(A/N: so once I finish up my full length fic Flatmates, which will be within the next week or two, I will start planning an extended story for this one shot, but I decided to get ahead of myself and make a cover, pictured above (Feb 21))

Nico was having the worst day he could have ever imagined. His alarm didn't go off, his bathroom flooded because a pipe burst, the coffee shop got his order wrong, but he didn't have time to go change it, and now before he even got to drink the too sweet coffee and wake up, he and a complete stranger he had collided with on the sidewalk were now wearing his drink.

"I am so sorry!" Nico held out his hand to help up the man he knocked over, but he ignored it and stood. Rude. "I'll pay for dry cleaning, here's my card so you can forward the bill to my people." The stranger held out his hand expectantly and Nico placed it in his palm, ignoring the urge to chastise him for being so rude. He had the worst day and it wasn't even nine in the morning, and he didn't need some jerk to make it worse.

"Your people? What, are you rich or something?" The blond laughed, and Nico couldn't believe this man.

"Am I rich? Do you even know who I am?" He pointed up to one of the giant billboards on one of the highrise buildings, but the stranger didn't even turn his head.

"Why would I know who you are? I've never met you before in my life."

"My face is literally plastered all over New York City, what are you, blind?" Nico snorted, but the smirk was wiped off his face.

"I am, actually." He pulled something out of his pocket and it expanded into a white cane.

"Oh! I am so sorry! You must think I'm incredibly ignorant and rude. Umm, can I write you a check or?" Nico trailed off, unsure of protocol for knocking over and insulting the visually impaired. Money usually fixed everything, though.

"Write me a check? Wow, you are obnoxious and stuck-up. No, I don't want your money."

"Are you sure? You don't want anything else? I can make most anything happen."

"Then have dinner with me." The stranger suggested, and Nico coughed.

"How do you know I'm not a fifty year old man wanting to take advantage of you? I don't even know your name."

"I'm Will, and you sound attractive for a fifty year old. Besides, maybe I'm just a gold digger who doesn't care how old you are?"

"Says the one who wouldn't accept a check." Nico glanced down at his watch. "Crap! I'm gonna get killed. I have to run, but you have my number, so the ball is in your court, Will."

"Do you at least have a name?" Will called in the direction where Nico was walking away. He turned and called back.

"Nico, Nico di Angelo."

- - - - -

It had been two weeks since that encounter, and Nico had all but put Will to the back of his mind and shoved him in a box. He barely had time to breathe in between shoots, the plumber still hadn't come yet so he was showering at the gym and getting ready in the mornings in his office. He hadn't had time to think of anything other than work, which is why he was caught off guard when he answered the phone and heard a "Hey Mr. I Like To Knock Over Blind People And Proceed To Dig Myself Into A Deeper And Deeper Hole," in a bright and cheery voice.

"Hello to you, too William."

"It's just Will, please and thank you. So, any chance you can clear space in your busy schedule for a dinner with a humble peasant?" His easy chuckle reverberated over the receiver, and Nico couldn't help but smile.

"I can meet you somewhere for drinks at eleven tonight? Or we can do dinner two weeks from today at nine, or I have an opening for breakfast on the thirtieth at seven." Nico rambled off dates from his calendar on his computer. The amount of free time he had was truly depressing, and when he did have time off, it was usually spent catching up on sleep.

"I can make drinks tonight happen. I'll text you an address."

"You can text?" Nico cringed as soon as he blurted out the question. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound so..."

"I'm blind, not incapable." Will laughed again, and Nico found himself enjoying talking to him, even when he did make a fool of himself. "I do things differently than you might, but I enjoy the challenge."

"I've got to head out, but text me, and I'll see you tonight."

"I won't see you tonight, bye." Will teased, and Nico managed to laugh along with the joke instead of clamming up and apologizing.

- - - - -

The inside of the building was pitch black. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Nico was uneasy, but Will grabbed his hand and led him forward confidently. It was like the blind leading the blind.

"Trust me, this place is great." Music was playing at a volume that wasn't quiet but didn't quite reach obnoxious levels that music at most clubs reached. The only light was coming from the emergency exit signs as a safety precaution. Will let go of his hand and instructed him to sit, but it took him a minute to feel around for a chair. "Two Redbreasts, neat, please." Will ordered for both of them.

Nico couldn't even tell they were sitting at a bar, besides the sound of shakers and glasses clanging coming from in front of him. "What is this place?"

"Some blind guy opened it years ago as a way for his friends and family to get a feel for what he lived like." He handed a drink over to Nico, grabbing his hand and wrapping his fingers around the glass.

"Thanks." Nico imagined that Will shrugged, but of course, he couldn't know for sure.

"Don't you think it's a little funny that a famous model is having drinks with a blind guy?"

"The thought did cross my mind, but I decided it was nice knowing someone wanted to hang out with me for more reasons than my devilishly good looks. You'd be surprised how many people just want a pretty toy to hang off their arm. And here you are, even after I told you that I was a fifty year old wanting to take advantage of you. Not very smart on your part. What do you do?"

"I'm a brain surgeon." Will laughed as Nico choked on his drink. "Kidding, I'm a counselor in the psychiatric ward at the hospital."

"That just makes me look incredibly shallow."

"You're a model, don't you always look incredibly shallow?" Will teased, and Nico gave him a gentle kick on the shin. "Ow!" Will cried out dramatically.

"What's your favourite part of your job?" He had finished his drink and ordered another.

"It comes with a lot of challenges, but it's rewarding. I love helping people, so getting to do it every day is great, but it's difficult. There's so much pain and sadness, and it's great finally releasing kids, knowing they are well enough to get on by themselves, but then you're back to square one with another kid. It's exhausting, but I love it." He shifted so he was closer so they could talk easier over the music. Their knees were touching. "What about you?"

"I love being able to take an idea or theme and bring it to life. It's probably nowhere near as challenging as your job, or important, but I've worked hard to get where I am and I love it, even though I know it won't last."

"Why not?"

"Beauty is superficial and trends constantly change. Even if they don't it's not like beauty lasts forever. I've been around long enough to watch several other great models get kicked out for aging. That's my future, because it's impossible not to. Unless you happen to know where the fountain of youth is?"

Will laughed loudly and shook his head, before realizing that Nico couldn't see the motion and spoke instead. "No, sorry. I think that's one of my favourite things about being blind, is that I don't get to judge anyone by appearance, I only see character. I don't pass up beautiful people just because they aren't deemed attractive by society."

"If you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to feel obligated to tell me, how did you become blind? Or have you been since birth?" Nico had been dying to assuage his curiosity, and he felt that they knew each other well enough at this point to ask.

"It was cancer, actually, when I was twelve. I went through a rough couple years, had serious depression, but I've come a long way, and try to only think positively. I see so much darkness already, I have no reason to create more."

"You sound like a fifty old man, imparting his wisdom on the rest of the world." He teased, and Will grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the chair. He went to pay the bartender, but Nico swatted his hand away and placed enough on the counter and following Will's lead to the glowing red light above the door, hands grasped firmly together. "Crumbcakes!" Nico felt a jolt of pain shoto through his hip as he walked into what he guessed was a table.

"Sorry! There's a table there. But who says crumbcakes?"

"My half sister doesn't like it when I swear, and so I've gotten used to using literaly everyother word as a substitute." The light from the street lamps felt incredibly bright after being immersed in darkness for the past two hours.

"It's late, and I have an early morning." Will was feeling his watch, which Nico saw had brail so he could feel where the hands were located.

"Can we do this again?" Nico was surprised at how quickly the time flew they got along so well.

"I'd like that. If I'm not reading this situation wrong, can I kiss you?"

"I'd like that." Nico tilted his head down so that their lips could touch, and it warmed his entire body. He wrapped his arms around Will to pull him closer and Will moaned as he lightly nbbled on his lower lip. "Call me?"Nico whispered, their lips still pressed together.

"Goodnight, Nico." Will gave him one last peck before getting into a cab that he had called for outside the bar.

"Goodnight, William." He watched the taxi leave, a trace of his smile on his lips before he turned and walked home.

(A/N: So, I wrote way more than I was going to, and I kind of want to turn this into a longer story once I complete my other fic, Flatmates. We shall see...Also, I really love the idea of Nico being taller than Will, and being a model, and Will being a counsellor but still working in the hospital, because that's what he wanted before he went blind so that was the next best thing. Please vote and give feedback, I love hearing from you guys!)