Chapter Text
Nico stared at the way sunlight fell into the water, making it glistening under the bright sky. He let out a sigh, running a frustrated hand over his head.
“I don’t know how to start.”
Mitchell tilted his head to the left. “Maybe you can start by telling me what you want to talk about?” he paused, and then softly added. “Or maybe…who you want to talk about?”
Nico inhaled sharply as he felt heat flooding over his cheeks. He turned his head to Mitchell, half-expecting to see a teasing smirk on him.
But instead, Mitchell had a calm expression on his face, just a pair of curious eyes.
“Mitchell, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“What makes you decide that you want to be with Connor?”
Mitchell smiled at this, and there was that look in his eyes. A soft look like everything around him was all rainbow and sparkles and unicorns.
“Because he makes me happy,” he said. “And I can feel that somehow, I make him happy too.”
“That simple?”
“Why does it have to be complicated?”
“Because I can’t seem to understand what I feel about Will!’
Nico closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to clear his mind. When he opened his eyes, Mitchell had an assuring smile on his lips. He gave Nico a single nod, like encouraging Nico to talk more.
Nico looked down, staring at his hands on his thighs. He sighed, but he could still feel his heartbeat racing. It took a while before he could calm himself down and looked at Mitchell again.
“I… I used to have a crush on Percy.”
Mitchell nodded. “To be fair, most of the campers, at one point, had a crush on him. It’s not like a big secret in this camp.”
Nico snorted. A memory of the same conversation that he had with Will during his three-day stay in the infirmary flashed in his mind.
“But this… This is… different…”
“Why would you say it’s different?”
Nico stretched his lips into a thin line. It took him another two seconds before he continued.
“It’s… When it was Percy… I was… I tried to be impressive in front of him. You know? Doing things that I thought would make him like me?”
“I believe that it’s one of the things that people usually do when they have a crush on someone.”
“I guess? But with Will… It’s…different.”
Mitchell gave him another single nod, along with a slight understanding smile.
“With Will… It’s more like… I care about him. I want him to be happy. And I want to be the one to make him happy. I want to be a part of his happiness…”
Nico took a deep breath. Now that he started to talk, it was like words just tumbling down from his lips.
“And … I started to realize that I noticed all the single details about him. When he’s around I could only look at him. And I want him to only look at me... And stupid little things make me think of him. These… these things that usually mean nothing to me suddenly remind me of him.”
Nico paused. As he gazed at the horizon, a picture of Will, laughing with his golden hair catching the ray of sunlight filled his mind and squeezed his heart.
“Like…last week I went to for a short trip to Seattle, to do a small errand for my father. I walked pass by this café and I thought about him just because the café had a wonderful breakfast menu and…Will is kind of obsessed with breakfast,” Nico explained, unconsciously smiling as he thought about how Will always ranted about how important breakfast was.
“That’s cute,” Mitchell said, provoking another rush of heat on Nico’s cheeks.
“So…” Nico said, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “What… what do you think I should do?”
“Well… Do you want to do something about it?”
Nico shrugged his shoulders, still fixing his eyes at the lake. “I don’t know? Maybe? But I’m also kind of… scared about it?”
“I’m going to be completely honest with you, Nico.”
Nico turned his head to Mitchell, finding the boy stared at him with a serious look.
“I think he likes you too. I mean, everyone can see how much he care for you. And just ask any Apollo kids, I’m sure they will tell you how much he talks about you all the time.”
Warm air filled Nico’s chest as hope bloomed inside it. “Do you think so?”
Mitchell nodded. “I really do think so. But I think, even though Will seems to be a very easy-going person, I don’t think that he would be the one taking the first step to do something about…” he waved his hand vaguely. “Whatever it is between the two of you.”
Nico groaned. “Why wouldn’t he? It will make everything’s easier.”
“Why do you say so? Would you say yes if he asked you out? As in dating? Like me and Connor?”
Nico could feel his cheeks were burning. But the idea, the idea that he and Will could also be together, doing those stupid couple-y romantic things… Well, it’s something unimaginable yet also not something that he completely hated.
“Yeah… I guess so. It would be nice…” Nico answered, his heart beating a bit faster.
Mitchell smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure that Will would like it too. You might not see it but other people can see the way he looked at you.”
“Then why doesn’t he just ask me?”
Mitchell stayed quiet for a while. He kept his eyes at Nico like he was trying to find the best way to talk to him.
“Maybe because… He didn’t want to freak you out? I mean, no offense but you do have the history of running away from camp…”
Nico closed his eyes and groaned a little. When he opened his eyes back, Mitchell continued.
“And I think Will thought that he’d rather be your friend than your nothing at all. He’d rather have you here now even though not in the way he wanted it to be, rather than not having you here at all.”
Nico looked down to his lap, where his fingers were intertwined. He took a shaky breath and slowly exhaled it out.
“I… I don’t know how to do it…,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “I mean… This time, I want to do it right. Properly.”
He looked back at Mitchell. “I mean, I don’t want to do the same mistakes as what I did when I had that stupid crush on Percy.”
Mitchell’s smile was a comforting one along with the soft look in his eyes. “Well, you were so much younger at that time. And you were in such a difficult position at that time.”
Nico sat quietly, thinking about things that Mitchell just told him. About his feelings. About things that happened between him and Will. About things that he wanted to happen.
He finally straightened up, and let out a long breath.
“Okay,” he said, more like to himself than to anyone else. “I think… I think I know now.”
“So, you know what you want to do?” Mitchell asked.
Nico nodded. He ran a nervous hand over his head. “I just… I just hope that I do it right this time.”
“You will, Nico,” Mitchell said. He put his hand on Nico’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly. “I know you will. This time you will do it right.”
***
It took Nico three days after that talk with Mitchell before he finally did it. It was late afternoon when Nico walked into the infirmary. He knew that Will’s work in the infirmary would end soon, and they would still have some time before dinner. No matter how many pep-talks that he had given himself, he was just so glad that Will was alone in the infirmary. Nico was pretty sure that he might back down if he saw Cecil’s teasing smirk or Kayla’s knowing glance.
Will turned his head around from the shelves, where he just put in the journal that kept the daily record.
“Nico!” he greeted; his blue eyes smiled along with his lips. For a fleeting second, Nico thought about how that smile always seemed to make his blue eyes sparkled.
“Hey,” Nico said, trying to smile. But with the plan that he had, he’s pretty sure his smile was a nervous one. “You’re done with the day?”
Will hummed as he nodded. “Yeah. I was just about to leave.” He stared at Nico and there was a slight concern in his expression. “You’re alright there? You seemed a bit…different…”
“Yeah…” Nico said, a bit too quick. He clasped his hands and hid them behind his back. “Hey, listen. I… I need to talk with you.”
Will’s eyes widened for a second, looking confused.
“Oh,” he said. “Okay, then.” He ran a hand over his hair. “What is it about?”
Nico cringed a little. “Uhm. I was thinking…maybe we can talk somewhere else?”
Will blinked. But then he nodded. “Sure. No problem.”
“Great!” Nico said, almost flinched at how his voice sounded too high. “So. Shall we?”
“Of course,” Will said, giving him a small smile. But Nico could still see a slight confusion in his blue eyes. Nico tried to return the smile. He walked to the door, and Will was quick to follow him.
Nico led them from the infirmary into the woods. They stayed quiet while walking. Will seemed to be too confused to find anything to say, while Nico was too nervous to make any small talk.
When they reached the small clearing in the forest, Nico stopped. He looked around to make sure that the nymphs kept their promises that they wouldn’t be around. Will took two steps away from Nico before he stopped. He slid his hands into the pocket of his jeans and turned around.
“Well?” He asked, looking at Nico expectantly. “What is it that you want to talk about?”
This was it. This would be the time. It was now or never.
Oh, how Nico would have loved to say that it went smoothly. That the words that he had carefully planned, and rehearsed before just flew eloquently from his lips.
Of course, that wasn’t exactly what happened.
Will was standing just two steps away from him. The golden rays of the late afternoon sunlight fell on Will’s hair, making it aflame. His eyes were so brilliantly blue, like fragments of summer sky were trapped there. There was a hint of the barest smile on his lips as he kept his eyes at Nico.
So of course, the words that he had prepared before just disappeared from his brain.
There was a beat of silence.
And another.
Until Will’s voice broke the silence.
“Nico?”
Nico blinked. He could feel the heat on the back of his neck as his heart forgot how to beat normally. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
And failing miserably. He could feel how his hands were still trembling.
But Nico knew that if he didn’t do it now, then he would never do it.
And Nico refused to let himself fall into that mistake again. To be miserable for not expressing what he felt.
“Will, do you remember when we went to dinner at Claudio’s place?”
A small smile sneaked into Will’s lips as he nodded. “Yeah. That was nice. I had a good time.”
Nico nodded. “Me too. So.” He paused to clear his throat. “I was... I mean.. I want to do it again.”
“Going there for dinner? Sure.”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, I want to go there with you. For dinner, or lunch. Or whatever. And to other places too.”
Will tilted his head to the left a little, and Nico knew that his words didn’t make sense but he just couldn’t stop himself from rambling.
“I mean… I want to go with you. To many places. Dinner, lunch, movies, ice cream, or maybe frozen yogurt because I know you like frozen yogurt more than ice cream. Or a picnic. Or just walking. I mean… But I want to go only with you. Just the two of us.”
Nico could feel heat spreading up in his vein as words tumbling down from him. And Will stared at him with this expression that looked like a mix of awe, confusion, shock and amusement.
Nico stopped. For a while, silence stretched between them. His breathing was ragged and he was almost sure that Will could also hear how his heart was beating so loudly.
He frantically trying to find another word, some decent, eloquent words to express himself better than what he just did but his brain failed him.
“Nico?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you… Is this….” Will paused, looking unsure and hesitant but finally continued. “Is this…your way of…asking me out?”
Nico cringed. “Is that how they call it nowadays?”
“I think so.”
“Well. Then… Yes. I am asking you out.”
Will’s cheeks were now the color of cherry but Nico wouldn't say anything on that because he’s pretty sure that he’s just as red as Will now.
“As in… dating?”
“Yeah. As in…dating…”
“Like… I mean… Like, boyfriends?”
Nico thought that his face couldn’t get even redder than now but apparently, he was wrong. He could feel his face was burning.
“Yeah. Boyfriends.”
The word felt so foreign on his tongue. And never, never in his life before Nico ever thought that he would have a boyfriend. That he would become a boyfriend to another boy.
Gods, the thought was so scary yet so exciting.
The ghost of a smile started to bloom on Will’s lips. “So. Uhm. Can I…safely assume that you like me? And I mean, like like me.”
Nico nodded. The smile on Will’s lips somehow calmed him and the frantic, panic beating of his heart was slowly turned into small stupid dance.
“Yeah. I… I like you. Like, really like you.”
Will’s smile was now a bright, genuine one and his eyes were the most gorgeous shade of blue.
“I… I like you too. So yeah.”
A blissful feeling surged in Nico’s vein and there were thousands of skeletal butterflies flying around in his stomach. Nico stared back at Will and he could feel how his own lips were curling up to and he was probably grinning so stupidly but did he care? No.
“So. Boyfriends?” Nico asked, whispering as he took a step forward, closer to Will. Everything, everything felt too beautiful, like a fragile dream, Nico was almost afraid that if he spoke too loudly everything will just shatter into broken dreams.
“If you want to?”
“I just asked you out. Of course I want it.”
With that smile and those eyes and the way his golden curls framing his face, Will was practically the most gorgeous thing ever for Nico. And he wasn’t even thinking when he tiptoed and pressed his lips to Will’s cheek.
It was a quick, chaste kiss and a second later Nico already pulled away, couldn’t believe that he just did that. But when he saw Will in front of him, looking surprised but also so genuinely happy at the same time, he was glad that he did it. Will’s hand flew to his right cheek, softly touching the very spot where Nico’s lips were just kissed it, like he needed to make sure that it really happened.
Will slowly pulled his hand back down to his side. He smiled and Nico was just so happy to know that he was the one causing Will smiled like that. He promised himself that he would never stop doing anything that could make Will smiled like that.
“So. Uh. Boyfriends?” Will asked.
“Yes. Boyfriends.” Nico said, nodding his head. This time his voice was a steady one because he just knew that he had done it right.
“Okay, then…”
Then something crossed his mind. Another part of his plan for today.
“Will? Wait here, okay?”
He didn’t give a chance for Will to ask any question as he quickly made his way to a small shrub. He quickly grabbed the bouquet of sunflowers that he hid there before. He strode back to Will, and handed him the flowers.
Will blinked. “For me?” he asked, as he took the bouquet from Nico.
Nico nodded. “I mean. I… I couldn’t really remember it clearly. But…there are a few things that I remember from the past. I remember… I remember my father always gave my mother flowers. When he came to our house, he always had flowers with him and gave it to her. I remember how it always made her smile.”
“And now, it’s you making me smile,” Will said.
Nico took Will’s left hand and held it. “Do you like it?”
Will nodded, holding Nico’s hand back. “I love it. Thank you, Nico.”
Will bit his lower lip, and looked a bit unsure for a second. Then he asked. “Nico? Can I…hug you?”
For so long in his life, Nico always thought that letting someone touched him meant lowering his defense. And it meant that it would let them hurt him. But with Will, he knew that he could trust Will.
So he smiled, a bit shyly, and nodded. Will dropped his hand that he was holding just so he could wrap one arm around Nico’s back. He pulled Nico closer and looped his other arm around Nico’s neck as Nico wrapped his arms around Will’s waist. Nico pressed the side of his face on Will’s chest, savoring the warmth enveloping him. He could feel Will resting his chin gently on the top of his head. Everything felt perfect and something glowed inside of him, as warm light air filled his lung.
He still couldn’t name what it was exactly that he felt for Will. He just knew that it’s a strong, intense feeling that brought so many emotions inside of him. And maybe it’s too soon to name it love.
But maybe one day he would understand. Maybe one day he could look Will in the eyes and tell him that he loved Will. That it was Will, it had been Will all along, and it would always be Will for him.
But right now, all that he knew that this, this was pure happiness.
And that was enough.
He’s with Will, he’s happy, and that’s enough.
***