(Enjoy this cute Solangelo pic)

NINE

"Nico wake up, wake up, wake up!" Will burst into the room, and jumped on his bed.

"Will it is seven in the freaking morning. Go back to bed before I murder you." Nico groaned and pulled the covers over his head, trying to shove Will off.

"Well aren't you a little ray of pitch black this morning?" Will laughed, but didn't leave Nico alone. "Get your lazy butt out of bed."

"Please tell me there is coffee? I am not setting foot outside this bed with coffee." Nico yawned.

Will nodded eagerly. "And eggnog, and cookies, and muffins."

"Please tell me you didn't bake anything. It's Christmas, we don't need the house burned down." Nico was genuinely concerned for the well being of the kitchen. Whenever Will tried anything it always ended in disaster.

He laughed. "Nah, I was up at six, I found a bakery that was open and picked some up. Kitchen is unharmed and house is still standing." Will left and returned with a mug of coffee, handing it to Nico.

Nico inhaled the scent, feeling more awake already. "Must be Christmas if I'm getting my coffee in bed." They both laughed.

"I'm only doing it so that you will get up so we can open presents." Will tugged on his arm and Nico got out of bed and put on the hoodie he borrowed from Will. He wasn't looking forward to giving it back, as it was amazingly comfortable and warm. He would wear it every day of his life if he could. It no longer smelled like the other boy, but he wasn't going to give it back.

On the counter were two muffins, and they were still warm. Will broke a piece of the top of his and moaned at the taste. "This is the best thing I have ever tasted. And I grew up with a mom who owned a bakery. That chic just earned herself a loyal customer for life."

"Isn't that cheating on your own café?" Nico asked, biting into his own muffing, smiling contently.

"The food at The Moose is absolute crap. But we have good drinks, so it balances out. If you worked there, it could be amazing."

"I already have a job, and I'll go back to work there second term. You remember the art store I dragged you to that one time?" Nico questioned.

"The one that looked like a front for the mafia? Yeah, kind of hard to forget it." Nico rolled his eyes at Will's over exaggeration.

"It's not. It's a tattoo parlour that sells art supplies on the side. An lady I used to live with owns it."

"You do tattoos?" Will asked in amazement. "Would you do one on me? Would I get a discount?"

"They aren't that hard. It's just drawing but with needles and you can't erase what you have done." Nico shrugged. I designed the one I have, but I had the owner do it."

"You drew your tattoo?" Will was amazed. He knew Nico was talented, but he thought it was designed by a professional or something, it was so well done.

The atmosphere in the kitchen was warm, and full of conversation, even long after the muffins were devoured. "What time is Hazel coming over?" Will asked, checking his watch.

"She and Frank are doing Christmas together in the morning, she'll be around just after lunch." Nico poured himself another mug of coffee and they moved to the living room to watch a movie.

"Do you actually want a tattoo?" Nico asked Will in the middle of the movie he wasn't really paying attention to.

"I've always wanted one, I just have no idea what I would get." Will shrugged going back to the movie.

Lunch was a simple affair, heated up leftovers from the previous supper. A key turned in the door, and Hazel entered the building. "If you're naked, put clothes on, I'm an innocent child." Hazel called, covering her eyes as she entered the living room where Nico and Will were sprawled on the couch with their plates of food. In her other hand were two, neatly wrapped presents with perfect bows on top.

Will was definitely jealous of her gift wrapping abilities, because his ended up looking like the presents were run over with a truck. "Dude. We aren't naked yet. That's for later." Will called out easily, making Nico lean over and hit him upside the head, blushing.

"How was your morning?" Nico asked his sister, scooting closer to Will to make room for her on the couch after she had placed the gifts in the small pile under the makeshift Christmas tree.

"It was good. He got me a few riding sessions at the barn, I'm so excited. I haven't been able to ride in ages, it's just too expensive with bills and textbooks." She sat down, turned so that her body was facing the two boys, and legs criss crossed.

"What are you in school for?" Will asked Nico's sister.

"Social work, but I just started. I started working after grad, and have just finally got around to actually attending some classes."

Her hair was untamed today, curls free instead of struggling to break away from their usual restraints. She had a cheesy Christmas sweater on, covered with reindeer and jingle bells that faintly sang whenever she moved.

"So I was thinking we could go out and build a snowman before coming in, having hot chocolate and opening our presents. Any objections?" She asked, and ignored her brother when he raised his hand.

That didn't stop him from voicing his opinion. "I object. It's cold outside." But his opinion was overruled and Nico found himself digging around his closet for some gloves. The best he could find were some old, black, fingerless ones from a few years ago. They would have to do. He layered a jacket over the hoodie and waited for Will. Hazel had left her gloves, jacket, and toque in the entryway, clearly having planned this.

Will came out in a jacket over a vest over a hoodie. He had his Hufflepuff scarf wound tightly around his neck and bright orange gloves on. Seeing their looks he got defensive. "I get really cold easily, don't blame me when you two are freezing your butts off while I'm nice and warm."

The three of them headed down the stairs and walked to the park that was just across the street. The streets were fairly empty seeing how most people were inside celebrating the holiday with their families. All nice and warm inside in heated buildings Nico thought.

It was probably the coldest it had ever been in the city, or at least as long as Nico had lived in it. First blizzard here for a long time as well. Nico was used to the warmer temperatures in Italy, even though he had moved to the states when he was still young for his dad's job.

Will got started with the base, Hazel on the body, and Nico on the head. They had to work together to even things out however when the middle was bigger than the bottom and the head was tiny. It took all three of them to hoist the middle on, and Will, being the tallest stood on tippy toes to place the head. "We need stuff to make a face." Will pointed out, and Hazel pulled out a bag from her pocket.

"Luckily, I come prepared." She sang. She gave Will the carrot, buttons, scarf, and chocolate chips for the face and body.

"In hindsight," Nico stated as Will struggled to assemble everything, "we should have done this before putting the head on."

"I just wish I could have found a top hat for him." Hazel said sadly, but her smile came back full force when Will finished.

They trudged back though the snow and up the stairs, wanting to warm up. Hazel looked out the window in the living room. "Guys! You can see Bernard from here!" Will came over and peeked out. Nico stayed in the kitchen, getting started on the hot chocolate.

"You named the snowman Bernard?" Nico wasn't even surprised at this point.

He dropped the canister of powder as Will walked in, but luckily the lid was on and it landed upright. "Careful there." Will warned. "I'm the one who's supposed to make the messes in here, not you." He smiled.

"Sorry, I still can't feel my fingers." Nico had removed the gloves as soon as they stepped inside. The snow had soaked them and they ended up doing more harm than good. Will came over and grabbed Nico's hands, rubbing them quickly. "What on earth are you doing Solace?"

"Getting the blood flowing again and warming them up. I want hot chocolate, so it won't do me any good if you go and get frostbite. It would be a shame to amputate your hands."

Nico humoured him for a minute before pulling away and turning back to the stove, now able to do so without dropping things. He wasn't sure how, but Will's hands were really warm even after building a snowman. They felt nice. He squashed that thought and turned back to his task, pouring the hot liquid into three mugs, carrying them carefully to the living room where Will and Hazel were seated by the 'tree'.

They both grabbed a mug from his hands, and Nico carefully sat down with them on the floor. Hazel was practically bouncing, so he handed his gift to her. He had wrapped it in brown paper and drew a quick sketch on the top by her name.

She tore into the paper, but careful to not rip the drawing which she set aside, and burst out laughing. "Nico," she had to stop and catch her breath, "I honestly should have seen this coming. At least it's not pepper spray."

"Don't be ridiculous, then what would I get you for your birthday?" They both laughed, but he knew from her smile that she liked the gift. She might never use it, but he felt better knowing that she wasn't completely defenseless.

Hazel handed Will and Nico their gifts, and they opened them. Inside was a book filled with works and information on some of his favourite artists. He flipped through the pages, admiring all the work, smiling widely. Looking over to Will, he saw him stuff a cookie in his mouth before offering one to Hazel and Nico. Hazel had given him a tin full of her cookies.

Hazel was now holding a new travel mug in a lovely gold hue. Nico and Will exchanged gifts. He hoped Will didn't completely hate his present, but it was hard to guess what his reaction would be. It was ecstatic, thankfully.

"How did you know I wanted these?" Will asked excitedly, flipping through one of them smelling the pages.

"I saw you look at them when we were in the store. I was mostly just hoping you didn't hate them or already own them." Nico opened up his own gift. Inside was a journal. The cover was black dyed leather with the quote

"You're a psychopath."

"I prefer creative."

Written in red. The pages were blank on the inside, and good quality too.

"I figured if you weren't really the journaling type, you could just use it as a sketchbook instead." Will said quietly. Nico had been really private about his art, and he wasn't sure if this would push the limit or not.

"I love it, Will. Thank you." Nico could already imagine filling up the pages, and it was the perfect size to keep in his bag so he could take it with him when he was out of the house.

Will cleaned up all the wrapping paper, Hazel refilled their mugs with the rest of the hot cocoa warming on the stove, and Nico started a movie.

- - - - -

"Do you miss her?" Hazel asked quietly. Will was in the living room, and Nico had retreated to the kitchen under the pretence of putting their mugs away. Nico started at her voice.

"Every day." His voice was thick with emotion. "It's gotten easier, but Christmas is always hard without her. It was always just us, dad would often be out." He hugged his arms to his chest.

Hazel remained silent, for which Nico was grateful. He wasn't in the mood for conversation or half-hearted condolences. He knew his sister cared, and that was enough. He didn't need words. It took a moment, but he managed to stand up straight and take a deep breath.

"Have you been sleeping?" Hazel finally asked as Nico put the cups in the dishwasher. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to worry her either.

"Enough. I've been able to sleep in lately, even if I haven't been going to sleep at reasonable hours, so that helps." He'd been able to sleep in because he would exhaust himself to the point of physically being unable to keep his body awake. That way he had dreamless nights.

"You'll call me if it gets bad again?" Hazel was worried for her younger brother. Even though he was terrible at accepting help, she would keep offering it until it got through that thick skull of his.

"Sì, grazie." He said goodbye to Hazel and went back to the kitchen to make himself a snack.

Will heard the front door shut and headed over to see what Nico was doing. He heard singing from the kitchen and assumed he had put on some Christmas music. He in quietly and saw that it was actually Nico singing, and not his phone like he had assumed.

He didn't want to interrupt, so he remained in place, listening to a beautiful version of 'Silent Night' completely entranced. Nico was moving around the kitchen, making something on the stove and singing quietly to himself. When he finished the song, Will made his presence known. "I didn't know you could sing like that."

Nico turned around quickly, startled. "It's not nice to scare people you know." He retorted. "Hungry?" Neither had eaten supper, so Will nodded his head eagerly, grabbing himself a plate and dishing up some eggs. They took their food into the living room and turned on the telly.

Their legs were tangled together under their blankets, and they kept shoving each other, trying to fight for more space until they gave up and just sprawled on top of each other when the show began.

(A/N What tattoo should Will get, if any? I already have Nico's second one picked out, but you will have to wait and see...Anyways, enjoy this crappy Christmas chapter. What do non Canadians even call winter hats? The terms are a mess in this story. They are Americans that use some Canadian terms sprinkled with some British here and there. On an unrelated note, I hit 25k words the other day so I am more than half way to my goal. After NaNo I might edit this and do some rewriting, but only time will tell.)