Nico

I woke up bright and early the following day to prepare for Will's arrival. I cleaned the grime out of the fridge and collected the trash off the floor. I replaced the sheets with clean ones, and organized my nightstand. I even took the time to raid the storage closet down the hall to get a bucket, a sponge, and some cleaner to scrub the walls and floors. By the time I was finished, my apartment actually looked somewhat decent. 

A few minutes after returning from my trip to the supply closet to return the cleaning supplies, I heard a knock at my door. I answered it and, as expected, Will was standing on my doorstep, holding a dingy cardboard box and grinning. 

"Hey, Will," I said, gesturing for him to enter.

He stepped over the threshold and examined the room. "Not a bad place you got," he remarked. 

"Once you get used to the sound of raging alcoholics and learn to ignore your neighbors' suspicious activities, it's quite nice," I agreed. 

"Where am I sleeping?" Will asked, perching on the edge of my bed. 

Suddenly, I realized that I had forgotten one of the most important things to consider when inviting someone to live with you; where they are going to sleep. "Oh, shit! I completely forgot about that!" I exclaimed. 

"It's no big deal, we'll figure something out," Will said. He placed the cardboard box in his hands beside the nightstand and approached me. "Do you know anyone or anywhere we could find a mattress or pillows or something?"

I thought for a moment. "Thalia!" I finally said. 

Will raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Thalia's my neighbor. She's pretty much the closest thing to someone trustworthy in the whole building," I explained. 

"Does she have something to sleep on?" Will inquired. 

"Possibly," I replied, shrugging. 

"Well, then it's worth a try," Will decided. I lead Will out of my- our- apartment and down the hall until we reached Thalia's place. I rapped on the door several times and stepped back. A few moments later, Thalia answered the door. At this particular moment, she looked decent. Her hair was a bit frizzy and her lipstick was smeared, but other than that, she looked fine. 

"Oh, Nico," she said. "What do you-" she suddenly paused mid-sentence and noticed Will standing behind me. 

"Thalia, I'd like you to meet Will, he's moving in with me," I informed her. 

She leaned against the door frame and smirked. "Well, you got yourself quite the hunk of man meat, didn't you?"

"No, no, no! We're not- I mean- I'm not- We're friends, there's nothing between us," I stammered. I quickly regained my composure, "We just came here to ask you if you had a spare mattress or some pillows and blankets you don't need."

She tapped her chin, "I think I might have something, let me check." She disappeared into the apartment before returning a few minutes later with an armful of pillows and blankets. "I don't have a mattress, but I have these," she said, passing the pillows and blankets to Will and I. 

"This'll work. Thanks, Thalia," I answered. 

"No problem. Good luck with your new roommate," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. We waved goodbye to her before hurrying back to our apartment. 

We arranged the pillows in the corner and threw several blankets over them. Will unpacked a pair of shoes, a coat, and several books from the cardboard box he had brought and tossed it into the trashcan in the hall. Once we finished, we stood by the door and admired our work.

"Wow, not too bad," Will said.

"You're sleeping on a pile of pillows with a few blankets thrown on top," I reminded him.

He shrugged, "It's better than sleeping on the street every night."

"Why don't you just go back and live with your family?" I asked. 

Will bit his lip nervously, "It's complicated."

"It's complicated? Will, if there's something you need to talk about, just say it. I mean, we moved in together for god's sake," I said. 

"But you might hate me," Will replied softly. 

"Nothing's going to make me hate you," I assured him. 

"You promise?"

"I promise."

He sighed and sat down on his makeshift bed. I settled myself beside him. He took a deep breath, "Nico, I'm gay."

I stared at him in disbelief. It was as if time had slowed to a near stop. Suddenly, seconds seemed to turn into weeks, months, and years. "You're gay?" I finally said.

He nodded. "I knew you'd hate me," he whispered, averting his gaze. 

"No, no, no!" I said, taking Will's hands in mine. "That's fine. I'm just...surprised, really surprised."

Will met my gaze, "So you don't hate me?"

"Not at all," I responded. "You like to kiss boys. So what?"

"How and why are you okay with this?" he asked in disbelief. 

I shrugged, "I just am."

"You realize that if your neighbors find out about this, they'll throw me out," Will reminded me.

"Fuck them, then." I answered. I shifted closer to him, "I never really understood why people have such a problem with it."

He shook his head, "Me neither.""

"I've never really felt that sort of attraction to anyone. I mean I've had girlfriends in the past and I've kissed girls, but it's never felt quite right," I said. 

Will gazed at me curiously, "Nico, are you trying to say your gay?"

I shrugged, "I don't know." 

We sat in silence for a moment. My words still hung in the air. I don't know. I didn't know. Those are the words I tend to use to describe my life a lot. I don't know. Who was I? I don't know. What am I supposed to be doing with my life? I don't know. Am I happy? I don't know. Would I ever know? I don't know. 

I suddenly realized how close I was to Will. A few millimeters of empty space separated us. Will seemed to figure that out as well, for he flushed and quickly scooted several inches away. 

"No, don't," I said. I moved close to him once more. "It's fine."

"Sorry, I just though that I was making you uncomfort-"

"No, you're not. You're fine," I interrupted. 

"So you're okay with this? With me?" he asked. 

"Yep, I've got no problem with you," I replied. 

He smiled a little, "Good."