Chapter Text
Nico always felt like his face was on fire when he was around Will Solace. Not always, only when Will was wearing a skirt. The son of Apollo did that sometimes. Nico thought it was weird, but he didn't say anything about it. Will still acted like a boy, so Nico thought he just liked the feel of the skirts, not like he was really trying to be a girl. Even if he was, Nico would still like him. Will was nice to him.
"Hi, Nico," Will greeted one day. He was wearing a Camp t-shirt and a white skirt that stopped above his knees. He wore sandals too, and his golden blond hair was falling over his pale blue eyes.
Nico felt his face heat up, but waved back anyway. He didn't want Will to think he didn't like him. But he also didn't want Will to think he did like him. The boy made Nico confused. Nico didn't like the way Will smiled and laughed and made Nico feel warm and cozy in his chest, but he did at the same time. It hurt Nico's head to think about.
"Do you want to play a game with me and Lou Ellen?" Will questioned.
Lou Ellen was another unclaimed Hermes camper. She slept a few feet away from Nico. She was smiling, wiggling her fingers in greeting behind Will. Will grabbed Nico's hand, making Nico tense and stare at where they were joined. Nico didn't like being touched excessively, but he like holding hands with Will. Nico knew holding hands with a boy was wrong, but Bianca said that boys liking boys was something Nico couldn't help. Bianaca was right about everything, and she wouldn't lie to her brother. She said not to tell anyone because it might not be safe. Some people didn't understand, and that made them scared, and made them violent. But Camp Half-Blood was a safe place. Nico liked holding hands with boys, mostly with Will, and that was okay to do, just like it was okay for boys to like dresses and skirts.
"I'll play a game with you," Nico agreed.
Will instantly brightened. He grinned and squeezed Nico's hand a little. Before Will could say what they were playing, a laugh sounded behind them.
"A skirt, really? And you're holding hands? Perfect," a boy their aged mocked.
Nico turned to him and recognized the boy. He was a Hermes camper, a mean one. Nico couldn't recall his name, but he knew he was a bully.
"Go away," Will ordered.
Judging from the tight grip Will had on Nico's hand, Will had dealt with the boy before. Lou Ellen was glancing from Will to the boy like she was waiting for one of them to explode.
"So, Willy, is this your boyfriend?" the boy asked.
"No, so go away," Will demanded, dropping Nico's hand like it was toxic, which made Nico feel just a little more hurt than he would like to admit.
"Leave us alone," Lou Ellen piped up from behind Will. She ducked when the boy whipped his head to her.
"Was anyone talking to you, brace-face?" the boy snapped.
Lou Ellen covered her mouth and looked away. Will turned and hugged her, knowing she hated her braces.
"Stop making fun of her," Will shouted.
"You girls and your friendships," the boy commented.
There was now a group gathered around the four ten-year-olds. Some were smiling, others looked as though they were about to step in and stop the fight.
"I'm not a girl," Will protested weakly.
"Yes you are, and Unclaimed over here is your boyfriend. You wear skirts and dresses, that makes you a girl," the boy commanded.
"Will is a boy," Nico corrected, finally finding his voice. "Stop saying he's a girl just because of the clothes he wears. He looks a lot better that you."
All the Aphrodite campers laughed at that one, along with some others who gathered around.
"What do you even want?"
"What do you want? You seem to pay an awful lot of attention to Will. Maybe you like skirts," Nico countered.
"What?" he demanded.
"You keep on saying I'm his boyfriend," Nico spoke. "Maybe you're jealous of how close we are. Do you want to be Will's boyfriend?"
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"I think you like it when he wears skirts," Nico continued, the group of demigods around him laughing and gaping at the arguing children.
The Hermes boy huffed and turned to leave. As he was stomping away Nico heard him mutter something under his breath.
"What was that?" Nico asked.
The boy turned, donning a smirk. Nico knew he wasn't going to like what he'd hear.
"I said," he began, "I'm not a faggot like you."
Something in Nico snapped. He lunged at the boy and threw punches wildly. Soon he was being pulled off by some Apollo campers.
"I think we've got us an Ares boy!" he heard someone shout, followed by a few hoots.
The boy was dragged away holding his hand over his broken nose. Nico felt a pang of guilt. He freaked out over some stupid kid saying some stupid word. Maybe he was an Ares kid. But the guilt was replaced by self-disgust. Will was holding his hand over his mouth as he watched his brothers and sisters heal the Hermes boy. Will probably hated Nico.
Then Will looked at him with an emotion in his eyes that Nico couldn't interpret. Will then whispered something that Nico couldn't fully hear. He was dragged away to the Big House to talk to Chiron when he understood finally what he thought Will said. But that was impossible. Will would never say that to him, not after he just jump on some kid.
Nico softly repeated it to himself, unable to believe it.
"You're my hero."