Work Text:
I.
Annabeth was the one to point out the change to Piper on the plane.
“Have you noticed that this is the first time Nico ever brought someone along with him on this trip?” she gestured to the aisle diagonal to them, where Nico and Will seemed to be arguing quietly about something in their respective middle and window seats. Reyna was reading a book next to them in the aisle seat with her earbuds in, seemingly unaware of what was going on beside her.
This trip itself had been an annual thing for a while now. It had originally been organized by Sally Jackson for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. At some point, Nico started tagging along as well, and others just joined from there. They tried to find a date where everyone could come, but as they got older, they all found less time in their schedules. Grover, Rachel, and Thalia couldn’t make it this year. However, they found a new face joining them this year: Will Solace.
Each of them had met Will at least once. It didn’t occur to them that maybe there was a reason why until this moment.
They watched the two continue their conversation. Nico was gesturing wildly, probably complaining about being stuck in the middle seat, while Will listened and occasionally offered an opinion that would either have Nico agreeing or just cause him to go off again. Neither could tell what they were saying over the loud jets of the plane, but it was clear how wrapped up in each other they were.
“Oh my god ,” Piper remarked. “I’ve never seen him talk like this to any of us in this early in the day!” (Their flight was at 9:00 in the morning, which required them to all get up an ungodly hour). “Nico must like him a lot .”
Annabeth grinned. “Good thing, because-” she gestured towards Will, who was grinning as Nico leaned in slyly to tell him something, probably about one of them. “Will definitely likes him back.”
Walking into their rental house was like lifting a weight off everyone’s shoulders. There was no doubt that this was the best part of the year; no responsibility, just the sun, and a beach, and the ocean. They had to start renting a bigger condo when more people started tagging along, but somehow everyone found their spot.
“Okay,” Percy clapped as everyone stood in the hallway, unsure of where to go next. “We’ve got five bedrooms, each with a queen-size bed, two bathrooms, and a couple of pull-out couches and air mattress if we need them. Beds are my mom,me and Annabeth, Jason and Piper, Hazel and Frank, and…” he trailed off, looking between his friends as if deciding which one he could save from a fire. Or, in this case, a couch.
“Nico and Will,” Annabeth supplied. She and Piper made eye contact, sharing small smiles as Nico and Will didn’t react, although both blushed lightly. Nico’s probably just thankful to not be on a mattress this time, Annabeth decided.
Percy just nodded off his surprise. “Right,” he trailed off before looking back up to his other two friends. “Leo, Reyna, you two good with the pull-outs?” They both nodded, traces of I’ve-had-worse evident in their face. “Great! One of the couches is in one of the bedrooms, so Jason and Piper can take that room and Leo can take that couch. Reyna, you get the living room.” With that, everyone went on their way to unpack.
“How long have Will and Nico been a thing?” Jason whispered as they walked to their respective rooms. He looked guilty like he missed out on the biggest moment of Nico’s life.
“They aren’t. Not yet, at least. Annabeth and I have a plan.” Piper grinned. “You want in?”
“Oh, absolutely .”
They all gathered in the living room once they had finished, ready to talk game plan for the week.
“Okay, first things first, we need to go grocery shopping. Nico, Reyna, Will, can you guys handle it if we make a list?” Annabeth starts, perched on a ledge of the couch.
“Why do we have to? We did last year-” Nico started, but Will put a hand on his shoulder before pulling him up. Nico just grumbled as he walked towards the door with Reyna, and Will turned back around to give them a knowing smile.
The moment they walked out the door, Percy turned to his girlfriend with bewilderment. “What was that about?”
Piper grinned. “We’re trying to get them together.”
“And we have a plan,” Annabeth added. “We needed them out of here so we could tell you guys.”
Hazel looked like she was trying to hold back laughter. “I’m staying out of this,” she said, curls bouncing as she shook her head. “But good luck.” With that, she stood up and started to make her way back to her room.
“Oh, uh, me too,” Frank said, quickly getting up to follow her.
“Alright guys,” Piper leans forward, rubbing her hands together like an evil scientist. “Here’s what we got.”
II.
They put their plan into action the next morning, starting with Piper and Jason jumping onto Nico’s bed.
They were disappointed to find Will already awake and trying to help Sally with breakfast when they woke. (Keyword: try. The poor boy could barely make toast without burning it. Sally put him in charge of cutting fruit). Nevertheless, if any sort of accidental cuddling happened in the night, it would remain a mystery to the rest of them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Nico glowered at them before shoving his face back into the pillow he had previously been sound asleep on before the two shook him awake.
“We brought you coffee,” Jason offered. For a second there was no reaction before Nico finally lifted his head. He turned, sitting up and reaching out for the mug, a steady glare still set on the two.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Piper decided not to waste her time getting to the point. “Do you like Will?”
Nico squinted at them. “What is this, an interrogation?” he asked, cradling the mug closer to his chest.
“Don’t avoid the question.”
“ Yes , I like Will,” he sighs. “Happy? Can I go back to sleep now?”
“We just wanted to talk to you because when a man loves a, well, man in your case-” Jason starts, the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. They got what they came for, now it was just time to tease him a little bit.
Nico cuts him off. “Oh my god , shut up .” He shoves a pillow at his face, nearly spilling his coffee. “Get out of my room, or I swear- ” but they’re already gone.
Annabeth and Percy, who just had a similar conversation with Will, meet Jason and Piper in the hallway. “So?” Annabeth asks.
“Confirmed. Nico likes him.”
Percy grinned. “Will likes him too.”
They exchanged silent high fives, chattering quietly a bit more about the next step as they walked back into the main room. Sally was still bustling around in the kitchen, and Will, who seemed to have been replaced by Reyna on fruit duty, was setting the dining table.
Everyone was awake by the time Sally called them for breakfast, and they spent the first few minutes eating without much conversation. It was when they got into the topic of last year’s vacation when Piper winked at Annabeth, signaling that she had an idea for the next step in their plan.
“Maybe we can go to that bar that we went to last year,” Piper said, waving a forkful of eggs. “Nico seemed to have met the love of his life on the dance floor, maybe we’ll meet up with him again.”
(She was joking, of course, and Nico probably knew that too. In fact, she was there when he deleted that guy’s number off his phone. Piper was just looking for a reaction out of Will .)
There was a few snorts and giggles from around the table as they all revisited that memory mentally. Nico had a few too many vodka shots that night, thanks to Leo telling him he needed to ‘let loose’, and met some random guy. The parts that weren’t captured on video by his friends were lost in history, but not in their minds.
Nico immediately blushed, eyes cast downwards. “I was drunk,” he mumbled, and Piper immediately looked to Will. The blonde’s look was hard to read, but, he seemed more concerned than jealous.
“Besides,” Nico said, clearing his throat. “I’m over it.” Both Will and Nico seemed satisfied with that end, and they switched conversation topics.
Annabeth and Piper just exchanged a look. Huh.
III.
A classic vacation tradition for them is renting a boat to use for a day. Both Sally and Percy had a boat license, and occasionally Leo or Jason would take the wheel. There were a few different islands scattered around that would make a perfect beach day, or they would sometimes just float and have a boat picnic for lunch.
“I think I actually might be melting.”
Another vacation tradition: Nico complaining about the heat.
The Italian was already shirtless after a quick swim that his friends forced him into. (As in, literally forced. Hazel pushed him in). His jet black hair was damp from water and sweat, as was his neck and chest.
“That’s called sweating, Nico,” Will says without looking up from his book. Anyone within hearing distance snickers at the remark as he glared at Will.
Only when he reached to grab his sunglasses did Will finally look at Nico. “Did you reapply sunscreen after you went swimming?”
“No?” Nico squints. “And it wasn’t voluntary, I got pushed me in-”
“You’re burning up, idiot. You’re lucky you haven’t already gotten skin cancer already,” Will sighs, reaching next to him to grab the sunscreen. “Take some of this. I’ll do your back.”
Tan hands met Nico’s back, slathering white sunscreen into already-pink skin. Meanwhile, Nico was busy attempting (and failing) to rub it in on his face. He looked up to see Annabeth and Piper making kissy faces at him and smirking as Will rubbed his back. His squint deepened, and scrunched his nose and stuck out his tongue at them.
After Will was done, he instructed Nico to go sit in the shade for a little bit. Unfortunately for him, that’s right where Piper and Annabeth were parked.
“So,” Piper asked quietly, leaning forward in her hands so her elbows were balanced on her legs. “What was that about?”
“Will’s a pain in the ass about that sunscreen thing. Makes me wear it whenever we’re out,” Nico said with a shrug, but there was no real anger in his voice.
Annabeth grinned. “So you would say he makes you a better person?”
“Oh, shut up.”
IV.
Piper was surprised at how much Will seemed to love the beach. Actually, it didn’t really surprise her at all; he looked exactly like a surfer guy from any teen movie. It was just surprising after years of Nico being a beach bum to see him bring a guy who was the exact opposite.
That didn’t change Nico’s beach bum habits, though. While they were all currently paddling around in the ocean, he was taking a nap back on shore.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in Piper’s mind.
“Will,” she hissed, grabbing him by his tan, freckled arm. “Do you see that bucket up there?” she gestured towards the bright blue plastic bucket on shore that Percy brought along for some reason, and Will nodded. “Fill it with water and follow my lead,”
Will seemed to know exactly what her motive was. He crept behind her towards Nico, now with a full bucket of water that he was trying his best not to spill.
She gestured towards the sleeping figure, and Will had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face as he dumped the entire bucket over Nico.
Splash.
“Will Solace, you are so dead,” Nico shrieked, jumping up and immediately charging after the boy, who had taken off running.
He chased him around for a while, finally tackling him somewhere down the shore. They wrestled for a moment; Nico seemed to be trying to dump as much sand as possible into Will’s hair. (It was a classic brutal di Angelo move).
They rolled around until Nico found himself on top of Will, and for a second, time seemed to stop. Piper and Annabeth just looked at each other before looking back at the two.
“Is it just me or are their faces getting closer?” Piper whispered. Annabeth didn’t respond, just shaking her head in bewilderment.
It definitely wasn’t just her; the two heads were very clearly moving closer and closer. Will’s lips were nearly a centimeter away from Nico’s.
And then suddenly, they both pulled back like some sort of magnet came out of the air and forced them apart. They trotted back, trying to shake off the sand that was plastered to every inch of their body. Will headed for the ocean while Nico just grabbed a new, dry towel.
“You two are assholes,” Nico said, pointing the towel at them.
Piper chose to ignore that comment. “ Why didn’t you kiss him?” she asked.
“‘Cuz we’re in public?” Nico said, before walking off, muttering something about
fangirls.
Piper glanced over at Annabeth, who just shook her head. “Hopeless” , she mouthed.
V.
Nights tended to be colder than the day, so they decided to plan a campfire one of the nights at a nearby park. They loaded Percy’s rental truck with all sorts of blankets and materials for s’mores as well as drinks.
Everyone found their place around the fire. Piper and Annabeth sat next to each other, with their boyfriends flanked on either side of them. Each couple was sharing their own blanket. Next to them was Frank and Hazel, who had a blanket each but was still sitting shoulder to shoulder. Leo sat on a stump between the two groups; he was in charge of keeping the fire roaring. On the other side of Piper’s log sat Sally and Reyna, who seemed to be deep in conversation.
Across from the campfire, though, was where Nico and Will sat. They were practically on top of each other, with one blanket wrapped around their shoulders.
Drinks were handed out as the stars came out above their heads, and in the dim lighting of the fire, Annabeth could see Will and Nico exchanging soft, fond looks.
She caught Nico’s eye as he laid his head down on Will’s shoulder. Grinning, Annabeth held up her and Percy’s intertwined fingers, raising an eyebrow as if to say go on, take your man’s hand!
In return from Nico, she got a glare, but he also reached down and laced his fingers with Will, resting them on his lap. Annabeth decided to take that as a win.
+I
Piper came into Annabeth’s room on the last day of their vacation. They were set to leave late that evening, which meant Piper should be packing, but there was something on her mind.
“I just can’t believe how clueless they are,” she said, flopping down on Annabeth’s bed. The blonde just shook her head as she continued to fold clothes to be packed. “I mean, where did we go wrong?” Piper asked. “We’ve been trying all week to get them together.”
Annabeth placed down another neatly folded shirt. “Maybe that’s our issue. Maybe it’s because we tried so hard. I mean, Percy and I were oblivious for years before we finally got together. It won’t take them that long.”
Piper just sighed. “I hope you’re right,”
They talked for a bit more about other ups and downs of the trip, already planning activities for next year. Piper got up when Annabeth was finished packing, and together they walked to the kitchen. It was their day to make lunch.
In the living room, Nico was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Will, who was holding his phone out in selfie-mode. They were talking quietly, giggling occasionally at a goofy photo or when Will caught Nico off guard. Piper couldn’t help but to watch them; she really did hope they would get together in the end, or at least stay close friends.
“Just take one cute one with me,” she heard Will beg. “We don’t have any photos together!” Nico sighed, before closing his eyes and leaning in to kiss Will on the cheek. Piper looked over to Annabeth, who rolled her eyes as if to say leave them be.
It was when they actually did kiss that Piper reacted.
“ What? !” she gasped, internally losing her shit. Next to her, Annabeth’s eyes had nearly popped out of her head. “Since when have you two been together? ”
Will and Nico gave them matching looks of confusion. “Like, 3 months now?”
“You’re kidding me! And you never thought to tell us?” By this point, a few of the others poked their heads in. Percy and Jason both had looks of disbelief, while Leo and Reyna just looked plain confused. Hazel and Frank, who were sitting on the couch next to them, immediately burst into laughter.
“ Yes? ! I thought you knew!” Now Nico was yelling. “With the way you’ve been treating us all week? I thought this was just Will’s weird initiation into the group!”
“No! We were trying to get you two together!”
For a second, nobody said a word. Then Will started giggling, followed by Nico, and then Piper and Annabeth, and suddenly everyone was laughing so hard, a few were crying.
“I can’t believe you didn’t know!” Nico said once he had calmed down a bit. “I mean, I changed my Facebook relationship status!”
Percy squinted. “Who uses Facebook anymore?”
Hazel and Frank both raised their hands.
“You knew the whole time?” Jason asked them. “And you never thought to tell us?”
Hazel shrugged. “We thought it would be interesting to see how it played out.”
Piper and Annabeth just stood in the kitchen, laughing still. This was by far the most interesting story that had ever come from one of these vacations.