Hi guys sorry this is up late again, I had a much busier week than I thought but I hope you like it!

Will's POV

"So you're not gonna be here for the long weekend?" Austin asks, frowning as he sits up in his bed. 

"Nah, sorry," Will says. "My parents want me home since I'll have a couple of days. They think they don't see me enough." 

"Weird," Austin says, laying back down and flinging his arm over his head. The soft golden sunlight bathes his face, and his swim shorts hang out of his dresser drawer. The campus in late October is always covered in a sheet of crisp leaves from what the trees had shaken off throughout that month, and the hot tubs that sit adjacent to the swimming pool are always open, even on the weekend. Will knows that his friends will spend the weekend lounging in the final rays of sunlight that peek out before winter, watching Percy try to 'perfect his dive,' whatever that means, and taking their lunches out to the green before it gets too cold to be outside. Will feels a stinging ache of loss as he thinks about the time he'll be giving up. But, of course, he has something much better planned for the weekend. "They were the ones who sent you to a Christian boarding school halfway across the country." 

"Yeah, they're weird like that," Will says, shoving clothes into his duffel bag. 

"You know, Nico's going home for the weekend, too," Austin says. "Kinda sucks that neither of you is gonna be here. We need Nico to bully Octavian. And we need you to, you know- do that Will thing. Work that Will magic." 

"And what is that Will magic?" Will asks, grinning as he zips up his bag. It sits so innocently on his bed, as if it isn't bursting with a secret that threatens to destroy him on a daily basis. 

"You know," Austin says, scratching his head. "You're very good for moral support. And I think having you around eggs Nico on. Which is nice for me because I get to watch him bully Octavian." 

"Well, you'll have to do without us for the weekend," Will says. He checks the clock; thirty-five minutes until his imaginary bus leaves for his imaginary trip back to Texas. He'll have to hurry. 

"Are you and Nico, like, riding the bus together or something?" Austin says. "Don't you guys live close to each other?" 

"We're just taking the same bus out of town," Will says. "After that we go our own separate ways. And I have my lonely trip back to Texas." 

"You know, it still doesn't really make much sense to me," Austin says. "Like, you've got a pretty long trip back to Texas, right? And then you have to come back, too. Wild." 

"My sister has something tomorrow night, too, so it kinda worked out," Will says. He slings his bag over his shoulder, and his heart pounds in his chest. He wants to get out of this stiflingly hot dorm, where he can feel the sweat dripping down his neck and Austin won't stop asking questions. "And Nico is only a couple hours away, so it makes sense and stuff." 

"Why are you talking about Nico?" Austin asks, flipping onto his stomach and grabbing a comic book from his nightstand. 

"Because you were-" Will sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose. "Never mind. I'm gonna miss my bus if I don't head out now. I'll see you Sunday night." 

"See you Sunday night," Austin says, grinning at Will. "Don't be too sad you're gone. Rememer you're coming back." 

"Oh, don't worry," Will says. "It's pretty much impossible to forget." Will leaves Austin lounging on his bed, comic book in hand with his face washed in sunlight. Admittedly, he'll miss the long weekend, spending time with friends and dancing through the hallways without the feeling that he's being watched. As he makes his way through the hallway, listening to the music pumping through stereos or the sound of a movie in the common room, he almost wishes that he was in on this collective experience of spending a weekend trying to break the rules and dart around punishment, try and get as free as possible. But, then again, the kids in the dorms and the kids in the common room don't get what he has; a getaway, one where he knows he won't be watched and he won't be judged. One where he knows he has reached total freedom, away from anyone who could hurt him. 

"Hey," Nico says as they meet up near the gate of the school, his bag slung over his shoulder. "Ready to go home for a weekend?" 

"You know it," Will says. They open the gate and they're out into the world, crisp air on their faces and the school at their backs. "I never thought I'd be excited to see my annoying sister again, but here we are." Nico laughs as they walk down the winding road, past skeletal trees and houses surrounded by white picket fences and big red mailboxes. 

"And I never thought I'd be excited to have to eat my Dad's cooking again," Nico says with a smile. They both walk with an extra bounce to their step, a wider grin on their faces, and a budding sense of freedom in their hearts. 

The doors to the bus open with a squeal, and when Nico and Will step on, it smells of greasy food and sweat. A stark contrast to the scent of the cleaning supplies used at the school, that always makes Will's head hurt and his nose itch. And even though the scent of the bus is wafted around on the heating system and makes his stomach flip, it's still better than the overly fresh scent of the school that always makes him feel trapped.

The doors of the bus close and soon the floor bumps underneath them, and they're moving through the town listening to the man behind them crunch on barbecue chips and the woman in front of them try to calm her screaming baby. There's chaos on every side, but at least they're free and Nico sinks down in his seat, resting his head on Will's shoulder. Will is about to wrap his arm around Nico but they get a stare from the man in the seat across from them so he holds off, but Nico's head is still warm against his skin. 

"Is it the next stop?" Will asks, his finger curling around Nico's pinky as the bus jolts underneath them. 

"Nah, it's in three," Nico says. "I got a little nervous booking it, so I figured it was best to be safe." He picks his head up, and his face looks a little paler than it was before. "Is that okay?" 

"Yeah, of course," Will says. He wants to run his fingers through Nico's hair, kiss his cheek, and hold him to his chest, but they're in public, and Will can feel his heart pounding wildly. Nico yawns, and he rests his head back on Will's shoulder. His eyebags are dark, and his skin carries the tint of exhaustion of a senior trying to wrap his high school experience up nice and tidy with a little bow. "You can sleep. I'll wake you up when we're there." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah." Will ignores the side-eyes he's getting from the man across from them and squeezes Nico's hand. "I'll wake you up. Or, I'll just leave you on the bus and you'll end up in Florida or something." 

"Not Florida," Nico says, yawning again. "Never Florida. Never again. You make it so hard to trust you sometimes." But he still lets his eyes close, and soon, his chest rises and falls with the rhythm of his breathing, and Will relaxes into the movements of the bus and the sound of bad music drifting up from the front.

------

The third stop, the one in the next town that offers a safe distance between the town that St. Mary's is in and the one that they stand in now, with trash at their feet and a woman screaming at her child in the bus stop. "This isn't exactly what I had imagined for our nice romantic getaway," Nico says, kicking an aluminum can across the sidewalk. "It smells nasty here." 

"It's not that bad," Will says. No one gives them strange looks as they walk down the street, and with Nico in a black sweatshirt and Will in his jacket, they blend in completely, like two normal friends on a trip instead of secret boyfriends hiding in Catholic school. He feels so plain, he could cry from happiness. 

"I think some dude is peeing in the bushes over there," Nico says as they walk, their bags slapping their backs. "I really do think it's that bad." 

"You're too pessimistic," Will says. His hand brushes up against Nico's and for once in his life he doesn't find the spark of fear in his chest that he does in the school hallway. He just feels like a normal boy, walking down the street with a friend. "It's great here. Because Sister Johnson isn't here watching us like a hawk, and we can make out in the hotel room all we want." He doesn't mention the last part to Nico. That at school he always feels the pounding fear in his chest, how he's too wary to walk close to Nico in the halls, how he'll wake up in a cold sweat some nights thinking about how easily their secret could be found out. That here is the first place he's felt really, truly, free.

------

They get through the lobby without any trouble and soon they're collapsing onto the big king sized bed in the middle of the room. Nico immediately rustles the crisp white comforter as he buries his head in it, but the rest of the room is so nice Will doesn't even mind. There's a mini-fridge stocked with ice cream and soda, and the view overlooks a river, the water rippling and flowing in the sunlight. Nico's hair is splayed out on the comforter like a flowy black halo, and his eyes are closed. His face looks tanner in the light of the hotel room, as if life returns to his face after being stuck in that school for so long. "Hey," Will says, sitting down on the edge of the bed, running his hand up Nico's cheekbone. His skin is warm and soft, and Will falls in love with him over and over again. "You wanna do something?" 

"You mean like raid the mini-fridge for ice cream and watch bad daytime TV?" Nico says, sitting up. "Hell yeah I wanna do something." 

They change into their pajamas, Will in a pair of soft plaid pajama pants and an orange tee shirt, and Nico in his usual black sweatsuit that swallows his figure whole. They watch reruns of The Facts of Life and Happy Days while they eat overpriced ice cream from the mini-fridge that is going to kill their bank accounts. When the ice cream is empty and Will's stomach feels like it might burst, he settles back against the pillow, and Nico rests his head on Will's chest. Anywhere else, it would leave Will a sweaty, shaky mess. Even in the chapel he's always keeping one eye open, but here, the door is locked and there's no chance of anyone walking in on them. He lets himself drift off, Nico on his chest and the tv on in the background, safe in the hotel bed and hidden from the world underneath a pile of comforters and sheets.

Nico's POV

Nico doesn't know exactly when he fell asleep. He remembers feeling a warmth all over his body, Will's strong chest underneath his head, and then he's waking up to a sunset peeking inside their window, and Will's mouth agape as he watches his fourth(fifth?) hour of bad tv. "Hey," Will says with a smile, kissing Nico's forehead softly. His face looks more relaxed, and his eyes sparkle up close. "You missed all the best parts." 

"My life is over now," Nico says, groaning and sitting up. He rubs his eyes, yawning as the room comes back into focus around him. He's been sleeping on Will for the past couple of hours but he isn't stiff or achy, and he feels warm. He could spend his entire life in this hotel room, sleeping on and off and waking in a blurry haze of warmth and happiness. "What am I ever going to do now? How will I know what happens to Blair? Or Joanne?"

"I'm sorry you missed it," Will says. "Your life has lost so much of it's quality now. What will you do?" 

"Orde room service, that's what I can do," Nico says, running his hand through his hair. "I might be broken from falling asleep while watching the most riveting shows I've ever seen, but I can break my bank account and order enough junk food to last me a lifetime." He reaches across Will for the menu, flipping through its gilded pages decorated with pictures of food that makes Nico's stomach growl. The price of the food makes Nico's heart skip a beat, but they already payed an arm and a leg for the hotel room, so Nico may as well dip into his bank account a little further. "What do you want? They've got pizza, mozzarella sticks, chocolate cake, ooh- they have more ice cream!" 

"It really wouldn't kill you to eat a vegetable once in a while," Will says. One hand is on Nico's arm, the other brushes Nico's cheek. It's like they're making up for years of lost time, the seemingly simple act of holding hands in the hallway or kissing at school dances that other couples have been able to do for years. They have two nights to make up for years of lost time, and Will is already getting started. "But I could go for pizza right about now." 

Will calls in their order, a medley of cheese, chocolate, and, to Nico's delight, not a single vegetable. Someone brings up their food on a black tray, and the pizza comes adorned with basil, and the cake has chocolate sauce drizzled on the plate. "This is way better than the school food," Nico says, picking up a slice of pizza. "And I think the school food is pretty good." 

"You thought the school food is good?" Will says, taking a mozzarella stick. "It's so greasy it always leaves my fingers slick and it tastes like something you could find at a gas station." 

"Yeah, that's why I like it," Nico says. "But this is nicer. The food is good, and I can do this all I want." He sits up straighter, kisses Will softly on the lips. "I can't do that anywhere else." His heart sinks a bit thinking about how true that statement really is. How they'll never kiss in public, how they might never tell their parents, how Nico will pretend to be single forever because the idea of dating a girl, even pretending, makes him a little bit nauseous. But he pushes the thought from his mind, even though it leaves him in a cold sweat just thinking about it. This trip with Will, their romantic getaway(even just a town away) is his escape from the world, and he lets himself sink into the fantasy he's created.

The cake is gone, the mozzarella sticks are nothing but a memory, and the pizza is sitting half eaten on the tray. "I can't believe I could fit all of that inside of me," Will says, groaning. "I feel a little bit nauseous." 

"Come on, Will, you'll be fine," Nico says. "If you spend our expensive hotel room and our weekend away in the bathroom I'm breaking up with you." 

"You would never," Will says, kissing Nico's shoulder. "Who else is gonna date you? You're not exactly the friendliest person." 

"I'll die a sad, old, bachelor," Nico says. "And I'll reminisce on my high school relationship with my secret high school boyfriend who I had to break up with because of what he did to our hotel bathroom." Will laughs, and he hugs Nico tighter to his chest. Nico can feel the beat of Will's heart, Will's breath in his hair. "You know, every night is going to be like this next year." 

"What do you mean?" Will asks. 

"I mean, you'll be at Johns Hopkins, because you're obviously getting in, and I'll be at some shitty art school in Baltimore, and we'll be at each others dorms every other night, or going on walks in the park or out to dinner at nice restaurants, or-" 

"That's all still a big if," Will says. "Do you know how hard it is to get into Johns Hopkins? And even if I do, we might not have any money for nice dates, or we might not have any time, or I might still be too nervous to go out with my boyfriend, or-" 

"Will, hey, calm down," Nico says, lifting his head and kissing Will's lips. Will looks paler than he did before, and the calm in his eyes has been replaced by fear. "We can work everything out. We don't need money, and we don't need that much time. We don't even need to go out. And you're getting in. You're the smartest person I know." 

"You're exaggerating," Will says. "I'm nowhere near the smartest guy you know." 

"Yeah, you are. You're on track to be the top of the class." 

"You have a lying problem," Will says. 

"No, I was in detention one time and Sister Johnson left her notes out on her desk," Nico says. "You're at the top right now. But, you know, all our late nights might have changed that." 

"Oh, shut up," Will says. "My grades haven't changed. Much." 

"It's so comforting knowing that I have a smart boyfriend," Nico says. "So when I'm broke and close to being homeless, I can mooch off of you and be able to afford food. And clothes." 

"And I look forward to giving you the basic means of survival." 

To Nico, it doesn't even feel weird, to talk about things that might happen five, ten years down the road. To talk about what might happen when Will is deep in med school or beyond. To Nico, their relationship has always felt infinite.

------

The rest of the weekend passes in a perfect blur of room service, old movies that bring back hazy memories from Nico's childhood, and kisses late into the night. They don't leave their room, except to get a late night snack from the 24 hour store in the lobby, or take a dip in the pool and pray that there aren't any kids taking up the space and destroying their peace. Nico doesn't swim much at school; the deck is always too crowded for him, and it's always freezing. But seeing Will, body in a pale purple bathing suit that makes his skin look tanner, Nico could spend all day in the pool, darting in and out of the water with Will by his side. 

There was a time where Nico's time with Will felt infinite. Their hotel room felt suspended in time and space, and every kiss made Nico's heart burst and then rebuild itself, all in the blink of an eye. But time moves whether you want it to or not, and soon Nico finds himself packing his clothes, boarding the bus, and hiding in plain sight, keeping the memories of that weekend bottled up in his chest, a beautiful secret held by two lovers, both held together and cursed by their relationship.

Hi guys, hope you liked it!

Nina