Chapter Text
With Nico’s limp body slung across his shoulders, both of them still dripping with lake water from tumbling out of their canoe, Will made his way through the battlements to the Big House so he could be where he was really needed.
Apollo would be okay. Despite getting his butt whooped repeatedly in the past couple of days, he was remarkably resilient for a guy who looked like he worked weekends at the movie theater concession counter. Will had to practically lock him in cabin seven the other night to keep him from throwing himself into mortal peril to go after Meg and the missing campers in the woods. The fact that he had a concussion and several deep lacerations didn’t seem to matter. As a medic, it had worried Will. But as Apollo’s son, he found it touching to witness a god actually personally fretting over the safety of his children.
The bar had never been lower, but still. Will took his triumphs where he could get them.
Will had been plenty distraught over Kayla and Austin, too — Nico’s steadfast calmness kept him far enough away from the catastrophizing edge of despair that he could still lead his cabin — but they seemed okay when Apollo returned with them just now. A little confused and alarmed by the giant animated statue of their father attacking from the ocean, but that was life at Camp Half-Blood. They had all seen weirder things happen there. Will was confident the flying chariot would help, even if Nico had pushed himself too hard to get it.
Will tried to lay his boyfriend down gently on the nearest infirmary bed, but he was afraid it was more like throwing down a sack of potatoes. Nico barely stirred, though, lolling his head on the pillow like a slack puppet. Will stepped away to grab an orange Gatorade from the mini-fridge and a king-size Kit-Kat bar from the secret stash he kept just for Nico in his locker. Cecil was the only other person who knew about it, and Will payed him a ten percent Kit-Kat tax for the illicit convenience store hauls.
When Will returned to Nico’s side, he was awake and groggy. Will twisted the Gatorade cap open and helped him sit up so he could drink some.
“Nectar?” Nico croaked.
“No, babe,” Will said. “Electrolytes.”
“Hm. Thanks,” Nico slurred. He leaned his head on Will’s shoulder like he was tempted to go right back to sleep.
“Hey. Eat your Kit-Kat first, mister.” Will tore the red wrapping and broke off a piece. “You can sleep again when you’re not in danger of vaporizing.”
Nico whined, but he opened his mouth like a child. Will sighed dramatically and fed him the candy.
“The fearsome Ghost King, ladies and gentlemen,” Will remarked. “Known to raise the dead, suck out souls, and demand to be hand-fed chocolate because he’s too sleepy to do it himself.”
“Be nice to me,” Nico complained, leaning more of his weight on Will’s shoulder.
“I’m always nice to you,” Will teased. “When have I ever been anything but nice to you?”
“Mmm, tha’s true,” Nico mumbled.
Will scoffed. “It is?”
“Mm-hm. Will, you’re so…” He trailed off, staring with confusion into the middle distance like his words suddenly ran off before he could speak them.
“I’m so what?” Will prodded.
“So…uh…”
“So irritating?” Will suggested, one of Nico’s favored adjectives when it came to him. “So…stubborn?”
Nico stared right into his eyes, dead serious. “You’re so strong and hot.”
Will choked on his own spit and coughed, spluttering and struggling for air for a second. “C-Come again?” he wheezed.
Nico nuzzled his cheek on Will’s shoulder, practically purring. “You’re hot…you always take care of me, and you can pick me up when I pass out…I just think…that’s hot.”
“I’m sorry, are you —“ Will felt Nico’s forehead with the back of his hand, suspecting he might be delirious with fever. “Are you flirting with me right now? Barely conscious, soaking wet, and with a battle outside and everything?”
Nico hummed and lifted his head, his eyes lidded suggestively. “Why, ‘sit working?”
“Oh my gods, Nico.” Will laughed and kissed his cheek. “Yes, it’s totally working, I’m swooning. Now finish your candy bar and go back to sleep. Your strong, hot boyfriend has to get the infirmary ready for the wounded.”
☀️
Once the entire camp had properly greeted Leo on his return, Nico stomped up to him on the Big House porch like he was intent on collecting a debt. He was so determined that Will barely caught up to him, despite being much taller.
Before Leo could greet them, Nico pointed a finger in his face. “Why are you alive?”
Will reached out and lowered Nico’s hand. “What he means to say is that it’s a big relief to have you back after all this time,” he clarified as he caught his breath. “Hey, Leo. Good to see you.”
Leo raised his eyebrows. “Why, thank you, Will. It’s good to see at least one of you.” He looked pointedly at Nico. “Is he going to zombify me?”
Will waved a hand. “Nah, he just needs to work on his people skills.”
“How can I zombify what’s already undead?” Nico demanded, scowling harder. “You belong in the Underworld! I felt you die!”
Leo scoffed. “Oh, so cheating death is only okay when you do it? I don’t remember you giving Hazel a hard time!”
Nico’s face reddened, but he was unintimidated. “That’s different. Hazel needed a second chance, even our father agrees.”
“Well, I earned my second chance fair and square,” Leo argued. “That Physician’s Cure was a major pain in the butt to get my hands on, and then I had to program Festus to inject it once I bit the dust. And it was all worth it just to get back to camp so that El Señor Oscuro could chew me out!”
“Ugh! Asclepius!” Nico said with disgust. “Hades had him killed for a reason. And then stupid Apollo whined until Zeus made him a god.” He glanced at Will. “No offense.”
Will shrugged. “No, he is pretty whiny.”
“Well, I’m here now,” Leo said. “If you don’t like it, either kill me or stop complaining.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Nico growled.
“Is that why you brought the doctor?” Leo said, indicating Will. “To patch me up after you hit me with your best shot?”
Nico frowned at Will like he was ruining his reputation. “No. He just followed me here.”
Leo crossed his arms. “Gotta say, did not see a friendship between Count Dracula and the Teletubbies sun baby coming. Wouldn’t have bet on that one.”
Will blinked. “I’m sorry, what did you call me?”
At the same time, Nico blurted, “He’s not my friend.”
Will and Leo both stared at Nico for entirely different reasons. Nico covered his face with one hand when he realized his mistake. He breathed a long-suffering sigh, then admitted, “…He’s my boyfriend.”
“Oh,” Leo said. “Okay. I, uh, didn’t know you were…”
“Yeah, I’m gay. Get over it,” Nico said.
“No, I mean, like…” Leo rubbed the back of his head. “It’s just, you could’ve told me like, way sooner. You know I’m bi, right?”
Nico furrowed his brows. “You’re by…what?”
Leo cackled. “No, man, I’m bisexual. I like girls and guys and other peeps, I’m not picky.”
“Sorry, Nico, I should’ve explained this to you,” Will said sheepishly. In truth, he hadn’t thought it needed to be explained. It was just of the many subtleties of dating a time traveler that went right over his head.
Nico wrung his hands. “Sorry, I — I didn’t know. I didn’t think I could tell…well, anyone on the Argo II.”
Leo gently punched his shoulder. “It’s cool. Not like I ever said anything. For the record, you could’ve told anyone, they’re all good eggs. Piper was my rock when I was crushing on Jason, man. Come to think of it, she was a little too cool about that…wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t straight, either.”
Nico cracked a grin. “You liked Jason?”
Leo laughed. “You’re gonna get on my case for having a thing for blondes? Have you seen the guy you’re dating?”
“Uh, I’m right here!” Will protested, self-consciously covering his hair.
Nico chuckled and quickly kissed his cheek. Will instantly felt warm and flustered — Nico had never done that before in front of someone else. Leo and Nico went on bantering, and Will caught sight of Apollo standing a few paces from the open front door behind Leo. He met Will’s eyes and gave an awkward smile. Will squeezed Nico’s hand and left him on the porch to catch up with his friend, striding into the house.
“You seem happy with that boy,” Apollo said when Will stood in front of him. He sounded sad, almost…envious, which was a strange vibe to get from his father.
“I am,” Will said. He scuffed his feet on the hardwood floor. “Hey, um…Thanks for saving Kayla and Austin. I was really worried about them.”
“They’re my children,” Apollo said, like it was obvious a father should take risks for the safety of their offspring. Unfortunately, Will didn’t have the heart to point out that this wasn’t a safe assumption to make for children of the gods.
Will rubbed his arm. “…Will you stay?”
Apollo shook his head. “I cannot. A prophecy has been issued, and I must save my oracles. And…and find Meg, as well. I aim to set off with Leo and Calypso tomorrow morning.”
“That — that’s so soon,” Will said. “You’re still injured, you need to rest and recover your health.”
Apollo smiled and put a hand on Will’s shoulder. “You inherited my best traits, didn’t you?” He sighed and averted his gaze. “It is dawning on me that I may not have been as peerlessly perfect as I once believed. I…have made mistakes. But having children was never one of them.”
Will raised his eyebrows. “Wow. That’s big of you to admit.”
“I know. I’m discovering the virtues of modesty,” Apollo said, his tone completely unironic and one hundred percent self-congratulatory. “My point is that I am proud of you, Will. And of all your siblings. Tell them that, would you?”
For a split second, Will forgot he was talking to a god. In one brief and glorious flash of illumination, Apollo was simply his family, and nothing more. Before he could remember himself, he threw his arms around him and hugged his father for the first time.
A second passed, and Apollo tentatively hugged him back. Will stepped away before it got awkward and smiled. “I’ll tell them. Come back as soon as you can, okay?”
The god of poetry was stricken for words for a moment. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, then shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I will do my best.”
“And…Dad?”
“Yes?”
Will gave him one more heartfelt smile. “Be safe.”
☀️
Will did not think that Lou Ellen would ever be friends with someone like Drew Tanaka. In fact, he’d never heard her even mention Drew in all the months Will had been her friend. But for some reason, Will and Drew were the only two people invited to cabin twenty past curfew to comfort Lou Ellen after her breakup.
It was the middle of March, so Cecil was still away for the school year. They’d ended things over an Iris message. Will secretly promised himself to send one of his own to Cecil to check on him once Lou Ellen was asleep. Though, he was starting to wonder if she would ever get to sleep tonight. Will had gotten Austin to round up the Apollo campers and put them all to bed so that he could lend his shoulder to Lou Ellen in her time of need, but it was now nearly midnight. He would have to make a mad dash across the green to avoid getting eaten by harpies when this was over.
Drew offered Lou Ellen another tissue out of the four boxes she brought. “He doesn’t deserve you, sweetie,” she said.
Lou Ellen honked into the tissue and tossed it onto the mountainous pile behind her. Her green eyes were puffy and red, and had been spilling tears down her face for the past two hours. She looked at Drew miserably. “That doesn’t make me feel better,” she sobbed. “I thought we were so good together! I thought everything was going perfectly!”
Will patted her back as she sunk her face into her hands and wailed. “To be honest…I thought so, too,” he said. “Where did things go wrong for you guys?”
Drew shot him a death glare. “Oh my gods, Will. You can’t just ask her that right now. Insensitive, much?”
“No, it’s okay,” whimpered Lou Ellen. “Talking about it helps, I think.”
“Talk about it as much as you want,” Will said. “We’re here to listen.”
Lou Ellen sniffled and sat up. As she talked, she conjured up a handful of Mist and played with it, making it shine in different colors and patterns. “I don’t think anything happened. We never had a fight or betrayed each other or anything big that I could point to as a reason. We just…” The ball of Mist glowed a brilliant red, then slowly dimmed to gray. “…Fell out of love. Gods, that sounds so pathetic.”
“You’re hardly the first to go through this,” Drew said. “It happens to lots of couples. So yeah, it sucks, but it’s not pathetic.”
Lou Ellen looked up at her with big, watery eyes. “It does?”
Drew nodded sagely. “All the time.”
“Then what’s the point of dating?” Lou Ellen cried. “Love is a big joke!”
Drew’s eyes widened with panic and she warded off evil with three fingers over her heart. “Babycakes, I know you’re sad, but you’d better not let my mom hear you say that.”
“Come on, Lou,” Will interjected, laying his hand over Lou Ellen’s. “You know that’s not true. Cecil just wasn’t the right guy.”
“Easy for you to say,” Lou Ellen whined. “You and Nico are so in love, you make the rest of us look shallow.”
Will froze, his heart swooping through his chest like it was on a bungee cord. “I — I don’t —“
“Don’t even pretend to deny it, Will,” Lou Ellen said, sniffling. She searched his face and frowned. “Oh, no. Wait, please don’t tell me that you don’t actually love your boyfriend. Not you, too!”
Drew folded her arms and glared at him like Will had just punched Lou Ellen in the face. Under their combined scrutiny, Will felt like he was on trial. “It’s not that I don’t…l-love him — it’s just…I, uh….“ he stammered helplessly.
“Oh, for Zeus’s sake,” Drew said, rolling her eyes. “You haven’t told him? You’ve been dating for like, three months!”
Lou Ellen gasped and threw a pillow at him. “Will! Seriously?”
“What?” Will demanded, holding his hands up. “Is there some kind of deadline I missed? Nico and I are taking things slow, that’s all!”
“Well, do you love him?” Drew interrogated. “Yes or no?”
Will blushed. “That — that’s a loaded question.”
“Do you not love him?” Lou Ellen pressed.
“No!”
Drew scoffed in offense. “You don’t love your boyfriend? Why are you even with him, then?”
“No, no, I don’t not love him!” Will groaned with frustration. “Hold on, when did this become about my relationship?”
“You want to know what I think?” Lou Ellen said. Her tears had stopped for the first time in hours, and she looked filled with determination, her eyes bright and focused. “I think that if you love someone, you have a responsibility to tell them so.”
Drew nodded. “You tell him.”
“Look, Will. I have just learned the painful lesson that love isn’t something you can just take for granted. If it’s not there, it’s like a sinkhole in your chest, slowly caving in on itself. Even if you’re dating someone, you can’t just assume that they love you. They need to show you, to tell you. Otherwise you’re just left with this dreadful feeling that you’re still alone even when you’re together.”
Will swallowed. That was exactly the opposite of how he hoped to make his boyfriend feel. Nico had been alone for so long, never able to count on anyone, always wondering if there was something irreparably broken about him. Will never wanted him to feel that way again, not if he could help it.
“William Solace,” Lou Ellen said sternly. “Do you love Nico, or not?”
Will hesitated. All his life, he’d heard the message that “love” was a big word, not to be used lightly. But when he considered it, he couldn’t think of a reason to deny it. He loved everything about Nico — he loved being around him, his interests, his hesitant smiles, his low, smooth voice, his brooding demeanor. He loved how much Nico adored his sisters, how falsely begrudging he was with all his friends. He loved Nico’s soft hair, his big, dark eyes, his battle scars, his commitment to his goth aesthetic. He loved how unexpectedly sweet and gentle Nico was with him, giving him support and affection when he most needed it. He loved kissing him, and holding him, and being close to him. He even loved the darker side of him, his trauma, his hangups, his pain and all the ways he’d been forced to cope with it.
Was there any real difference between loving all of that and loving the person himself?
Will breathed out and met Lou Ellen’s eyes. “I…I love him,” he said, a giddy feeling flying out after the words.
Both Lou Ellen and Drew smiled in approval and relief. Lou Ellen put her hand on Will’s shoulder. “Then you should tell him. I think Nico of all people needs to hear it.”
“Uh, you can say that again,” Drew agreed. “That boy’s emotional aura is like, troubling.”
Lou Ellen elbowed her. “Don’t be rude.”
Drew rolled her eyes. “All I’m saying is if you have the chance to make him feel loved, you should take it. Don’t be dumb like Cecil, who threw away a treasure.”
She squeezed Lou Ellen’s hand, who sniffled and tried to smile. “I think Cecil and I will be friends eventually, but in the meantime…I’m really glad I have you guys. Thanks for being there for me.”
“Of course,” Will said. “I really care about you both. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you, but, y’know. You’ll always have me.”
“And me!” Drew added. “And when you’re ready to put yourself out there again, it helps to have a wingwoman who can charmspeak. Just saying.”
Lou Ellen snorted. “I’ll make a note of that.” She tilted her head back and yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
“I think you should try and get some rest, Lou,” Will suggested. “We’ll come check on you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks again, you guys,” Lou Ellen said. Everyone got to their feet and Lou Ellen hugged her friends before seeing them to the door.
Will and Drew lingered on the steps, searching the skies for patrolling harpies. Will looked aside at her. “Uh…does charmspeak work on harpies?” he asked.
Drew scoffed. “I said I was a charming wingwoman, not that I could charm winged women!”
☀️
Will squeezed his eyes shut and stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “Oh gods, brain freeze,” he mumbled.
Nico took their shared blue slushie out of his hand. “Stop taking such big sips, then, dumbass.”
Will glared at him. “What else am I supposed to do when you keep hogging it?”
“Like it’s my fault that Chiron only gave us enough money for five slushies?”
“Are you boys going to need a marriage counselor back there?” called Kayla, who was walking ahead of them on the sidewalk. The entirety of cabin seven (plus Nico) was out in New York City for the night, with instructions from Chiron to “do something fun.” With each day that passed with no news of Apollo, Will and his siblings got increasingly restless. Mr. D had recommended an outing for the sake of their fragile adolescent psyches (actually, his exact words had been, “let them run around somewhere until they forget how sad their little lives are”), and Will wasn’t about to protest. It had been a long time since he’d been outside Camp Half-Blood, and he was really starting to miss the joys of mortal life.
Joys like getting late-night slushies from Seven-Eleven on their way to a karaoke suite downtown that they’d rented for three whole hours.
Austin was excitedly gesturing with his hands like he was conducting an invisible symphony. “I can’t decide which song to pick first. Will they have Ella Fitzgerald there?”
Will shrugged. “I’m more worried about whether there will be any music that Old Man Nico knows.”
Nico scoffed. “Um, excuse me. I know who Ella Fitzgerald is.”
Austin gasped, his eyes shining. “Wait, you were around when she was at the height of her career! Oh man, I’m so jealous!”
Nico laughed shyly. “I guess so,” he said. “Some of her songs were popular in Italy.”
Marie sipped her orange slushie. “What about you, Will? What are you gonna sing?”
Will waved his hands and shook his head. “Oh, no, no. None of us wants me to sing. I am attending purely as a spectator.”
Austin shook his head, horrified. “Absolutely unacceptable answer.”
“Hassle me all you want, it’s not happening,” Will said.
“Will. I’m singing karaoke.” Nico looked him dead in the eyes. “You will sing karaoke.”
Will snorted. “What, are you going to beg me to sing ‘Ave Maria’ again?”
Nico scowled. “What do you mean, again? Like I’d ever ask something like that.”
“You don’t remember?” Will said, grinning. “When I first told you I was Apollo’s son, you didn’t believe that I couldn’t sing, so you ordered me to sing ‘Ave Maria’ for you.”
The other kids laughed and “aww”-d, and Nico’s face quickly turned red. “That did not happen. You’re making that up.”
“I swear on the Styx that I’m not!” Will chuckled. “You assumed I was a son of Aphrodite at first, too. Probably because I’m just that good-looking, right?”
Nico narrowed his eyes at him, but his face was still burning. “Solace, I will end you.”
Kayla elbowed Will in the ribs as they walked. “I think he’s serious this time, Will.”
“Oh, please,” Will said, waving his hand. “If I had a drachma for every time Nico threatened me, I’d be richer than Hades.”
“Ah, yes,” Kayla said. “Romance.”
Will laughed, but stopped abruptly when he noticed Nico wasn’t walking beside him anymore. He stopped in his tracks and looked back, where Nico was standing frozen, his fists balled at his sides. Will went to him. “Hey, I was just teasing. What’s wrong?”
Nico did not seem to hear him, his eyes fixed on the pavement at his feet. His breaths were quick and shallow, his face blanched of all color. Concerned, Will reached for his hand, but he didn’t sense any signs of sickness or injury aside from a spike in adrenaline. Something had spooked him all of a sudden.
Will knew that Nico needed alone time when these types of episodes came over him. He turned to his siblings and said, “You guys go on ahead. We’ll catch up, okay?”
“You sure?” asked Marie, looking at Nico with worry plain on her face.
“Yeah, don’t worry,” Will said. “We’ll meet you there, I promise!”
As his cabin mates walked off down the sidewalk, Will turned back to Nico, who was still eerily motionless. “Let’s go find a bench or something so you can sit down, alright?”
Nico’s eyes flicked up to Will’s face, wide and dilated. His expression was hollow and unreadable.
“Nico?”
Then, with no warning, Nico sank into the shadows at his feet and vanished.
☀️
Will should have caught up to his siblings so they could all search together. In hindsight, it wasn’t particularly smart of him to immediately dash off in a panic through the lamplit streets of Manhattan on his own. But he wasn’t thinking rationally — his boyfriend had just disappeared on him when something was clearly wrong, and Will had no idea how far he went or if he would be okay when he reemerged from the shadows.
He ran across Times Square, calling Nico’s name and asking random passerby if they’d seen a teenaged boy with long, dark hair and a World War II bomber jacket come through. Only in New York City would such frantic behavior not even garner a second glance from most people.
Will wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. He turned through the streets like he was a lost child looking for his mother in a grocery store. When he eventually had to pause and catch his breath, it occurred to him that he was completely lost. Kicking himself, he forced his brain to calm down and attempt to access reason. This city was huge — he wasn’t going to find Nico by just running around like a chimera with its head cut off. And he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Nico hadn’t travelled somewhere else, either.
Stupid, teleporting boyfriend. Will wished Nico had told him what was wrong before he poofed away so he could try to figure out where he might have gone.
Will groaned and smacked the back of his head against a building on an abandoned street corner. His best bet was to try and meet up with his cabin mates at that karaoke place, so they could regroup and figure out what to do. If they could get back to camp as soon as possible, they could raise the alarm for a missing camper, maybe get some satyrs to go out and search.
Will sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. He started walking back towards Times Square (hopefully), and after a few minutes he realized he was being followed. It was dark and he couldn’t see very well, but when Will glanced over his shoulder he kept seeing the same tall man in a leather jacket walking a few paces behind him.
It’s fine, he told himself. He’s probably just trying to find his hotel or something. No reason to be paranoid.
When he looked over his shoulder again, another huge guy was following him in addition to the first, and they were getting closer. Will started walking faster, but he stopped abruptly when he saw another biker straight ahead, approaching him with the terrifying slow walk of a horror movie slasher. When he walked into the light of a street lamp, Will saw that he was at least seven feet tall, with jagged, pointed teeth bared in a snarl. A tattoo across his throat spelled out “SKULL CRUSHER.”
Will didn’t try to talk himself down again. He took off in a sprint across the street and heard the menacing footfalls of three pairs of heavy boots pounding in pursuit right behind him. He didn’t know exactly what kind of monsters these were, but he could tell they were fond of devouring demigods. How could he have run off on his own in this big city? He had no allies, no weapons. He was basically offering every monster in the metropolitan area a free platter of country-fried half-blood.
Will ran into an alley and hit a dead end, which was just as well, because it was only a matter of time before these three giants ran him down. He turned and tried not to shake as three of the ugliest mugs he’d ever seen prowled toward him. One of them cracked his knuckles; the one with the Skull Crusher tattoo was holding a massive wooden club.
Oh gods, this was how Will was going to die. Here in this garbage alley, on karaoke night, all alone. His mom and siblings would never know what happened to him. He’d never find out if Apollo survived his mortal punishment. Nico would be left to grieve all over again.
At least he wouldn’t have to sing. He really couldn’t sing to save his life.
Wait.
Maybe he couldn’t sing to save his life, but there was something else that he could try.
Will sucked in a huge breath, put his fingers to his lips, and let loose an earsplitting supersonic whistle that was probably heard all the way up to the six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building. The three giants shrieked in pain and fell to their knees, and car alarms started ringing down the street. If Will was quick, he could run right past his attackers and have a fighting chance.
He got ready to make a break for it, but he hesitated when the shadows bent around a figure wielding a wicked black sword, and Nico stepped into the alley between Will and the giants.
Before the monsters could regain their bearings, Nico screamed and lunged toward them, slashing out like a feral beast. In a flash of black lightning, one giant was pinned to the wall with Nico’s sword through his gut. But instead of ending it quickly, Nico sharpened a shadow into claws with his other hand and tore the monster’s throat out. Black blood sprayed from the wound for a split second before the giant exploded into dust, and Nico whirled onto the remaining two with a murderous look on his blood-spattered face.
Horrified, they started to flee, but Nico summoned a wall of black stone from the ground to cut off their escape. As he advanced on them, Will had to look away. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen Nico fight — it wasn’t even the first time Nico had come to his rescue against attackers, but this wasn’t like those times. This wasn’t just trying to survive, but something darker and more savage. Even the Ares half-bloods didn’t fight with this much ferocity. Will wasn’t exactly squeamish after everything he’d been through, but he never liked witnessing violence, and he’d never seen Nico so enraged.
The fight was over in a matter of seconds, and Nico sheathed his sword as he returned to Will. Will wanted to ask him so many things, but he stood stunned and stricken for words.
Nico wiped his face with his sleeve. “Are you hurt?”
Will shook his head dumbly.
Nico looked down, his eyes hidden by his hair, his clenched fists trembling. “Then…what the fuck were you thinking, Solace?” His voice was dangerously quiet, but it still felt like a slap in the face. “Do you have a death wish?”
Will blinked, stammering for a second. “I was looking for you! Why did you just up and ditch me?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nico seethed. He put his palm on Will’s sternum and shoved him against the wall behind him. “If I hadn’t heard that stupid whistle all the way from Central Park, you’d be dead right now. Do you get that? Dead. What is wrong with you?”
Will pushed Nico’s hand off, suddenly incensed. “What’s wrong with you? The way you killed those monsters just now was not normal. And now you’re yelling at me like I did something wrong? I wasn’t the one who disappeared without a word and then got mad at his boyfriend for caring!”
“I don’t want you to risk your life for me, Will!” Nico yelled. “You think those Laistrygonians wouldn’t have done worse to you if I hadn’t killed them first? How could you be so stupid? How could you do that to me when — when —“ His voice broke off and he crumpled, leaning against the wall like all his strength had left him at once.
“Nico,” Will whispered, hesitating. “Did…did somebody die?”
A small, broken sound came from Nico’s throat, and his posture slumped as he sunk his forehead onto Will’s shoulder. He said nothing, but the silent sobs wracking his frame were answer enough.
Will put his arms around him, but he felt gutted by dread. “Tell me. Please.”
Nico inhaled a shaky breath. “Jason.”
Will hated himself for the instinctual wave of relief that came over him — what an awful thing to feel at such tragic news. But he had been afraid to hear Apollo’s name, and he couldn’t help feeling gratitude that his father was still alive.
But Jason was Nico’s friend, maybe the closest person to him that he didn’t consider family. The shadow of sorrow quickly overtook the relief as Will understood why Nico was so upset. It wasn’t easy for him to form friendships like that, and losing one so violently must have been devastating. He tightened his hold around Nico’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Nico.”
“…Sorry I yelled at you,” Nico mumbled into Will’s T-shirt.
“It’s okay,” Will assured him.
“It’s not,” Nico said miserably. “You didn’t deserve that. I just…” He pressed his face tighter against Will’s neck. Will felt his skin become slick with tears as Nico started to cry. “I’m already…I — I couldn’t take it if…”
“I understand,” Will said, stopping him. He pulled back a few inches and held Nico’s chin in his hand. Tears mixed with filth and monster blood on his cheeks, and Will did his best to wipe it all away. “Come on, Sunshine. Let’s go home.”
Nico nodded mutely and took Will’s hand. Before Will could clarify that he meant calling Argus to pick them up, they were already standing in the darkness of cabin thirteen. Nico collapsed the second they materialized, and Will caught him and set him on his bed. With Nico barely conscious, Will took it upon himself to remove his shoes, sword, and jacket, setting them on the ground and helping Nico get under the blankets. Then, he stepped away to get some wet towels from the bathroom so he could clean Nico’s face and hair properly, until he looked like he’d come home from nothing more dramatic than karaoke night.
When he stood up to go, Nico grabbed his hand. “Stay,” he whispered.
“Nico, I can’t,” Will said, his voice strained with regret. “It’s not allowed.”
Nico tightened his grip. He cracked open his red-ringed eyes and looked at him imploringly. “Please, Will. Just for tonight.”
Will’s resistance crumbled in two seconds, and he sighed. “Alright. I have to run to the Big House to tell Chiron we’re okay so my cabin mates don’t worry. And then I’ll come right back, I promise. I’ll write a doctor’s note if I have to.”
Nico reluctantly released his hand. “Thank you,” he breathed.
Will looked at him, heart aching, and leaned down to kiss his forehead before tearing himself away. When he returned a few minutes later, Nico was lying on his side and whimpering in his sleep.
Will toed off his shoes and got into bed beside him, curling against his back like a protective shell. He pulled Nico close and placed his hand over Nico’s heart, and only then did he calm his breathing.
☀️
The next few weeks were brutal. In addition to mourning one of his few close friends, it was clear that Nico was struggling with the resurfacing trauma of losing Bianca as well. He became irritable and listless, and his weakened sense of self-worth was evident from the demeaning way he talked about himself to the lack of regard over his own wellbeing. After seeing Nico steadily making gains with his mental health over the past few months, it broke Will’s heart when he started sliding back to that dark place.
Will was as attentive as he could be, but Nico tended to isolate himself when his depression was bad. He’d once explained to Will that he felt like he could regulate his own emotions a lot better when he was alone, and he was usually pretty good about asking for company when he was ready for it. So Will tried to give him space to cope with this tragedy, but…it had been days since Nico had spent time around another human being, and Will was getting really worried for him.
Nico missed all of his camp obligations and avoided his friends. He hadn’t been showing up at the dining pavilion, so Will was bringing plates of food to the Hades cabin after meals and hoping Nico would eat something. Will wished he could send an Iris Message to Camp Jupiter to ask for reinforcements from Hazel and Reyna, but for some frustrating reason those communications were still down.
And through it all, Will wasn’t exactly at his best, himself. He missed his mom, and he found himself missing Apollo and hoping he was safe, too. It was hard not to wonder if Jason’s death had anything to do with Apollo’s quest, and what that said about the danger his father was facing. Meanwhile, Will’s siblings were all struggling as their divine abilities continued to ebb away, and they looked to him for guidance even though he was just as helpless. He really, really needed Apollo to come back to camp.
Will couldn’t blame Nico for needing time to weather his own pain, but he sorely missed being able to rely on his boyfriend for emotional support.
One evening, when Will brought dinner to cabin thirteen, Nico wasn’t there. Will was immediately on alert because Nico had hardly set foot outside of his cabin for almost a month. Setting the plate down on a nightstand, Will set off to search all his usual haunts — or what had been his usual haunts before he’d started shutting himself in every day — but he wasn’t at the arena or the canoe lake pier or even the infirmary. With each successive location that Nico didn’t turn up, Will’s anxiety gradually swelled from mild to frantic.
Even though it was unconscionably foolish to wander into the woods alone this close to sundown, it was the only place Will hadn’t searched, and he would rather take the risk than wait until morning to find Nico. He stumbled around, calling out for him, his path illuminated by the glow of his skin but still plenty treacherous. He tripped over a root or a rock every five steps, and his hands and face quickly got scraped up and covered in dirt and dead leaves.
Finally, after stumbling around and attracting attention to himself for twenty minutes, Will’s eye caught on a smooth, reflective surface shining his light back to him. He’d recognize that black jagged blade anywhere — it was Nico’s sword, stuck in the ground beside the boy himself. Sheltered by a half-decayed fallen tree, Nico sat hugging his knees to his chest, arms folded atop them. His face was hidden as he curled in on himself, but Will could see the slight tremble of his shoulders that meant he was crying.
“Oh, thank the gods, there you are.” Will ran to him, only tripping two more times, before sitting down beside him. He put an arm around him, sweeping Nico’s hair out of his face with the other hand. “Hey, Nico, it’s not safe out here. Let’s go back to the cabins, okay?”
Nico was silent for a long time, occasionally sniffling or hitching a shaky breath. He didn’t lean into Will like he usually did, didn’t even acknowledge that he’d heard him speak. After a long few minutes, he muttered, “This was where I fell into the Labyrinth, the day I found out about Bianca’s death. It was right here.”
Will glanced around like he was checking for a giant crevice he may have missed. But no, the Labyrinth entrance had been sealed up at the end of the battle that took Lee’s life. He turned back to Nico. “That must be an awful day to remember,” he whispered.
“I came here to see if I could get back in,” Nico said, his voice toneless and weak.
“Why would you want to do that?” Will asked. “I thought you hated the Labyrinth.”
“The same reason I always run away.” Nico touched his forehead to his knees. “I want to get lost.”
Will watched him for a second, unsure what to say. “I don’t want you to get lost,” he confessed. “I want you to stay right here, with us.”
“I can’t. I can’t do it,” Nico lamented. “I tried, I really did, but I just can’t be around…”
“Around camp?”
Nico raised his bloodshot, exhausted gaze to him. “Around you, Will.”
Will felt ice crystallize in his stomach. “Wh-what?”
“I know you keep trying to help me heal and move on from everything that’s happened, but I can’t keep up the delusion that I’ll ever get better. That I’m even worth the effort. Even if I can manage to hate being alive slightly less, it never lasts. Something always comes along to bring me back down.” He paused to angrily drag his knuckles across his cheeks, like his tears were pests he couldn’t stand. “…I can’t keep trying to be the person you want me to be.”
“…Do I —“ Will’s voice cracked. He swallowed and tried again. “Do I make you that unhappy?”
Nico shook his head. “That’s the thing. You don’t make me unhappy, at all. You — you make me forget how awful my life is. But the more I like you, the more it will hurt when you leave me,” Nico said, his voice barely a whisper. “And I don’t want the rug ripped out from under me again. Better to just cut it off now.”
“Leave you? Nico, I’m not leaving you. I’m not going anywhere,” Will said firmly.
Nico scoffed. “You will. The Fates don’t let me keep people like you in my life. Every person I trust enough to get close goes and gets themselves killed. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.”
“That’s not true,” Will insisted. “What about Hazel? What about Reyna? And Coach Hedge, and Annabeth, and Percy, and Cecil, and Lou Ellen? There are so many people who care about you, who want you around.”
“It won’t last,” Nico muttered. “That’s just the way it is. I deserve to be alone.”
“Nico.” Will turned his body to fully face him. “I know you’re going through some incredibly painful and dark emotions. I won’t belittle that. But I’m not going to let you run away from people who love you right when you need us the most.”
“I’d be doing you a favor.” Nico pulled grass out of the ground. He took a shaky breath. “You don’t have to pretend there’s anyone who actually loves me.”
“I do!”
Nico stiffened, freezing in his motions, almost not breathing. Will felt a swoop of fear dive through him, hoping to the gods he didn’t just say the wrong thing. But he’d said it, and it wasn’t a lie. He wasn’t about to take it back.
“I-I love you,” he said.
Nico cringed. “No. Don’t say that.”
“I’ll say it if I want to,” Will said stubbornly. “I’ve loved you for a while, I just haven’t said it because I didn’t want to scare you. But you know what, you need to hear it right now. You’re loved, okay? You’re so loved, and not just by me.“
Nico buried his face in his arms and sobbed. “You deserve someone better. I’ll only let you down.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Will put his arms around Nico’s shoulders and pulled him to his chest. Nico went to him with little resistance, curling into Will’s embrace as he trembled and cried. Will held him close, petting his hair and pressing kisses to his head.
Nico wept into Will’s shirt, wails of despair repeatedly shattering into broken breaths. His fingers clawed at Will’s shoulders, dragging the fabric of his camp tee downward. Will wished he could assure him that everything would be okay, that nothing bad would happen, but he really didn’t know what was next for them. He held onto the one thing he knew was untouchably true and whispered it over and over: “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
It was like a prayer, like the healing hymns he’d sung so many times to close wounds and heal sickness. He wished he could heal what was hurting Nico so quickly, but even Apollo at the height of his divinity couldn’t cure heartbreak. The best Will could do was hold him, and keep him from being alone with his grief again.
Eventually, Nico’s sobs faded to gasping hiccups, though tears still flowed from his eyes. He withdrew so he could scrub at his face with the heel of his hand. “I don’t deserve you, Will. I’m not good enough. I don’t know how you don’t see that.”
“Hey. Look at me.”
Nico dragged his gaze up. He looked so thoroughly miserable, like he’d been left outside in the rain all night.
Will put his hands on the sides of his face. “I don’t want anyone but you, exactly the way you are, even through the difficult times. I’ve got you no matter what, remember?”
Nico bit his lip. “I…I can’t…I’m not…”
“And if you leave me right now, you’ll break my heart,” Will promised. “Please, stay.”
Nico shut his eyes, squeezing the tears out. When he looked at Will again, his eyes were clear. “…Okay.”
Will smiled. “Okay?”
Nico nodded weakly, leaning his face into Will’s palm. “Okay.”
Will wrapped him in a hug, and Nico sank against him. Will pressed his lips to his forehead. “Thank you, Sunshine.”
Nico clung to him with all his strength, like he was trusting Will to keep him from falling. “I’ve got you,” he whispered. “No matter what.”
☀️
Will was taking inventory in the infirmary’s supply room to keep himself busy. It had been nearly six months since Apollo left camp, and it was the longest period of time Will had ever been away from home. But demigod communications were finally back online, and Chiron had just received word from Camp Jupiter that Apollo was on his way back to New York. He was supposed to be arriving sometime this afternoon, and Will had no idea what to do with himself.
Nico sat on a stool in the corner and read from a checklist. “Saline syringes.”
Will climbed the stepladder and peered into the contents of a high shelf. “Four boxes of fifty.”
Nico scribbled the number down. “Tourniquets.”
Will grabbed the pile from one of the boxes on the floor. “Fifteen. We should order more.”
Another note. Nico hesitated, then said, “Overly anxious boyfriends.”
Will leaned his head on his forearm and breathed a chuckle. “One too many.”
Nico set his clipboard down and came over to him, taking his trembling hands in his own. “Calm down. Apollo is fine,” he murmured, brushing a curl of Will’s hair behind his ear. “I would know if something happened to him.”
Will swallowed and averted his eyes. He didn’t want to bring up the last death Nico had felt, but they still hadn’t properly talked about the turmoil that had been bubbling in their relationship. He bit his lip and said, “Nico…before he gets here, I think we need to talk.”
Nico’s brows twitched with displeasure, and instead of replying, he ducked his head down and pressed his lips to the side of Will’s neck. Will yelped at the sensation, his heart immediately jumping into his throat. As he struggled to regain his senses, Nico mouthed along his sensitive skin up toward his jaw and murmured, “Is that what we need to do? Talk?”
“Uh…Y-yeah,” Will breathed. Nico did his best to interfere with his recollection of what he was going to say, but eventually he said, “I think things have been…tense between us.”
Softly, Nico kissed the side of his mouth, then drew back. “Tense?”
Will looked at him. Nico’s lidded eyes weren’t fixed on his, but rather on his lips. His mouth felt dry. “I feel like you’ve been distant,” he whispered.
“I’m close now,” Nico pointed out. He put his hands on Will’s waist and tugged him closer. “What do you want me to do?”
Will could have sworn he had a point to get to. But surely he couldn’t be expected to focus when his boyfriend was looking at him like that. He shook his head. “Screw it. Just kiss me.”
Nico’s lips were on him before he could take his next breath, pressing up against him with almost punishing force. Kissing back was like trying to outrun a firestorm, and just as heated. Nico was relentless, almost desperate. The tip of his tongue darted out, getting Will to part his lips so that Nico could catch his teeth on them.
Will gasped for air when Nico’s mouth moved back to his neck, kissing him over and over as his hands snuck under the hem of Will’s shirt. His palms swept across the skin of Will’s sides like water, appreciating every inch. Nico had never touched him like this before, and Will felt one microsecond away from spontaneously combusting. He opened his eyes and stared helplessly at the ceiling. Was the glow illuminating the crown of Nico’s hair coming from him, or the electric light? Did it matter?
He grabbed Nico’s jaw and dragged his face back up. “Come here,” he breathed, and then kissed him with as much feeling as though it were their first. Nico finally slowed down a fraction, meeting his lips with intention each time. Will felt his mind detach like a leaf from a stem and float off into the sky, his head clear of everything but kissing Nico. He wove his hands into Nico’s long hair and whispered, “I love you” against his lips.
He felt Nico smile, but he didn’t say anything. The following silence felt damning, and Nico stepped backward. Will tried not to take it as a rejection — he reminded himself he wasn’t saying it so Nico would say it back, but solely to express his own feelings. It didn’t stop the hopelessly romantic part of him from wishing that they were returned.
Will cleared his throat and straightened up. “…My dad should be here soon,” he said, internally wincing at the awkward abruptness.
Nico swallowed and nodded. His suave confidence from a moment ago was completely gone, leaving behind an anxious teenager. “Right. We should — we should probably go wait outside.”
He turned and walked out of the supply room before Will could say anything. Will sighed, then neatened his hair and his shirt before following him out.