The hospital is understanding. There's always someone available to take over a shift. And besides, Will is generally pretty good at getting to work on time. He feels a little bitter, but the hospital owes it to him after that horrible night shift two days ago.

God, two days. He's only known Nico two days and he's ended up in his apartment, watching over him as his body tries to fight off the date rape drugs.

For good measure, he texts Travis and Connor. They won't be up yet, but they should at least know Will might be home a different time than usual.

By the time he reenters Nico's bedroom, Hazel has him dressed in Batman pajama pants and a clean black shirt. She's tied his hair back for him, into a short, neat ponytail. His hands are folded over his stomach. It gives Will an eerie feeling of an open casket funeral.

Will takes one of Nico's hands (they're cold) to check his pulse one more time. It's normal now. Steady. He places the hand at Nico's side, and now Nico looks a little more natural.

Hazel looks distraught and angry, but Will isn't sure if she's angrier at her brother of herself. "I-I have to go to work soon," she whispers like she's afraid Nico will wake up if she speaks too loudly.

"That's alright," Will says, "I can stay with him."

"Are you sure?" Hazel says, tearing her gaze away from Nico's face and looking to Will. She's wrapped her arms around herself and worriedly bites her lip.

"Of course," Will says, "My schedule is flexible and it's not good to have him here all by himself."

It's quiet for a few minutes as Hazel thinks. Will feels more than a little awkward, standing opposite to her, on the other side of the bed from here, while her unconscious brother sleeps between them. "Ok," she finally consents, "Ok, I should start getting ready."

…

Nico's room is nice, Will thinks, but dark. He takes a look around after dragging a chair over to Nico's bedside and making himself comfortable. Even the chair he's dragged over is nice. It's a deep red wingback with gold button and as Will sinks into the seat, he thinks it feels a little expensive for a bartender.

Shaking that thought from his mind, he looks around again. The walls are dark grey, which makes the room seem even darker with the blinds drawn. The only light is coming from an antique lamp on one of the bedside tables. Behind Nico's queen sized bed is a star map printed on a thin black cloth in silver ink.

Framing the window are two places to burn incense. Will is glad the sconces are far enough away from the curtains as to not cause a fire hazard—the curtains are the light blocking type, heavy and black.

Nico's desk is on the far wall. It's covered in papers and what Will thinks are a few law text books, as well as a sleek silver MacBook.

All in all, Nico's room reminds Will a lot of a cave. A well-furnished cave, maybe like the Bat Cave (which makes the pajama pants a little more ironic), but a cave nonetheless.

Will settles himself in his chair and readies himself to wait. He can hear the faint sound of water in the pipes as Hazel showers and the whirr of the air condition in the otherwise quiet apartment. Everything is peaceful, but Nico has been hurt and everything is wrong.

Half an hour later, Hazel walks into the room, dressed for work. She's wearing a polo shirt with a business insignia on it. In the darkness of the room, Will can't tell exactly what it is, but that's not a big deal.

"If you get hungry help yourself to whatever's in the fridge, I think we have some Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches in the freezer? We have cable, so feel free to watch some TV. The WI-FI password is 'asphodel13' and if Arion shows up and starts being a bother, feel free to put him in the bathroom or something. I should be home just before five, but if you have any questions, here's my number."

She hands him a Post-It Note with a phone number on it and Will sticks it to the back of his phone so he won't lose it.

Hazel walks over to Nico's bedside and kisses his forehead. She whispers something into his hair before standing up, offering Will a smile, and closing the bedroom door behind her with a quiet click. A minute later, Will hears the front door close with a sharp sound that rattles the apartment walls.

Will tries, for the next few hours, to be a constant vigilante, watching over Nico and ensuring his wellbeing. It's only after so many games of Crossy Roads that he can feel his eyes start to droop and his head lean against the side of the wingback.

He has strange dreams, nothing he can remember if he thinks about it, but he gets the feeling they're just strange. Like the dreams he got in med school when he'd eat pepperoni pizza right before bed.

He wakes up, startled when he hears a groan. Will's eyes open and in a second he's half way out of his chair before he's fully awake.

Nico is starting to wake up. He's moved one of his hands to rub at his forehead and cover his eyes. Will hears him mutter a quiet, croaking, "What the hell?"

"Nico?" Will doesn't mean to startle the other man, but he sees Nico jump a little at the sound of his name. Turning his head a little and still shielding his eyes, Nico squints as he looks up at Will.

"Will?" He asks, confused. "What…what the hell happened? Why are you dressed in scrubs? Why do I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life?"

Will tries to answer all of Nico's questions in quick succession, "You were, um, drugged. I was going to work when I found you and brought you here; and that hangover feeling is probably a side effect of the drugs running off. Since I'm not sure what you were drugged with, I can't be completely accurate."

Nico's eyes widen with every word that comes out of Will's mouth and when he's done, Nico's hand drops from his eyes and he lets out a groan.

"That fucking bastard. I'll fucking kill him." Nico says. Will wants to ask about a million questions, especially because it sounds like Nico knows who might've done this to him.

Instead, Will keeps quiet. He's a doctor, he knows that sometimes patients have a hard time opening up. "I'll get you a glass of water and some aspirin. You should also probably eat something. Toast?"

Nico nods, but then clutches his stomach. "Maybe not. I-I think I'm gonna vomit actually."

"Because of your headache or mental overload?" Will asks. He helps Nico sit up and get to his feet. Nico's weak from the stress the drugs put on his body and he shakes as Will tries to lead him to the bathroom. His mind flashes back to this morning when Nico's deadweight was on top of him. This is only slightly better, Will thinks, because Nico is at least conscious this time.

"Both?" Nico says weakly. With slow steps they make it the six feet from Nico's door to the bathroom. Nico sits on the edge of the ceramic tub and immediately puts his head between his knees, taking slow deep breaths. He earlier compared his current state to a hangover, so Will makes the conclusion that Nico's following his usual procedures for that.

In case Nico actually does need to throw up, he lifts the seat on the toilet. Then, he squats down and rests on his haunches in front of Nico, who looks only slightly less pale than when he was unresponsive. His lips (at the thought of Nico's lips, Will finds himself blushing) are especially pale, making Nico look corpse-like.

"Can I check your pulse?" Will asks in a soft voice.

Nico says nothing, but sticks his left wrist out. The beat of his pulse under Will's fingers is stronger than earlier. His vitals are improving and Will finds that his shoulders relax a little at the fluttering beat in Nico's wrist.

"Ok," Will continues, letting Nico have his wrist back, "You really shouldn't take any aspirin without eating first, so let's just start with the water."

He's worried Nico might faint or fall over and he won't be there to catch him, but there's nothing he can do about that right now. He'll just have to trust Nico to be alright by himself for a few minutes.

The apartment that Nico and Hazel share isn't much different from the one Will shares with Travis and Connor, so finding the kitchen isn't the problem. It's navigating the cabinets and trying to find a cup that proves difficult. Will draws the conclusion that Nico and his sister are foodies, because there are all kind of kitchen utensils and appliances Will can't even begin to name. Living with the Stoll brothers, collectively their culinary abilities stop with kosher beef hotdogs and latkes.

Will roots around the kitchen a little more, opening cabinets at random until he finds a plastic cup, like the kind you buy at a sports game. It's a little faded, but it looks like a cup from a Toronto Maple Leafs game, which seems weird because they certainly don't live in Canada and Nico and Hazel don't really strike Will as hockey fans.

Whatever, though. Plastic seems a lot safer than giving Nico a glass.

The refrigerator dispenses ice and water, so Will fills the cup up with both and heads back to the bathroom.

Nico has lowered himself to the floor, now leaning against the side of the tub. His black hair is sticking to his forehead as he's covered in a cool sweat.

"Here," Will says. He supports Nico and helps him hold the cup. The dark haired man drains the cup and then presses the cool surface to his forehead.

"Ok," Nico says. It sounds like he's steeling himself for something, "I'm ready for some toast. Could you help me to the couch?"

The next half hour consists of Will making some toast with peanut butter for Nico who sits on the couch wrapped up in a blanket burrito. He sips on some more ice water in the Maple Leafs cup and watches Bob's Burgers on Netflix; when Will hands him his toast, he nibbles on that.

It's obvious enough that Nico has stabilized, but Will is hesitant to leave him by himself. And, he admits to himself, Nico's quiet presence is nice.

When the episode Nico is watching ends, Will gathers up his courage and asks, "Do you remember anything from last night?"

For a second, he thinks that Nico won't answer. Then, Nico pauses the next episode that comes up and leans back into the couch. (The couch is also really nice, Will notices. Leather.)

"We were wrapping up for the evening. Sometimes I stay after and help clean up, you know? One of the guys I work with makes me a drink, and it's just the employees left right, and I maybe turn away for a second to tell a colleague something and then come back to my drink. All of a sudden I just feel…off, I guess. So I slip out as quickly as I can and call a cab cause I definitely don't feel like I should be driving and I remember getting to the building and paying my driver and then…"

Nico tilts his head as if to say, "And that's when you showed up."

"Do you know who might've…done it?" Will asks like it's too personal of a question as soon as it comes out of his mouth.

The response to the question is immediate. Nico clams up and says sternly, "I can handle it."

It's said with such a terse tone that Will opens his mouth to apologize but Nico beats him to it.

"Sorry," he says, "That was rude. Thanks for taking care of me, really. I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere if it wasn't for you. My sister says I can be kind of a bitch when I'm sick."

They both laugh and the atmosphere lightens up some.

When Will's phone rings, it startles the both of them. Will doesn't recognize the number right away, but then it dawns on him it's Hazel calling him from the number she gave him earlier.

"Hello?" Will answers. Nico looks at him, confused, so Will mouths to him who it is. Nodding, Nico curls up a little more in his blanket.

"Will? It's Hazel. I'm just checking to see how Nico's doing."

Will could kick himself. He should've called Hazel when Nico woke up.

"He's actually awake. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Please!" Hazel says.

He hands the phone to Nico who cradles it close to his ear and says, "Hey, sis."

After a second he pulls the phone away from his ear abruptly and grimaces. Will can't hear the actual words but Hazel sounds anything but happy on the other end of the line. Nico waits for his sister to end her rant before putting the phone back to his ear and saying, "Mi dispiace. I'm sorry, Hazel. I know. I know."

He pauses and makes another face at what Hazel tells him. For a fleeting moment, Will thinks it's cute how Nico's brows furrow together and he pouts as Hazel scolds him.

Will quickly stops that train of thought.

"Ok, yes. I'll call her. Let me…no, just let me handle this. I'm not calling him. And don't you tell him because the last thing I need is him barging in and making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. I'd rather not have this conversation with you over the phone, ok?"

There's another pause.

"Alright. Yeah. I'll tell him. Ok. Love you, too, sis. Ciao."

Nico hangs up and gives the phone back to Will. "Hazel says you're invited for dinner. She's not taking no for an answer."

Will and Nico share a smile. "Ok," Will says and there's a warm feeling in his chest, "I'd love to stay."

…

He must be feeling better, Will thinks, he's back to his usual flirtatious self.

By the time Hazel comes home, they've finished watching the second season of Bob's Burgers and Nico feels well enough to shower.

Somewhere in that amount of time, Nico finds a minute to call his boss and tell her he won't be in that night.

"Whether I'm there or here I'll still probably stay up until four am." Nico says. He watches Will from the counter as Will does the dishes Nico said he shouldn't feel obligated to do.

"Hazel's just worried. I mean, I did carry your unconscious body to her front door. I think she has a right to want you home."

Nico makes a small sound of assent.

"Well as first dates go," Nico says, "This was certainly one of the most unorthodox ones I've ever had. I don't know if I'd do it again."

Will blushes to the roots of his hair and almost drops the dish he's washing from lunch.

"I mean," Nico continues and Will wishes he wouldn't, "You've already been in my bedroom, so how much better can it get from here?"

Will makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat.

Luckily, he's saved by Hazel opening the front door and yelling, "Anyone home?"

"In here, Haze!" Nico says from his perch on the counter.

Hazel appears from around the corner a makes a beeline for her brother. Nico can only slide off the counter before Hazel's arms are around him tight enough to crack his back. Now, Hazel isn't very tall, maybe 5'3" Will thinks, but she's much stronger than she looks because she's able to lift Nico several inches off the floor in her hug.

"Ok, Hazel," Nico rasps, "I get the point, but I need to breathe."

She releases him and presses several quick kisses to Nico's face, who makes a big show of wiping them off with the sleeve of his Jack Skellington sweater.

Will is the next focus of Hazel's attention. She spots him doing the dishes and says, "Oh, honey, you've already done so much. You don't need to worry about that."

"Really," Will says, "it's not a problem."

"Nuh-uh. You go sit. I'm gonna start dinner. Nico, make our guest feel at home, and don't leer at him like that!"

Dinner is pan-fried chicken. It's delicious and some of the best fried chicken Will has had since leaving Texas. Even so, he can feel his cholesterol rising as he eats.

Hazel refused her brother a glass of wine at dinner, so Nico is stuck making bedroom eyes at him from over the Maple Leafs cup. If anyone else did it, Will would probably find it hilarious, but somehow Nico pulls it off.

Hazel makes polite dinner conversation, and they all avoid what happened to Nico the night before. Hazel never mentions Nico's job and Nico doesn't bring it up. From across the table he can feels the slight animosity between them. When Will leaves for his own apartment, there's definitely going to be words had.

He does learn though, what Hazel does for a living. She works two jobs; four days a week she is a manager at a local Cajun restaurant and on the weekends, she reads people's fortunes with Tarot cards. Will thinks that is kind of cool, and definitely explains the star chart behind Nico's bed.

Nico is stoic throughout most of dinner, adding comments here and there. He looks tired though, and as a doctor, Will can only recommend rest for Nico and some aspirin when he can take it.

"You're welcome to stay for dessert." Hazel says.

Will shakes his head, "Thank you for offering, but I really have to go. My roommates are probably wondering where I am."

He's been cryptically texting Travis and Connor all day. It's time to face his nosy roommates who'd get the full story out of him eventually. Will wants to make the whole process as painless as possible.

"Of course," Hazel says, "I can—,"

"I'll show him out," Nico says, getting out of his seat.

Nico leads him to the front hall and Will gathers his belongings together.

"Um," Nico coughs, "Look, I'm not really, like, a feelings kind of guy but…thank you. A lot. For…taking care of me."

Will smiles at him, "You're welcome."

Nico offers one of his small, real smiles that makes Will's stomach flip. "I'd, I'd actually like to go on a date with you. If…if you'd be willing of course."

"I'd love to," Will says.

"Great. Um. Here, let me give you my number."

He puts his number into Will's phone and hands it back to him. Their fingers brush for just a second and Will pulls his hand away, blushing.

"So…text me?"

"I will, yeah. Oh, and Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself. Rest a lot."

"Sure thing, doc."

…

Connor and Travis are both home when Will gets home. He doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing. They question him endlessly like they're FBI agents or something. Will just wants to crawl into bed. He's exhausted.

"Look," he tells them when they shut up long enough for him to get a word in, "I had to help a friend today instead of going to work. I'll give you full story tomorrow but right now, I'm going to bed. Good night."

When he gets to his room, he strips out of his scrubs which have become uncomfortable to be in all day. He slips into a clean t-shirt (Surf Barbados, it says; Will got it right before med school when his family still did family vacations) and a pair of sweatpants.

He collapses in bed, never having been happier for a mattress and a pillow. Until he rolls over on his side and sees his phone sitting on the bedside table.

Would it be weird to text Nico right away? Maybe. But he can't help himself. His stomach knots itself as Will reaches to unlock his phone.

When he types Nico's name into the recipient bar, Nico's name with a smirking emoji comes up. It makes Will smile.

Nico? It's Will.

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