Nico walked into his kitchen in a daze. The poster was in his hand and he was holding the bouquets of flowers in his arms.

As soon as he set them down, his phone rang.

Hades, it read. Nico figured it was rude to nickname his father the God of the Underworld, but if you had one conversation with the guy, you would understand why.

It was as if when Nico's mother and sister, Bianca died, his dad had died too. A tear threatened its way out of Nico's eyes, so he rubbed them harshly.

"Hello?"

"Hello." His dad said coldly. "I will be arriving to the apartment at nine o'clock tonight." Nico rolled his eyes at his dad's robotic tone. Three months away on a business trip and that was all the excitement he could show?

"Whatever," he replied before hanging up.

He opened his phone to a Snapchat from Will that was a selfie with the caption; it was like u were the president. all those motherfuckers were recording

Nico responded with a picture of the flowers and said; nosy ass bitches

He should really chill with the profanity, he knew that. He also didn't give a shit.

At eight o'clock, Nico lowered the volume on his TV and looked over at his gifts from Will sitting on the kitchen counter. They looked out of the place with the white, modern-looking kitchen. Nico thought a black theme would represent his father more clearly.

He remembered his dad's reaction to Nico coming out.

"Nico...I'm sure you have no idea what you're talking about. Your mother and sister just died and it's messing with you-"

"Do not bring them into this," Nico had said. A salty tear ran down his cheek.

His father sighed. "I'm not saying it's wrong to be gay...it's just..."

"Weird?" Nico suggested. "Damn, it's too bad you got stuck with the odd child. I bet you wish I would've been killed in the accident instead of Bianca-"

"ENOUGH!"

Nico sobbed. His father stood over him, his dark eyes darting all over the place.

"I just don't know if I can accept it, Nico. It's so...random-"

"Mom would've understood."

Nico ran up to his room. He didn't need to hear his own dad call him unacceptable. Especially since this wasn't an action, it was a part of who he was.

Nico blinked back tears.

He decided to keep the flowers and poster out for his dad to see. He wasn't sure how he felt about Nico being gay, maybe he had changed his ways of thinking, but Nico doubted it. He still wanted to prove a point, though.

An hour later, he heard the front door open.

Nico considered running up to his room or turning up the volume on the TV to avoid conversation. He chose neither. He sat upright on he couch and bounced his leg nervously.

"Hello," he heard his father say.

"Mm," Nico hummed in response. It wasn't as carefree as usual, though. He listened closely as his dad walked to the kitchen, set down his things, and quiet down.

"You...are making a poster?"

Nico stood up and walked to kitchen with all the mustered-up strength he had left.

"I was asked," he said proudly. His dad furrowed his eyebrows and read the poster.

"Oh? And who is this lucky...person?" Nico winced.

"Our neighbor, Will Solace."

A few seconds of silence passed before Nico's dad smiled. A real, genuine smile.

"He's a very nice boy, Nico." He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose. "Are you his boyfriend?"

Nico had to take a few seconds to process what was going on. Was his dad being...supportive?

"No," he said quietly. "But we're...I..." he sighed. "I-It's complicated."

"I bet." Harold smiled. It'd been a long time since he didn't look like death. Nico considered giving his dad a new nickname soon.

yeahhh it's short, but i think im gonna update again in a few hours
i hope you liked it:)
-reyna