Chapter Text
Nico woke up, ignoring the sounds of the tolling bell tower and his phone ringing beside him, and launched himself out of bed to wrap his arms around Will. Thank god he’s alive.
“Woah, are you alright?” Will asked, setting his hands on Nico’s arms as though to steady him as Nico moved away.
“Yeah,” Nico said, smiling up at him. “Sorry. I’m just, uh, glad you brought me back here last night. I mean, I was pretty wasted, so who knows what could’ve happened if it weren’t for you.”
“Oh. Right, yeah, no problem,” Will replied.
Nico stepped back and grabbed his jeans. “Well, I’ve gotta run, and you’ve got class, so I’ll get out of your way. I’ll see you for lunch, right?” He shed Will’s shirt, and quickly replaced it with his own, but Will’s gaze still dropped - to give Nico privacy! How adorable.
“I, uh-- What?”
Nico stepped into his shoes. “See you later, Will!”
He didn’t see his roommates until lunch, and when he sat down with his tray, Jason asked, “What’s got you all smiley?”
Percy grinned. “Oh, you got laid last night, didn’t you?”
Nico’s smile didn’t waver. “Nope! His name’s Will, and we did not sleep together last night, but mark my words: if I live live through the day, I’m going to marry him.”
Jason’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Holy shit. He must’ve made some impression on you last night, huh?”
Nico shrugged. “I guess you could say that.”
For a few minutes, Nico fielded questions from his roommates while he enjoyed his lunch - a chocolate muffin and a Yoo-hoo; he deserved a treat after all of this, alright? Soon enough, though, a familiar voice behind him said, “Uh, hey, Nico?” and Nico jumped out of his chair. Will smiled at him - more shy than Nico had seen in weeks - and held out his hand. “You left this behind at my place. I, uh, thought you might want it back.”
Nico took his ring from Will’s open palm, then rose onto his toes to press a kiss to Will’s cheek, which bloomed pink under Nico’s touch.
“What was that for?” Will asked, grinning like a fool.
“Consider it a thank you for bringing me my ring,” Nico told him. “Maybe I can thank you again later by taking you out to dinner?”
“Yeah, absolutely!” Will exclaimed, then fumbled to pull his phone from his pocket. “Uh, here, put your number in, and I’ll text you.”
Nico met his father for dinner, despite how much he would rather be anywhere else. He sat down across the table while Hades gave him a blank stare.
“Glad you could finally join me,” Hades said coldly, and picked up his menu to start perusing. “How is school?”
“I don’t want to talk about school,” Nico replied bluntly.
Hades sighed. “Nico--”
“No, Dad, I don’t want to talk about school,” Nico repeated. “I want to talk about Bianca. It’s her birthday, and every year you pretend it isn’t. I don’t want to deal with the bullshit smalltalk anymore just because you want to...forget she ever even existed, or whatever. I miss her too, you know, and I know I haven’t been coping the best with it either, but this can’t keep happening. This... pretending that she was never here isn’t helping either of us, and we can’t keep living like that.”
Hades lowered his menu slowly, and took a breath before looking up at his son. “You know, she would have hated this restaurant. There’s one of those fast food places that she liked a little ways down the road--”
“In-N-Out Burger? I haven’t been to one of those in years!”
Hades cracked a smile. “What do you say we head over there for dinner instead?”
Nico marched into the hospital, armed with knives just like last time. He made his way straight to Bryce’s room, though his blood froze in his veins when he saw that the bed was already empty. He heard the gunshot behind him just like before, and turned to throw his knife into Bryce’s chest before the other could even get a word out.
Nico ran toward him while Bryce tried to find his bearings, another knife in hand already. In the same second that Nico plunged his second knife in between Bryce’s ribs, Bryce fired the gun in his hand, though the bullet only grazed Nico’s arm.
Bryce dropped like a sack of rocks. Nico nearly sobbed in relief. Instead, he ran for the stairwell, heading down one floor until he found a nurse to tend to his bleeding arm. Oh, and to call the police.
Speaking of, as Nico was sat down on a hospital bed to have someone look at his arm, he brought out his phone.
“Hey, Will,” he said once the other answered, “I think I might have to postpone our late dinner. But I’d let you come pick me up from the hospital if you’re still free.”
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Will exclaimed, and then without giving Nico a chance to respond, said, “I’m on my way, I’ll see you soon.”
Nico was so exhausted after not sleeping, day after day after day, and he nearly fell asleep between getting his arm bandaged and Will’s arrival.
“Nico!” Will called to him, and Nico smiled sleepily at him.
“Hey there, Sunshine,” Nico replied as he hopped off the bed. “Thanks for coming to get me. The doctor said I couldn’t leave unless someone was here with me, and I’m glad I called you first.”
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to leave? I mean, I saw a ton of cop cars outside, and if you’re hurt, then you should probably stay overnight--”
“Trust me, I’m fine.” Nico grabbed Will’s hand and started pulling him toward the doors.
“Are you at least going to tell me what happened?”
Nico tipped his head toward Will. “It’s a very long story,” he said, smiling a bit at his own inside joke.
Will squeezed his hand. “I like long stories.”
Nico woke up to the sound of a clock bell tolling. His head was pounding before he even opened his eyes, and he groaned when his phone started to ring somewhere near his head.
He sat up slowly, groggy and confused when he didn’t immediately recognize his surroundings, and his heart stopped when he saw a very familiar flannel shirt across the room.
“Will…?” Nico whispered fearfully.
Will spun around to face him, smiling brightly. “Oh, good! You’re awake! I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be woken up for class or not--”
“No,” Nico said, burying his head in his hands. “No, no, no! I lived through the night, this can’t be happening!”
Will sat down on the bed beside him, setting one hand on his shoulder and using the other to turn Nico’s head toward him. “Nico, hey, Nico, look at me.” Once their eyes were locked, Will smiled at him. “I’m joking. It’s Saturday.”
Nico’s eyes widened - in shock, in relief, in disbelief - and he shoved Will so hard that he fell over onto the mattress. Nico grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and pressed it into Will’s face as though trying to smother him. Will managed to push him back enough to roll himself on top of Nico and held himself nose-to-nose with him.
“Hey, don’t suffocate me under my own pillow! If I die today, you can’t bring me back, you know!” Will laughed down at him, poking his fingers into Nico’s side until he was laughing along with him.
Nico dragged Will down to press their lips together. “I’d find a way.”