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Nico felt great, feeling the fresh breeze blow past by. It had been 3 days in the infirmary, and gosh darn was it awkward in there. He had never felt more awkward in his life with Will as his caretaker.At least, he thought as first, Will was just someone he was going to have a little crush on and move on soon. But nope. It had intensified.The first day was probably the most awkward. Shuddering, Nico wished to forget all the memories there- especially the one where he had accidentally fell on Will, their lips millimeters from touching.Well, the past is past, Nico thought, I’ll just dig a hole for myself to crawl in and never see Will in my life again. Sounds like a solid plan.Right? But, nope, it had to get worse for Nico. He didn’t manage to see Will for the first few days but that was because Will had other patients to tend to. And since the number of patients had decreased, Will took every chance to try and find Nico.2 weeks passed after the infirmary thing but then, the son of Hades couldn’t help but blush when he saw Will in the strawberry fields. His blonde hair was curly and messy as always but his smile shone like the sun, and Nico was sure the sun was jealous of his smile. Will was talking to a satyr, laughing to a joke and Gods, Nico wanted to die. His laugh sounded like heaven, Nico wanted to him to laugh forever. Will’s blue eyes snapped to him and both of them hitched a breath. “Nico!” Will said. The blonde boy stood up from where he was sitting and approaching Nico very fast. Very, very, very fast. “Where were you?” The son of Apollo demanded. “I haven’t seen you in over two weeks- and you promised me you’d come by the infirmary to hang out! Or even say a simple hi!” Will sounded hurt and Nico winced at that.”I- I was busy.” Nico mumbled, face flushing again.Will sighed, “It’s fine but at least, you’re here now.” He smiled and Nico just wanted to kiss those lips.
Wait, what? No, I don’t! I don’t want to kiss Will and I definitely do not like him! Wait, where did the idea of liking him even come from? Doesn’t matter! I don’t like Will! I don’t like Will! I don’t li-
“Nico? Helloooo? Death boy?”Nico snapped back into reality, now blushing even harder than before. “What? Why the hell are you snapping your fingers in front of my face? And don’t call me death boy.” Nico said coldly, stepping back. Nico started to regret his words as soon as he saw the hurt dancing in Will’s sky blue eyes.But the hurt quickly dissipated. “Mood swings much?” Will chuckled, “You zoned out a bit just now. A lot on your mind?”Nico just nodded, “Yeah.””Cool.” Will said awkwardly. “Uh... Do you want to, maybe-””NICO! I’ve been searching for you everywhere!” Piper cried, quickly emerging from behind Nico. “Oh, hey, Will? Am I interrupting something?” Her kaleidoscope eyes were curious, quickly glancing between Nico and Will.”No, no..” Will muttered, “You weren’t interrupting anything.” Though, his tone showed he was slightly dissapointed. Piper could tell, but she was in a bit of a hurry to ask what was going on.The daughter of Aphrodite tugged on Nico’s hand. “C’mon, we have to go. Chiron is asking for us.” She smiled sweetly at Will before the two of them went ahead to the Big House.Will watched them go until they were only tiny dots in the distance. Anger fueled in him; he didn’t even get a chance to ask Nico if he wanted to go hang out with him. That was a question Will wanted to ask since forever, a question Will didn’t have the guts to ask until today.Frustrated, the son of Apollo trudged to his cabin. “Thank you, children.” Chiron sighed, “You can leave now.”The 4 demigods left the Big House. They were having a briefing about Leo Valdez and since Hazel and the other Roman demigods weren’t here, they had asked Nico to help. It was peculiar on what had happened to Leo Valdez. The topic of discussing on what had happened to the Latino demigod had left them all, especially Nico, exhausted. Nico had to try and summon spirits to ask if Leo had reached the underworld but no one had even seen him enter the gates.The rest were pretty freaked out with the spirits, especially one who looked like a banshee.”You got a minute?” Piper asked once she and Nico were outside. Annabeth and Percy had left to go to their cabins, which left Piper and Nico alone.“No.” Nico replied, about to walk away when Piper quickly held his wrist to hold him back. “Let go, Piper.”“Nah.” She grinned, before turning serious. “Look, I want to talk to you, alright? It’ll only take a few minutes. Please, Nico.”Nico sighed, knowing her tone was laced with a little bit of charmspeak. “Where do you want to talk?” He asked, frowning. “And please, don’t say the Aphrodite cabin because you know I hate the color pink.”Piper nodded, “Let’s talk near your cabin.” They walked in silence to Cabin 13. Nico was still wondering what on Earth Piper wanted to talk about. Probably about Leo, since Leo is her best friend but they just had a briefing on Leo not even 10 minutes ago. Leaning against the porch of Cabin 13, Nico broke the silence, “Well? What did you want to talk about?”Piper scratched her head. “I- uh.. Its about Will.”Nico’s eyes narrowed, “What about Will?” He asked, flushing a bit. Gods, he had to stop blushing each time he thought about Will. The girl in front of him laughed. “Don’t get all defensive, di Angelo.” She smiled, “You like him, don’t you?” The son of Hades spluttered, “No- no I don’t! What the hell gave you that idea? I don’t like Will? I don’t have a crush on Will! We are just friends! Since when do I even- look, you’re getting the wrong idea! I- I don’t like-” Nico was cut off by Piper who started to laugh.”Nico, I never even once stated that you had a crush on him,” Piper smiled even more, “Jason told me to keep an eye on you, see if you’re making friends. I was just gonna ask if you liked him as your friend but..” She smirked, “You got all defensive when I asked you if you liked him.”The black haired boy groaned, banging his head against the porch. “Shut up, Piper.”“Why is it so hard to admit you’ve got feelings for ‘sunshine boy’?” Piper smirked, “It’s not that hard, Nico.”“Don’t call him ‘sunshine boy’.” Nico sighed, staring at the sky instead of Piper. Gods, he wanted to wipe the smirk off of Piper’s face. “And, no, I don’t have feelings for him.”Piper whistled, “You can’t lie to a daughter of Aphrodite.” Her smirk widened, “If you really don’t have feelings for the certain son of Apollo, prove it.”Nico flushed red, “How?”Piper wanted to smack Nico. His ‘little’ crush was obvious and even his face showed it. His eyes were widening because he was trying to find a plan on how to prove it but Piper knew... She knew he couldn’t find at least one way to prove the statement that he doesn’t have a crush on the son is Apollo.“You don’t need to prove it, di Angelo. I already know you have feelings for him.”He wanted to dig a hole and lie there forever. “Please don’t tell Will.” He mumbled quietly. “I swear I’m going to murder you if you told Will or anyone else.”Piper raised her hands in defeat, “I won’t. But you have to talk to Will about it.” She said, “I think he feels the same way about you too.”At her words, he scoffed. “Tell him? Piper, I get that you’re a daughter of Aphrodite but what you’re saying does not make any sense.” Piper opened her mouth to speak but Nico cut her off, “No one here likes me in that way, Piper. I’m a son of Hades and half the camp is still afraid of me. It’s impossible that Will Solace, a son of Apollo, likes me back.”Piper sighed, “Believe what you want, Nico.” She gave a soft smile- a smile parents would give to their children when they talked about something childish. “But at least try to listen to me, Death boy.”Nick didn’t make any move to tell her off for calling him ‘death boy’, only glaring at the sky. “Whatever, Piper.”Will Solace was in his bunk, staring at the ceiling as Austin continued to play the guitar, softly singing a song Will didn’t recognize. However, Will was sure it was about love and that just made Will feel worse.”Think you can change the song?” Will asked, sitting up. “I’m not in the mood to hear love songs right now.”Austin raised an eyebrow, hearing such a strange request from Will for the first time. Will had never asked for anybody in the Apollo cabin to change the theme of a song before. He’d always sing along, even if he didn’t know the lyrics.”Something wrong, Will?” Austin asked, stopping his strumming. He leaned forward and smirked, “Did you get rejected by someone?”Will flushed, “No. It’s not that. It’s just...” He trailed off, “How... how does love feel like?”Austin blinked. Love was a subject Austin never heard Will talk about before. Will always talked about medical stuff or archery or singing. Love was Aphrodite’s department, not Apollo’s. And why in hell would Will ask Austin, a kid who’s 2 years younger than Will? But if Will wanted an answer, then he should’ve asked the Aphrodite cabin, not the clueless boy in front of him.”I dont know.” Austin replied. “Does it look like I know? I’m only 13, dude.” “Right.” Will said awkwardly. “Sorry I asked.”Austin shrugged, “It’s fine, Will,” He hesitates for a minute, “Do you want to talk about it?”The blonde boy shook his head. “No, no... it’s fine. I’m going out to clear my head.” He heard Austin say a goodbye but Will could barely hear it.Feeling the sun shine on him actually did clear his head. But the moment he turned around, he could see Nico glaring at the sky as Piper walked away. What was that about? Will thought, frowning.Most demigods at Camp Half-Blood were scared of the son of Hades. They would flinch at the sight of Nico glaring. He was scary, sure, but not to the eyes of Will Solace. When he had learned about Nico’s past, he understood why Nico was always brooding. Nico di Angelo was different in will Solace’s eyes.Mustering up the courage, Will yelled, ”Hey Neeks!”Nico turned to see Will and almost jumped in surprise. “Solace?” He squinted, blushing. Will grinned, approaching Nico quickly. “Hey, Death Boy.” He smiled, and ultimately wanted to kick himself in the shins. Death boy? Really, Will? Out of all the stupid nicknames, I came up with Death Boy? Will thought to himself. Nico scowled, “Call me that again and I’ll start to call you a dumbass.””That’s nowhere as creative as Death Boy.””At least it’s more offensive.””Touché.” Will laughed and he could’ve swore Nico went as red as a tomato. “So, uhm,” The blonde boy checked his watch, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. It was already 6 pm and supper was in 30 minutes. That’s way too late to have a ‘super fun’ activity to do with Nico. Until, at least, when he realized there was still something they could do together.”Wouldyouliketogosomewherewithmelater?” Will asked quickly, flushing red. He didn’t know if Nico heard it but the tilt of Nico’s head showed he did not understand a single word of what he’d said.”I mean...” Will gulped, “Would you like to, maybe, go somewhere with me later? After dinner? You don’t have to but, I want us to get closer, yknow? I mean, I know you aren’t close with anyone here but-“Nico cut him off. “Sure.” He replied, a soft smile on his face, face red as a tomato. His eyes widened in realization before stuttering, “I-I mean, if you want me to come but yeah, sure-”In the distance, Percy, Piper and Annabeth were staring at them from the Athena cabin. “Why don’t they just make out already?” Percy whispered, frowning. “They’re both idiots, pining their asses off for each other and not realizing it.””Love takes time to figure out.” Piper said, “Especially when we have 2 dumbasses trying to figure it out.”Percy snorted and Annabeth hit his arm. Nico couldn’t help but steal glances as he ate dinner. He couldn’t help it. Will looked like an angel sitting by the firelight, occasionally laughing with his siblings. Gods, Nico just wanted to kiss those lips.
No! I don’t want to kiss him! I don’t- I don’t like him like that, do I?
Gods, we’ve been through this, Nico, YOU DO LIKE HIM, another voice in his head cried in frustration, It’s been two weeks since the infirmary incident and you agreed to go with him later! You do like him!Weirdly, it sounded like Bianca’s voice scolding him. Groaning, he banged his head against the table. He couldn’t figure his feelings out. He did like Will, but was it just as friends? Or was it not? He didn’t know! The only person he had fallen for before was Percy and that was because he looked like a hero and was hot! And Will... Will was different. He wasn’t built like Percy, he wasn’t as heroic as Percy and he was nowhere as close as Percy. Will liked to stay on the medical field during a war, treating his fellow campers. Will liked to do all these typical Apollo stuff and he was definitely different than Percy. Maybe that was why Nico was confused.Yep, that was definitely it.Groaning even more, Nico sat up and jumped in surprise. “Will, what the Hades!” Nico cried in surprise. “You scared me.”Will snorted, “I honestly thought scaring a child of Hades was impossible.” He smiled warmly and Nico’s breath hitched, “But I guess it isn’t now. Now, scoot over.””W-what?””Scoot over. I saw you bang your head on the table just now, and as your doctor, it’s my responsibility to check on you.”Nico couldn’t comprehend his words for a seconds until he saw Will raise his eyebrow. The black haired boy quickly moved, leaving an empty spot for Will. “Aren’t you going to sit with your cabin?”The son of Apollo shrugged, “I’ve already finished my dinner so now I’m waiting for you to finish yours so we can go.” He smiled again and gods, Nico wanted to die. He should really count the amount of times Nico felt like dying or digging a hole and stay there forever because of Will smiling.”I’m done anyways.” Nico stated, eating the last piece of his food, before standing up. “Where are we heading?”Will grinned at this. “C’mon!” He took Nico by the hand and this was probably the billionth time Nico wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “It’s a surprise.” And the surprise was a blanket laid on the empty patch around the strawberry fields. It was dark and the only source of light was a lantern put down on the middle of the blanket, along with the stars and the moon.Will sat down on the blanket, and Nico followed. They sat, a little distance between each other. Nico was a little bit disappointed that he didn’t have enough courage to scoot a little bit closer to Will. “So... what we’re doing is...?” Nico asked, breaking the silence.”Stargazing.” Will replied, staring at the stars. “I actually wanted to train with you or something this afternoon but Piper stole you so...” He smiled and Nico’s breath hitched again.His smile was brighter than the stars and the moon.Nico swallowed the lump in his throat awkwardly and forced himself to look at the stars instead. “Isn’t that Zoë’s constellation?” He asked, pointing upwards, trying to rid the awkward tension . Will squinted, “I think so. I’ve never actually met Zoë Nightshade.” The other boy nodded, “Well, she wasn’t really friendly at first.” He mumbled, “But she sacrificed her life for the quest. Just like Bianca.”Will Solace turned to face Nico. “I’m sorry about your sister. I wish I was there for you when it happened. But it was winter and I was with my mom at the time.” His eyes were filled with guilt, even though it was not Will’s fault.”It’s not your fault, Solace.” Nico replied, “No need to feel guilty.””You mean a lot to me.” Nico turned to face Will and they were both holding eye contact, neither of them willing to break it. Blue clashed with dark brown. “Will..””I like you, Nico di Angelo.” Will’s voice shook, “I know we barely know each other. But the first time I’ve met you, back in the Titan War, I desperately wanted to talk to you. You were there, saving our asses and I’ve started to have a crush on you.” Will cleared his throat before continuing, “But as you can see, I was a dumb 13 year old boy back then and was a coward. But I was determined to talk to you and I finally did during the Giant War.”Nico flushed and opened his mouth to speak but he closed it again to let Will continue.”And- I swear to Olympus I’ve never liked anyone more than you. 3 days in the infirmary and I just wanted to move on because I knew you didn’t like me back. . I was dissapointed when I didn’t get to see you for over 2 weeks. But I thought it was good since I wanted to move on. But then I saw you...” Will chuckled nervously, “I’m falling for you, di Angelo.”Nico was speechless for the first time in forever. “I vowed to tell you because I would most likely kill myself if I didn’t tell you.” Will’s voice started to crack. “Please say something, Nico.”A few seconds passed.Then a minute. Will looked heartbroken, still waiting for Nico to answer him before standing up. “I guess... you don’t feel the same way.””I like you too.” Nico choked out. “I like you a lot. I’m falling for you too, Solace.”It was the blonde boy’s turn to be speechless, only staring at Nico as he managed to explain.”I- I started liking you during the Giant War, when we teamed up. And the last two weeks- I was avoiding you because I wasn’t sure if I liked you or not. But when Piper talked to me... That’s when I knew.” Nico managed to say, “I’m not good at this.” He mumbled, flushing. Before he knew it, he felt a pair of arms around his waist. Nico took the chance to wrap his arms around Will’s neck, holding him close. They were content in each others’ arms.