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Will held Nico's hand, stroking his knuckles with his thumb. They stood in six inches of snow outside the Solaces' house. Nico was shivering, although how much was from the cold and how much was from the nerves Will couldn't tell. With it being the annual Solace Family Christmas Party as well as the first time Nico was meeting any of Will's family other than his mother, Naomi, Nico had insisted that they both dress up even nicer than Will's mother usually forced him to. Nico had even tried to tame his hair but Will had hated it looking so unnatural so he'd ruffled his boyfriend's hair to make it flop back into place. He'd been chased by skeletons for that. He thought it was worth it.
"Hey, talk to me." Will nudged Nico's shoulder, using the phrase Naomi used with him so often when he was obviously anxious. He squeezed Nico's hand and the trembling boy squeezed back, looking up at Will with wide, deep brown eyes.
"I don't know. It's just... It's a big thing. I don't know how big it is nowadays but it was always seen as a huge deal when Bianca and I were younger."
"Prob'ly because y'all had to propose the same night," Will joked. Nico swatted his arm.
"I'm not that old but something like that, yeah."
Will gathered Nico in a hug, only holding him tighter when he felt arms around his waist and an ear resting over his heartbeat. He kissed Nico's head. He wished he could tell him how incredible he was and be believed for once, how there was nothing to worry about because whatever happened didn't matter. They had their friends and each other. That was all they needed right now.
"Ready?" Will drew back, holding Nico's gaze. The latter bit his lip and nodded, pushing himself up a little on his toes to lightly kiss Will's lips as if he were worried that Will wouldn't want to kiss him. Will bent down and kissed his boyfriend more firmly, cupping his face and trying to tell him 'I love you and I'm proud of you'.
He supposed he meant every meaning of 'I'm proud of you'. Looking at Nico's flushed face, his heat swelled with pride. Pride that Nico was doing this. Pride that Nico was here at all. Pride that Nico was his. No, that wasn't right. Nico Di Angelo wasn't anyone's. He was proud that Nico had chosen him, chosen to trust and love him. He would forever be proud of that.
Still holding Nico's hand, Will knocked. Naomi was the one who opened it and her face lit up when she saw the boys.
"Oh good! Y'all are the last ones here so please make yourselves comfortable. Y'all can wait here and come into the livin' room when y'all are ready." She beamed. Will felt an overwhelming surge of fondness for his mother. She'd always been so accepting and accommodating of Nico's anxiety, probably because Will himself struggled with it although to a lesser extent.
"Thank you, Mrs. Solace," Nico said, his voice laced with gratitude and sincerity.
"Never gonna use my first name, huh?" she asked, hands on hips and a smile on her face. Nico allowed himself a small smile of his own.
"No, Mrs. Solace." He chuckled. Will inched closer to him and Nico automatically melted into his side hugging Will's arm and resting his head against his body.
When Naomi left to rejoin the family, Nico whispered barely loud enough for Will to hear, "I love you, tesoro."
"I love you too, darlin'."
"And I love your mother."
Will laughed and buried his face in Nico's hair. "Me too. You good?"
Nico thought for a moment. "No but I will be once we get over the introductions. Those are the worst bits."
Will agreed and started leading them to the living room. His family sat and stood in various parts of the room, chatting away cheerfully. The room's eyes turned to the demigods when they walked in and Will stepped subtly in front of Nico to reassure him. Will's stepfather, Bernie was the first to speak. He strode over and clapped Will on the shoulder with a toothy grin.
"Will, my boy. Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Bernie," Will relied truthfully. He was on good terms with his stepfather. Bernie was a decent man.
"You must be Nico Di Angelo," Will's eldest half-sibling at eleven years old, Stella, remarked.
"Nico?" Will's seven year old half-brother, Ayden, piped up as he jumped from the couch. Nick started and Will pressed his fingers into the boy's palm to comfort him. "You're the Nico? Will never shuts up about you!"
"Oh really?" Nico asked, stepping a bit out of Will's shadow. Will could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Yeah!" Ayden exclaimed. "It's Nico this and Nico that and 'I think Nico would love that' and 'I'm so in love with him', 'he's so precious', 'he's so handsome', 'Nico-'"
Will slapped a hand over Ayden's mouth. "Thanks for that, Ayden. We should really go say hello to Meemaw and Granddaddy."
He dragged Nico, who was stifling laughter, over to his grandparents.
"Handsome, eh?" Nico teased. Will rolled his eyes.
"And don't you know it," he said before turning to his grandparents. Both of them got to their feet and embraced both boys making comments on 'how tall our William is now' ("William?" Nico mouthed over his grandmother's shoulder) and how beautiful the boys were together. In the end, Will regretted bringing Nico to meet them because they whipped out the photo albums before he could stop them. Will groaned. He was never going to live this down.
As the afternoon wore on, Will found that he loved seeing Nico with his family. Just like with Naomi, Nico slipped into conversation with his relatives and got along with everybody. They loved him. Well, everyone except for his asshole cousin, John. He'd warned Nico about John, of course. Unfortunately, he couldn't have predicted that he'd say something over dinner.
"So y'all are stayin' here for Christmas Day tomorrow?" he asked. It appeared innocent but Will bristles at the undertones and Nico picked up on it too. His hand moved to grasp Will's under the table.
"Yeah, I am. Mr. and Mrs. Solace are very kind to let me stay."
"With one of y'all on the couch, I'm sure," John sneered. Will's eyes darted to Ayden, who was the only one of the family who didn't catch John's meaning.
"No," Nico responded calmly. "I get nightmares. Will helps me and it means I don't disturb anyone. I would hate to be a bother."
"Oh, sure that's why."
"Nico's been through more than you can comprehend," Will stepped in, glaring at his cousin, "and he's fifteen."
"Like that would stop ya. Dirty gays."
"John!" Will's aunt cried out in dismay.
Will leapt out of his seat. "Don't talk about either of us like that."
Nico tugged on Will's sleeve anxiously. "Calmati, tesoro. None ne vale la pena. Calmati."
"See! See what he's doin'! Righ' in front of the children! Disgustin'." John spat. At that, Nico's nerves were replaced with anger and his famous death glare appeared. Will felt a feeling of triumph when he saw John wince.
"I was telling Will to calm down," Nico retorted with his Italian accent becoming more and more prominent. "I was stopping him loosing it at you, which he would have been perfectly within his rights to do. Now why don't you quiet down so we can all enjoy the wonderful food Mrs. Solace has made us and have a civil evening. After all, we have to see each other again tomorrow. Sostenere è inutile."
His voice was perfectly level as he spoke but the accent and the Italian at the end gave away his fury. However, John didn't take it as that.
"He's tryin' to seduce me," he snarled. Nico barked out a laugh.
"Why in Hades would I want to do that? You're un cazzo and Will is the most incredible person that I've ever met. Why would I want to give up someone selfless and kind and loving and handsome not just because of his looks but because he is una bella persona? Someone who's brave and driven and sometimes annoying and stubborn but that's because he just cares so much not only about people he loves but about complete strangers? He's mio Will and will be for as long as he wants to be. I'm certainly not going to give him up because you say so. If you think amore is a bad thing then I dread to think what you believe to be good."
When he finished his rant, Will had sunk back into his seat and was looking in awe at his boyfriend. He saw Nico's anger lapse as he remembered the other people in the room and looked at his lap.
"My apologies," he muttered, his accent still thick. Will though he was the most beautiful person he's ever seen.
"Don't apologise, Nico," he said softly, rubbing his hand. Nico turned to him with a guilty look in his eyes.
"No, Will, I-I spoke out of turn."
"You didn't," Will's aunt assured the boy, her face stony. "John and I are goin' back to the hotel. We need to have a chat."
John squirmed in his seat but followed his mother, leaving the table in silence.
"Goes without sayin', I approve," Will's grandmother spoke up. Will smiled at her and at Nico's surprised and puzzled expression.
"I'm sorry?" the son of Hades said, studying their faces.
"Me too," Will's grandfather added.
"Oh, I approved ages ago," Naomi beamed. It seemed to dawn on Nico what they meant. His eyes grew to the size of saucers and he let out a faint gasp.
"They like me," he whispered in disbelief, whirling around to face his boyfriend. Will wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulders and kissed his forehead.
"Well, yeah. How could anyone not like you?"