#or at least my plans of finishing my solangelo fic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rosyredlipstick · 7 years

Text

something borrowed

- a solangelo wedding planner AU -

In the Solace Wedding Planner agenda, on the fifth page into their summer schedule, there are carefully scrawled out notes reading this: Bride and Groom - Hazel Levesque & Frank Zhang Best Man & Maid of Honor - Percy Jackson & Piper McLean Wedding Court - Annabeth Chase & Jason Grace Mellie & Gleeson Hedge Reyna Ramírez-Arellano & Leo Valdez Ring-bearer - Chuck Hedge Flower-boy - Nico di Angelo - Will plans wedding and now, apparently, Nico stars in one. Except...sometimes there's a bit more confusion on that last part. AKA the AU where Will plans weddings and thinks Hazel and Frank are going to have to cutest, gap-toothed ten year throwing flowers down the aisle, all while wondering why this 'Neeks' guy is always hanging around, and what business he has looking that good.

Notes: this entire fic was based on the throwaway line in BOO about nico being the flowerboy in hazel and frank's wedding i couldnt help it sorry not sorry there's also a lot of time jumps in this (wedding planning takes a long ass time ok) just a warning

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Truthfully, Will hadn’t meant to become a full-fledged professional wedding planner when he grew up. It was an accident, honest. An accident involving his younger sister’s marriage proposal, a mess of organization the months leading up, and, mostly, his insatiable need for control.

At least he admitted it, alright? And after weeks of stress-eating salt and vinegar chips, and several nights of midnight phonecalls with his sister’s fiancée, it did turn out...okay.

Okay in the terms in which the cake was slightly too-dry, the sprinklers went off ten minutes before the outdoor ceremony was to start, and the best man disappeared with one of the other groomsmen for a solid hour in the middle of the reception.

But it was also okay in which Sage looked stunning in her flowing gown, and how his sister had cried when she saw her future wife at the end of the aisle, and the food was great and the wine was rich.

It was okay. But it could have been better.

And Will was nothing if not a perfectionist.

So here he was, several bank loans and a business degree later, meeting his second couple of the day, a pleasant grin on his face.

“So, Frank and Hazel.” He smiled, sliding the lamented papers across the table. “First, I just want to thank for you for choosing Solace Weddings, where we strive to make your wedding day as sunny as possible. For our first meeting I just want to go over some general stuff, alright? Wedding court, any ideas about what you want, general stuff. Okay?”

They nodded, both looking a bit sheepish. He grinned his best sunny smile, the Solace (™) charm dialing up, and began talking them through the paperwork. This was just the initial consultation, the first face-to-face meet up of many.

“With Solace Weddings, you’ll get the assistance of myself - Will Solace - along with my partner, Lou Ellen. You’ll have three full personal sessions with both of us, and the rest of the time you’ll meet up one-on-one with one of us, I can start scheduling those meetings today, if you’d like.” He slid another paper down the table, giving them both a gentle look. From their wide eyes, this was overwhelming for both of them. “My partner, Lou, will handle the ceremony part of your wedding, along with any bridal events or concerns, and I will be handling the reception and groom concerns.”

They nodded together, taking in the information. Will pulled their file closer to himself, his pen at the ready.

“When were we thinking for the date?” He asked, keeping his posture open and welcoming.

Hazel spoke up first, “June 24th. We uh, we were thinking of an outdoor wedding?”

She ended her sentence in a question, like she was waiting for Will’s approval.

He nodded encouragingly. “That sounds great. Outdoor weddings do come with their own set of challenges, but they do turn out so beautiful.” He made a note in their file, “And we’ll have plenty of time to check out some places for the ceremony. June, that’s what - a year and a half away?”

Hazel bit her lip, her hand tightening in her fiances. Frank had been quiet so far. “Is that too soon? Some friends said that we were cutting it a bit close, with everything we have to book.”

“It’s fine.” He tried to reassure her. “June is a pretty popular month, but Lou and I have pretty good connections. We’ll make it work.” He turned back to his open file, “Do we have any idea for the wedding court yet?”

Hazel nodded, “They’ve all agreed already.” She listed off a handful of names, Frank even speaking up to softly remind her of a few. Will wrote them all as neatly as possible - he could get their phone numbers from Hazel later, just in case.

He took a breath, looking over the list. Four couples in total, good. An even number always balanced out the photos well.

“Alright, so we’ve got most of the wedding court already figured out.” Will moved onto the next category in his pre-printed file, “How about the ring bearer?”

“We’re going to have Chuck Hedge, the son of Gleeson and Mellie, do that.” Frank chimed in, looking a fraction bit more relaxed.

“From the wedding party?” Will clarified, already making that quick note.

They both nodded, still clenching hands.

Will hummed, continuing his notes. “And the flower girl?”

“Oh!” Hazel sat up, perking up for the first time. “Actually, we were thinking we could have a flower boy instead.”

Will’s pen froze in place. “Oh, okay.” He blinked in surprise a few times, backtracking to cross over his notes. Ugh, he hated when they looked messy. He’ll have to rewrite the page later before he lamented it. “And how is he related to both of you?”

“My brother.” Hazel answered for him, “he’s younger than I am.” She smiled a sort of secret blink-and-you’ll-miss-it grin. “He’s very excited.”

Will briefly imagined a younger, shorter version of Hazel, in a tiny tux with wild curls. He matched her small smile. “Sounds cute. Name?”

“Nico di Angelo.” She and Frank shared an amused smile as Will scrawled the name down on the wedding party list. Must be an adorable kid.

That was it for the wedding party, Will also getting down their parent’s names. They went over a few more things - venue, theme, food ideas mostly - before the hour was up, and they were standing to grab their things.

Will was compiling a folder of papers to send home with them, making photocopies of his own notes, when Hazel caught his eye, smiling nervously.

He finished putting together the folder, passing it over to Frank’s outstretched hand, and cocked his head in question to the girl.

“We’re having a dinner party with the whole wedding court,” Haze explained, fishing out a thick sheet of stationery from her purse. “Our parents will be there too, we’re gonna start assembling the Save the Dates, settle some details for the court. We’d love if you and Lou could come, we -” She broke off, giving him a small helpless smile. “We don’t really know what we’re doing here.”

Will gave her a warm smile, accepting the invitation. “I’ll check if we’re available.” He promised, “I’ll let you know, okay?”

She gave him a relieved smile, thanking him before leading Frank out.

He examined the invitation - classy and elegant, but wealth clear in every aspect. Neat, minimalist print, with golden trim. He wondered which to their taste it catered to most, neither of them seeming that drawn towards the ostentatious element it obviously conveyed.

They did seem nice, albeit shaken with nerves. And he and Lou were free that day, he noticed as he looked over to their shared google calendar.

He glanced down at the invitation. In small print, towards the bottom, words announced an open bar and food provided note.

He was already texting Lou.

“We’re so happy you guys could make it.” Hazel’s grin was one of relief as she ushered them in that next weekend.

“Thanks for having us.” Lou smiled, bouncing the bottle of wine back and fourth in her hands. It wasn’t as expensive as they were probably used to - Will could only guess from the expensiveness the manor threw out - but it was polite, he and Lou knew. In his own hands, the binder for their wedding, containing all the decisions they’d made so far - not many, so early in the planning - but also all of his and Lou’s notes carefully lamented, with a few brochures stapled in for places the couple might like. Each couple’s binder was basically the bible of their wedding planning, each page looked over and memorized front and back before the day-of.

Hazel spoke up again. “Frank can show you guys to the bar, and the food is open buffet style in the dining room.” She offered, the nervous smile making a comeback, “You guys are totally welcome to any of it!”

Lou, instantly, was whisked away to the promise of the open bar, following Frank down the hall, the bottle still in her capable hands. He turned to Hazel to give her a pleasant smile.

“You have a gorgeous home.” He smiled warmly, sliding off his loose jacket.

“It’s my parents home, actually. I still live with them and they offered and -” She cut herself off with a shrug. “Nearly everyone from the wedding party should be here already, although I think…” she trailed off, checking her phone. “A groomsman and the flower boy are the only ones still missing, they’re on their way.”

“Where’s the flower boy?” He asked. He was kind of looking forward to seeing how cute the kid was. Hazel took his jacket, hanging in the closet as she continued to speak. He kept the binder at his side.

“Oh, Nico doesn’t live with us anymore.” She waved her hand through the air, “I mean, I only still live with Hades because it’s so close to my school. He lives with a few of our friends in the city. He should be here soon, Jason offered to pick him up.”

Will blinked. A kid, living away from home so young? He thought. That’s kinda weird.

He dismissed the thought. He’d dealt with much, much weirder family situations. After that family situation with the McCalls, he could handle anything.

“Oh!” Hazel jumped up, her hand coming up to wrist Will’s arm as she turned to face the parlor area. “There’s my father. He’s very...excited about the wedding.”

“Is he?” Will was just beginning to ask, just before her father caught sight of the both of them.

The older man lit up at the sight of his daughter, running over to gather her in his arms. Hazel giggled, waiting a few moments before she pulled away.

“Hades,” She gestured towards Will, “This is one of our wedding planners, Will. He’s Lou’s partner, the girl you spoke to on the phone?”

Hades beamed, shaking Will’s hand enthusiastically. “So you two are in charge of making my girl’s day perfect, right?”

Ah, Will was familiar with this kind of talk.

“Of course.” He agreed, “That’s exactly what I’m here for!”

Hades was still holding Will’s hand, pulling it to his chest. “I believe we’re going to have a lot to speak about.” Hades was still beaming.

Will pulled back his hand with some effort. Hades didn’t seem to notice, already going on about how his daughter was going to have the wedding of the century and how his brothers were going to shake with envy and Will met Hazel’s eyes with a bit of wariness.

Hazel began pulling Will away from her father, “We’ll talk later, Dad.” She reassured him, “I’m gonna introduce Will to some others.”

Hades nodded, becoming quickly distracted with passing guest.

“He’s a bit much,” Hazel informed him as she pulled him away, like Will hadn’t already guessed that. “He’s the best, but he always does get too excited when it comes to Nico and I.”

Even from a few seconds with the older man, that was obvious. He made mental note of that - it looked like Hades would be the one to please for this entire event. The parents usually were.

Hazel brought him around, introducing him to a few of their guests, a few of the wedding court.

He lost track of Lou soon into the party - with all the people Hazel was striding him up to, his hand already extended - it was a bit hard to keep track of himself.

About an hour - maybe two? Sigh - into this, Will was answering some questions about what Hazel was thinking for the bridesmaid’s dresses when Hazel - who had been at his side all night, nearly - suddenly broke off and rushed towards the doorway.

Politely, Will excused them both and turned, a bit curious.

“Neeks!” Hazel jumped forward to envelope the newcomer in a fierce hug. Beside him, a tall blond man that Will hadn’t had the chance to meet yet, grinning down at them both.

Will took the moment to give them a second alone, dipping out into the separate room. Empty, thankfully, everyone else drawn into the main parlor and open bar.

Ah. A moment of privacy.

He took a seat at the table, glancing around at the full surface.

The Save the Dates supplies were neatly laid out on the table, carefully sectioned away in small piles. He sat down and put his binder to the side, peering down at the few cardstock envelopes already completed. Seemed easy enough.

He glanced towards the doorway, where conversation and laughter was drifting through. Lou was good enough on her own at events like this. She didn’t mind it, and Will needed a break from his glued on smile and frantic remembering of names.

He began putting them together, a simple layout. Two papers, overlapping and evenly pasted together, with a ribbon and then stuffed in an envelope. Simple enough.

He had managed to get a small pile assembled - not anything nearing a significant amount, Will knew, from the high numbered guest list Hazel had provided, when he was interrupted by a shadow in the doorway.

He blinked in surprise, having to keep himself from jumping. He cleared his throat, the smile back in place. “Hello,” He greeted, his voice thinner than he would have liked. “Do you need a break from a party too?”

The shadow - a man, stepping into the room now, ignored his question. He asked his own, instead. “What are you doing in here?”

“I’m not that good at parties, especially with strangers.” Will shrugged, returning to his work now that his heartrate was returning back to normal. “And Hazel mentioned needing to get this done anyways.”

The guy leaned forward, peeking down at the table. “What are you even doing?”

“I’m assembling save the dates.” Will told him, his eyes flicking over the other boy. After a moment of hesitation, with both boys staring at the other, he asked, “Do you want to help?”

The boy shrugged, glancing over his shoulder. “Nothing better to do,” He finally decided.

“Neeks, right?” Will asked, referring to the name Hazel had called out to him when he arrived.

He gave Will an odd look, but nodded. “Yeah, sure.” He shrugged again, “Everyone calls me that anyways.”

Will hummed, accepting that. “I’m the wedding planner.” He told the other boy, stuffing yet another envelope. “Well, one half. I’m Will, Lou’s my partner in all this.”

“Partner?”

“Business partner,” He clarified. That term did always cause a bit of confusion.

Neeks nodded, taking a short sip of his drink.

“Are you married?” He asked curiously, his eyes flicking down to Will’s bare fingers. “In a relationship?”

Will gave him a small smile, “I’m single. And I know - I’ve heard all the jokes about the single wedding planner. Trust me.”

Neeks hummed in agreement, strolling a bit further in the room. To the side, there was a table set up with iced drinks and snack, and his hand paused over the table. “Want a beer?”

Will considered. Lou had already volunteered to call them an uber later that night, and there wasn’t much more of the details they needed to work out that he needed a clear head for. And just thinking about the day he had ahead of them tomorrow, with last-minute things to work through for their upcoming wedding that weekend....

“Sure.” He finally agreed, leaning back into his chair, stacking up all the papers to slide them back into a file.

Neeks passed him over a bottle, the cap already twisted off. Will nodded his thanks, taking a short sip of the bubbly substance. It was, like the entire theme of this wedding it seemed, obviously expensive.

Neeks jumped up to sit on the table, letting his long legs hang off. He gave Will a considering look. “So, how goes a single guy like yourself even get into wedding planning?”

“The glamorous lifestyle, mostly.” He joked, picking at the peeling label of the bottle. It was good, he hadn’t had this kind of beer in a while - apple, it tasted like. He set down the drink, turning back to the papers before him.

Neeks snorted in response, “Do you like, love weddings or something?”

“Or something,” Will agreed, passing over a stack of papers so Neeks could follow his example in assembling them. Neeks followed without question, setting his own beer to the side, which Will appreciated. There was a stretch of silence, only the shuffling of paper and pasting of glue, in which they worked. Will wondered what he was doing away from the party anyways, when he seemed such good friends with Hazel. Maybe he didn’t know much of the rest of the wedding court.

Neeks broke the silence after a few minutes, interrupting Will’s thoughts.

“Being a wedding planner, you must have your own dream wedding planned to the dot, right?”

He shrugged, “Not really. Haven’t thought about it much, honestly.”

“Do you want to get married?” Neeks took a long drink of his beer, his eyes considering. Will wondered why he was so curious.

Will hummed, applying another layer of paste. “I think so. Maybe not like this though.”

“Like this?”

“Like,” Will waved his paintbrush around, careful not to get any flecks of glue anywhere. “Big. Extravagant. I’d want something small, I think. More personal.”

Neeks nodded, his eyes flickering away. “I’d like something like that too. Probably so would Hazel, had Hades not insisted on the extravagance.”

Will filed that bit of information away. That made sense, considering the little knowledge he had about the girl.

“What about you?” Will asked, not even sure why he was doing so. He convinced himself it was to be polite. “Dating, in a relationship, etc?”

Neeks gave him a small smile. “Nah. I had a boyfriend for awhile but we ended things a few weeks ago.” He shrugged, “No spark, you know?”

Will bit his lip, glancing away. There was a not-so-subtle emphasis on boyfriend that was anything but unintentional.

Neeks was waiting for a response. Will looked up, through his eyelashes, and tried to keep his voice from going soft as he breathed out a, “Yeah.”

Will blinked a few times, keeping his eyes away from the other boy’s figure.

He....was not attracted to this boy.

Will cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve had boyfriends that haven’t worked out. I get that.”

Why did he say that.

Why did he make it known that he was gay as a goddamn rainbow.

Will knew why.

Neeks shot a knowing grin over at him. Will felt his cheeks flush up.

“Will, I’ve been looking for you -”

Hazel paused in the room, her voice breaking off as her gaze slid from Neeks to him. Strangely, despite the several feet of space between them, and the paper and glue surrounding them, Will felt like they’d be caught at something.

She only gave them both a gentle smile, her eyes resting on Will’s as she spoke. “Will, I was wondering if you could come talk to Persephone? She has some questions about venue options

Will stood, grabbing his binder. “Course!” He shot a look towards Neeks, “I’ll be right back.”

And that, unknowingly, turned out to be a huge lie. Because as soon as he strolled up to Hazel’s step-mother, small grin in place, binder at his side, it was like the wedding planning floodgates burst open. Hades and Persephone - Will would learn - were very enthusiastic about this wedding.

After around, maybe, a hundred and twenty thousand questions later - all about Will’s opinions, what other weddings he’s planned, about the color scheme and food, seating and decor, Will was finally prying himself away from the questioning couple, and Neeks was gone, nearly all the Save the Dates complete and left out to dry. Will smiled, just slightly.

The party was nearly over anyways, so he found Lou and they began their goodbyes, Will feeling a bit relieved to be leaving.

“Aw,” Will realized a bit later as he and Lou fell into the cab, relaying their address to the driver. “I didn’t get to see the flower boy.”

“Really?” Lou gave him a surprised look, “I thought I saw you guys talking.”

Will shook his head, wondering how he could have missed him. Damn, Will loved kids. After all, he had spent a good portion of the night melting in the face of Chuck Hedge’s small laugh.

“He was cute.” Lou decided, giving him a significant look, “Remember our rule.”

“I did!” He protested. He had only had one drink the entire night. That was their rule at client events - one drink hard stuff maximum, or two drinks of wine or beer. Actually, he had stayed under the rule. Lou should be proud of him instead.

“Good.” She told him, turning to tuck her head under his chin. “Now let’s go home.”

Will couldn’t agree more.

Nearly two months later, Will was slamming the phone down on the retriever, his eyes fluttered shut, his blood pressure high. He took a deep breath, his hands cupping up to rub at his eyes.

Fuck this. He was going home.

He turned, not bothering to clean up, only shutting his laptop and flipping the lights off.

One set of stairs later, he was home.

Will fell back in the bed, stripped down to his underwear, and let out a long, deep breath. Surrounded by the soft, plush blankets, there was a beat of silence.

“Long day, sweetheart?”

Will shifted over to his side, eyeing Lou with a sleepy focus. “The longest. Almost lost the Katsuki couple because of a mix-up with the caterers, I got in an argument with the florist that the Kirks are insisting on, and my email has been non-stop going off for the past five hours.”

Lou hummed. “Bad day here too. Is tonight one of those nights?”

“Gods, yes.” Will shoved his face into his pillow, feeling Lou shift beside him. There was a crinkle and pop, then warm glass was being pressed against his arm.

“Bed champagne.” Will gave her a lazy smile, pushing himself into a sitting position against the headboard. Lou, in her sports bra and pajamas shorts, took a long drink from the warm bottle.

She burped, passing over the bottle in the same movement.

Lou groaned as Will took his first drink of warm champagne, the bottle stashed away for the worst of their days. It would be Will’s turn to replace it next, under his side of the bed. “I had to deal with Pinterest bride today. She brought a binder of print outs.”

“Does she want to DIY everything?”

“Of course. She wants to make my life hell, so of course.”

There was a long, long moment of silence in which they passed the bottle back in forth. Will groaned out. “Why do we do this to ourselves.”

“Because the sight of a bride on her wedding day makes up for it all.” Lou’s voice was heavily, heavily coated with a thick layer of sarcasm. “Also, our mountain of student loans is depending on us to actually, you know, have jobs. To pay them.”

“Don’t remind me.” He threw an arm over his eyes, “You know, I met a nice girl the other day at the coffeeshop but then she said her name was Sally May, and I swear Lou, I’ve never had to consciously not hate a person before.”

She snorted at that. “Least I’ll never run into anyone named ‘Wells Fargo Student Loan Brand.’”

“Don’t jinx yourself.” He warned, a joke in his voice. There was a beat of silence, them both taking another drink.

Lou sighed, shifting her weight as she passed back the bottle. “I should probably go downstairs.” There was a certain sadness element in her voice, “I have to finish working out the seating plan, the venue wants the layout this weekend.”

Will sighed with her. That was one of the major downfalls of living directly above their office space - their work never really was over.

If he was being honest with himself, he probably should still be working as well. He thought his rage quit of the night would be worth it, but now he was only exhausted and slightly antsy about the mess he had left behind, and all the work he still had scheduled for tonight. He had a meeting in a few days with the Levesque-Zhang couple after all, and even though their wedding was still a good year away, they had to book the venue soon if they wanted to get it, which meant he should have the food options available for them to look through.

He sighed into his pillow, resigned. “I’ll come with you.”

Lou’s hand was sympathetic but firm as she patted his back, “That’da boy.”

“We need to plan the coolest bachelor party in the world.”

Will met the eyes of the best man, and they were serious as sin. He gave him a chipper smile, “That’s what I’m here for.”

He and Lou offered the service on the side, something a few couples typically took them up on. And it wasn’t typically much work, and the extra cash on the side more than made up for it. And it put Lou’s tourism degree - she had been in the market to be a travel agent before Will offered her the partnership - to good use. Frank had quietly approached him about the service around a month ago, which was good. There was still around seven or six months until the wedding, a good cushion of time to plan a good event.

It was just the best man and groom for this part, though, as they went over the main details.

“We were thinking about taking a trip.” Frank hesitantly explained, “I know Hazel and the girls are planning on New Orleans.”

“And Vegas is way too cliche.” Percy - the best man - added on. “We’re thinking a three to four day trip.”

Will nodded, taking notes. “And what kind of experience? Do you guys want a more traditional ‘night on the town’ kind of experience or something?”

Frank swallowed, “Actually, I was thinking of maybe a camping trip, or something in the nature?” He shot a look towards Percy, hesitant, and Will wondered if they had gone over the details together before.

Apparently not, but Percy was nodded enthusiastically. “Dude!” The best man was nearly vibrating with excitement now, “I haven’t been camping in years! That sounds so cool!”

Frank gave him a hesitant smile. “Yeah?”

“Totally!” Percy agreed, “We can take to the woods and like, get in touch with our animalistic side or whatever! We’ll live off the nature and blow shit up!”

Will had to stifle a laugh under his breath, taking down notes. He pulled his laptop towards him. “I’m not sure about living off the nature -” He grinned at them both, “But I do know the Grand Canyon offers some pretty cool camping programs there, if you’re interested.”

“Hedge is gonna love this.” Percy told them both, “And you know Leo’s dying for a chance to light stuff on fire.”

“They also offer rafting and horseback riding.” Will pointed out, already loading up the website up on his laptop. He turned the screen toward them.

Percy sighed, happy. “I love horses.”

Frank was laughing now, looking a bit relieved that his best man was so supportive. “The Grand Canyon actually sounds kind of cool.”

Will nodded in satisfaction. He’d pull up a few more options later anyways and sent them over, just to give them options, but it was nice they were both so agreeable. He picked his pen back up, the ballpoint hovering over the paper.

“And how many people are you taking in total?”

“We want to take all the groomsmen.” Frank explained, “And Nico and Chuck.” He thought for a second. “That’ll be safe, right?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem.” Will reassured him, making that note. “But I’ll check it over, make sure everything’s safe for kids. So seven people?”

Frank and Percy both nodded, looking pleased.

“Good,” Will nodded, jumping back into the finer aspects. “Now, dates?”

Both boys lit up as Will spoke more of their trip, getting more into the details of the trip.

He smiled slightly. Even though the wedding was still far off, Will had to admit this was one of his more liked couples he worked with.

If his thoughts briefly snapped to a certain long haired gentlemen in the process, well, it’s not like Will was going to tell anyone.

There were fewer things that Will enjoyed more than a good cake taste testing.

The actually day of the wedding, when everything was winding down and almost, finally, done? Sure, that was great. And the few final dress fittings he’d been along to, those weren’t bad either.

Buuuut -

Free cake.

They weren’t always invited to this portion of the wedding planning process, usually only telling the couple a time, place, and price, but Hazel had insisted. She seemed very persistent on this fact, claiming they she and Frank had no idea what to do, even though it was, literally, a piece of cake. But Will didn’t fight it past the initial counter, because, well, cake.

Lou hadn’t been able to make it, busy with a bridesmaid meeting, so Will arrived at the bakery on his own, binder in hand. The bakery had come on recommendation to the couple, owned by a few family friends. There was only five months until the day, a bit late to book the bakery for Will’s taste, but the couple weren’t very sure on many facts but this one. So Will, of course, went along with it.

They were coming in after hours so the shop was nearly deserted, except for a young, frizzy haired woman grinning at Hazel and Frank, and Percy and Piper as the best man and maid of honor were there, and -

Will took a breath,

- Neeks.

Which....Hazel hadn’t mentioned.

Will would have taken the bridesmaids appointment. Even if they were demons like Lou swore they were. Will would have taken them.

Everyone in the shop looked over as the small bell above the door rang out, Will frozen in the doorway. Neeks, standing to the left of Hazel, grinned.

“Oh, good!” Hazel clasped her hands together, turning towards the girl. “This is one of our wedding planners, Will. Will, this is Katie Gardner, she owns the shop.”

Will unfroze from his awkward position, stepping forward with a grin on his face. They got the introductions over with quickly - Will already knowing most of them - before Hazel was turning on the ground with a critical eye.

“We should break into groups of two.” Hazel decided, “So we won’t be biased or anything.”

Will shot her a questioning look but didn’t argue. That was a bit strange.

He had another second of blissful ignorance before it hit him.

Hazel and Frank would pair up, of course, and the maid of honor and best man were already laughing among themselves, so that left him and -

Neeks strolled up to him, his hands deep in his pockets in a casual posture.

He stuck his thumb over his shoulder, “Wanna grab a table?”

Will didn’t really have a choice, as he choked out a, “Sure.”

They were trying five different flavors today - double chocolate, lemon vanilla, hazelnut almond, pink champagne, and red velvet.

Katie, along an assistant she announced to be her little sister - brought out the small plates of cake to each table.

Five pastel colored plates laid out in front of them, ones that Will kept his eyes glued to as a the tasting began.

He was here for the cake. He needed the cake at this point.

The chose the nearest plate - one that Katie had told was the hazelnut almond. He took a small bite of it, keeping the plate between them both.

He was kind of a pro at wedding cake at this point, and he could clearly tell Katie knew what she was doing. Very well.

It was mostly a hazelnut cake, the almond being there only in the chopped up pieces covering the thick frosting.

Neeks was taking a bite of the red velvet, wrinkling his nose as he did so.

Will laughed, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. “Not a fan?”

Neeks swallowed the bite, looking cute as he cringed. Fuck. “Too rich.” He finally got out, reaching for his water.

Will hummed, pushing the hazelnut towards him. “Try this one. It’s a bit more subtle.”

He did, and the small noise of surprise he let out at it shouldn’t have pleased Will as much as it did.

Neeks leaned back, “I like that one.”

Will gave him a knowing look, “Thought so.”

Neeks gave him a teasing look of annoyance. “You don’t know everything, Solace.”

Will clicked his tongue, looking back to their plates of cake. Around them, the other two groups were trying the food and complimenting Katie’s work.

He raised an eyebrow, “You’re not gonna like the chocolate.”

Neeks gave him a look, “And why not? I like chocolate.”

He shrugged, “You thought the red velvet was too rich. The double chocolate is nearly as if, if not more, rich. You won’t like it.”

Neeks gave him a suspicious look, pulling the small plate towards him with a certain vengeance in his eyes. He cuts off a large bite and shoved it into his mouth, staring at Will the entire time.

Neeks freezes half a second later, the bite only half-chewed. Will smiles and Neeks, with effort, continues to chew. He swallows.

He cleared his throat, reaching for his water. After a long, long sip, he meets Will’s eyes.

“I loved it.” Neeks takes another sip, his voice thin. “Delicious.”

Will snorts, “You fucking liar.”

Neeks finally puts his glass back down. “What are you talking about, I loved it.”

“Oh?” Will gave him an amused look, “Well, you can have the rest. I’ve had chocolate wedding cake a hundred times over.” He swept out his hand, “All yours, Neeks.”

Neeks stared down at the large cut of cake in front of them, his fork poised above it. He sighs, his hand dropping to the table.

“I can’t.”

Will makes a noise of victory, “Knew it.”

Finally, Neeks makes the face of disgust he was holding back. “That was…”

“Rich?” Will guessed, now taking a small bite of the chocolate cake. Not bad.

“Way too much.” Neeks shook his head, moving onto the next plate. Will’s eyes remain on the other boy as he leans forward to grab the furthest plate, his shirt hiking up just a bit.

Neeks’s eyes slide back to Will’s, just in time to catch him in the act.

Will forces his eyes back to his plate. Fuck. Fuck.

Neeks settles back into his seat, his gaze considering. He sets the plate - the lemon vanilla - between them both.

Will’s gaze is still trained on the plates when Neeks cuts into the next piece, unspeaking.

He takes a large bite of the vanilla - always a bit too boring for Will’s taste - and leans in towards Will. Will gives him a surprised look, not really understanding.

Neeks holds out his fork, a challenging look in his eyes, “Want a taste?”

Oh Gods yes.

And Lord, did Will not meant the cake.

There was a cocky spark in Neeks’s eyes, dancing. Neeks didn’t think he would do it.

And fuck, Will always was too competitive for his own good.

With that, Will leaned forward, his eyes on Neeks’s own, and took the fork into his mouth in a slow, lingering movement.

He pulled back, “Too subtle,” he finally decided, chewing it thoughtfully, his words a forced casualness. “Not a fan of lemon, anyways.”

Neeks’s mouth had parted open, and Will was really, really trying not to pay any attention to that fact. His eyes - damn, those dark eyes - were wide and blown open as he stared at Will.

...And the maid of honor was staring at them, a wide, delighted grin in place.

Will’s face immediately flushed with a dark color, his eyes snapping back to Neeks’s with surprise.

Neeks glanced over to what had made Will’s cheeks fill with color, probably a bit curious, and met the maid of honor’s gaze. He smirked, waving.

“That’s just Piper being Piper,” Neeks waved off, turning back to his cake like the past few moments had never happened.

Will blinked, turning back to the plate in front of him.

Neeks made a choking noise, and Will looked up in alarm.

“You have some -” Neeks gestured, his face red. “Frosting. On your lip.”

“Oh,” Will blinked, thumbing off the bit. Great. Now he was a creep, and he ate like a toddler. Nice. They might as well sit him at the table with Chuck and Nico at the wedding.

He licked the bit of frosting off, not really seeing any napkins around, and glanced back to the other boy.

Neeks was bright red, now training his gaze at the silverware spread out on the table.

Will cursed under his breath.

Little did he know, Neeks was doing the same.

Later, after Will had fumbled his way through the end of the meeting and Katie was sending him home with a take-out box for Lou, and after they had all agreed on the light and springy pink champagne slices of cake, Will very, very firmly was smacking his face repeatedly into the surface of his steering wheel.

He took a deep breath. It was fine. It was okay. Things couldn’t get worse from here, honestly.

This was a mess.

This was an absolute horrible mess.

This was an absolutely horrible completely mind-numbing mess.

This was the worst mess he’d gotten himself into in...a while actually.

He shoved another handful of chips into his mouth. He ignored how his hand was shaking as he did so, and pressed the F5 bottom yet again on his laptop. The same traitorous screen.

Lou was meeting with one of their newer couples - still in the process of picking out colors and the court - and he was all alone in the office to deal with the mess.

Wait, correction, was all alone.

Their office door bell rang out, a bit odd for how late it was. Probably one of the couples to drop something off. Will took a desperate breath. He could appear calm for a few moments. No problem. He could totally act like he wasn’t currently having a major horrible problem of the year.

Totally.

But before he could call out a just a minute, as most of their guests chose to pause in the waiting area, a few moments that would have given Will precious seconds to compose and frantically brush himself off, the guest just walked straight into the office. He clenched at the pen in his hand.

And - of course.

Of course it was him.

Neeks observed him for a long, long moment. He had a folder in his hands, and he was wearing a jacket that looked to be ridiculously expensive. His hair was immaculately pulled back. Will hadn’t seen him since the cake tasting when Will had ruined it with his horrible cake eating. But even then, at least Will was put together. Not like now.

Right now, Will could still feel the potato chip crumbs sticking to his face.

Neeks stared at him.

Will stared back at him.

“So you’re having a breakdown.” Neeks stated obviously, the folder in his hand slowly coming down.

Will’s head fell helplessly into his hands. He let out a long groan. “Everything’s a mess.” He lamented, dropping the pen from his hand for the first time in a few hours. He flexed his fingers, rubbing out the pressure from his fingertips.

Unknowingly, Neeks was following the motion with a heavy gaze. But Will didn’t notice that, continuing to speak instead.

“Nothing’s ready,.” Will told him mournfully, gesturing to the empty bags of chips scattered around him. “And I can’t stop stress eating.”

Neeks wrinkled his nose. “Salt and vinegar chips? Gross.”

Will could only nod in agreement. “They are.”

“Then why are you eating them by the bagful?” Neeks raised an eyebrow overflowing with judgement.

“I - why are you here?” Will could only counter, having no answer. Thank god the awkwardness was fading away.

Neeks held up a stack of papers. “I was in the area, and Hazel near begged me to drop off the guest list. Something about your wifi going down?”

Will sighed, frustration and annoyance and anger bleeding into tension building up in his shoulders. “It’s been out since yesterday morning which - isn’t great for a wedding planner. I’ve already used up all my data for the month, and I haven’t been able to check out any websites or calendars since then, and in an hour I have a skype meeting with one of my couple’s visiting Europe and -” Will cut himself off, his heart seizing with stress. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. The cable company said they can’t fix it until Monday afternoon. The Starbucks across the street has already kicked me out for loitering twice, and the library isn’t open on Sundays.”

He was a pitiful sight, he knew. He had crumbs trailing down his shirt, messy, greasy hair hanging in his face, and the bags smeared under his eyes were as dark as bruises. If Will had any energy at all, he’d probably be horrified at being caught like this.

Neeks glanced down at the papers spread across the table. “Let me call in a few favors.” He finally decided, disappearing before Will could question him. Favors? About what?

Just then, his phone rang for the umpteenth time, probably the DeLeon couple wondering about their venue booking. Gods.

He kept his voice light and cheery and just on the right edge of reassuring as he spoke. Yes of course the flowers are perfect and Yes of course the caterer received your specific instructions on how the vegan dishes were to be handled and yes of course, yes of course, yes of course a million other things.

Will turned back to this papers, talking in his most upbeat, soothing voice as he ruffled through the stacks, looking for that one paper he knew they’d want.

Will was still on the phone when Neeks returned a while later, a stranger in tow as they spoke softly to each other in the doorway. Will nodded at them, finishing up the call that the soon-to-be groom absolutely did not want to end.

He hung up, briefly missing the days of snap phones. That would make everything just a bit more worth it.

Thirty-three minutes of call-time, his phone told him. Ugh. He never wanted to look at his phone ever again.

Neeks nodded to the stranger. “This is Leo. He’s one of Frank’s groomsmen, he’s good with this kind of stuff.” He explained to Will. Leo - one of the guys for the bachelor party stuff, Will remembered. He hadn’t had the chance to meet him then,

Leo took on a mocking look of offense at Nico’s words. “This stuff, muchacho, requires several years of technical school and mechanic shadowing. I’d watch it if I was you, or I won’t come running every time one of your cute boys has a wifi problem.”

Neeks didn’t look like he disagreed with the sentence. Will filed that away, instead turning his desperate eyes back on their newest visitor.

Neeks shrugged, looking nonchalant, and Leo turned to Will with an expectant air. “So, cute boy? Where’s the wifi set-up?”

Will gestured vaguely to the wires and cords mess Lou had quickly plugged in when they moved into the office. “I....have no idea what happened.” There was an apology in his voice, edged with desperation. “But please, I’ll do anything at this point just to have it up by the morning.”

Leo tsked a dismissal. “By morning? Please, who do you think I am? I’ll have this fixed in an hour, tops.”

Will released the bubble of stress that had been filling his chest since he was first faced with that damn no connection screen.

“Thank you.” He breathed out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Leo waved off his words, focusing on the bundle of wires in front of him, cooing hurt sounds.

“Don’t worry babies,” Leo was beginning to untangle the cords with gentle fingers, that soft note still lifting his voice. “Papa’s here, I’ll take care of you.”

Neeks rolled his eyes, cutting his gaze back to Will. “Leo’s weird. But smart. He’ll fix it.”

“Thank you.” He repeated, his gratitude nearly overflowing. “I….thank you.”

Neeks shrugged, looking nonchalant. “No problem.” His eyes slid over to the several stacks of papers currently taking over Will’s desk. “Anything I can help with while Leo’s at work?”

Will sighed, overwhelmed up the mess. He stood, beginning to pile everything neatly. “Not much to do, without the internet.” His voice was apologetic with a hint of frustration. “I’ve already checked over several check-lists for the next three weddings, and it’s too late to make any client calls.”

He pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing at his greasy eyes. There was nothing he wanted more right now then half a bottle of bed champagne and to be in a pair of his ripped pajama pants with Lou half-curled into his side.

“Why don’t you go freshen up?” Neeks glanced towards the ceiling, “You live upstairs, right?”

Will cocked his head to the side. “How did you know that?”

“Lou mentioned it.” Neeks shrugged, “You’ll feel better if you go splash some water on your face. Leo’ll take a bit before it’s back up.”

That....didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.

Will stood from his desk, his knee and back popping at the action. “I’ll be quick,” he promised, “if it comes back up while I’m gone can you yell up for me?”

Neeks saluted in agreement, pulling out his sleek phone as he took up comfortable residence in one of Will’s office chairs.

He rushed up the stairs, getting the work done quick.

He washed his face, wincing at the few greasy crumbs he found still sticking to his face, and brushed his teeth and changed his clothes. That, in addition to tying his hair out of his face and applying a layer of Lou’s lotion to his dry skin, he felt like a new, although still-exhausted, man. A cleaner man, nonetheless.

Neeks was still lounged in place when he returned back downstairs, Leo still hunched in their corner of wires and plugs. His noises of sympathy had trailed off, although he still spoke softly and sweetly to the bundle of mess.

Will fell into his office chair, sighing in relief. Neeks barely glanced up from his screen at his entrance.

He closed his eyes. His frantic mind was in no state for rest, but the act felt nice nonetheless. He loved this chair, truly. Just the right amount of plush leather, with arm rests. And it had wheels. He’d marry this chair.

A giggle bubbled out of his chest as that, his eyes fluttering open. Neeks gave him a curious look.

Will waved him off, not wanting to explain his imaged marriage to a piece of furniture. “Just sleep deprived.” He explained.

Neeks accepted that. He was good like that.

He was about to start up some other conversations - the gods knew he needed something to keep his eyes from sliding shut again - when Leo finally spoke up.

“Should be up. Try it.” He stood, wiping the dust from his hands. Will hit refresh and - after a long beat of holding his breath - the page loaded.

“I could kiss you right now.” He breathed out, his screen now proudly proclaiming a secure wifi connection.

Leo hummed, tucking the wires back into place. “I’ll let you lay that on death boy over there.”

Neeks scoffed at the nickname, but Will was too thankful to spare a blush. He pulled up his email, wincing at the truly frightening number of emails that had begun to pile up over the last day and a half.

Neeks spoke a few more sentences to Leo and by the time Will glanced up from his email frenzy, the other boy was gone and Neeks was busying flipping through a binder. Will didn’t get to thank him - he’d have to remember to when he saw him again.

Neeks was frowning, looking a bit surprised at the contents spilled out before him. “I...didn’t know this much work went into planning a wedding.”

Will’s sigh was slightly regretful. He leaned back in his chair, cracking his neck. “Yeah, most people don't. Most just expect to demand a slightly-impossible theme, a candy table, a dinner list and voilà wedding.”

Neeks flipped the binder shut with slightly-wide eyes. “Sounds...complicated.”

Will nodded, glancing back to his computer screen. The glow of it was beginning to make his eyes ache. Even with his break of freshening up, he could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones. “I should…”

Neeks gave him a considering look. “How much more work do you have to do tonight?”

It hurt Will’s head to consider the amount.

“A lot.” He only said, deflating a bit. “Really, thank you so much for helping me out, Neeks. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you, honest.” He gave Neeks a regretful look. The soft yellow light was usually too dim for Will’s taste, but it really made Neeks look remarkable. Like seeing him here, so late at night, under the warm lightbulbs, was a rare sight. Very vaguely, from a place Will didn’t yet pay any attention, Will hoped it wouldn’t be.

“You should go.” Will’s words betrayed him, “I’m...not gonna be any fun, working through this. And I probably won’t leave here for a few more hours.”

Neeks hummed, observing him for another moment. “Did you answer your emails? The important ones.”

Will nodded, “Yeah, thanks to you.” He dipped his head, “I don’t think I can say thank you enough.”

Neeks hummed, “You’ve been at it for hours, right?”

“So many hours. I’m dead, truly.”

There was a beat of silence as Neeks stared at him, clicking through his laptop, before he spoke again.

“You need a break.” Neeks declared, shutting Will’s laptop. He gave Will a critical look, “Come back to my place. We can hang out while you unwind or something.”

“I…” Will glanced to the stack of papers lining the table. “I don’t know. There’s so much work to do still.”

Neeks gave him a doubtful look. “There’ll always be more work to do. And honestly, I feel like if I leave you here you actually might explode.” He held out a hand and Will stared at it with wide, surprised eyes. “Anyways, even if I dump you off in your place upstairs I know you’ll be back at in a few hours.”

Will was helpless against his logic. “True.” He admitted, his hands hovering over his laptop. “But I really shouldn’t…”

“C’mon. We’ll…” Neeks’ eyes flickered away, an amused look taking place on his face. “We’ll blow off some steam. Get you to relax.” Neeks laughed, a bit cocky as he ran a hand through his own hair. “You look like you could use some time in a bed, after all.”

Will’s mouth went dry. Neeks’ eyes settled back on Will’s figure, his eyes much darker than they had been moments before.

It was...obvious to what Neeks was referring to. The thing that had been building up since...since the moment they met, really.

And Will didn’t know what he wanted to say.

I mean, Will was pretty sure he looked like a dumpster goblin at that point. And probably smelt like one too. He hadn’t showered in two days.

He was busy, okay?

But there also another fact, and it was this:

Will didn’t get involved with client’s family.

It was a rule, one he and Lou followed to the letter. There were a few close-calls with both of them, usually tipsy situations, but they’d managed to keep it that way. It was a rule. If you messed with a client’s family there was always the very-likely possibility of the encounter going sour, leaving unhappy and angry brides and grooms, and they were professionals anyways, and it just wasn’t worth it.

Neeks’ hand was still held out, inviting. Steady, even as Will stared at it with too-wide eyes. Neeks was patient, at least, which Will couldn’t help but appreciate.

But...Neeks wasn’t apart of the family, was he? Just a close family friend? Right?

Right?

Right.

After a moment, Will swallowed and took his hand.

Waking up tangled in a stranger’s sheets wasn’t something Will had done in awhile.

After being slammed against Neeks’ doorway, both of their mouth pressed close, Will’s hands held in place over his head, things had gotten....busy.

“What time is it?” Will muttered into the sheets, shifting the pillow closer to his face. He didn’t know much about linens that weren’t tablecloths and napkins, but he could tell these were nice. Much, much nicer than the Target brand sheets he and Lou had bought for their shared queen.

Neeks answered, his voice still a bit rough with sleep, his mouth still a bit too close to Will’s skin., as he mumbled out a jumble of numbers.

Will hummed, a simple moment of silence as he processed this. His eyes flew open.

He nearly fell out of bed, the sheets still tangled around his legs, and stood, wide-eyed. “It’s noon?”

Neeks hummed, cracking an eyelid open to clear admiring the view. Will refused to blush. He jumped into action, babbling as he did so.

“I’ve - I’ve got to go! I have a meeting with the baker at 12:30, and oh gods that means I’ve already missed the consultation with the florist, and the caterer wants me to come in and sample the hors d'oeuvres for the pre-reception and -” He paused, his clothes in a messy pile in his arms. He cast Neeks a sincerely regretful look. “I’ve really, really got to go.”

He shoved on his clothes, messy and wrinkled and thank the gods he kept an extra shirt in his trunk for emergencies. He left the buttons open, just needing to rush down to his car, and shoved on his loafers.

He paused at the bedside as he grabbed his phone - already a mess of missed notifications, crap - and spared a few words, his voice hopeful. “I’ll see you at the wedding?”

Neeks, still lounged in bed with the sheets only hardly preserving his modesty, grinned up at him. “Hope so.” There was humor in his voice as he sat up, reaching to pull down Will one last time. He gave Will the dirtiest, messy kiss he’d ever received - making last night looking like a goddamn high school blush - and pulled away, resting his forehead against Will’s.

“See you at the wedding.” Neeks grinned against Will’s skin, pressing his lips into the hollow of Will’s neck.

Will swallowed, a curse tightening his hands and lips. “I...have to go.”

“You keep saying that.” Neeks mouthed his way down Will’s throat. “And yet...here you are.”

Will leaned his weight down on the mattress, allowing himself ten more seconds. “Here I am.” He gasped out, his eyes fluttered shut. His hand come up to Neeks’ hair, pulling away. “And I really have to go.”

Will detangled himself from Neeks’s wandering hands, never hating himself for such a movement before.

“See you at the wedding!” Will called over his shoulder, barely remembering to grab his crumbled tie from the ground.

Neeks smirked and saluted, looking comfortable and lazy in his rumpled sheets and comforter.

Will shook the regret out of his shoulders as he fumbled for his keys. He would…

He would see Neeks at the wedding.

It only took five days for Will to completely remember why he didn’t do this.

He clenched at his pen as he wrote out his notes. Hazel, alone this time, sat across his desk with the biggest shit-eating grin he’d ever seen, one that had been in place since she had arrived for her last appointment before the wedding.

Neeks had told her, no question about it. Which was fine, it was Neeks’s decision to do so, and she and him did seem close, but it only - it only made things awkward. For him, at least.

Hazel was still giving him a pleased look as she looked over the last minute change to the centerpieces. Apparently, Hades was a fan of the dinnerplate dahlias.

She nodded in approval - not that Will was worried, she seemed okay with mostly going along with the flow of her father’s wants - and Will already began mentally tallying up the total for the last-minute change fee. Again, not like anyone would care with this family - Hazel already had to talk her father out of ordering diamond-encrusted silverware.

Hazel stood to begin her leave, gathering her papers, when she paused. Will had to work to not do the same, only to casually glance up from where he was already typing up an email to the florist.

She lingered in front of his desk, still smiling that damn all-knowing grin.

“So Neeks and I got coffee a few days ago.”

And there it was.

Will took a breath. He slapped his best I’m a professional maybe grin on and turned towards her.

“And? How was that?”

“Good. I’m a sucker for an afternoon frappacino, and we went over some wedding stuff.” She gave him an amused grin. “He mentioned you. A few times.”

Will was struggling. “Oh?”

“He just said that when he stopped by last week you guys ended up talking for a few hours.” Her grin was small, but pleased. “That he helped with your wifi?”

Will’s shoulders nearly dropped in relief. So she didn’t know about...everything else. Good.

“He likes you.” She simply continued, her voice clear of any emotion. Will’s mouth went dry. “You’re both adults, and I’m not going to lecture you guys or anything just…” She shrugged, “Neeks get’s attached. He pretends he doesn’t but…” She peeked through her eyelashes. “Be careful. Don’t hurt him.”

“You guys are close.” He noted, needing to say something other then wait what Neeks likes me how do you know what did he say *exactly* word-for-word.

Will could promise he wasn’t a middle schooler. He could. But that wouldn’t stop his instincts from wanting to immediately act like one.

She smiled at that, “We are. We met when we were teengers, but despite that we’ve been as close as if we grew up together.”

Will nodded, finally returning a small smile of his own. “I have a few friends like that.”

Hazel nodded with satisfaction, tucking the remainder of her papers away. She stood in front of his desk. “So this is our last meeting.”

Ah. This was familiar territory. He gave her a small, reassuring smile, “Nervous?”

She was already shaking her head. “Not with Frank. I’ve been ready to marry that boy for years practically. Just...it’s happening.”

“It’s happening.” He agreed, “This weekend.”

She nodded, letting that info sink in. “This time next week, I’ll be married.” She announced, looking pleased with the sentence. That was good.

Will had married off his fair share of couples, and was sometimes obvious that the couple wasn’t going to last. Not that it was his place to say so, not ever, but it was always worth noting to Lou, usually in preparation of the drama they were to expect the day-of. It wasn’t always obvious, though.

Hazel and Frank seemed good. There seemed to be love there, as they moon-eyed at each other from across rooms and spoke of the other with honey in their voice. There weren’t a lot of couples out there that had that for each other. Will hoped the best for them, truly.

“I’ll see you Saturday, Will.” She beamed, and there was that trademark bride-to-be excitement.

Will smiled slightly. “See you on Saturday, Hazel.”

Truly, the best.

Saturday came as quick as Will always expected a wedding of this side to do.

It was Saturday and Will was dressed in his favorite go-to suit, darkened colors to compliment the wedding party but not so much be blended in with them. Always an important thing to note.

He took a breath.

Today was the Levesque-Zhang wedding, and Will was completely composed.

Sure, this was a fact that Will would insist on even if the world was coming to a literal, screeching halt and he was to blame, but honestly. Everything, at least twelve hours into the wedding day, had been going smoothly.

Minor problems, smoothly. One of the bridesmaid’s had ripped her dress, according to Lou over text as they updated each other on wedding day happenings. It was fine - they had each learned to sew very quickly in their profession.

Will had had to deal with a few guests who turned up early, apparently already celebrating the occasion with how their breath had stunk of stale alcohol. One of the ushers was twenty minutes late, easily resolved by having one of the bored groomsmen step in in the meantime. The chairs had been set up backwards - facing the park itself instead of the actual gazebo, but fine. After a few moments of shuffling and calling the groomsmen to help, it was resolved, the few arrived guests were seated correctly, and the wedding, as well as the Wedding Planner, were completely composed.

He was just beginning to mark off all the names of the wedding court - his clipboard reading off each name in neat typed font - when the guests truly began arriving in crowds.

The groomsmen and ushers were already gathered in the park, the bridesmaids and Hazel tucked away in the Bridal Suite that the park had generously offered. He checked off another name - Jason Grace - as the blond head bobbed into view, helping one of the older guests to her chair.

Will waved at Neeks very briefly, already turning away from the bundle of people. Gleeson, with Chuck in his arms, rushed by, and he added a few more checks to his paper.

He glanced down at his list, only one more name reading back at him. In the distance, Lou was waving him over. Ten minutes until the ceremony was scheduled to start.

“Where’s the flower boy? Nico?” Will questioned frantically, his clipboard clenched in his hands. The little boy was the only one of the bridal court that Will hadn’t accounted for himself, the rest all checked or marked off.

“He’s here, I just saw him with some of the bridal party.” Lou reassured him, shoving a stack of programs in his hands. “Take these upfront, the ushers are running low. I’ll handle the background stuff, go handle the guests, okay?”

Will didn’t have time to voice his agreement, simply nodding and turning, the paper pressing against his clipboard as he rushed to hand the papers off to the ushers. They still had to speak with the minister - a family friend, apparently, who had a question about the marriage license that only one of them could answer.

Will settled the issue with barely time to spare as Lou gestured to him from the end of the aisle. A soundless two-clap as she met his eyes, their signal. The ceremony was about to start.

He nodded, taking his seat. She would handle the backstage stuff, and if anything were to happen up here, it would be on him to take care of.

It was a system that was tried and true. It was good to separately cover the area, have someone in each section. After the Godan-Calton incident - where both of them lingered in the back and therefore neither were there to help when the Bride’s dress ripped in half mid-ceremony - they’d wisely taken to a splitting up approach.

The music, previously low and playing some distant beat, rose in volume slowly. Will, with the rest of the guests, looked to the wedding court as they began walking down the small stone path leading up to the gazebo.

Familiar faces passed - Leo, a happy glint in his eyes, and Annabeth, who he’d met at the dinner party and seemed much, much too interested in his organizational habits. Jason, the blond guy who was so familiar with Neeks, was arm-in-arm with Reyna, her braid long and waterfall down her back. Mellie and Hedge were next, arm in arm. The best man and maid of honor were last down the aisle, of course. Percy, arm in arm with tall brunette girl with a fancy up-do - Piper, Will remembered, from the cake tasting - grinned at him as they passed. The ring-bearer, Chuck, in his small tux and even smaller pillow clutched in his toddler hands, bounced down the aisle next, grinning widely at his parents at the end of the aisle.

Everything was going perfectly, so far. The piano was right on time for the flower boy to enter, with a thirteen second section to descend down the aisle, and then the music would pause and switch over and Hazel would emerge and they’d all stand and -

Will’s mind crushed to a halt.

This was the moment the flower boy was suppose to emerge, the small basket of gold petals in his small hands, but instead….

Instead there was a full grown man.

Instead there was Neeks.

Will glanced around frantically, looking to catch another face of panic no doubt close to his own.

There were none. Frank was, strangely, grinning widely at the end of the aisle. Like he knew, and was expecting this.

Something clicked in his head - two loose facts coming together to form a single undeniable truth.

The flower boy was Neeks.

Neeks was Nico.

Hazel’s brother. Hazel’s younger brother.

He glanced down to his clipboard with wide-eyes like the paper had betrayed him.

This didn’t make sense.

Wait.

Actually -

This made perfect sense.

How Neeks was always hanging around the wedding party, yet had no, as far as Will had thought, part in the wedding. His familiarity with Hazel, and the rest of them. How no one had been the slightest bit worried about never seeing the flower boy around because, well, he had been there all along.

Nico was scowling, but it looked more for show as it didn’t reach his eyes. The flower petals fell from his hands easily as he threw them across the ground. Low laughter fell over the crowd and Frank - standing in the front with the rest of the court - let out a loud bark of a laugh.

Apparently Will was an idiot.

And, also apparently, Will had fucked the flower boy.

Lou was going to lose her shit.

Will blinked. He couldn’t think about that right now. He had a wedding to run smoothly, and he couldn’t be distracted for it. Not even when Neeks - Nico - caught his eye as met the end of the aisle and winked as he joined to stand with the bridal party. Will took a breath, hugged his clipboard to his chest, and ignored the skip in his pulse.

Damn, Nico looked good in his fitted tux.

Will just managed to turn his attention back to the wedding when it really began.

The piano paused and there was beat of silence before the wedding theme began, the organ heavy and smooth in the air.

Frank’s father, a large, burly biker type macho-man, only scowled at the front of the aisle. No one dared to mention the few tears creeping down his cheeks.

The double doors swung open, and this was always Will’s favorite part.

Hazel’s gown was vintage themed, and he could already see the careful hand Lou had lended in outfitting the other girl - the thick layer of frosting diamonds draped over her neckline, the elbow length cream satin gloves she wore. She had chosen gold accents to match the color of her bridesmaid’s dresses, and she truly looked beautiful.

She floated down the aisle, and Will was already beginning to pass around small packets of tissues. It was needed.

Hades, walking her down the aisle, seemed to be successfully holding back his emotion so far. The rest of them - Persephone, at Will’s side, as well as most of the wedding court - were nowhere near his control. There was the giving away of the bride, Hazel leaning in to give her father a quick hug, and turned towards Frank, who didn’t bother to hide his tearful beam. They both looked so happy.

Hades fell to Persephone’s side in the front aisle almost immediately after Hazel’s hand left his. Quietly, Will pressed the tissues into their hands as they sobbed against each other.

The minister - Chiron, an older man Hazel and Frank were both good friends with - smiled softly as the couple beamed at each other. The service began.

The ceremony was beautiful and teary and was nearly perfect.

Small issues - the bugs that came with an outdoor wedding were always annoying, and Hazel’s train had gotten caught on one of the chairs as they went to leave - but nothing major. Lou had outdone herself, truly.

There was hardly any time for Will to linger on his new revelation - only very briefly, for a few odd seconds, as Nico tossed him a wink as he walked back down the aisle. Will’s cheeks, the traitors that they were, colored horribly.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. He had a job today, to make sure Hazel and Frank had a perfect wedding, and he was not going to be distracted for it.

Will went ahead to the elaborate venue Hades had insisted on, setting some of the finer details into stone while the wedding party was off taking photos. Lou had gone along with them, making sure the photographer got everything that the couple had requested but, in the excitement, might have forgotten.

He did his rounds at the hall, checking in with the waitstaff and bar, making sure the band was ready and the tasteful decor was just so.

The photobooth was in place and working well from the few waitresses on break giggling around it. That was always a favorite of his at a wedding, he thought.

He checked with the head chef, checking in on the food. Everything was good, she was eager to reassure him, pushing out small toast with tomato and basil towards him. He took it, half-knowing that it was probably going to be the last thing he’d eat tonight before he and Lou stopped at the 24-hour McDonalds on their way home, too dead-tired and desperate to care about the calories.

The guests began arriving after that, Will helping guide some of them to their tables, helping the staff coordinate the champagne table Hades had requested.

He handled the wedding court entrance, half an hour into the reception, mostly just making sure the music was correct and loaded up. Lou shot him a thumbs up from the front of the hall, putting the couples in the correct order and announcing as they came in.

Will held his breath as Nico emerged first, Chuck balanced on his hip, and Lou grinned at them both. The familiar laughter from the ceremony was back, teasing Nico as he accepted his title.

The beginning sequence went well, no hiccups, only applause and faint coos when the happy couple made their grand entrance.

Next, the speeches - right before the food was served. Will kept a careful eye on the time, the itinerary of the day damn near memorized at this point. They were on schedule. Good.

Nico was at the head table, laughing at something Jason was proclaiming, the blond man’s arm outstretched towards the happy couple. Will ignored the bloom of warmth in his chest.

Percy’s speech was heartwarming, something about third-wheeling the road-trip where Hazel and Frank had finally gotten together, and Piper’s was hilarious, remarking on several occasions that made both parts of the happy couple turn red and hide their face.

The food was good, the open bar better, and the guests seemed happy. Hazel and Frank seemed happy too, giggling and beaming and blushing every time one of the guests began to clink their glass and cheer.

It was just when the cake was being served, and Hazel and Frank were grinning around a matching mess of frosting smeared across both of their faces, when Will was finally able to sit down for the first time since the ceremony.

He sank down in an empty chair, a sigh of breath rushing out of him. Next to him, Lou was already calling a waitress over.

“Have your drink,” Lou half-demanded, her own champagne glass nearly empty, as she pushed the new glass in his hand. He didn’t fight it. “We’re almost done, and it was nearly perfect.” A frown crossed her face. “Damn trains.”

Will grinned into his sleeve at her grumble.

It wasn’t like Will loved being a perfectionist or anything but he did enjoy that he wasn't alone in it. The mistake had been bothering Lou too, probably since the ceremony when it happened.

They shared a tired grin. “Next time,” Will promised, like he always did.

“Next time it’ll be perfect,” She agreed, clinking their glasses. She took the last of her drink and stood. “I’m gonna go start up the round of the traditions. Take a few minutes before you start micro-managing the hell out of everything, kay?”

Will held up his glass in silent agreement. He was perfectly a-okay with taking a few minutes to just observe and let his feet rest.

He watched as Lou began a few of the traditions - the mother and groom dance, where Frank gently slow-swayed with his grandmother to a soft tune that nearly had everyone in tears, as well as the father and daughter dance shortly after, where Hazel patted Hades on the back with an amused grin as he sobbed into her neck.

He was just standing and brushing off his suit jacket when Lou began the garter toss, both Hazel and Frank blushing harshly through the entire thing. Over the dancefloor, he could just barely see the head of kitchen gesturing for him, probably having some question about the coffee and cake the waitstaff was due to serve out on the table any moment now, and Will crossed the floor quickly, keeping his head low around the crowd gathered, trying to avoid being in the way when -

- when something headed straight towards him.

Instinctively, Will opened his hands, catching the object before it could fall smack into his face.

He blinked. He was holding flowers.

...Hazel’s flowers.

There was a short burst of laughter and applause where Will’s cheeks turned to rouge. Of...course.

Lou was burying her laughter in her hand.

Of course.

There was a quick tap - one, two, three - on his shoulder.

Will, still clenching onto the banquet of flowers, turned to face his other side. His cheeks were still bright red.

He blinked, his hands tightening on the bound stems. “Hey.”

Nico di Angelo grinned at him, looking much, much too good under the low lighting, gold silken confetti reflecting in his dark hair. He didn’t bother a greeting, jumping straight in. “Wanna get a drink sometime?”

Will could only hug the flowers close to his chest as he stuttered through his response. At this point, he was sure he was going to die with his cheeks bright red. “I - I mean, yeah, sure.” He swallowed, the sharp fragrance of the flowers starting to drift up to his face. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Yeah, I mean, definitely.”

“Cool.” Nico tipped back on his heels. “I’ll get your number from Hazel.” He turned to leave, a grin over his shoulder, before he paused. “Nice flowers.”

“Thanks.” He choked out, still clenching that goddamn bouquet.

In one beat to the next, Lou was at his side, her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. He willed his flush to temper down.

Her face cleared up in an instant, her eyes flickering over to where Nico was disappearing. She shook her head as Will slowly died of mortification - how did she always just know? - and plucked two glasses off a passing tray.

“So, you fucked the flower boy and caught the bouquet.” She announced, tipping another champagne flute in his direction, perspiration beaded along the surface of the chilled glass. Looks like they were breaking their ‘one drink an event’ rule. They both needed it. “Will Solace, know this - I’ll die before I plan your wedding.”

Will took a breath, the flowers probably pressing pollen and petals into the dark fabric of his suit. He couldn’t find it in himself to care. “I think we’ll probably elope.” He finally breathed out softly, his eyes turning to trace the other boy unconsciously. “Maybe Vegas.”

“Thank the gods,” Lou tipped back her glass, “And I deserve another glass of cold champagne for that.”

Will released the air building up in his chest, sighing. “Yeah...I agree.”

From across the room, Nico caught his eye. He threw the other boy a wink, and Will damn near swooned.

Lou let out a noise of disgust as Will hugged the bouquet even tighter to his chest.

Forbes Magazine lists the job Event Coordinator, with a mentioning of Wedding Planners, as the sixth most stressful job and Will typically wholeheartedly agreed with that fact but sometimes, as Will met a pair of dark eyes across the room, laughter and music filling the air between both of them, sometimes it was worth it.

Notes:

this sprang from the fact that i just finished helping plan my aunts wedding and im dy ing this fic killed me if you enjoyed let me know! thanks dolls this was suppose to be to celebrate getting 500 followers on tumblr but i wanted too long that im almost at 600 now soooo happy early celebration for that!! i never want to look at another wedding website ever again there's a lot of references in this fic to other fictional couples, props if you get them all i needed a lot of different last names ok

#solangelo #Nico di Angelo #will solace #something borrowed #the wedding planner au #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #trials of apollo #rosy writes #happy 500 followers #also im dead

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itslittlegiggle · 8 years

Text

Secondary Check

A/N: A tradition in my family is that we all must become (basic) first aid certified. My younger brother is working on getting his, and I was reading through one of his books when I came across secondary checking. I know what it is, of course, as I am certified myself; but rereading the procedure made me think about how awful it would tickle if used gently. Solangelo is literally my joy in life, so I used them in this fic. It’s based... shortly after the Heroes of Olympus series, I guess?

(Also, I’m sorry I haven’t written anything in a while... please accept my apology along with this mediocre fic.)

“Please, Nico?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on-”

“I said no!”

Will huffed at his boyfriend, annoyed with his stubbornness.

“Nico, I just want to practice secondary checking. Is that so wrong?” Will asked, crossing his arms. “No, but I don’t want to be your guinea pig!” Nico responded, crossing his arms as well.

“You make it sound like I’m some evil scientist,” Will mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“You could be! We just got together, I don’t know what you’re capable of yet,” Nico retorted in a sassy tone, and Will couldn’t help but smile. Nico was just so cute when he tried to act all stubborn and tough.

In consideration of recent events, Will had decided he wanted to completely perfect his first aid; he had been practicing on everyone, constantly asking other campers to be his next “victim”. Hey, is it a crime for a medic to make sure they know what they’re doing?

“Come on, just once? I want to really know what I’m doing. Son of the god of healing or not, I need to review stuff!”

With a sigh, Nico looked up at his boyfriend and rolled his dark eyes. “Fine, but just because you’re annoying me, and doing this will make you shut up. And only once!” He reminded as Will gave him a bright grin.

“Thanks!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After some coaxing, Will convinced Nico to lie down on the floor in the Hades cabin. Nico refused to do it in the Apollo cabin where one of Will’s siblings could waltz in at any moment.

“Okay, so say I’ve dealt with any major injuries, and now I’m checking for minor ones I need to deal with. It’s called secondary checking,” Will commentated before he got started. “Ideally, I’d be wearing gloves, but I’m not going to waste them on practicing.”

He knelt next to Nico’s “unconscious” body, near his head, gently placing his hands on the sides of his head. He moved his hands around slowly, “checking” for head injuries. After that, he used his fingers to softly prod the sides and front of Nico’s neck. His smaller boyfriend twitched minutely, but Will ignored it. His hands were probably cold. “Sorry.”

He stood and moved to Nico’s side before kneeling again. Will tenderly gripped the sides of his boyfriend’s rib cage, pressing his fingers in lightly as if feeling for broken ribs. He was startled when Nico’s body arched slightly, an almost indecipherable whine leaving said boys’s lips. Assuming he was being too rough, Will lightened his touch.

“Sorry if I’m hurting you a little,” he said with a frown.

“It’s fine,” Nico responded in a tense voice.” “J-just hurry it up a little.”

Will complied, pressing his hand on Nico’s stomach, tapping the back of his hand like he was feeling for internal damage. Nico arched his back again, and a harsh breath came out of his nose.

“Am I being too rough?” Will asked concernedly, removing his hands. Physical secondary checks were almost always used on people that were unconscious; he had no idea if it hurt on someone awake.

Nico shook his head. “No, just finish soon,” he said. Will wasn’t sure if he should keep going if he was hurting Nico, but Nico insisted. Moving on, Will placed each hand on one of Nico’s hip bones, pressing down gently to test for alignment..

He was definitely not prepared for Nico to suddenly bark out a laugh and sit up violently, attempting to push away his boyfriend's hands. "Enough!" The smaller boy shrieked, turning beet red as Will studied him. The two boys sat in silence for a few moments before Will realized what was really going on, a smirk gracing his features.

"Ah, I see," he purred, never taking his eyes off Nico's face. "You're not in pain, you're just-"

"Will, shut up!"

"What? It's cute that you're-"

"I said shut up!" Nico yelped, eyes flitting around as he tried avoiding eye contact with the older boy. With a sigh, Will removed his hands from Nico's grip. "Okay, okay. Can I finish the secondary check at least? I'm almost done!" He added quickly, sensing that the smaller boy was about to decline.

Nico chewed his bottom lip as he considered. “...fine, but be really careful,” he said slowly, lying down on his back once more. “Don’t worry, I will be,” Will reassured him, but he was smirking internally. This was just too cute; the stoic, grumpy “Ghost King”, Nico DiAngelo, was ticklish. Will found it too delicious not to exploit.

Continuing where he left off, Will wrapped both hands gently around one of Nico’s thigh, squeezing lightly with his fingers as though feeling for any broken bones. Nico’s entire leg jerked, but Will could tell Nico was embarrassed and was trying to keep his reactions to a minimum.

Will did the same thing to Nico’s other thigh, earning more shaky leg movement from the smaller boy. He then felt his way down each of Nico’s slender legs, feeling his knees and calves with careful fingers. Nico’s legs were absolutely quivering by the time Will finished each one, and Will couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I just have your arms left, Neeks. I’m almost done.”

“Okay, good,” Nico sighed.

Will softly gripped one of Nico’s biceps, pressing his fingers in and moving down the appendage. He could feel the younger boy’s muscles jumping under each touch; he could’t believe how ticklish Nico was. Even his arms were ticklish! Why didn’t Will figure this out before?

He quickly finished the other arm, sitting back on his heels. “Okay, finished,” he told Nico. Just as the smaller boy started to sit up, Will pounced on him, pressing him back onto the floor and holding him there.

“Uh... Will?” Nico asked in a nervous voice, “What’re you- NO!”

Will cut him off by grabbing his ribs with one hand, digging his fingers into the spaces between each bone. Nico flailed and tried desperately to get away from the tickling, shaking his head wildly in an attempt to hold in his laughter.

“Did you seriously think that I would let you go after finding out how ridiculously ticklish you are?” Will laughed as he chased Nico’s wiggling torso around with his tickling fingers. “Let me hear you laugh, Neeks!”

Will moved his fingers higher and squeezed them under Nico's left underarm, despite said boy's attempts to keep that arm glued to his side. Will noticed, disappointedly, that though the smaller boy was still violently squirming, this spot was less effective. "Okay, not underarms, then..." he teased, pulling his hand out and prodding Nico's side. "Where are you the most ticklish then, hmm?" Nico didn't say anything because he was trying so hard not to laugh, but that was okay; Will planned on figuring it out for himself anyway.

He decided to go lower, positioning himself accordingly on his boyfriend's small frame, and brought his hand back to give Nico's kneecap a few squeezes. Nico jerked like he'd been electrocuted and let out a high pitched squeak before bursting into laughter. "Will, quit it!" Will subconsciously slowed his fingers down, staring at Nico with his mouth slightly agape.

Nico's laugh...

It was high-pitched and light, breathy and childish. It was so unlike what you would expect from the son of Hades, and it filled Will's very core with an unbelievable warmth. Will couldn't keep the grin off his face as he stared at the boy underneath him, who was blushing profusely.

"Nico, your laugh! It's so cute!"

"Shut up, it's embarrassing!” Nico scowled. “I sound like a five-year-old moron."

"Well," Will counteracted, "sometimes you act like a five-year-old moron. So, it's perfect!"

Will moved his hand again and dug his fingers into Nico's thigh, which was so small compared to his own long fingers, he could almost tickle it all the way around with just one hand. "Will!" Nico shrieked, breaking down into more of his sweet laughter, "S-stop!" Will simply smirked and slowed his tickling slightly.

"So, where are you the worst?"

"L-like I'd tell you!" Nico panted through his giggles, desperately twitching his legs in an attempt to dislodge the older teen.

Though Nico wasn't going to tell him, Will had already figured out the answer; he had noticed that Nico only ever fought him off with one hand, while the other arm was nearly cemented to his body.

Cemented right across his stomach and hips.

Hey, doctors are supposed to notice small details, right?

Nico seemed to have noticed that Will was excited, for he struggled more violently. His eyes widened as Will reached down and easily forced Nico's arm away from his middle. Nico tried to use his other arm as a new shield, but Will grabbed that one quickly as well, and Nico found himself completely defenseless.

"Will, don't." Nico threatened, but he looked so very amusing with his red cheeks and stifled smile that Will shook his head. "You're just too cute, you know that?" And while Nico was in the middle of saying no, he isn't cute, he's frightening, Will gently dug his nails into the middle of Nico's belly, spidering them around the soft expanse.

Nico shrieked so loud, Will almost fell off of him. "Woah," Will laughed as he righted himself, "I knew this spot would be ticklish for you, but I didn't think it'd be this ticklish!" Nico just laughed his childish laugh, his breathy laugh, his beautiful laugh. "Wihihill! NO!" He cackled, trying to roll his torso away from Will's offending fingers, back arching.

Will moved his wiggly appendages slowly downward while he teased. "You know, this spot kills Austin. How about you?" He suddenly dug his thumbs into the dips of Nico's bony hips, causing the boy to buck up ferociously as he screamed with laughter. "WILL!" Will kept jumping his now vibrating fingers between Nico's tummy and hips, for those seemed to be the places that made the younger boy laugh the loudest and the cutest. "WIHILL, I'M GONNA K-KILL YOUHOUHOU!" Will slowed his fingers once more, softly dragging his nails that were currently under Nico's shirt across the quivering belly that awaited him.

Nico looked like a disaster; His hair was even more disheveled than usual, his cheeks were completely pink, and he was hiccuping quietly between the sweet giggles that came out of his mouth.

Will ruffled his hair and rolled off of his waist, pulling Nico into a sitting position and kissing his forehead. "...oh, my gods. That was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life.” Nico tried glaring at his smug boyfriend, but his residual grin made it impossible.

"Solace, you're the worst boyfriend in the world. I'm gonna get you for this!"

Will laughed. "Sure you are, with your tough and scary demeanour," he joked, wiggling his fingers teasingly into Nico's side to make him giggle. Nico pushed him away once more and attempted to scold him.

Nico's laughter was more precious than any sound Will had ever heard. It was better than poetry, better than music. It was a complete contrast of Nico's gloomy and quiet personality. Will didn't care if he never heard any other sound for the rest of time. If he could make Nico smile and laugh while also being able to enjoy the sound of it for himself, he was set.

Who knew first aid could be so handy?

#heroes of olympus #percy jackson #percyjackson!tickling #heroesofolympus!tickling #solangelo #solangelo!tickling #will solace #nico di angelo #ticklish!nicodiangelo #fluff #tickle fic

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