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It was one o’clock in the morning and Nico was having a revelation. Without thinking he jumped out of bed, and before he knew it he was hiding behind the Hermes cabin regretting his spontaneous move. The camp was quiet (largely because everybody else was asleep) except for the flapping of wings. Nico di Angelo had faced titans, been to Tartarus and even confessed his crush on Percy, but the Harpies still terrified him. Nico looked around in panic, the sound of wings filling his ears. He didn’t need to get eaten, not after his amazing discovery, but going back might put him in just as much danger as continuing on. Nico was just about to swallow his fear when he saw the pale girl from Cabin 41, standing on her porch waving him over.
As soon as the battle with Gaia, which the Greeks had dubbed the ‘Earth War’, was over Percy and Jason had rallied the campers and marched to the Big House to demand supplies to build new cabins. Well it actually was more of a stroll and Chiron had already agreed so really they were just picking up the supplies, but Percy and Jason liked to think it was a great spectacle. Since that day new cabins were progressively being built in a ring around the old cabins, new campers were being claimed and old ‘unclaimed’ campers were being moved into their parent’s cabins.
Nico remembered when the girl- Elise?- showed up a few months ago. Somehow she’d found Camp Half-Blood all on her own through a series of clever ads Annabeth had forgotten she’d posted. She seemed totally unaffected by the news that she was a demi-god and actually seemed excited at the prospect of living with a bunch of armed teenagers. Nico had shown her the way to the dining pavilion on her first day. Running into the cabin of someone you’ve barely talked to in the dead of the night is not usually the best idea, but at the moment it was safer than getting eaten by harpies. Nico’s feet barely touched the deck before Elise pulled him inside.
The inside of Cabin 41 surprised Nico.
He expected it to be dark and gloomy, like Elise’s hair and her mother’s personality, after all Nyx was the goddess of the night. Dark and gloomy it was not. The word awesome sprang to Nico’s mind. The navy walls were covered with photos of camp, people Nico didn’t know and places Nico had never been. It had two sets of bunks, made from a dark looking wood and only the top left one was occupied. But the roof of Cabin 41 was by far the most outstanding part. It was painted a deep navy blue and flecked with thousands for tiny dots swathed in bright colours creating a galaxy on the ceiling. It was a decoration fitting for the Night Goddess.
“What are you doing? The harpies would have eaten you!” Elise’s eyebrows were knitted together and she looked like she wanted to whack Nico. He winced. He didn’t need to be reminded of his near death experience.
“Yeah, um, thanks for helping me.” All of the anger washed of Elise’s face and she smiled her eyes crinkling.
“No problem! I’m Elise by the way! I know who you are though you showed me where to get breakfast on my first day, you’re Nico! What are you doing up anyway?” Nico hesitated. What was he doing up? Sure he really wanted to tell someone about his revelation, but in reality it could have waited until the morning. He felt his face flush.
“I need to tell someone something,” To cover up his embarrassment Nico changed the subject, “What are you doing up anyway?” Elise smiled again. Actually Nico wasn’t sure if the bouncy girl had ever stopped smiling.
“My mother is Nyx.” She said as if it explained everything and Nico was ready to ask her again when he realised that it actually kind of did explain everything. Joseph from Cabin 43 (whose mother was Herema the goddess of daytime) was always bouncing about excitedly during the day and fell asleep as soon as it was dark, Elise was just the opposite. Of course she was up.
“So Nico where do you need to go?” Nico frowned and Elise switched on the lights.
“Well it’s one in the morning and you’re not wearing any shoes so it must be pretty urgent,” She pointed out and Nico sighed.
“I need to go to the Apollo cabin.” He said softly. Elise (badly) hid a smile behind her hand.
“Why didn’t you just shadow travel? Mum said children of hades can do that.” Nico’s face went red.
“I, uh, can’t. Will said if I shadow travel once more he will find out and kill me before my molecular structure fails and I turn into shadows,” Elise didn’t bother hiding her smile this time. Nico had no idea why he was telling Elise all of this. Actually he did know. He didn’t want her to go through the same thing he had. He saw the way the other demigods looked at Elise. Her mother was powerful and dangerous and if he’s honest Nico was terrified of Elise. When he was in Tartarus he’d met Nyx and seen how powerful she was first hand. But even if he was afraid no one else deserves to be excluded like he was.
“That’s okay Nico I’ll take you.” Before Nico could say anything Elise had grabbed his arm and they were standing on the porch of the Apollo cabin.
“What was that?” Nico hissed rubbing the goose bumps from his arms.
“No idea, I can just do it. I’ll see you in the morning. Good luck Nico.” She melted into the shadows. Nico made a mental note to talk to Chiron about keeping a close eye on Elise. She seemed to be totally ignorant to just how powerful she was. But for now he had to talk to Will. Swallowing his nerves Nico knocked on the door. He wasn’t surprised when no one answered. He knocked again, this time louder, and his stomach was filled with skeletal butterflies as he heard a commotion inside. The door swung open to reveal Will. His blonde hair was mussed up and he had pillow marks on his face and oh. Will was shirtless. Nico could feel heat creeping up in his cheeks.
“Nico?” Will asked and rubbed his eyes. He flipped his arm up and checked his watch, “It’s two in the morning, what are you doing here?” Nico cleared his throat and wrung his hands.
“Can I, uh, talk to you please?” He whispered. Will rubbed his eyes again and tried, rather fruitlessly, to settle his curls. Then he nodded. He held a finger up to his lips and cautiously closed the golden door behind him.
They stepped off the porch and began to walk when Nico was stopped by an arm across his chest. Will held his shoulders and looked Nico right in the eyes.
“The harpies Nico, they’ll eat us!” Nico clapped his hand over his mouth, partly because somehow he’d managed to forget about the harpies again, but mostly because half-asleep Will was hilarious. Nico grabbed Will’s tanned hand, ignoring the tingling that shot through his arm, and dragged him to Cabin 50, which was just a building waiting to be personalised when another God or goddess was discovered. Nico yanked open the door, images of harpies eating Will fuelling his speed, and pushed Will in. The pair collapsed against the door breathing heavily.
“Nico what the hell is this all about?” Will said once he’d got his breath back. Nico had lost all of the confidence he’d had when he leaped out of his cabin earlier that morning he looked at his feet and wriggled his toes. Will took a step closer.
“Nico?” He asked gently and lifted up Nico’s chin with his hand. For a moment they stood like that just looking at each other’s eyes. Will’s eyes were amazing. They were a deep blue colour with lighter azure flecks and they radiated joy when Will laughed. Nico could stare into Will’s eyes all day. His stomach was practically an aviary. Skeletal sparrows and swallows had joined the butterflies, dipping and diving and making Nico dizzy. He needed to tell Will.
“I’ve been looking everywhere. Before the Lotus Hotel it was in the world then it was inside of me. I’ve spent my entire life searching Will.” Will’s eyebrows furrowed and Nico led him to the ground. They sat on the floorboards opposite one another. Will gestured for Nico to continue.
“I’ve tried everything Will. I’ve seen all seven wonders, I’ve been to Tartarus and back but still nothing. I’ve travelled all sorts of path and inspected each stone, but nothing held the answer.” Nico looked at Will. Will looked at Nico.
“I know what I want to say to you I just…” Nico wracked his brain for the right words, “Since the Earth War I’ve tried everything. I thought that once Gaia was gone everything would be done. I’ve got over Bianca, I’ve got Hazel and Reyna and all my new friends, I have a home I know my dad. But there was still something missing. So I went everywhere. I studied all the Religions and do you know what they said Will?” The blonde boy shook his head. Nico smiled.
“They said I had everything. I tried yoga for a bit but there was still this part missing so I was thinking tonight Will and I figured it out and really I’m embarrassed it was something so simple,” Will shook his head.
“I’m confused Nico, I mean it’s great, but what..?” Nico smiled again. Will’s confused face was adorable. Nico had spent so long ignoring everything around him, focusing on himself and what he did, travelling the world that he forgot to look at what was right in front of him.
“I’ve been falling, crashing, breaking, searching, finding, losing, hoping since I came to Camp Half-Blood,” Nico actually felt a tear roll down his cheek. Will lifted his hand and wiped it away with his thumb. He hand stayed on the side of Nico’s face, “And all this time the answer has been right in front of me Will!” Will looked confused. It was adorable. Nico took Will’s face in his hands, butterflies and swallows going mad in his stomach.
“It’s you! All this time I’ve been looking and you’ve been here waiting Will! When I’m with you, I forget about the hole,” Nico moved a hand to Will’s bare chest, right where his heart would be, “It’s almost like it’s full,” It took Will a moment to understand what Nico was saying. But when he did his face broke out into a huge smile. Nico’s heart swelled. This feeling was far beyond the crush he had on Percy years ago. He’d been in love with Will for ages and he never even noticed. Will leant forward and rested his forehead on Nico’s. Their eyes met again.
“Nico.” He whispered before his lips brushed over Nico’s sending a thousand tingles all over Nico’s body. He felt Will pulling back and hooked his arms around his love’s neck and crashed their lips together again. It was a little clumsy and they were both grinning their heads off but it was still perfect.