FOUR

Nico woke up in a great mood. He had had a dreamless sleep, and it was his favourite holiday tomorrow. He threw on the closest hoodie and headed into the kitchen, starting his Halloween playlist as he made breakfast.

'Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see

This, our town of Halloween

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night'

Will entered the kitchen yawning. "You know it's not actually Halloween yet, right?" He started the kettle and began to make coffee.

"Until November 1, it's okay to play Halloween music. Are you going to any parties tomorrow night?" Nico asked, dishing up two plates and handing one to Will, who had finished pouring the coffee and tea and sat at the island, sliding Nico's cup to him.

"Wasn't really planning on it, but if you find any good ones I'll consider it. Do I have to dress up?"

"That's literally the entire point of Halloween. Dress up and eat junk." Nico rolled his eyes and shoved another fork full of eggs into his mouth.

"I thought you didn't eat junk. What are you dressing up as?"

" Holidays don't count, and I haven't decided yet, I have to choose between three. Do you have any costumes?"

"Two years ago I bought a clown costume because it was only three dollars, and who can walk away from a deal like that, right? Only problem is that I don't think I packed it because in the two years I've owned it I haven't worn it once besides trying it on." Will shrugged and got up to put his dishes in the dishwasher and wash the pan.

Nico finished his own food, dealt with his dishes, and retreated to his room. After twenty minutes of careful deliberation, which was really just staring at the costumes for twenty minutes before spinning around in a circle and wearing whatever costume he pointed at, he had decided.

- - - - -

Halloween night couldn't have come any sooner in Nico's opinion. Their flat got several trick-or-treaters, children from the rest of the building. During supper Will had agreed to go to a party with Nico, as long as Nico was the designated driver. Nico agreed, not mentioning that he didn't drink anyways so it wasn't much of a sacrifice. Now both boys were in their respective rooms getting ready.

Nico's costume wasn't complicated, and didn't take long, but his makeup was another story. His costume choice required quite a bit of work in that department. He'd never done much makeup when he'd dressed up in the past, but seeing how it was just another form of art, it shouldn't be too hard. He had no idea what Will would dress up as, and he hoped it wouldn't be too lame of a costume considering this party was known for it's attendee's commitment to the holiday.

Will was sat in the living room in a bathrobe and a yellow scarf. "Whoa! You look awesome! How long did it take to put that costume together?"

Nico smiled sheepishly at the praise. "I bought the suit at a thrift store, then painted the stripes and added the collar from an old shirt. It was actually really easy. You're costume screams last minute and no thought however. Follow me."

Nico led Will into his room and dug through his closet for the Hogwarts robe his friend Reyna made him wear one year. Finding it and handing it to Will, he said "Change into this. The party we are going to takes dressing up seriously. You can't go in a bathrobe."

Will slid off the bathrobe and slid into the one Nico gave him. It was a little short, but it was big on Nico so it wasn't terrible. "I do have a wand from when I went to the Wizarding World. And the scarf is from there too. Do I meet your standards now?" Will laughed.

Honestly, Will looked like Cedric Diggory. "I didn't mind the bathrobe, but for your dignity this is much better. In fact-" The doorbell rang and Nico went to go give out candy. Will followed behind him to see the kid's costumes.

There was a pirate, a jellyfish, and a little girl dressed as Thor. They looked awesome, so Nico may have given them a little extra candy. They all loved Nico's costume, and were ecstatic when Nico did a near perfect impression of Jack Skellington.

Will shut the door and stared in awe at Nico, who simply shrugged. "It was one of my favourite movies growing up, I practiced a lot. I may or may not also be able to sing every single song from memory and quote the entire movie." Will was amazed at that. He couldn't stand watching movies more than once, so he never memorized any. "I like Halloween, okay?" Nico responded to Will's look defensively.

"No, that's really cool. What time is the party?" He grabbed some chocolate from the bowl to hand out and opened one, popping it into his mouth and ignoring Nico's scowl.

"We should be there around 10. They have really awesome fireworks at midnight. I don't know how long you want to stay though, I know you have classes in the morning."

They were sitting on the couch now and Will was looking for a movie. He selected Nightmare Before Christmas in honour of Nico's look, and also because he had only ever heard songs from it without actually having seen it.

He decided it was definitely worth it when he saw Nico's face light up at the opening song. When 'This is Halloween' came on, he saw Nico mouthing along the words and heard him humming quietly. Will was tempted to tell Nico to feel free to sing, but he figured that would most likely cause Nico to stop humming along and watch silently. Will was enjoying his voice too much to risk it.

They had to pause the movie several times to answer the door, but by the time they finished to movie, it was time to head out. They took Nico's car. It was a bit of a longer drive, and they were both silent on the way, but it was a comfortable silence compared to the first time they drove anywhere together.

It had been two months since Will first moved in, but it didn't feel like that long to either of them. Any awkwardness between the two of them at the beginning had long since dissipated, and they had formed an, admittedly rocky at the beginning, friendship that was starting to solidify. It was hard not to be friends with someone you lived with.

And while Will knew lots of little things about Nico, how he liked his coffee, music he liked, favourite foods, he knew practically nothing about his past apart from him having a half sister because his dad cheated on his mom. He had no idea whether he talked to either of his parents, if he had any more siblings, he didn't even know what Nico was in school for. And apart from the stop at the art shop in their first month together, he hadn't seen any further evidence of Nico's interest in the arts.

Will took in the house they arrived at. Cobwebs were strewn through all the trees, there was fog leaking through the front door that was cracked open, and several more realistic decorations. He didn't appreciate the spiders littering the walkway. He was also glad that Nico had given him the robe because all the costumes here were clearly top notch.

The music inside was at a tolerable level compared to other parties he had attended. The floor was covered in fog, which made all the lights lining the makeshift dance floor look amazing. It wasn't super packed, which Will appreciated.

Right away they had bumped into Jason and Piper, friends of Will's. Jason was dressed as a slutty Wonder Woman and Piper as Superman. They had clearly worked hard on their costumes, and it paid off. The four of them danced for a while before Jason left to go get drinks for them all, and water for Nico.

Will spent a lot of time admiring all the costumes around him. Someone dressed as Voldemort challenged him to a dual, but Will was clearly a bigger nerd than he was because Will shot an 'Avada Kadavra' and his opponent just tried to disarm him. Amateur.

Will didn't remember how much he drank, but it must have been a little too much. He knew he would regret it in the morning when he had to sit through class with a hangover, and he knew his filter was slipping away, but he couldn't find it in him to care.

The party had mostly moved outside to watch the fireworks as it was midnight. Will was tilting a little to far to the left and Nico grabbed his arm and pulled him back upright. Will giggled "You're kinda cute, you know? Like, you try to be like all intimidating and stuff, but you are really-" He paused to hiccup "-cute." Turning away from Nico, not noticing his blush, Will continued to watch the fireworks while leaning on Nico, arm draped sloppily around the shorter boy's shoulder to help him stand upright.

They didn't stay much longer after the fireworks, due to the fact that Will barfed on the lawn. That is always a good way to come down from a 'party high'. Nico had to practically drag Will's body into the car, and after making sure Jason and Piper had a way to get home, he started the car and started the drive home.

"I don't know youuu." Will slurred sleepily. He was leaning against the window, turned to face Nico.

"Yes you do. You live with me for goodness sakes." Nico laughed. He definitely enjoyed drunk Will, aside from his lack of coordination and tendency to barf on lawns.

"No like, I don't know you." Hiccup. "What is your biggest secret? What is something you've never told anyone before?" Will struggled to get the entirety of the sentence.

"What's something you haven't told anyone before?" Nico turned it around on him so he wouldn't have to reveal anything. If it came to it, he could always make up some random story.

"I'm only telling you because I-" Will paused and thought hard for a minute. "-I trust you. Nico, I trust you. You're like, my best friend." Will sounded dead serious, and it was hard for Nico to keep a straight face as he responded.

"You're my best friend too." The car was quiet for a while, and when they were almost home, Will sat up quickly and exclaimed, "We need friendship bracelets!" He looked around for a minute, but not finding anything except a sharpie, he made do. He drew a line around his wrist, a simple bracelet. Except, it was more like a scribbled spiral and the ends didn't match up. Once the car was parked, he grabbed Nico's hand and drew a similarly sloppy bracelet on Nico.

"Come on Will, let's get you to bed." He managed to help Will out of the car without too much difficulty, but the one thing he didn't think about was the excessive amount of stairs they would have to climb in order to go to bed.

It was no easy feat. It involved a lot of pulling, shoving, dragging, and coaxing. Nico was pretty sure he deserved a prize for making it to the door with Will in one piece. He might have a few bruises though, because Will's elbows showed no mercy.

Nico wasn't sure if Will would be okay with him going into his room without sober permission, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Will would probably be more upset if Nico just let him sleep on the floor outside his room, so he pushed forward. He flopped the half asleep Will on the bed.

Will was completely out of it while Nico took off his shoes for him and tucked him in. Lastly, Nico left a glass of water and some aspirin on the bedside table for when Will woke up. "Goodnight Will." Nico said and before he closed the door, he heard Will respond.

"Goodnight Sunshine."

(A/N Just so you know, the next few chapters are written, but they are absolute crap. I know editing is against NaNoWriMo rules, but I might have to do some tweaking. Bear with me. Enjoy this Halloween chapter that is coming a tad late but oh well. Also, if you didn't put it together yet, the picture above is Nico's costume)