This entire one-shot was based on this one line in a song called First Day of my Life by Bright Eyes, and the line was "I remember the time you drove all night, just to meet me in the morning." I've had this idea for a little while, so I hope you like it!

Nico's POV

hey. He shoots Will a text,  tabs on tabs opened on his laptop lying across his lap. i have an idea. As he waits for a reply from Will he flips through his tabs, pictures of Colorado National Monument at sunset making a smile spread across his face, driving times and stop points on others. His leg is bouncing up and down, making the bed shake lightly underneath him. His fingertips sweat, leaving imprints on the sleek surface of his laptop and he's checking his phone every five seconds as he waits for Will. Maybe he won't answer. Maybe he's partying with his UCLA friends, living it up while Nico wastes the afternoons away in Lawrence. But in a second he hears his phone ding and he jumps, trembling fingers reaching for the reply. 

hey. The simple word makes his heart flutter in his chest, a balloon inside of him about to burst. miss u. Nico bites his lip to contain his excitement. 

miss u, too. The idea is too big to tell over text and he shoots out a quick can we ft? before pressing his phone to his chest as fireworks explode inside of him. He feels it buzzing against his body and he swipes it open, Will's face appearing on his screen. He's tanner than Nico remembers him, the California sun making his freckles pop against his skin. His smile shows off his white teeth and a gleam of happiness is in his eyes. "Hey, Neeks!" he says, his voice cracking lightly on the last syllable. "I miss you so much." He presses his sleeve lightly to his cheek, his smile shaking. "It feels like such a long time since I've seen your face." 

"We facetimed last night." 

"Still, it's been too long," he says. "I miss high school when we saw each other every hour of every day. I haven't seen you in person for months." 

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Nico says, watching himself smile in the tiny box on the top left corner of the screen. "I have an idea." 

"Should I be nervous?" Will laughs softly and Nico feels his heart grow three sizes. He's missed that laugh. It feels like ages since he's heard that laugh. 

"It involves a lot of driving." He flips the camera around so that Will can see his laptop screen, a picture of Colorado National Monument still open. "I was bored tonight, so I mapped this out. The halfway point between LA and Lawrence. Grand Junction, Colorado. It'll take each of us about fifteen hours to get there. It's about three now if we drive all night we can get there by six. Grab a hotel, sleep all day, leave Saturday night. We'll get to see each other in person, it'll be great." He knows he's begging, but he doesn't care. He misses the feeling of Will's silky hair running through his fingertips, the feeling of Will's smooth lips on his, the feeling of their skin crashing together. Will's hair is longer than the last time Nico saw him in person, hovering just barely above his shoulders. 

His heart pounds against the walls of his chest as he waits for Will's response, Will's mouth twisting as he thinks. "Will? What do you think?" Will is still quiet. "Please, Will. I need to see you. I miss you so, so much. You have no idea. My chest hurts every day you're not with me and I know that's cheesy, but it's true." 

"You might want to get that checked." Will's mouth twists into a grin. "It might be a blockage, a coronary heart artery disease. Or myocarditis. You haven't had any trouble breathing, have you? Or a fever?" He shakes his head. "You know what, don't worry about it. I'll check it out when I see you tomorrow morning." 

"Wait-" His smile feels as if it's splitting open his face. "You wanna do this? Meet me in Grand Junction?" 

"Of course, dumbass. I love you, and I miss you, too." Will's eyes are aglow. "I was just messing with you. So, we leave now we get there by six?" 

"Yeah." Nico feels as if he could fly. "See you in fifteen hours?" 

"See you in fifteen hours." 

Will's POV

He isn't exactly sure what he should be packing but as soon as the facetime with Nico ends he's flying, shoving a pair of pajamas and a spare shirt into his backpack. His heart is going a hundred beats a minute, his hands trembling as he tosses in a toothbrush and as much cash as he has in his dorm. He should get Nico a present. That would be nice. Or, he should get going as soon as possible, not stop for anything to get there as soon as possible. But he's going to need food eventually. He shakes his head as he flips off the lights to his dorm, pounding down the stairs with his keys jingling in his hand, a sweatshirt was thrown on over his tee. California is warm in the middle of winter; the temperature hasn't dipped below fifty, but he isn't sure about Colorado. Maybe he should have grabbed something warmer, but his brain is too jumbled to think straight and he doesn't think he can make it back up the stairs. So he keeps running, each step bringing him closer and closer to Nico. 

As he's sprinting towards the student parking lot he catches a glimpse of Lou Ellen, walking with a group of her friends. He catches a glimpse of her frown as she pauses, calling his name. "Will! Wait!" He heaves a sigh, skidding to a halt, grass flying up underneath his feet. 

"Yeah?" 

"What are you doing?" She breaks apart from her friends, jogging over to him and when they're five feet away, she puts her hands on her hips. "You look deranged." 

"I'm meeting Nico tomorrow morning." The words spill out of his mouth and they bring him an enormous feeling of happiness to say. 

"Doesn't he go to college in Kansas?" 

"We're meeting halfway. In Colorado." Part of him still doesn't believe it's happening, that in fifteen hours Nico will be back in his arms, his body pressing into Will's, his head buried into Will's shoulder. 

"Really?" Lou Ellen frowns. "Don't you have homework? And that's a lot of driving for one weekend." 

"Yeah, I guess," Will says with a shrug. "But it's worth it. I haven't seen him in forever." He's beginning to get antsy, the clock is ticking. "Anyway, I have to go if I'm gonna meet him at six. See you Sunday." She still looks disapproving but she gives him a small wave as he bounces on his feet, resuming his spring to the parking lot. 

------

The car rumbles underneath him and he pulls sharply out of the parking lot, the wheels squealing underneath him. The streets are clogged as usual and he lays his hand on the horn, the noise blaring out over the heads of dozens around him. That jump starts traffic a little bit and soon he's turning into a smaller side street, plugging the directions to Colorado National Monument into his phone and putting on music. Soft guitar strums and a quiet voice calm his pounding heart and he can feel himself coming down from the high, sinking into his seat and loosening his grip on the wheel. His backpack is sitting next to him, filled with the bare essentials and he knows he'll have to stop soon but at the moment, he's too excited to stop. He needs to be out on the open highway, with the scenery rushing past him, changing until he's with Nico. 

He'll stop in Nevada for dinner, maybe, grab a cup of coffee to keep him going through the night. He knows that eventually exhaustion will begin to take over his body but for the moment he's more awake than he's ever been before, eyes scanning the scene as he takes himself out of the city, the skyscrapers with their twinkling lights in the window fading behind him, replaced with yellow-green grass and sloping hills that curve like the moon. His window is open a crack, letting in a sliver of cool air but Will doesn't mind. He lets it roll onto his face, cool him off and toy with his hair as his engine hums softly underneath the hood and he rockets down the highway. 

Nico's POV

It had been a while since Nico had seen a good sunset. After dinner he's usually in the library, studying with friends and maybe he'll catch a final glimpse of the sun, or spot a tiny bit of pink painted across the sky but as he drives along the highway with a broad expanse of absolutely nothing spreading as far as the eye can see, it's never been more beautiful. He's surrounded on all sides by wheat fields, the stalks waving in the light breeze and with the touch of the setting sun, they look like they've been touched by Midas. He can't exactly explain what he finds beautiful about the fields around him; maybe it's the simple fact that he's never taken the time to appreciate them, to truly look at how huge they are. They stretch on for miles, encompassing all that the eye can see, and it's astounding. Or maybe it's just the moment, the fact that as he passes each stalk, he's getting a tenth of an inch closer to Will. Will. He should call Will. 

Normally he'd be nervous to call Will on the road; he'd always been a cautious driver but the highway is nearly empty, with just a few cars spread out like bugs crawling over the world so he props his phone up on the dashboard, hitting call, and then the speaker. Within one ring Will picks up and there's nothing new about him, but every time he hears Will's voice he's filled with a sense of happiness he's never felt for anyone else. "Hey, babe." Will's voice is crackly over the phone and it's quiet so far away, with the roar of the engine nearly drowning him out. "Where are you right now?" 

"Just about to stop for dinner in Wakeeney, this little city about an hour away from the state border. Do you maybe want to stop for dinner soon, too? I don't want one of to be there an hour earlier than the other or something." 

"Yeah, that sounds good. Might stop in Vegas for dinner, actually. It's on the way." 

"Great." Nico smiles as he listens to the sound on the other end of the line. Neither of them is talking but the sound of wind whistling through the window, the rumbling of the car, the muffled sound of Will's favorite song, Nico can almost imagine that he's in the car with him. "Do a little gambling for me, okay? Maybe we could get a nice hotel for the weekend." He hears Will laugh lightly. 

"Of course. Anyway, I should go. The highway's pretty busy." Nico's pretty sure that on his highway, the cows outweigh cars three to one. "Talk to you later?" 

"Yeah." Nico doesn't want to stop talking but he knows he has to so he says a quick goodbye and shuts the phone off, a painful silence filling the car. In an effort to fill it he turns up the radio, a quiet indie station with a song Bianca showed him when he was eight floating softly out of the speakers. He smiles as he turns it up, the smooth lyrics bringing him back to a different time, a time with sticky popsicle fingers and lemonade in the hot summer sun. He likes this time better, though. This time has Will. 

------

He pulls over at a McDonald's in Wakeeney, the parking lot empty and a small handful of employees behind the counter. McDonalds' in Kansas City are always jam-packed with stoners shoving down ten McChickens each or middle-aged moms complaining about the happy meal toy selection, so this was an upgrade. 

He orders a six-piece happy meal with a chocolate shake, and an extra toy so he and Will can play with their shopkins toys in the hotel room. It doesn't take long for his food to come out and when he has his happy meal and shake in hand he slips into a booth in the back, taking a gulp of his chocolate shake as he dunks a chicken nugget in sweet and sour with one hand, shooting Will a quick text with the other. got u a present. He doesn't expect Will to respond any time soon; it would take him another hour to get to Vegas if that was where he was stopping for dinner if he had done the planning correctly. He couldn't do algebra, but at least he could plan out an entire road trip in the span of an hour. 

When he's finished with his food he shoves the toys into his jacket pocket, grabbing his half-finished shake and happy meal box and bearing his head against the cold air as he steps back outside. Kansas doesn't get much snow but winters freeze him to his core, and he's shivering as he sits back down in the driver's seat. He sticks the shake into the cupholder as he tosses the empty happy meal box into the back seat. Will would kill him when he saw how many happy meals Nico had eaten within the past few months. Will always said that the nutritional value of a happy meal was next to nothing and if Nico wanted to be healthy he should eat real food so when Will wasn't around, Nico tried to shove as many happy meals into his mouth as possible. Besides, maybe Will would be so happy to see Nico he wouldn't even care. 

Will's POV

It's times like this he realizes why he never considered living in Vegas. Everything's loud, people push past him in groups of ten or twenty and the neon lights blind him as he slips into a tiny corner cafe that is shockingly empty compared to the hustle and bustle of the city around him. He orders a ham and cheese panini, grabbing a red bull out of the fridge and ringing that in along with the sandwich. He doesn't usually have energy drinks, but he'll need something stronger than a cup of coffee if he's going to keep driving through the night. 

When he gets his food he sits by the window, the limbs of a hanging plant brushing up against the top of his head as he watched the sluggish movements of the packed sidewalks. Everyone is dressed in glitter, makeup done, heels high. He feels out of place in his sweats and sweatshirt that he threw on just before leaving his dorm, as he grabbed the first thing he picked up off of the floor. He feels invisible compared to the beautiful people around him, but he doesn't really mind. The sandwich is good, at least, and as he drinks the red bull he can feel himself perking up. Or, maybe he's imagining that part. 

The cafe seems like the type of place Nico would like. They have cappuccinos according to the menu, Nico's favorite. Part of Will wishes Nico was there with him, eating a panini and drinking a cappuccino and laughing at a stupid joke Will would be making. But another part of him is glad that Nico is still a state and a half away because it makes the trip so much more worth it. It'll be unimaginable happiness when he sees Nico in for the first time in person after months of being separated, and to be able to hold him in his arms is something that Will feels as if he's been craving forever. But he needs to get back onto the road so he puts his dishes away, throwing a smile at the cashier before stepping back onto the street and pushing through the crowds to his car. 

------

It feels like a breath of fresh air when he's finally on the open road again, zooming past rocky cliffs and green fields of grass. The sky is dark now, any traces of a sunset gone and with the lack of lights, Will can see the stars. They're the most beautiful things he's ever seen in his life as if someone spilled thousands upon thousands of the tiniest diamonds in the world on a sheet of black paper. There aren't any other cars on the road and the vast majority of the world is dark, with his headlights only offering illumination to a sliver of his pitch black surroundings. It's nice, though, to be able to feel as if he's floating, as if he and his car are supported by nothing. It's a feeling that he carries with him as he drives down the highway, wheels treading on nothing. 

Nico's POV

It's around the witching hour when Nico takes a second stop, pulling into a gas station when his eyelids become too heavy to keep them open. It's alright, though; he's been running on empty for the past five miles, with worry mounting in his heart during every one. He pumps in enough gas to get him through the rest of Colorado before slipping into the gas station, the hum of the generator surrounding him, the fluorescents blinding. There's a single man behind the counter, flipping through a newspaper that's a week old and drinking a flat coke. Other than that the store is empty, and it feels almost haunted. 

He grabs an energy drink out of the fridge, his eyes scanning the chips and the candy before deciding that he wasn't hungry. He wanted to save his appetite, anyway. He and Will could go out for breakfast after they met up. Will had always liked pancakes. They'd go out for a pancake breakfast, Nico decides as he steps up to the counter, setting the drink on it and unearthing a crumpled five from the depths of his pocket. He cracks it open as soon as it's rung up, and he's sure that when he lowers the can, his lips are stained red. He could never exactly place the exact flavor of Redbull but it's oddly bittersweet, something one might not expect for a drink. He likes it, though, and he takes another small sip as he slips the extra quarters into his pocket. 

 The can turns to ice as soon as he steps outside and he draws his jacket tighter around him, a shiver running up his spine as a gust of wind whips through his body. He takes a second before he steps back into his car, standing with his jacket tight around his body in the hazy glow of the streetlight. The highway looks abandoned, the fields on his left a yawning abyss that threatens to swallow him up and never spit him out. There's a light dusting of snow everywhere, resembling powdered sugar more than anything else and it seems to have crystallized on the blades of dead grass, clinging to them like lifelines. The dust underneath his feet is frozen solid, not even budging when he steps on top of it to get to his car. 

After he buckles himself in he takes another swig of the Redbull, heaving a sigh and opening his eyes wide before starting the car. The trip is starting to get old, the hours stretching on longer, his body becoming more tired. There's nothing that he wants to do more than to stay in this gas station with a single streetlamp for light and sleep until the sunrise wakes him. But Will will be waiting for him in a handful of hours; Nico's in the final stretch, he knows it, and he knows that if he keeps pushing forward, everything will be worth it. 

Will's POV

Nico was right to meet at the Colorado National Monument; it's stunning. Sand is layered into rocks that have probably been there for a thousand years, creating an orange-red color that Will has never seen before. A light breeze toys with the sand carpeting the world and the rays of the sun that's just beginning to rise are shedding a fraction of light onto small green bushes somehow sprouting out of the hard, dead ground. The sign seems like an invitation to explore, to disappear into the park and never come back. Nico would like that, Will knew that he would. Will just wasn't quite sure where he was yet. 

They had come to an understanding that they'd meet at the sign at sunrise when the world was just beginning to wake. Will wasn't too concerned with the sunrise part, but Nico did look beautiful when his face was washed with all of those colors.  The fact that he wasn't at the sign yet, though, that was concerning, especially because Will was already ten minutes late. 

Will was searching for Nico's 1990 black Mazda, the one with the engine that rattled underneath the hood and the one that wheezed like an old man when he heard it, the grating of the tires against the pebbles, the familiar clunking of the car when Nico shut it down. He whipped his head around to see Nico standing twenty feet away, his hands shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants, a small smile on his face, the light from the sunrise hitting him in the way that Will knew it would, the way that made him look like an angel. For a split second, neither of them move, simply making eye contact in silence. For that split second Will wants to drink in how good it feels to be with him again, how good it feels to see him in person for the first time in what felt like centuries, to feel like the world is revolving around them and only them. 

Nico breaks the spell when he begins to fly, crashing into Will's embrace and burying his head in Will's chest. He smells the same as he always done, the faint scent of pine bar soap and Will rests his head on Nico's head, breathing in the smell enough so he hopes he'll be able to smell it for the rest of his life. Nico's body is warm in his arms, his nails digging into Will's back and Will squeezes back harder, tightly enough so he'll never lose Nico. There will come a time tomorrow morning when they'll have to leave each other again, continue their relationship through texts and calls and facetime. And it'll be hell, and Will will keep coming back to this moment, where Nico was tight in his arms. So he hugs him harder, hoping that tomorrow will never come. 

Hey guys, so I didn't think that it would be this long but it accidentally got way out of hand. I'm definitely not complaining because it was super fun to write, but this was like twice the length I thought it would be, so I hope you liked it!

Nina