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“I do, I do, I do, I do”
It is all that Will can write in his diary. All he can think about, for what matters. It’s a fine summer afternoon, and he’s alone in the infirmary, his mind wandering only towards a certain someone. Oh boy, he’s got him helpless. It has been just six months since they started dating, but Will knows he does. He does love Nico di Angelo.
Six months before
Campfire night. A crowd of demigods is singing and dancing and drinking around the fire. Will is peacefully staying away from the action, sitting in dispart on one of the wooden benches. He’s never been the type to try and grab the spotlight. He sees Kayla dancing in the center of the group, singing and jumping and being all Apollo like. He laughs as his sister literally dazzles the campers with the light flowing from her body. They found out recently that many of Will’s siblings have that power.
Something rustles out of the shadows in the woods. Will is the only one to notice, apparently, as everyone else is busy having fun. It is none other than Nico di Angelo, scanning with dark eyes the party before him and shuffling around shyly, probably looking for his friends. Will’s heart goes boom.
He observes him as he sits with Percy and Jason on a bench on the other side of the fireplace, and tries to catch his eye. To no avail. Everyone is dancing and his siblings are playing music at top volume. Percy and Jason get up and join their girlfriends on the dancing floor. It is then that, seeing Nico all alone, Will makes up his mind. He walks through the group of feisty demigods and grabs his sister.
Kayla looks at him questioningly, but he simply nods at Nico and whispers “Yo, this one’s mine”
His sister understands and grins. She makes her way up to the son of Hades. Will watches their conversation from a distance, his palms sweaty from nerves. What’s she gonna do?
He stares as Kayla grabs Nico by the arm and he sends her a confused glare. I’m through. Will thinks.
But then Nico looks back at him with wide starry eyes and, oh man, Will is already helpless.
Austin passes by and, in euphoria, Will yanks him close by the collar and whisper-screams “Oh, look at those eyes!”
His brother pats him on the shoulder dismissively and looks at Will like he’s a lost cause. But Will doesn’t even notice, he just keeps staring into those dark puddles, drowning second by second. He and Nico have never really talked before, he isn’t even sure if the Italian knows his name, but what he’s sure about is that he’s irreversibly and irreparably gone for the son of Hades. He’s so into him.
And then Kayla starts dragging Nico by the arm.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I’m about to change your life” Kayla beams.
“Then, by all means, lead the way” Nico says indulgently, but deep down he sounds amused.
When they approach Will, he gathers his courage and smiles: “Will Solace, a pleasure to meet you”
Nico stares a second too long, distracted by something “Solace?” The raven looks at Kayla for help.
“My brother” She says proudly.
“Thank you for all of your service” Will spits out, without thinking. Why does he have to be so stupid? Thank you for all of your service? He wanted to express his admiration for his feats during the war, but no, he had to ruin everything by being a dork. Congrats Solace.
But then, Nico’s breathy reply leaves him agape “If it takes fighting a war for us to meet, it will have been worth it”
He suspects the red tint on the raven’s cheeks isn’t from the fire.
“I’ll leave you to it” Kayla goes back to the party.
One week later
Will is at his desk in the infirmary, late at night, writing a letter to Nico for him to find in the porch of his cabin in the morning. They’ve started this weird (but absolutely adorable) way of communicating by writing notes to each other during the day and leaving them for the other to find. Will’s life is getting better with every note he receives from his… special guy. They aren’t officially dating yet, because Nico’s beliefs and old ways oblige him to ask for Apollo’s blessing before doing anything with his son. But, even if Will really wants to kiss him, he doesn’t mind one bit. Nico is worth the wait.
Kayla walks into the infirmary office and peeks at the note he’s writing. She smiles “Your boyfriend’s cute, Will”
“He’s not my boyfriend yet” he replies mechanically without averting his eyes from the piece of paper.
“We should form a harem, then” His sister smirks.
That gets Will’s attention. He scoffs.
Kayla shrugs “I’m only saying, if you really loved me you would share him”
“Ha!”
Two weeks later
Will is in the living room stressing. Apollo, god of sun and medicine and a bunch of other cool stuff, is staring stone-faced at Nico as he asks him for his blessing.
He expected his dad to totally dismiss the matter and say a bored Yes, do whatever you want with him . But now Will is dying on the inside as his amazing half-boyfriend entertains a grumpy Apollo with his speech and good manners.
The only reason Will’s not crying is because he knows there’s nothing Nico’s mind can’t do.
Apollo makes his way across the room to the son of Hades. Will panics for a second, the impending situation hitting him on the face like a deadline. We’re through.
But then his father shakes Nico’s hand and says “Be true” And Nico turns back to Will smiling
And Will is helpless.
He looks into the raven’s eyes before smashing their lips together, for the first time, and he feels that, if Nico is with him, the sky's the only limit.
“This boy is mine!”
Six months later
Nico stares up at him, a determined expression on his face. “Yeah, Will, I don’t have a drachma to my name, I don’t belong anywhere, I’m not a morning person and I hate eating healthy. All I have’s my honor, a tolerance for pain, a couple of war experiences and my top notch brain. It’s insane how your family takes out a different side of me. Austin confides in me, Kayla tried to take a bite of me” Will scoffs and nudges him on a shoulder “No stress, my love for you is never in doubt, we’ll get a little place in New York and we’ll figure it out”
Will feels hot. Nico has said the words and the son of Apollo is screaming internally. However, the raven doesn’t seem to notice as he continues opening up his heart to Will “I’ve been living without a family since I was a child. My father left, my mother died, I grew up buckwild. But I’ll never forget my mom’s face, that was real. As long as I’m alive, Will, I swear to the gods, you’ll never feel so helpless”
Too late for that , Will thought with a grin, before leaning down to kiss Nico.
As he stares at his words again “I do, I love you Nico” his heart feels giddy. He grabs a picture he and Nico took together a week ago by the Liberty Statue and glues it on the page, adding the note In New York you can be a new man underneath.
He stares at the open window. The summer sky is blue, a gentle breeze flows through the infirmary and Will sighs in contentment. He thinks about Nico again, a wide smile plastered on his face. Will scrambles out of the infirmary to meet his boyfriend by the canoe’s lake.