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"Will, WILL!"
Nico looked at his boyfriend with panicked eyes. He quickly wiggled his hand out of Will's and distanced himself from the other teen.
"You can't just hold my hand in the middle of camp, someone's gonna see us!"
"And that's bad because..?" Will asked, genuinely confused. Will had been out at camp since he was eleven and he was pretty sure just about everybody had seen his relationship with Nico coming from a mile away. But for some reason, Nico truly looked terrified.
"I know things aren’t as bad today, well, at least from what Jason told me it was better, but Will, they’ll know! Everyone will know we are together! That can't happen, I worked too hard to be accepted, and you're the head counselor, you have such a good relationship with your siblings, I don't want to take that away from you, and..."
Will looked at his rambling partner with wide eyes.
"Nico, babe, bestie, love of my life, baby boy... You do know that being gay is legal right? Like, no one is gonna arrest us, ain't nothing bad is gonna happen to us if people know we're together."
Nico still wasn't any less panicked.
"I know at camp it's better, the police can't come here, but it doesn't mean it's good! Even if it's not illegal, there's still repercussions to these kinds of things! You should know that, how are you so calm?"
"Love," Will grabbed Nico's shoulders to look him in the eyes. "I promise you, even out of camp, nothing too bad is going to happen, people might be assholes but that's it." He looked at his boyfriend with a mischievous grin on his face.
"And if someone does say something bad, we just have to tell one of our friends, I'm pretty sure that's gonna set them on a manhunt. We kinda have our personal protection squad. "
"Amore." Will wasn't sure if he had ever seen Nico that serious before. He also put his hands on Will's shoulders. "I saw people get stoned for less than that. Are you telling me people don’t get stoned anymore?"
"I am telling you people do not get stoned anymore."
Nico let his mouth fall open in shock. "And you won't lose your job either?"
Will smiled. "No, I won't lose the job I don't have, but I wouldn't lose it even if I had one."
"You work in the infirmary."
"I don't get paid."
"Okay, okay." Nico took a deep breath.
"Can you assure me this won't affect your relationship with your siblings?"
"Yes, I can." Will had a bright smile, almost amused by his boyfriend’s reactions. "Baby, they know I'm into boys, it ain't a secret for anyone anymore."
Nico looked absolutely bamboozled.
"Incredible" He whispered.
"Oh, you’re gonna shit your pants when I take you to pride."
(he did.)
Nico spent the rest of the day getting comfortable with the idea of people knowing. While Jason, Percy and Annabeth knew about his… preferences... telling them about Will should be simple enough. Other people weren't really his priority, but his main concern was telling Hazel. She grew up in the past too, but she was also a pretty open minded person... It couldn't be that bad, right?
Nico was terrified, but he knew Hazel loved him. He knew he had people to rely on, and he knew Hazel was way too nice to do anything harsh or violent after discovering his relationship with another boy. Nico decided to at least open the subject with his sister when they would see each other next.
The next time Nico saw Hazel in person was at Annabeth and Percy's housewarming party. The two of them had gotten a small apartment together close to their respective colleges in New Rome.
The children of Hades were catching up, Hazel was updating Nico on the latest news at camp Jupiter. He was thinking of a way to bring up his relationship smoothly when Hazel started suspiciously whispering.
"Hey, did you notice? I'm pretty sure there’s only one bedroom in here, that would mean Annabeth and Percy are sleeping in the same bed, right?"
Nico whispered in turn. "I know! Do you think they eloped? Are they at least engaged?"
Hazel shook her head. "They're not wearing rings. What are they thinking! They can't just do that, they're gonna get in trouble!"
Nico agreed. "Should we say something? I don't want them getting shamed by the town.."
"What are you two gossiping about?" Frank joined in on their conversation, entering the room with Will in tow.
Hazel, who apparently liked gossip more than not talking behind her friends back, hurriedly updated them on the situation.
"So what?" Will asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"They aren't married! And they are sharing a bed!" Hazel whisper-screamed. "Oh gods do you think they are having sex? Out of wedlock! Annabeth could be pregnant for all we know!" She then turned to Frank. "Good thing we’re waiting until marriage."
"We are?"
"Hey Haze?" Jason interrupted them, leaning in the entrance of the room. "Pip's asking for your help with something, and Frank, can you please go with them? I'm pretty sure she wants to move furniture around for a game, but I'm not allowed because they, and I quote, don't need no men."
Hazel giggled at Jason’s fond exasperation.
"Of course, on it!”
Will turned to Nico, amused. "Sweet cheeks, we both sleep in your bed all the time, why are you making such a big deal if our friends do the same?"
Nico frowned. “That's not the same, we can't get married, you know that.”
"What? Why can't you get married?" Jason interjected, now more invested in the conversation.
Nico pouted. "Jason, two boys can't get married, everyone knows that. So it doesn't matter if we sleep together out of wedlock, because there's no wedding for us!"
Will quietly chuckled. "God bless your heart, Neeks, we can get married, it’s legal now."
There was a moment of silence as Nico processed the information.
"WE CAN?!?" Nico was wide-eyed and slack-jawed, as he glanced at Jason for confirmation “We can??”
Slightly confused, (I mean, that’s one hell of a way to find out your best friend is in a relationship) Jason answered. "Uh yeah, of course you can."
"Will, we've been living in shame!"
"We have?" Will asked, only to be ignored.
"This is horrible, but also wonderful! I can't believe it, we can be a real couple! We need to get married as soon as possible! We should start planning, gods, do we still need our parent's blessing?"
"Hold your horses cowboy." Will put his arm around Nico's shoulders, grounding him from his nervous and excited rambling. "We're way too young to get married," Nico's smile faltered, and hurriedly added, "but I swear love, I'll propose as soon as we're old enough. I'll even ask your dad for your hand in marriage, okay?"
That seemed to be more than enough for Nico, who kept his smile for the rest of the night. He might not have had the opportunity to talk to his sister alone again that night but that was okay, he’d tell her another time.
Not long after, Piper called everyone over for her game. She and Hazel (and Frank, who had barely done anything because Piper insisted there were no boys allowed) moved furniture around to make some sort of podium in front of a whiteboard, with free space on the floor. There were a bunch of cushions and folded blankets arranged in a semicircle, accompanied by some bells and buzzers.
"Where did you get so many ding dong devices?"
"Leo" answered Piper, which in retrospect seemed like the obvious answer. "Now, everyone take a seat and a... Take a ding dong device."
She started writing everyone's names on the whiteboard. "The game is simple, I name some unhinged shit, and you vote on who is more likely to do it, the ding ding machines are for objections, any questions?"
"Yeah, who the fuck is Nicolo?"
"Oh" Annabeth turned to Nico, "Is your full first name not Nicolo? It's just that, considering the time you were born, it's unlikely that your legal name is Nico, and Nicolo was the Italian name that made the most sense to me, but I'm sorry if I got it wrong."
The boy was stunned.
"No, I mean, maybe? I don't really remember a lot from Italia, and Bianca always called me Nico but… But I think you could be right… My name might have been Nicolo the entire time…"
He stared into space as if he had just had a life shattering revelation. Which was honestly probably the case.
"Nicolo, I like that" Will broke the silence, "sounds like piccolo."
"Shut up, your name is a verb!"
"My nickname is a verb, get it right!"
"Ok Bill.”
"Okay, are we ready to play?" Piper clapped her hand to get everyone's attention. "Okay! Who’s the most likely to accidentally start a cult?"
They kept going with the game. Later that night, Nico left the party unfortunately without talking to Hazel, slightly more anxious at the prospect of doing so. However, he did leave with a new first name, the guilt from doing some things before marriage, and a promise to be soon engaged.
The need to come out progressively fizzled out, his worries lessened. He was enjoying having people close to him and making new friends.
"Hey Nicolooooo!"
Never mind, he wasn't enjoying having friends actually, Leo was insufferable. He had taken it upon himself to teach Nico about the “world of today”, as he said. (Nico still refused to believe smartphones were real, Leo was absolutely making them up for sure, something so small and not magical could not possibly do that many things.)
"It’s time for our weekly world of today crash course!" Leo had a malicious glint in his eyes, the kind that never spelled anything good. "Today we're learning about contemporary traditions!"
About an hour and a half later, with some help from Jason and Percy on Iris message, Leo managed to convince Nico that on Thanksgiving, it was customary to give a gift to a Native American you knew.
"What if I don't know any Native Americans?" Nico asked, still a bit skeptical.
"You'd just donate to charity, but you know Piper, so you're good!" Leo waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, and the same goes for pride month, black history month and woman's day! It's like a lot of mini Christmases!"
Nico took a second to think about it. "Americans do like capitalism, I guess it makes sense." Nico decided, shrugging.
Leo was so, so proud of himself. Nico was already brainstorming what to give to Hazel next February. (As it turns out, Hazel also didn't know about the custom, which made sense, since her boyfriend was Canadian, but she was really grateful and promised to inform herself about any kind of Italian heritage related holiday so she could return the favor.)
"Leave the door open, we shouldn't be alone in here."
Will hesitated, slightly puzzled, but did it anyway. "Since when do you care about camp rules?"
Nico let out a heavy sigh. "It’s not about camp rules! It's improper for us to be alone in a room with the door closed."
Will let out a small laugh. "So it's better for us to make out where everyone can see us?"
Nico, however, wasn't having it, not finding the humor in the situation.
"Really, Will" he gave him a stern look. "We aren’t making out. You should have told me marriage was an option for us. We shouldn't have been making out at all!"
"Ookay, sooo…" Will was trying very hard not to show his disappointment. "What is proper for us to do before we're engaged? Because nowadays, the whole concept of not doing anything before marriage is pretty much expired, but if it's important for you, it's important for me."
Nico smiled, appreciative that Will was willing to wait for him and didn't try to convince him that premarital sex wasn't a big deal. He frankly didn't know much about societal norms for couples before he entered the Lotus Casino, considering he was only ten, but he had a vague idea.
"Hmm, well, of course, holding hands is okay." Will took his hand. "And uh, I mean, kisses on the cheek," Will kissed his jaw. "hugs," Nico giggled at Will, who gave him some sort of one armed hug. "And uh…" Nico whispered "I guess kisses on the lips are okay if they stay chaste.."
Will’s lips met his with sweet carefulness, holding the smaller boy gently in his arms.
On the other side of camp, Piper received an Iris call from Hazel. The air shimmered as she answered the call.
"Oh, hey girl, what's up?"
Hazel looked somewhat uncomfortable through the haze of the mist. "I… I need a favor. Can I ask you about, uh… a girl thing?"
Piper looked slightly confused. "Oh, yeah, of course! I’m not sure I'm the best person for girl things but sure, what do you need?"
"it's kind of embarrassing, but I put it off for too long. I, uh, need undergarments, and I don't know where to find them or who else to ask." Hazel spoke nervously, voice quiet.
"By undergarments, you mean...?"
"Well I need more, uh, support? I don't even know what people wear nowadays. A corset? A brassière?" Hazel's answer somewhat surprised Piper.
"Oh, you don't wear a bra? Yeah, I can take you shopping, we'll just need authorization to leave camp, no worries!" she reassured the flustered girl.
After a few days of organization, the two girls finally found a way to go shopping together, at a local mall off Long Island, not too big to avoid prying eyes.
Hazel was looking around as if she had never seen a mall before, (She had never seen a mall before.) and kept pointing at things, whispering "What?"
Hazel had been shocked about all the scandalous clothing that modern mortals were wearing, and absolutely refused to enter Victoria’s Secret. They settled on Walmart's much more modest underwear section.
"I think we're ready to go" Piper said, grabbing the bag.
"One second, wait for me, I just need to go to the bathroom."
And with that Hazel was gone. She came back 20 minutes later, very visibly upset. After catching sight of Piper's quizzical face she sighed. "I couldn't find the colored bathrooms"
Piper put her hand in front of her mouth in shock, having completely forgotten about Hazel’s past. "Oh no, Haze, no." She hugged the younger girl close. "That’s not a thing anymore, you can use any bathroom you want."
"I thought that was just at camp, because we're all part God anyway… T-that's… that's good." Hazel smiled shakily.
Piper returned her smile. "Yeah no, so don't worry about it, go piss girl!"
"Uhh, yeah…” Hazel left, giving her friend a confused look.
The next time Nico and Hazel saw each other was for Sally Jackson’s Christmas Party©. Sally told her son to bring every orphan he knew, so they were a very big group to celebrate Christmas all together, to give them a chance at a happy Christmas surrounded by people who loved them.
Nico wanted to tell Hazel, but he was also worried it would ruin the party. He told himself that if anything, he would try to brush the subject.
Most of the teenagers were in Sally and Paul's living room playing different board games.
Rachel and Thalia had roped Hazel and Nico into playing Timeline with them, a card game where you had to guess when important inventions or events were on a timeline. Hazel thought it would be a nice way to get them to learn about the last couple decades while also having fun.
Nico was nervously waiting for his turn to place “gay marriage” on the table, creating a perfect opportunity to observe his sister's reaction, until she let out an unexpectedly loud scream.
"WHEN THE HELL DID THEY GO TO THE HECKING MOON??" She slapped the card on the table.
"It’s okay, you can say fuck.”
"Turn your cards around, you'll know." interjected Rachel.
"No no no," Hazel looked over at Rachel and Reyna. "You’re telling me they really did that? How? Why?" She turned to look at Nico.
"Did you know about that??" She asked, her voice getting louder the more animated she got.
Rachel exploded in laughter while Renya took on the mission to explain the Cold War, and how it led to space exploration.
Nico put the game away, thinking to himself well, looks like today is not the day. "No big deal, there's alway next time" he assured Will at camp whenever asked how his coming out went.
A few days later, Will walked in the Hades cabin to see his boyfriend nervously playing with a drachma, a faraway look in his eye as he stared at a random floorboard.
"Hey death boy, everything's alright?" Will planted a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek, sitting next to him in the bed.
"Don't call me that" Said Nico while wiping the wet kiss off his face, fond exasperation coloring his voice.
"M'kay, baby doll then." Will replied, a cheeky grin on his face. Nico rolled his eyes.
"I'm thinking about telling Hazel... About us, I mean." He paused and took a deep breath. "I just wish I knew how she’ll react."
Will took the drachma from him, covering Nico’s hands with his own, looking at Nico with a reassuring look in his eyes. "Just trust me." He said, before letting go of his hands and calling for the Iris message.
Hazel, who was accompanied by Frank, answered the Iris message to an excited looking Will and a visibly stressed Nico.
"Is everything okay?" Hazel asked, concerned.
Will took the lead, knowing Nico’s reticence to breach the subject. "Yeah everything's fine, don't worry. I just wanted to tell you I have a boyfriend!"
"O-okay..." Hazel wasn't quite sure how to react. She wasn't against it per say, just not used to it being said out loud. In her mind, it was still a taboo subject, no matter how much society had changed. "I guess that's fine, thank you for trusting me... Wait, is everything really fine? Is someone giving you trouble?"
Nico felt relief flood his system, taking Will's hand and shooting him a grateful look.
"No, I can assure you, everything is fine," Will giggled. "But I think Neeks wants to tell you something…"
Nico took a deep breath, staring directly into Hazel’s eyes. "I am a finocchio."
Hazel and Frank stalled, looking at each other in confusion.
"Uh, babe? I'm pretty sure that's Italian..."
"Oh, you're a faggot!"
"Yeah!"
"NO!"
While Hazel was proud of her Italian deduction skills, Will and Frank were almost horrified.
"Guys," Frank said slowly, still shocked, "you can't say that..."
Meanwhile Will was trying his best to keep from laughing. "Gay, Nico, the word is gay, you're gay."
After a little clearing up (you can't say that, it's a slur, So you two are dating huh!, I always forget that you guys grew up in the past) they ended the call on a happy note. Hazel still wasn't one hundred percent sure she was completely comfortable with her brother dating another boy, but Nico looked happy, and she realized that that's what mattered the most in the end, and she’d eventually get around to it.