Happy Pride Month everyone! Also, I hope this goes without saying, but in light of what's been happening recently, I just want to say that I 110% support the Black Lives Matter movement! I won't go too into depth because I could say a lot about this subject but racism and police brutality is never okay. Feel free to message me if you have any questions and with that said, enjoy!

Nico's POV-Age 22

"This time of the year always gives me memories," Will says, shifting on his shared bed with Nico as they watch reports of the pride marches on TV. Theirs had been yesterday, thousands of people dancing and shouting in the streets adorned in bright outfits and face paint. They had scrubbed at Will's cheeks for an hour straight, but they still carry the ghost of rainbow streaks. 

"Why?" Nico asks, snuggling up closer to Will. Will's arm is wrapped around his shoulders and with the early morning sun warming their faces, the comforter collecting around their waists, Nico is warmer than he's ever been before, both inside and out. 

"I came out during pride month, you know," Will says. 

Nico blinks. "You did?" 

"Yeah, did you not know that?" Will asks. 

"I don't know," Nico says, shrugging. "It doesn't seem like your style."

"A lot's changed since I was 14, you know," Will says, a grin playing across his face. "I mean, my plan was elaborate. Like, seriously elaborate. I went all out." 

"Tell me about it," Nico says, staring up into Will's eyes. They dance with mirth as he relives parts of his past, the elaborate coming out story that Nico is dying to know. He's known Will since his freshman year of college and now, having just graduated, it feels like a lifetime. But it's dawning on him that Will had a whole life before Nico, a life that Nico barely knows about. 

"You really wanna hear about my coming out story?" Will asks. "It's not great. Like, I promise you, it's really embarrassing." 

"Even better," Nico says. "Come on. And tell you what, if you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine. And I promise, whatever you have, mine is worse." 

Will laughs. "Well, now I'm interested." 

"Yeah. You should be," Nico says. "Come on. Stop being annoying and spill." He lifts his head, pressing a soft kiss to Will's cheek. "And I promise you, hearing my story is worth it." 

"Fine," Will says. His cheeks are colored dark pink and he won't look into Nico's eyes. "Fine. But your story better make up for this." 

Will's POV-Age 14

"You're really sure you wanna do your whole arms and legs?" Kayla asks, standing with a paintbrush in one hand and a paint palette in the other. "And your face? I mean, you have to go to school tomorrow. You couldn't just do, like, the parts of your body you can cover up? Because I promise you this is gonna stain." 

"Just go for it," Will says, his arms stretched out to their fullest capacity. The rainbow jumpsuit is sticking to his body with nervous sweat and the shorts hang loose on his hips. When Kayla's done with him, he's going to be a walking billboard for pride. "I only get one chance at this, so go big, right?" 

"You know, when you're older and more mature and your boyfriend asks how you came out, you're going to have to tell him this," Kayla reminds him. "And you're going to hate every second of it." 

"Just do it, Kayla," Will says. "I have to do this. For me. It's important." He needs to make a statement. He's hidden it for so long, underneath a guise of laughter and bad jokes. He needs to do this because if he doesn't do it now, and do it big, he might never get it done. 

"If you're sure," Kayla says, running a streak of red paint down Will's arm, followed by an orange one. It's patchy; Kayla isn't an artist by any means, and it shows in her attempt to make a straight line. But soon Will's arm is covered in a shaky rainbow, and she's moving onto his legs. "I can't believe I agreed to help you with this," Kayla says, doing her best to do a smooth streak of blue. It's considerably thinner than the purple one that comes after, trying to fill up the rest of the space, but it'll get the point across that Will is trying to make. That he's done hiding. 

Half an hour later, and a whole lot of grumbling from Kayla, and Will is looking like unicorn vomit. He turns, staring at himself in the full-length mirror. It's a bit of a mess, even he can admit. Maybe painting himself rainbow was overkill, especially on top of the rainbow outfit and the wig that barely fits his head. "What do you think?" Kayla asks, her arms crossed over her chest with the paintbrush hanging from her fingers. There's a smear of blue on her cheek, and red on her hands. 

"I kinda hate it," Will says. 

"So I did all that for nothing?" 

"No, it's perfect," Will says. "Come on, let's go." 

His heart is beating faster as he makes his way towards the living room. Sweat collects on his hairline, dripping down and making the red on his forehead run. He doesn't like the way his jumpsuit sticks to him or the way the cheap shorts from Walmart ride up on his thighs. As soon as he's done, he can take off the outfit, wash off the paint. But first, his parents need to see. 

They're watching TV, the loud voice of the reporter grating into Will's head and making it pulse. Will hates the nightly news, hates the newscaster and the stupid graphics, and the bad stories. He usually avoids the living room around this time, hoping not to be subject to another story about how crazy the weather is. But tonight he stands in the doorway, arms swinging at his side, heavy like bricks instead of flesh. "Mom, Dad," he says, clearing his throat in an effort to make it stronger, more powerful, make it seem like he isn't scared. 

His parents turn, breaking their attention from the news and staring at him, his Dad's mouth open and his Mom's eyebrow raised. "That's an interesting look, hun," she says. 

"Yeah, well, there's something I have to tell you."

Will's POV-Age 22

"I can't believe you." 

"What?" Will says. "I was young and excited and I wanted to do something big." He runs his fingers through Nico's hair, watching the pride march from LA on TV. There's a drag queen on top of a float with crackling sparklers, waving to the marchers as they cheer. 

"Is that why you wanted to paint your cheeks before we left yesterday?" Nico asks, pressing a kiss to the lingering yellow streak. "Reliving your glory days?" 

"Maybe," Will says. "It was fun. And at the time, painting my whole body sounded like a great idea. Anyway, your turn." He watches Nico carefully because as he speaks, Nico carefully avoids his eyes. His cheeks flush, he scratches the back of his head and rolls out from Will's arms. "Hey, come back," Will says. 

"Do I really have to tell you?" Nico says. "I mean, it's not really that exciting. Really. Normal. Said I was gay and that was it." Even though he's clearly hiding something, he rolls back into Will's arms, tucking his head into the crook of Will's neck. His breath is warm on Will's skin. 

"I know you're lying, you know," Will says. "Because you told me that yours was crazy and embarrassing so I'd tell mine, and now you're backing down? Come on, Nico, I know you're hiding something." 

"Fine," Nico says. "But you have to know one thing before I start." 

"What?" 

"I really, really didn't mean for this to happen." 

Nico's POV-Age 16

He's watching High School Musical again. Splayed out on the couch in the heat of the summer, the fan blowing his hair up above his forehead with a bowl of popcorn perched on his stomach, he's at peace with the world, listening to Gabriella's latest, and worst, vocal performance. He had never been a fan of her, of her too-sweet smile and of her annoyingly nice hair. But when Troy steps out to help her, his eyes soft and sweet and his skin glistening with just the perfect amount of post-practice sweat, he's attractive enough for the both of them. 

Nico watches, mouth agape as he puts a single piece of popcorn into his mouth. He's barely paying attention to what the movie is saying; rather the way the light hits Troy's skin, the way his hair falls in the way that Nico can tell he put in effort, but not too much. Hazel, walking through the living room, rolls her eyes as she watches Nico, completely entranced by the beauty of a movie character. "You've watched this how many times?" she asks. 

"None of your business," Nico says slowly, eyes still trained on Troy. "Besides, I mean, can you blame me?" Nico hadn't really had to come out to Hazel. It's like she had known for years before Nico, and slowly he got comfortable talking about boys with her, or about who he thought the hottest actor was. 

Hazel glances at the tv, giving Troy a more careful look, almost as if he's analyzing him. "I guess you're right," Hazel says. "But you gotta be more subtle about it if you don't want Mom and Dad to find out yet. I mean, you hid your freaky little shrine, right?" 

"It's not a shrine," Nico says. "It's a tribute. To his acting skills. Because he's such a good actor." 

"It's a vans shoebox filled with newspaper clippings with Vanessa Hudgens either cut out or replaced with your face," Hazel says. "It's weird. But you hid it, right?" 

"I mean, I think I left it under my desk," Nico says. "It'll be fine for now. I'll put it back underneath my floorboards soon, but I wanna finish it." 

"You know that Mom just went up there to clean, right? She's totally gonna wonder why you still have an old vans box from two shoe sizes again on your floor." Nico's heart stops. 

"She's in there?" he asks, slowly setting down his bowl of popcorn. Gabriella is singing again, but he never really cared about her, anyway. "She's not supposed to go in without my permission. I told her to ask!" His heart is throbbing in his throat because the more he thinks about it, the more Hazel is right. His shoebox filled with a fake marriage certificate he found online and his face plastered onto Vanessa Hudgens's body is a little creepy.

"Yeah, Nico, I'd recommend going, like, now," Hazel says. "She has the vacuum out, and you know how she gets about her vacuum. When she cleans with that thing, she goes in deep." That's all Nico has to hear. He's racing up the stairs, the movie still playing in the background and his popcorn left forgotten on the couch. 

His breathing is heavy as his feet pound on the staircase, panting as he stumbles onto the second floor. Every instinct he has is screaming at him to go faster but he's skipped so many gym classes that his legs feel like jelly when he runs and by the time he's at his door, he has to brace himself on the frame and catch his breath. For a second his world goes black, either from his lack of athletic ability or from sheer panic and when he regains his vision, his worst nightmare is displayed out in front of him. 

His mother's prize vacuum is abandoned on Nico's rug in favor of a much more interesting subject. The top to the vans box is sitting on Nico's desk as his mom goes through dozens of printed out google images, shaggily cut out clippings from magazines and, horror of horrors, in her hand, is the fake wedding certificate, declaring the holiest of matrimonies between Nico Di Angelo and Troy Bolton. His mom turns to him, an eyebrow raised as she holds up the fake marriage certificate. The ink is lighter at the end, where the printer had started to go dry. "Nico, sweetie," she says gently, a soft smile on her face. Her eyes look so kind, and Nico can't stand it. "Is there anything you want to tell me?" 

That's about the moment where Nico bursts into tears, and his world collapses around him.

Nico's POV-Age 22

"You know, considering my mom found her son's creepy shrine to Troy Bolton, she was shockingly accepting," Nico says. "I almost expected her to disown me. And my dad wasn't that bad, either. I mean, yeah, I think the idea of my head on Vanessa Hudgens's body was a little scary to him, but really, that's it." He glances over and Will is shaking with silent laughter, head tipped back and face beat red. "Oh, shut up. You painted yourself rainbow." 

"I know, Neeks, but Troy Bolton? Really? You couldn't have picked someone better?" 

"Shut up, I was sixteen," Nico says, his face going hot. It's been six years, and he still can't get his Mom's expression of gentle shock out of his mind. "I didn't exactly have very good taste." 

"And you left it out?" Will says, his chest still heaving with laughter. "I mean, it's pretty much impossible to be any more stupid. Like, you were too lazy to put it back underneath the floorboard?" 

"Like I said," Nico says, crossing his arms over his chest. He will not be bullied when his boyfriend turned himself into a walking rainbow. "She wasn't supposed to go in there." 

"I find a great deal of happiness in knowing that you're just as stupid today as you were when you were younger," Will says, pulling him in close and kissing his cheek. "You've barely changed at all. Although I would say you have better taste." 

"I don't know, if Troy Bolton came up to me, sang me a romantic ballad and then slam dunked to win the high school basketball championship, I might have to break up with you," Nico says. "Like, I'm sorry, but I don't think you could live up to him." 

"Oh, don't worry, I know," Will laughs, hugging Nico tight to his chest as the coverage of the pride parades switches to a different story, something about goats in the streets. Nico rests his head on Will's chest, listening to the beat of Will's heart underneath his shirt. His coming out may have been a mess and, by the sounds of it, Will wasn't too fond of retelling his own. But if those moments had led to this one, the ability to rest his head on his boyfriend's chest as they watched the footage from the pride parades, it might have been worth it, even if it did cost Nico's dignity and Will's unstained skin.

Hi guys, I hope you liked it, and happy pride month!

Nina