Nico's POV

Will's basement carries the same stench of sweat and pizza as it always does and it fills the room as they lounge on Will's saggy brown couch, PlayStation controllers in hand as Nico's Mario Kart zooms across the finish line, Will skidding in just barely behind him. "Loser," Nico says, grinning at him with a shimmer in his eyes. 

"Fuck you," Will says, reaching for a slice of pizza from the box sitting in between them. He lowers it into his mouth, taking a huge bite out of his tip and washing it down with a sip of coke from the two-liter bottle sitting on the floor. Through the tiny window touching the low-hanging ceiling, soft golden light filters onto the floor and through the tiny crack, a soft summer breeze blows, brushing at their feet. "I was barely behind you. If I hadn't sneezed halfway through, I would have beaten you." 

"Maybe," Nico says with a grin, grabbing a slice of pizza and biting into it as Will goes back to the main screen, changing the look of his kart as Nico devours his pizza. He watches Will as his fingers dance across the controller, one sweatpant clad leg pulled up onto the couch so that he can rest his arms on it, the other leg stretched out halfway to the tv, brushing up against a pair of crumpled boxers. The entire basement floor is covered in clothes, candy wrappers, fast food cups still half filled with liquid that sloshes at the plastic. Will calls it his cave, despite his room two floors above, significantly cleaner and smelling significantly better. He used to share it with his siblings but, as Austin spent more time performing at the local bar and Kayla spent more time volunteering at the hospital it became his cave and he and Nico spent hours curled up on the lumpy couch, beating every single game in Will's arsenal as they chugged soda and ate chips until their stomachs hurt. "Hey, do you maybe wanna do something else?" 

"Like what?" Will glances over, a speck of tomato sauce on his upper lip. He wipes it away with the collar of his tee shirt. "You wanna switch to Minecraft or something?" 

"No, like, get out of your basement for once and do something actually interesting?" 

"I don't know about you, but I think our joint Minecraft mansion is pretty interesting." He laughs quietly and Nico rolls his eyes, setting his controller down on the couch and folding his hands behind his head, leaning back. "Seriously, though. We've been best friends for ten years, and we've done the same things every day, and you really wanna do something different? I think we've got a pretty good thing going on." 

"We're gonna be seniors this fall, you know," Nico says, twirling a piece of hair around his finger. "We should at least do something interesting this summer. It's halfway over, after all." 

"Fine." Will tosses his controller onto the couch and it's nearly swallowed up in the folds as he crosses his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrows. "Do you have something in mind?" Nico frowns, scratching his head. 

"Well, no." He pulls out his phone, opening up his chat with Percy. "I'll text Percy. He always knows what's going on." 

"I still think that staying here and playing Minecraft or Mariokart is a great way to spend our night," Will says, his tone slightly bitter. 

"Yeah, me too, but I still wanna do something a little bit different," Nico says, his fingers hovering above the screen as the three dots on Percy's side of the text chat linger on the screen. "Party on front street. Jason's parents are out of town, and his place is massive." He jams his phone back into his pocket, grinning at Will. "You in?" 

"You're sure you don't wanna just waste the night away playing video games and eating too much pizza?" Will asks, danging his slice of pizza above his mouth just before taking a bite, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. 

"Yeah, I'm sure," Nico says, smiling. 

"Fine, then." He jumps up, brushing crumbs off of his pants and closing the pizza box. "Lead the way." 

The sun is still setting when they step outside, pleasantly cool air blowing past them, ruffling their hair and pushing at the fabric of their clothes. Somewhere they can hear children laughing and a bike bell chimes as a young boy with curly black hair zips past them, two of his friends close behind. Soon the bell chimes fade away but their laughter still lingers in the air, far after they're gone. Will glances at him, his eyebrows raised. "Which way?" 

"Come on." They can hear conversation from inside the houses as they walk, small talk about the weather and summer plans as wine glasses clink together and fires crackle in pits in the backyard. "Your neighborhood is so classically suburban," Nico says, watching the trees growing from grass patches drift silently in the wind. "It's kinda creepy." 

"It's not creepy," Will says, rolling his eyes. "It's nice." 

"Every single blade of grass is the exact same length," Nico says, pointing at the perfectly manicured lawn by their feet, the line of ants marching back towards their home, carrying a single piece of bread on their backs. 

"At least my neighbors don't cook meth." 

"My neighbors don't cook meth," Nico says, glaring sharply at Will. "It just smells bad over there sometimes." 

"All the time, Nico. It smells bad all the time." He raises his eyebrows and Nico laughs softly, swatting Will good-naturedly on the arm. 

"Stop talking about my neighbor's meth lab and hurry up," he says, gravel crunching underneath his feet as he walks. It's cooler as the sun sinks lower and lower behind the horizon, but Nico knows that the temperature won't dip below fifty-five, even as the stars glitter high. "We're going to be late." 

To say that Jason's house is big would be an understatement; it's one of the big ones that Nico has always envied, the ones with the huge white awnings and the huge front lawns. It has a pool and Nico can hear splashes as they walk into the house, music pounding around them and making his eardrums bleed. Jason appears next to them, a beer in his hands, slightly unsteady on his feet. "Hey, guys!" he says, clapping Nico's back. "So happy you could make it!" He laughs, glancing between the two. "Great party, right? You having fun?" 

"We just got here," Will points out, smiling. He glances at Nico, who tries and fails to hold back his laughter. 

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He takes a swig of his beer. "Lemme know what you think, okay?" He claps Nico on the back again, spinning around and lifting his beer up to the ceiling. "Great talk, you two." 

"He's so dumb," Nico says, shaking his head as he sweeps the party, watching his classmates dance and talk and laugh. "You wanna get drunk?" Will grins at him, his eyes shining. 

"You know me so well." They push past mobs of dancers and lovers slung across each other, pressed against the walls until they reach the back of the room, chips and soda and alcohol displayed across a table that stretches nearly along the entire wall. Nico passes Will a beer, cracking it open and taking a sip. "So, you having fun at your ideal high school experience yet?" 

"Shut up," Nico says, laughing. "All our friends are here, and Jason's house is nice." He grabs a handful of skittles from the bowl, shoving them into his mouth. "Food's good, too." 

"At least the food's good," Will says, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He frowns at his beer, taking another sip. "This kinda tastes like piss, though." He tilts his head before taking another swig, nursing it in his hands once he's done. "I'm still gonna drink it, though. Because it tastes bad, but I still like it, you know?" Nico laughs, shaking his head as he takes another sip. The party around them is raging, feet pounding against the floor as bodies splash in the pool, laughter and talking filling the air. In a while, they might go out and join some of their other friends, play spin the bottle with Piper or dive into the pool with Percy. But for that moment they're okay with standing by the snack table, drinking their beer and laughing as the action unfolds around them and they watch from the bubble they've been floating in together for years on end. 

Wills POV

A few beers in and there's a buzz filling his head, a buzz in the room, a buzz in the air. His entire body feels lighter and when he glances at Nico he seems to glow, every single part of him brighter. There's a wide grin on his face that makes his eyes shine and the corners crinkle up and Will can't help but feel that there's something different about that night, a glisten in the air or the warm air that makes it feel almost magical. "You wanna go somewhere else?" Nico asks, gazing up at him with wide eyes. "This party is one song away from getting busted." Will laughs, doubling over before shaking the last drops of beer into his mouth and tossing his bottle into the trash can where all of their other empties are piling up. He'd think that standing around talking to Nico might be dull after an hour but it's still as engaging as ever, although that might be due to the beer. He isn't sure how many he's had so far- three, four, maybe? But whatever the number it's making him feel incredible and he grabs two more, handing one to Nico. 

"Where are we going?" 

They slip out of the house quietly, watching Jason bounce to the beat of the music in the middle of the floor, Piper at his side. Maybe they should have spent more time with their other friends but at that moment, Nico is the only one Will wants to spend time with. "Do you feel bad about leaving?" Will asks, turning to Nico once they're out of the house. 

"No. Do you?" 

"No." Will smiles goofily at Nico who doubles over in laughter, accidentally spitting out a mouthful of beer onto the concrete. It splatters and Nico laughs more, leaning against Will and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. 

"God, we're both so drunk." 

"We're not that drunk." He bumps Nico's arm as they walk and it feels as if they're leaning on each other as the music of the house gets quieter and quieter. "Where do you want to go?" 

"Let's go to the beach," Nico says quietly. "We're right there, almost." He's walking on the edge of the sidewalk as they make their way down the street and he almost topples over before Will grabs his arm and pulls him back up. "Thanks," Nico says, grinning and resting his head on Will's bicep, his beer swinging at his side. "You smell like something." 

"Beer, maybe?" 

"Yeah, maybe." He laughs again, the sound bouncing off of the houses and filling the air. He's heard it thousands of times before but tonight it sounds different. Or maybe it's just the beer. 

As soon as they reach the beach Nico kicks off his sneakers and they fly ten feet in the air before burying themselves in the sand and Nico sprints after them, feet sinking into the sand with the beer in his hand. Will runs after him, kicking off his shoes as he goes and wading into the water, the liquid licking at his pants. "Come in!" Will says. "It's nice." 

"Nah." He stares up at the stars for a split second before spreading out his arms and collapsing into the sand, grains flying up around him. "I'm good here." 

"Fine. Fuck you, I guess." They're quiet for a few minutes as Nico sips his beer from the sand and Will stares at the moon as the water laps at his feet and he sinks deeper and deeper into the mud until the bottom half of his feet have been swallowed. It's cool in the water and he shivers, wrapping his arms around his chest, blowing out a soft sigh. 

"You wanna come over yet?" 

"Fine," Will says, stumbling over to Nico and collapsing in the sand next to him, the tiny grains sticking to the wet part of his jeans and his socks. He takes another sip of his beer, turning his head to look at Nico. His face glows in the moonlight, long lashes highlighted and smile wide. He's radiant, that night and all the other nights, and Will doesn't know why it took him this long to notice it. Or maybe he has always noticed, and it's just taken him years to come to terms with. "This is really nice," he says. "Thanks for getting me out of my basement." 

"Yeah, no problem. I needed it as much as you did." Will laughs and Nico turns, and his smile shows off the tiny gap between his front teeth, the pink of his tongue and Will opens his mouth like he's going to say something but he doesn't. Because he isn't sure which one of them leans in first but suddenly they're kissing, and Will knows that he can't talk while they're kissing. 

Will's hand reaches out to cup Nico's cheek and Nico inches closer, a hand wrapping around his waist as they kiss underneath the glow of the moon. Nico's body is warm and he tastes of beer and it's slightly bitter but Will knows that he must taste exactly the same. He isn't sure when they're going to stop but once they break apart he wants to start back up again and he's reaching for Nico's waist again when he pulls apart, burying his face in his hands and groaning. "I'm sorry." 

"What?" Will says, frowning. 

"I just- I don't know why I just did that. I think I'm just drunk and it was just an impulse thing and I'm sorry. Can we pretend it never happened?" 

"Nico, wait, I liked it." 

"Huh?" He laughs softly, almost nervously and Will reaches out, resting a hand on Nico's arm. It feels strange and unnatural and his brain is still slightly fuzzy, but there's something in his mind that tells him it's the right thing to do. "How could you like that?" He looks like a deer caught in headlights, and something in his face makes Will's heart soar. 

"How could I not?" This time it's Will who's cupping Nico's face, leaning in close and pressing his lips into Nico's. It feels as if fireworks are exploding in his chest and he can't be sure whether or not it's five seconds of kissing or five hours of kissing but when they're done Nico curls up to Will's chest, resting his head and grabbing Will's hand, playing with his fingers. 

"What are we doing?" he asks quietly. He sounds scared. 

"Kissing." 

"Yeah, but why?" 

"We both seem to like it, you know." He giggles but Nico still looks scared and Will hugs him tight, feeling Nico's soft hair at his chin. "You okay?" 

"I don't know," Nico says, his eyes focused on a point in the distance that contains nothing but air. "I'm just confused. Am I messing stuff up?" 

"No," Will says. "Not in a million years. Just relax, and enjoy tonight. We can deal with everything that needs to be dealt with in the morning." Nico is still and for a few minutes, Will is worried until Nico nods, sighing shakily. His fingers curl on top of Will's chest and he buries his head in Will's shirt, his head rolling slightly. "Nico?" All he gets back is a soft groan and when he glances down Nico's eyes are shut and Will's eyes end up staring at the sky, reveling in the glittering stars. If he's going to be honest, he really has no clue what he's doing, but at that moment, he knows he likes it. And he can deal with it in the morning like he told Nico. When he wakes up in the morning, everything will be clear. 

Hi guys, I'm actually kinda proud of this one, so I hope you guys liked it! Also, I've started writing my series for 300k, so I can upload it right when we hit it. I hope it's going to be good because I really want to give all of you a huge thank you for helping me get here! It'll be going up every Wednesday for about four weeks, so be on the lookout for that once we reach 300k. 

Nina