managed a choke out, “I hate wine.”
Nico laughed, taking another large sip and curling his other leg beneath him. Will gave him a pointed look before sliding down the wall and settling himself on the floor.
“So, what kind of connections were you expecting to make tonight?” Nico asked, looking down at Will, who was tracing the pattern of the bathroom tile with a finger.
“Medical connections, I'm pre-med right now, but it's always good to start early,” Will explained. “Or, something like that. I think he mostly just likes showing me off at parties like this.”
“So, this benefit is for the hospital then?” Nico asked, figuring Will wasn't looking for the type of medical connections to be found with veterinarians.
“You're father is the one throwing this thing, shouldn't you know that?” Will laughed. “But yeah, it's for the hospital.”
“I'm only here for the free alcohol,” Nico shrugged. “The bartenders know I'm Hades' son, so they don't card.”
“How old are you?” Will asked, taken aback.
“Eighteen,” Nico responded. “I can drink in Alberta.”
“Or Quebec, or Manitoba,” Will added, with a nod.
Nico's ring tone sounding cut off whatever Will was going to say next, and Nico gave him an apologetic look as he answered the phone.
“Hello?” he said, knowing that while the contact name said JASON it was equally as likely that it would be Percy on the other line.
“Nico!” Jason replied excitedly, shouting over the background noise.
“Jason,” Nico replied, notably less excited.
“Where are you? You need to get back to the apartment like right now, Percy made these jello shots, you need to try them, they're blue,” Jason babbled excitedly.
“I'm at the funeral home, and I can't exactly drive,” Nico explained, looking forlornly at the mostly empty bottle of wine beside him. “I don't have any money for a cab, either.”
“It's okay, Annabeth can come get you, she just got here, so she's sober,” Jason told him, shouting for Annabeth. “Come on, you hate your dad's parties anyway, and if you don't get back soon, Percy might pass out on the couch again, which means your either sharing with him, or with Leo.”
“Oh god, okay, tell Annabeth to come get me, I'll be waiting out front,” Nico agreed. Last time Percy had passed out on the couch he and Nico had been equally drunk and they had attempted to share the couch, and had woken up in the morning with Percy sprawled across the couch and Nico curled up on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. Jason hung up with a quick thanks, man and Nico sighed, tucking his phone in his pocket.
Will raised a questioning eyebrow from where he was still sitting on the floor.
“Roommate troubles,” Nico explained with a sigh. “ That's what happens when you have eight people basically living in a three bedroom apartment.”
“Eight people? In three bedrooms?” Will asked with a shocked expression, which was often the reaction when Nico told people about his living arrangements. He loved living with his sister, but her friends could be a bit much sometimes.
“I mean, two of them technically don't live with us, but they're there so often it doesn't really matter,” Nico explained, hopping down from the counter and gather his various possessions which had become spread out on the counter over the night. “Anyway, I'm really sorry, but I've got to get going. You can have the rest of the wine, though.”
Will declined with a smile, and Nico downed the rest of the bottle, leaving it one the counter as Will followed him out of the bathroom, past the bar where he swiped another bottle of wine, and to the front door.
“It was nice meeting you,” Will smiled, shaking Nico's hand once again. “Maybe I could get your number?”
“Sure,” Nico smiled, reaching to pull his phone out of his pocket when he was interrupted by an insistent honking, and a few shouts of his name behind them. Turning around he spotted a very drunk Jason leaning halfway out the window of Annabeth's car, and he pocketed his phone, heading over to the car calling to Will behind him. “Shit, sorry I have to go, but maybe we'll run into each other at another one of these.”
“Yeah, see you around,” Will waved as Nico rushed to the car, climbing in the backseat before Jason had the opportunity to start yelling at Will.
“And then you just left?” Jason asked incredulously, shoveling pancakes into his mouth as Nico recounted the events of the night before. “You didn't even get his phone number?”
Percy mumbled his agreement from the floor, where he was curled into a hungover ball under the coffee table, Nico's blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders.
“Well, I didn't have much of a choice, you were there, and drunk, and basically falling out of the car, it was a safety precaution, really,” Nico lamented, sliding his cold feet under Jason's thighs for warmth, Jason, who was so rudely taking up half of Nico's bed, didn't even react to the sudden coldness.
“Well, you obviously have to find him,” Jason decided resolutely, waving his fork in the air. “When's your dad's next event? I'll even come with you and wingman.”
“Jason, we've talked about this, you will never be my wingman,” Nico reminded him with a sigh. “Anyway, he's probably just some rich kid asshole like the rest of the kids who go to those things.”
“Okay, but, what if he's your soulmate?” Jason asked, which was his usual response after anyone in the apartment mentioned a romantic interest. Soulmates were a Big Deal, and Jason was convinced that he would be the one to find a soulmate for each of his friends.
“Oh, who's found their soulmate this time?” Piper asked, walking into the living room holding her own plate of pancakes and settling herself precariously on the arm beside Jason.
“Nico's found himself a boy,” Jason explained to her, accompanied by gratuitous eyebrow waggling.
“I did not,” Nico rolled his eyes.
“Was it the cute blond Annabeth told me about? The cute blond you couldn't shut up about for, like, the entire night?” she asked, before popping a strawberry in her mouth and chewing contently.
Nico blushed, which effectively ruined the glare he was sending Piper's way.
“The very same,” Jason nodded sagely, before stage whispering, “Nico has a crush.”
“I do not,” Nico argued, throwing his arms out, making wide gestures as he talked. “He's just a cute guy that a met at a party, and I didn't have time to get his number, so I'll never see him again, so it's no big deal.”
After a beat of silence, Percy reached out from under the coffee table, stretching out so he could pat Nico's leg consolingly.
“There, there,” he said sleepily. “I'm sure you'll meet another cute boy one day.”
When Nico was sixteen, Hazel had moved out, and into a three bedroom apartment downtown with her boyfriend and their two friends, Leo and Piper, leaving Hades' hospitality for good. Two months later Bianca was struck by a drunk driver on her way home from work, leaving Nico the sole child of Hades left on the sprawling estate.
After Bianca's funeral Nico had shut down, leaving the house only for twice weekly therapy sessions Hades had forced him to attend, once it became clear he was not getting over his grief, though he spent the sessions in a sullen silence, staring out the window at the passing cars.
Hazel came to visit regularly, and was the only one Nico would make any attempt at interaction with, she would often drag him outside to lounge on the porch with her, or go for walks through the forest that bordered Hades' property.
Then, when it became evident that he wasn't making any effort to return to school, Hades gave him an ultimatum; he could finish his schooling, or he could move out. It was an empty threat, really, Hades didn't want Nico to leave, and although Persephone had never been happy about Hades' kids living with them, she didn't want to force him out, but Hades saw no other way to motivate Nico to return to school, so Nico chose the latter.
He accepted Hazel's offer when she asked him to stay with her, and though Hades wasn't thrilled with the arrangement, he knew Hazel would have a better chance at getting through to Nico.
And so Nico left Hades' estate for good, Hades losing all three children in the space of four months, and Persephone gladly reclaiming the space they'd left behind.
While the apartment was already crowded, Piper's boyfriend Jason staying over more often than not, which brought Percy and his best friend Annabeth, Nico was absorbed seamlessly into their family.
The three bedrooms already being claimed left only the couch for Nico, but he didn't mind, and subsequently spent a good two months doing nothing but staring absently at the wall across from him as the other inhabitants of the apartment went on with their daily lives. Percy had been the first one to persuade him to recommence any sort of daily routine, and though Nico would never admit it, it may have had something to do with the small crush he had harboured for Percy in the first few months he stayed there.
Percy got him a job working as a dishwasher at his uncle's bar a few nights a week, and Nico gave half of his paycheck to Hazel to cover rent. Dionysus was a flexible boss, not caring when Nico showed up to work, as long as he was there at least twice a week. Leo, following Percy's lead, got Nico a job at the mechanic's shop he worked at, where Nico worked in the back office filing papers and doing the occasional small repairs on cars.
Once he turned eighteen Dionysus promoted him to bartender, claiming that if it was old enough for the Quebecois, it was good enough for him.
So that's how Nico found himself, two years after Bianca's death, curled up in the corner of his bed slash couch reading Annabeth's architecture textbook, relaxing after a long shift at the bar, while the rest of the apartment gathered in the living room for a group study session in a last frantic panic before finals.
It had become tradition, the inhabitants of the apartment who did attend school would invite friends and classmates over for a night of shared suffering as they partook in one final big push of studying before the big day.
Nico, having no choice but to wait until they were finished to reclaim his bed, was invariably roped in to helping them study in one way or another. This time Annabeth had shoved a stack of flashcards into his hands, and commanded him to quiz her, until it was time for a coffee break, where she had graciously volunteered herself to be the one to go on the coffee run.
Nico suspected she just needed a break from the hell that was his roommates actually attempting to study for once. Annabeth had disappeared a half hour ago, leaving Nico with all her notes and textbooks, making him vow to protect them from the mess that was the living room, textbooks and loose sheets of paper spread on every available flat surface.
Annabeth's return was met with a few scattered cheers as she delivered the coffees and Nico didn't even bother to look up, mumbling a thanks when she set his coffee down on the table in front of him before settling back into her spot beside him on the couch.
Everyone was so wrapped up in their studying that they barely noticed the newcomer, who Annabeth neglected to introduce in her haste to return to her spot.
“Nico?” Will asked, staring at Nico from the doorway. Nico startled, giving a small wave before grabbing his coffee from the table in front of him and taking a large sip.
“Hey, Will,” he said, after swallowing, tapping his fingers idly on his coffee cup, looking anywhere but the faces of his roommates.
Jason was the first one to put it together, figuring out that this Will was the Will that Nico had spent weeks pining after, after Jason had dragged him unceremoniously away from one of his fathers' benefits before he'd had a chance to get his number.
“You're Will? Like Doctor Will?” Jason asked, with a slight smirk, he was still convinced that Will was Nico's soulmate.
“Pre- med Will, but yeah, close enough,” Will shrugged, toeing his shoes off and joining them in the living room. “Has Nico, uh, mentioned me?”
“You could say that,” Leo rolled his eyes. Nico glared at him in an attempt to silence him but he either didn't get the message, or had become desensitized to Nico's glares in the time that they had lived together. “I mean, he would not shut u-”
“Leo!” Nico interrupted, standing abruptly, blush growing as he let Annabeth's textbook clatter to the floor. She let out a small huff of annoyance at the mistreatment of her book, but didn't say anything. “I need you to leave with me right now.”
“Leave? Why?” Leo asked, smiling widely. He crossed his legs and leaned back further in his chair. “We can't, buddy, we're studying, remember.”
“I need you to take me grocery shopping, and it's past eleven, so, apartment rules, I need a buddy,” Nico explained, still standing as he watched Will settle on the floor and unpack his things as he payed attention to the exchange with mild interest. “Anyway, you're an art student, you don't need to study.”
“You got me there,” Leo sighed, pushing himself up from his chair and heading toward the kitchen. He called behind him, “It was very nice meeting you, Will, I hope to see you again. Nico, grab your helmet, we're taking Festus.”
“Why did you have to name it?” Nico groaned, picking his way through the mess in the living room to the rack beside the front door where Leo kept his spare motorcycle helmets. He grabbed the one that had been assigned to him, the sides decorated with blue flames and tiny cartoon mice.
“Does anyone need anything from this totally routine and not at all fake grocery run?” Leo asked as he pulled on his boots, grabbing his keys from the hook beneath the whiteboard, ignoring Nico's complaints about his naming of certain inanimate objects.
“I need some more cereal,” Percy offered from where he had taken over Nico's spot, head now resting in Jason's lap, feet tucked beneath Annabeth's legs.
“You don't even live here,” Nico pointed out, before storming into the hallway ahead of Leo, hoping that the rest of his roommates would get the hint and not talk to Will about him.
By the time they returned from grocery shopping, Will had left, along with Percy and Jason, leaving only Piper and Annabeth still studying.
Nico put the groceries away quickly; an energy drink, a package of AAA batteries, and a head of lettuce. When he got to the living room Leo had retired to his room, and Piper and Annabeth had cleared off of the couch, leaving space for Nico to sleep.
“So,” Nico began, grabbing his blanket from where it was tucked in the drawer under the coffee table, wrapping it around his shoulders. “How was Will?”
Piper snorted as she finished up highlighting an entire page of her textbook.
“He was very, uh, distracted,” Annabeth offered, closing her textbook and resting her chin on the coffee table as she looked at Nico.
“You could say that,” Piper nodded, highlighting her way through another full page. She capped her pen, taking a break to look at Nico. “He kept asking about you, you seem to have left quite the impression.”
“What, uh, what did he ask about?” Nico asked, trying to come across as disinterested and failing spectacularly.
“You know, the norm, do you live here, are you in Annabeth's architecture course, does he like me,” Piper listed, tapping her chin with her highlighter. “He only shut up when Hazel told him he could find this all out himself if he just texted you.”
“He doesn't have my number,” Nico reminded her, with a small frown.
“Yeah, that's why Hazel offered to give him your number,” Annabeth explained with a shake of her head. “He said he wasn't sure if you wanted him to have it, so he wouldn't take it.”
Nico pulled the blanket over his head with a sigh. “But besides that, he seemed like a cool guy, yeah?”
“The coolest,” Annabeth agreed, piling all her notebooks on top of her textbook before standing up. “Anyway, I'd better head home, and I suggest you get to sleep, Piper, I don't wanna have to deal with the aftermath of you sleeping through your exam.”
“Yeah, yeah, stop moming me,” Piper rolled her eyes. “It's not like I'm the one who's even slept through an exam before.”
“That was one time!” Annabeth cried indignantly, as she got her shoes on and Piper's laughter followed her out the door.
Once Nico had gotten home from work, showered, and done laundry it was nearing two am, and he still needed to pick up groceries for the weekend. As outlined in the Roommates' Handbook, a lovingly compiled list of all apartment rules, bound together into pocketbook size, and a copy handed out to each inhabitant of the apartment by Jason, who was not himself an inhabitant, all grocery store endeavours occurring past eleven pm required the use of the Buddy System, and anyway, Nico was the only remaining roommate without a valid license, now that Piper had moved out.
It had been two weeks since she'd left, and the only difference was that Nico had taken her old bedroom. Her leaving did nothing to change the frequency of visits from both Jason and Percy. More often than not, they ended up passed out on the couch, even though they had a perfectly good apartment not four blocks away.
The aforementioned buddy system was how Nico managed to rope a very sleepy Hazel into driving him to the 24 hour grocery store, located a few blocks away from them, in her pyjamas, grocery list clutched in her hands. Frank had valiantly offered to go with them, but had ended up passed out in the back seat before the car had even started, so, as any good girlfriend would, Hazel cracked a window and let him sleep as she followed Nico into the grocery store.
The shopping list was short, a few things they'd need for dinners over the weekend, and a few staples that were running low, but Hazel grabbed a shopping cart all the same, following lazily behind Nico as he stalked up and down the aisles, not caring about efficiency.
After Hazel had disappeared somewhere in produce, Nico drifted into the ice cream and novelties section, staring at the overwhelming amount of choices, when someone collided into him, dropping their various snack foods to the ground, and almost knocking him over.
“Shit, sorry,” Nico mumbled, as he stumbled to keep his balance. He spun around to help gather the fallen items when he recognized familiar blond hair and tanned skin.
“We have got to stop meeting like this,” Will said, smiling up at Nico as he crouched down to pick up a container of Pringles, his jeans and button up making him far overdressed for a middle of the night trip to the grocery store.
Nico blushed, suddenly aware of his faded hoodie and threadbare sweatpants, the standard laundry day outfit, and the smeared eyeliner he hadn't bothered fixing or removing before leaving the house.
“What are you doing grocery shopping at,” Will paused to glance at the time on his phone, “two twenty-four in the morning?”
“Last minute grocery shopping with the sis,” Nico explained, picking up a fallen chocolate bar and adding it to the already large pile in Will's arms. “I didn't have a chance to go before work.”
“You have a sister?” Will asked, standing up, having finally recovered all of his dropped items.
“Yeah, Hazel, she was at the apartment when you came over to study, you probably met her. It's actually her place, she just let me move in with her,” Nico rambled. “What are you doing grocery shopping at this hour?”
“Roommate crisis,” Will nodded solemnly. “Bad break-up, needed emergency provisions.”
“Ice cream? That's supposed to be good break up food, right?” Nico asked, grabbing a pint of ice cream for himself and waving it in Will's direction.
“Right-o,” Will nodded, reaching around Nico to grab some ice cream, the rest of his items threatening to fall to the floor once again. “Which, sadly, brings me to the end of my list, and Cecil is waiting quite moodily in the car.”
With a cheery smile Will left the aisle, leaving Nico alone, clutching his ice cream.
“What was that?” Hazel asked, making her way back to Nico just as Will disappeared at the end of the aisle.
“Uh, Will had a roommate emergency,” Nico shrugged, dropping his ice cream in the cart.
“Did you get his number this time?” Hazel asked, linking their arms together as they wandered up the aisle, pushing the cart together.
“Uh, no,” Nico said before grabbing the shopping list from her hand, skimming it quickly to compare it to the items in their cart, which went above and beyond what was on the list. “Did we get everything? We should probably get going before Frank wakes up.”
Hazel shook her head with a sigh, but guided them towards the checkout, where she paid for the groceries, ignoring Nico's protests, and they hurried back to the car where Frank was still fast asleep.
“Guess who Nico ran into at the grocery store,” Hazel announced to the kitchen as Nico wandered in, staring sleepily at the lack of free chairs for a few seconds before hopping up on the counter beside the fridge to watch Leo as he made an omelet at the stove.
“I didn't run into him, he ran into me,” Nico corrected with a yawn, accepting the cup of coffee Piper pressed into his hands as she walked past on her way to the fridge.
It was a rare morning where the entire apartment was awake and home for breakfast, which meant the small kitchen was far too crowded for nine in the morning.
“Semantics,” Hazel waved his words off. “Anyway, as I was saying, Nico ran in to a certain blond medical student.”
“Oh my god, seriously?” Leo, flipping his omelet. “Did you at least get his phone number this time?”
Nico shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee.
“I'll take that as a no,” Piper rolled her eyes, taking a bite of Frank's cereal. “You know, at this point, I'm starting to believe Jason's theory of Will being your soulmate.”
“Oh god, you really need to spend less time with Jason,” Nico grimaced, noting the distinct lack of Jason in the room.
“He's at his sister's,” Piper told him, as if she had read his mind. “They're having a siblings weekend.”
“Oh my god, that's adorable,” Hazel exclaimed. “Nico, why don't we ever have sibling weekends? We should have a siblings weekend.”
“Hazel, we live together, every weekend is a sibling weekend,” Nico pointed out.
“Well, it's not as cute when you say it like that,” Hazel frowned, jumping up as her toast popped out of the toaster.
“Okay, back to Nico's boy troubles,” Leo said, transferring his omelet from the pan to a plate.
Nico groaned, slumping against the fridge and closing his eyes.
Winter break was always a popular time at the bar, and Dionysus always managed to schedule Nico for the most inconvenient shifts, which led to a lot of nights of serving his friends drinks while being stuck behind the bar, the only plus side being the fact that Dionysus turned a blind eye when Nico showed up on his nights off, the rest of the bartenders always glad to see him.
This, however, was a night where he was scheduled to work eleven pm to close, which guaranteed he would have to deal with all the ridiculous drunks unable to hold their alcohol. This was also a night where most of his friends were stuck at home, sleeping off finals or making holiday travel plans.
By halfway through his shift he was exhausted, having worked a full eight hours at the mechanics shop that morning, and was about ready to go home, his job be damned. He was cleaning the remains of a broken bottle from the bar top when a particularly rowdy group of university kids stumbled through the door. He sighed, resigning himself to another hour of serving clumsy, uncoordinated customers before beginning his nightly clean up when he was distracted by someone calling his name loudly from across the bar.
In the low lighting of the bar he managed to catch a glimpse of messy blond curls before Will was practically throwing himself over the bar to talk to Nico.
“Nico! It's been so long,” Will complained as a few of his friends gathered around him, and while they were already drunk, managed to sit at the bar stools like respectable members of society.
“Yeah, like, five days,” Nico agreed with a smile, leaning on the bar, Will seemed satisfied with this and sat on his own stool. “What's the occasion?”
“We survived finals,” Will explained, wide eyed. “So we're celebrating.”
“Everyone back at the apartment is sleeping finals off, I, however, have to work,” Nico said, grabbing a cloth to wipe the bar down with.
“How were your exams, you're in the same buildings class as Annabeth right?” Will asked, propping his chin up on one of his hands.
“Oh, uh no, actually. I'm not in university,” Nico shrugged, putting the cloth back. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Are you still in high school?” Will asked, mouth hanging open. “Because, you're cute and all, but I don't think I'm allowed to have a crush on a highschooler.”
“Nope, not in high school,” Nico confirmed, and then, asked again, “Could I get you a drink?”
It was a transparent attempt at changing the subject, but Will was too drunk to notice.
“Wait, when did you even graduate high school? You're eighteen, right? How are you working in a bar, then?” Will asked, looking slightly worried. “And I'll have, a, uh, something fruity.”
Will's friend's, by this point, had gotten bored and relocated to a recently emptied booth in the back, drinks supplied by one of the other bartenders.
“What kind of fruity?” Nico asked, avoiding the subject of school. “Fruity is like half the alcohols.”
“I don't know? Fruity vodka? Watermelon vodka!” Will gasped, spotting the bottle of the shelf behind Nico, and Nico sighed, pouring him a shot. Once Will had taken it, he turned back to Nico. “You never replied to my questions I asked.”
“Which ones?” Nico asked, hoping maybe Will forgot. It's not that he was embarrassed about not finishing high school, it's just that people usually treated him differently when they found out, and he didn't want to have to deal with that from Will.
“About grad, and, uh, how you can work here underage,” Will responded after a few seconds of deep thought.
“I never graduated, and I work here because I'm friends with the owner's nephew and he got me a job,” Nico sighed, not looking at Will. “I'm almost old enough so it's like, not a big deal.”
“Okay, but when you say never graduated do you mean, like, you'd still be in high school now?” Will asked, suspiciously.
“Uh, no, I would have graduated last year,” Nico shrugged.
“Oh, okay,” Will said with a smile. “Can I have your phone number then?”
“What?” Nico asked, confused.
“Well, since you're not in high school, or like, supposed to be in high school, it's not weird to have a crush on you, y'know?” Will asked, still smiling. “So, as I've been trying to do for like weeks could I get your phone number?”
“Uh, sure,” Nico nodded, drumming his fingers on the bar top nervously. “Do you have your phone.”
“I think I left it with Cecil,” Will informed him, frowning. “Can't you like, just write it on my arm. That way I won't lose it.”
“Yeah, okay,” Nico smiled, grabbing a sharpie from his apron pocket and grabbing hold of Will's offered arm.
His skin was warm as Nico scrawled his phone number messily, and Will giggled at the tickling of the pen.
“Okay, so I'll call you tomorrow?” he asked, giving Nico a very serious look.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Nico smiled, putting his pen back into his apron. “Let me know if you survived the night.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Will nodded vigorously, before glancing back to where his friends were, they looked away as soon as they spotted Will turning, and were doing a very poor job of trying to subtly watch the two of them. “I should probably get back to them now. They get rowdy when I'm away.”
Will walked to join his friends as another group of university kids burst through the door, and by the time Nico was done serving them, Will and his friends were long gone.
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Leo sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. He was the only person in the apartment besides Nico, therefore the only one to go to advice for about what happened the night before. “Will comes to your bar, finds out you're a high school drop out and then gets your number?”
“Yeah,” Nico shrugged, trailing a finger in the condensation on his glass of orange juice.
“And you're worried because?” Leo asked, running a hand through his messy hair.
“Because,” Nico started. “He said he would call and he hasn't yet.”
“Oh, my god,” Leo whispered, exasperated. “You are ridiculous. If he was drunk as you say he was he's either sleeping or too hungover to call you, just, patience, my man.”
Nico took a sip of orange juice, and pointedly didn't respond.
“Nico, I hate to say this, but, you really are starting to approach pathetic territory here,” Piper sighed, hands on her hips.
Nico glared at her from where he was sitting upside down on the couch, feet hanging off the backrest, phone resting on his chest.
“He'll call, don't worry,” Piper reassured him, patting his knees gently on her way out of the apartment.
“Hello?” Nico answered, stepping away from the spray of the shower to protect his phone from the water.
“Hey, what are you doing? Is that the shower?”
“Percy?” Nico asked, pulling the phone away from his ear to check the caller ID, which he had neglected to do in his haste to answer the phone in the first place.
“Who else would it be?” Percy laughed. “Why are you answering the phone in the shower?”
“I thought you were someone else,” Nico huffed angrily.
“Holy shit, you thought I was Will? Why would you even answer his call while in the shower, like, you know it's super obvious that you're in the shower right?”
Nico stayed silent, debating on whether or not he should hang up on Percy.
“He still hasn't called you, huh? Well, it's only like, four pm, there's still time.”
This time Nico hung up on Percy, tossing his phone to the bathmat outside of the shower.
“So, we're heading to Hades' at noon on Thursday, we should be out of there by mid morning Saturday, which gives me enough time to pack for Frank's if I- Nico, are you listening?” Hazel asked, as Nico ducked out of their holiday plans conversation, grabbing his phone from the table and jumping up as it started buzzing indicating a call.
“Who is it?” Frank asked eagerly.
“I don't know, not one of my contacts,” Nico replied, staring dumbfounded at his phone.
“Answer it, you idiot!” Leo called from the next room, obviously as invested in Nico's love life as the rest of the apartment.
“Yeah, yeah good plan,” Nico nodded, and then pressed the answer call button. “Hello?”
“Nico?” the voice on the other line asked.
“Will?” Nico asked, feeling a blush rising on his cheeks, even though there was no reason for it.
“Yeah! I finally got your phone number!” Will replied excitedly. “It took long enough.”
“So you lived through the night, I see,” Nico responded, pacing up and down the kitchen, while every other member of the apartment gathered in the doorway to watch his side of the conversation.
“Yes! Still alive, this morning was a different story, but now that I'm alive and well, I've called you to fulfil my promise,” Will laughed. “How was your day? Better than mine, I assume.”
“Yeah, yeah it was good, stayed home, uh, didn't do much,” Nico nodded.
“Okay, well, according to both my roommates who like, never agree on anything, I am shit at talking on the phone, so I'll just get to the point,” Will rambled. “Will you go on a date with me?”
“A date?” Nico asked, quietly, Jason cheering quietly at the word date only to be promptly shushed by everyone else.
“Yeah, like, I don't know, a date?” Will said, with a small laugh. “Like tomorrow night, if you're free?”
“Yeah,” Nico nodded, and Jason cheered at full volume this time, causing Nico to jump. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“I'm guessing I'm not the only one who has roommates invested in our relationship,” Will laughed.
“You have no idea,” Nico sighed, glancing at where his friends were gathered in the doorway, whispering excitedly amongst themselves.
“So, tomorrow sounds good?”
“Yeah, tomorrow sounds great,” Nico agreed, smiling.
“Okay, I'll, uh, text you later then,” Will said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Nico.”
“Bye, Will.”
As soon as Nico had hung up the phone Leo let out a jubilant I told you so! and fist pumped the air as Nico gave them all his best unimpressed look.