Solangelo 'Tis The Damn Season AU (Part 1)

Word count: 2882

If you don't know what JC Penney is, it's an American department store that sells pretty much everything.

Disclaimer: I have never played the video game Hades and all my knowledge comes from my friend infodumping to me about it in Freshman year

—

Nico first met Will Solace in a department store.

It was the February of Sophomore year, that first week when Nico was still getting used to telling people he was 16 rather than 15. He stepped into the JC Penney, the cold wind halting as the door shut. His eyes wandered around the store—it was huge, and red—red signs, red hangers, red uniforms on workers. Finally, he found the check-out in the back of the store, and he walked about to it, slowly.

He didn't really want to get a job. Nico was perfectly fine staying at home playing video games and single-player Mythomagic. But according to his father, he 'barely left the house' and 'needed to experience the real world.' Hence, a quick interview and background check, followed by a confirmation for a part-time job at the local JC Penney. (His father had wanted him to take the job at the coffee shop, but that required more talking than Nico wanted to do, so he opted for the longer walk home in exchange for a little bit more solitude.)

However, based on what Apollo, the manager, had said when he reached the desk, it seemed Nico was in for a little bit more social interaction than what he signed up for.

"I'll have someone to show you around," he was saying now, pulling Nico back to reality. There was a new set of Mythomagic cards releasing today, but since he had to work, he had to wait until the end of his shift to buy them and play against Percy. "Will!" He called out, and a boy around his age walked up to them. "This is my son, Will. Will, this is Nico. It's his first day working here."

"Hi," was all Nico said, but Will smiled brightly.

"Hi!" He responded. He has a nice smile Nico thought dimly as he kept talking, "Since you're new here, you're mostly just going to be restocking the hangers. The clothes are in the back, but don't worry, they're not with all of those huge crates you have to use cranes to reach. They're small enough for you to pick up and are right next to the door. Come on, I'll show you."

He started walking away, and there turned around and motioned for Nico to follow after he stood there for a second, trying to figure out what he was saying. (He talked so fast). He raced to catch up with Will, and for a few seconds, they walked in silence.

Will was a few inches taller than Nico, with blue eyes skin somehow tanned despite it being Winter. His hair had a fluffy sort of look to it, and it was the color of the sun. He had freckles on his cheeks, but you couldn't really see them from far away—Nico had only noticed because he was standing next to him.

About halfway to the back of the store, Will started talking again, "So how old are you?"

"I'm fif—uh, sixteen. My birthday was last week."

"Oh, happy late birthday! I turn seventeen in August, which sucks because it's always ridiculously hot, but at least I'm the oldest in the grade."

They went like that for the rest of the walk, Will trying to get a conversation going while Nico answered his questions with just a few words. It was like he couldn't stand silence, and had to find a way to fill it when it occurred. Unfortunately for Will, Nico was one of the quietest people in New York.

By the time they got to the door marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY" Nico had learned that Will's last name was Solace (but not his dad's, whose name was Papodopulous), he was a Sophomore in high school (but not in Nico's school, in the town next to them), and that he had two younger siblings, Kayla and Austin (Nico didn't comment on that one).

The back of the room was big, which Nico should've expected in a store this size. It had everything. There was furniture in boxes towards the back, along with cranes to pick up crates that were closer to the ceiling. Towards the front, there were smaller boxes, the size that someone could carry if they used both hands.

Will pointed to one of the smaller boxes. "These are where the clothes are. The only thing you have to do is open them and hang them." He opened the box easily, not even having to use a box cutter. "Hangers are usually by the front, we take them off when people buy stuff. The box is usually labeled with which section you should hang it in. And if you're confused, just ask another employee. Everyone's pretty nice. I mean, I've only talked to them a few times, but—"

"You don't work here?" Nico asked, looking up from the box. He knew so much about the store and was so talkative that he was sure the other boy knew everyone in the state.

"No, I just help my dad out sometimes. Volunteering at the hospital sucks up all my time."

Of course he worked at the hospital. He probably rescued puppies in his free time as well.

"Oh. Cool." He paused for a few seconds, then decided to just go for it. "I can't read what section the clothes go in. I'm dyslexic."

Instead of looking annoyed that he had to explain the 'easy' job even further, as Nico feared he would, Will smiled warmly instead. "I am too! Actually, there are a lot of other kids here who also are. That's why we started color coding the boxes." He shifted the box towards Nico, and he saw there was a small piece of bright yellow tape next to the label. "Yellow means adult women. Don't worry, there are only a few sections you have to memorize. Do you have any other questions?"

"Um...no, I'm good," Nico responded, "Thanks."

"No problem! Just ask my dad or someone else in red if you need any help. Uh, I'm pretty sure the spare uniforms are over there." He pointed to the right, where an open box of red clothing was sitting. "Find one that fits you. Bye!"

That was it? "Bye."

Will left the room, and Nico was left to work.

—

The bell above the door jingled as somebody walked into the store. Nico didn't bother to look up to see who it was—as the holidays drew closer, more and more customers were showing up to buy gifts, although they were a little late, considering it was already mid December.

"Hey Nico!" the voice said, and Nico immediately felt his stomach drop.

"Hi Will," he greeted softly as he turned around, hangers still in his hand. "Did, uh, did your Winter break start?"

"Yup! School ended yesterday." He smiled, and Nico felt his heart pound inside his chest. "You still have next week, right? Loser." He added the last word when Nico nodded.

"At least I don't have to go back on January 2nd." He responded, and then silently cursed himself for the lame remark. For the last few weeks, he found himself looking forward to the usual back-and-forth joking he did with Will whenever they saw each other. Despite that, he also felt like he had to watch himself, making sure he didn't say something genuinely hurtful that made the other boy hate him forever. Unfortunately, that made Nico talk like a 12-year-old boy trying to flirt with his crush.

Which, to be fair, was an accurate description of what he was doing.

"We don't talk about that," Will replied, then gave Nico one of those smiles that made his stomach flutter. "When does your shift end?"

"At six."

"Okay, good. There's a kid at the hospital who's really into this video game—Hades, I think it's called?—and I have no idea how to play it. I need you to teach me because no one else knows how to play it either and she has no one to talk about it with."

"Hades? You want me to teach you about Hades?" He didn't try to hide the giddiness in his voice (and honestly, he wasn't sure if he could) because, holy shit, nobody ever asked him about the video games he played.

"Yeah, can you just explain everything to me? And maybe show me the game if you have time?"

The next three hours never passed so slow. Nico looked at the clock every few minutes and wanted to groan at how slow it was moving. Finally, he clocked out, signaled Will, and began walking home.

Winter in New York was cold. You needed a jacket or you would freeze to death after a block. The two boys walked together, Will is a blue coat while Nico wrapped his usual aviator jacket around him tighter. They were close together. Really close. Logicially, the only reason Will was doing that was to keep warm.

However, illogically...

Do not think about that! Nico scolded himself as they turned the corner to his street.

They took the elevator upstairs, and Nico opened the door to his apartment. It wasn't the first time Will had been there, but he still got nervous every time. As the other boy took off his jacket, Nico wondered if he remembered to clean his room that morning.

Thankfully, he did. They sat down together at the foot of the bed, and Nico began talking.

"So, there's this boy named Zagreus, and he's the son of Hades, right? But he's trying to escape the Underworld..."

Will paid attention. Actually paid attention, but just nodded along or staring while his eyes glazed over. He asked questions, he asked to see the designs, and he seemed genuinely interested in the story.

When he was done explaining, Nico realized his jaw hurt. He wasn't used to talking for so long. Will was smiling, and at some point, he had leaned forward in his seat, eager to learn more.

Maybe it was the way he was looking at him. Maybe it was the happy sort of exhaustion he felt after talking about something he loved. Maybe it was just a random splurge of confidence, one that he would ponder about during future nights wondering where it came from.

But Nico met Will's eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "I like you, Will."

Will blinked. Then, "What?"

Fuck, now look at what you did. "I mean—like, it's okay if you don't feel the same way, but—"

"Nico," Will interrupted, holding his gaze, "I like you too."

It was Nico's turn to say, "What?"

"I'm sorry, I just—I wasn't expecting you to say that. But I do like you. Why do you think I keep trying to hang out with you after work?"

Nico took a few seconds to process that. Will liked him back. Genuinely liked him back. And he spent his time coming up with excuses to hang out with Nico, or talk to him, because oh my god, Will Solace liked him back.

There was probably something better that he could have responded with, but what came out of Nico's mouth next was, "Is there really a kid at the hospital who likes Hades?"

Will laughed at that. He laughed, and it was the best sound Nico had ever heard. "There is. I was just going to look everything up but...I remembered you liked it."

Do not start blushing. It'll be so embarrassing if you start blushing right now.

But he couldn't hide the color rising to his cheeks, so he wrapped his arms around his face so Will couldn't see. He laughed anyway, and Nico peaked a look back up at him.

"So...does this mean you'll go out with me?" Will asked, and Nico unwrapped his arms.

"Isn't that a conflict of interest or something? Dating the son of your boss?"

Will shrugged, blue jacket going up and down. "I doubt he cares that much. It's not like you're the one employee holding up the entire company."

"Wow. Glad to know I'm so valued."

Will hit him with the nearest thing—the pillow—and they both burst into another fit of laughter.

"So will you go out with me?" Will asked again, setting the pillow back up behind me.

"Yeah. I will."

—

Funerals were a strange thing. It wasn't the first one Nico had ever been to for a family member, but it somehow never got any easier.

Legally, Nico was on his own now. Eighteen years old with no other relatives to take him in, he supposed he should figure out what to do with all of his late father's possessions. At least the money had been left for him. He wasn't on his own and broke.

There was a line of people offering their condolences, and suddenly, Nico felt like he was 10 years old again, staring at people's dress shoes as they told them how sorry they were that his sister and mother had died. Back then, he had been nodding and mumbling his thanks for thinking of him. Now, he was still doing that, but he was all alone. Nobody next to him to hold his hand or tell him it was going to be okay, just the comfort of the same aviator jacket he'd been wearing since he was fifteen.

At the end of the line stood Will. Well, he wasn't in the line, standing to the side instead, but once everyone else had left, the only people left were Will and Apollo. He wasn't sure where Kayla and Austin were, but honestly, he wasn't sure he cared.

"Hey," Will started, but the familiar sound of his voice didn't immediately make Nico feel better the way he hoped it would. "How are you?"

Nico shrugged, hoping he didn't look as miserable as he felt. "Um...can I talk to you?"

Will's kind smile didn't waver, but something in his eyes changed. "Yeah. Sure."

Nico looked back at Apollo, then grabbed Will's hand and pulled him a little bit farther away. Dread knotted up inside of his stomach, and his thoughts were a madhouse of please, I don't want to do this and I have to do this, if I keep stringing him along it'll just hurt him and god, I miss my dad and do I really have to do this?

"So, uh..." Nico began, trying to remember the words he recited to himself in the bathroom mirror ten times over this morning "I love you. I really do Will, god, I love you so much. But...my dad just died, and everything is kind of shit right now, and I really don't want you to be around me when I'm like this, so..."

He swore to himself he wouldn't look at Will's face as he broke up with him, but something compelled him in the moment, and he met his eyes. His face was pale, almost as pale as Nico's and his lips were tilted on a downslide.

"Nico—" he started, but Nico didn't stop, wanting to get his entire speech out before his voice died in his throat.

"And—I mean, we're going to colleges that are half a country away, which we're both moving to in a week, so it doesn't even make sense..." A few days ago, when Nico had been curled up in bed, sobbing his eyes out over the state of his life, he realized that he would need to pull out every reason there possibly was for him to break up with Will when he was actually doing it. Even if it didn't really matter, he needed a strong case, because the second Will rebelled it would take every fiber of his being to not yield.

Which is almost what happened when the other boy protested, "We agreed that we could do long distance," his voice was shaking and Nico wanted to hit himself for being the one to make his voice sound like that, but he didn't stop talking.

"So I think it's better for us to break up. Better for both of us." He wasn't sure what he was even saying anymore, he was just aware that he was crying, and now Will was crying too. He didn't cry the entire funeral, and now he was crying as he broke up with his boyfriend.

What kind of son was he?

"Nico," Will started again, but he cut him off again.

"I think you should go. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

They both stood there stupidly for a moment, and Will looked like he was trying to say something, but eventually he closed his mouth. When he opened it again, the only thing he said was,

"Fine."

And then he left with Apollo. He wasn't sure what Apollo would think of this. Maybe he would hate his former employee, or maybe he would feel some sort of sympathy. He hoped it was the latter.

Later on, when his father was actually being put into the ground, Nico was the only one who watched. He felt guilty about how soon, his and his mother and Bianca's graves would all be abandoned, no one to visit them or lay flowers by their headstones.  But maybe it was better to leave.

Running away is easier than staying behind.

—

I had to do a surprising amount of research in JC Penney for this fic. (Did you know they're shutting down? My fun fact of the day lmao). Anyways. I hope you enjoyed.

This is a twoshot, and the second part will be up by December 30th. If not that, the 31st. But it'll be before the year ends for sure. Bye!