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1.
At church, with his ma, Will found he couldn’t understand most of the words, them all swimming on the page. He glanced over at his ma but she was reading along just fine. Frowning, he kept looking around for signs of anyone else who was experiencing the same thing. But the only thing he got was a stern look from the priest and suddenly everyone’s eyes were on him. Looking back down and mumbling a halfhearted “..Sorry,” Will scratched at his arms, forcing himself to enjoy the reading.
He never fit in with the church kids after that. They all looked at him weird when he confessed that sitting still was hard for him and that the words swam. His ma told him it was okay but he knew from the sad look in her eyes that it would never be okay, no matter how much she tried to convince him.
He also didn’t like church that much. It brought him an uneasy feeling, each time they prayed. For his mama’s sake- he prayed. Every meal, every day. It felt so wrong for some reason. Especially when he had confessed to the priest that Will thought his friend- Jaxon was cute. The priest looked at him in absolute horror, slapping Will in the confession stand. He cried, that night, and they went over and over one part in the bible after that. “A man should not lie with another man as he does with a woman…” the priest settled his eyes on Will over and over again.
He shifted uneasy in his seat, frowning. Will glanced at the clock, hoping for the ceremony to end soon.
At home, Will told this to his ma. The same, sad, pitying look appeared in her eyes again.
(She never brought him along again.)
2.
At school, Will always was one of the more popular kids! He was now in in 4th grade- just two more years and he’ll be in middle school! Smiling, he opened his lunch box and ate his sandwich. Will waited patiently until someone talked to him at the table (nobody did) and finished his whole lunch before that. Why were they not talking to him? Nudging Brian, his best friend, “What are we talking about?” He frowned and cocked his head to the side as Brian scowled at him.
”Just football. You’re no good at it anyways, so why bother talking about it to you?” Brian laughed, the others mirroring him. Will felt tears welling up, clenching his hands together in fists. Why was Brian being so mean? Be the bigger person Will, walk away. His ma’s voice echoing in his head. Through gritted teeth, Will yelled, “Whatever! You’re just..a meanie!”
Will ran away before the tears could fall (if he stayed a little longer, he would’ve seen Brian kneel over, vomiting). He hated crying. His nose would get all stuffy, his face all red. He cried in the bathroom, quiet, soft, sniffles in the stall. He wiped his face before going back to class. He never noticed Brian being absent for a week after that.
Will never told his ma in fear that she’d stress over him.
3.
The tour van Will’s ma was using bounced happily along the road. He could hear his ma singing along softly to the radio as he pretended to be asleep. He couldn’t sleep because of nightmares. So, so many. All of them had so much blood and tears and he was always frantically trying to help this one boy. It scared him so much but every time he told his ma she’d just shrug it off and say, “William, it’ll be okay. They’re just dreams.” Will knew deep down inside that they weren’t just dreams, but ignored it. It was better for the rest of them, right? He felt restless anyway at night, so it didn’t matter that much.
(It mattered so, so much.)
4.
Will frowned. This was crazy? This had to be a dream because 1. half goat men don’t exist and 2. his dad was a god. Pinching his arm, it definitely wasn’t a dream. Maron, the goat man (saytr, he always reminded) spread his arms, showcasing a little camp behind a large hill.
“Welcome to Camp Halfblood little one! They’ll take to from here,” He gestured toward some older boys,” and I’ll be heading out. Good luck, kid.” Maron grinned and waved, trudging off in a different direction.
”Hi? I’m Will,” Will shyly waved at the boys. They both wore a bright orange shirt with a pegasus on it with the words “Camp Halfblood”. The one with a scar stepped forward, smiling.
”Hey Will! I’m Luke, welcome over here. I suppose you know the basics about the gods?” Will nodded, happy that his interest in Greek mythology in class payed off. “Great! And this one is Lee,” Luke said, poking the other blonde in the shoulder,”We’ll be showing you around.”
————————————————————————————————-
It’s been now a week since he first came to camp. Everything was so cool! He got claimed yesterday as a child of Apollo, so he was Lee’s brother! Lee told him that they’re gonna try out stuff today to see what he inherited from Apollo! He was brimming with excitement as he watched Lee shoot arrows. All of them hit the yellow, some on the out and some on the inside.
Grabbing a smaller bow, Lee handed it to Will. “Remember what I said, right? Straddle the line-“
”Grab the arrow, nock it, set my hands, and aim?” Will replied excitedly. Lee muttered a, “close enough” and smiled at him, giving him the thumbs up. Releasing the arrow, Will saw that it hit the blue. The next 4 arrows did the same. Lee put the bow back after and took out the arrows from the target.
While taking the arrows out, Lee suggested they maybe try music instead. Will knew that meant he wasn’t as good at archery but maybe music could be his talent!
It was not. After choosing a trumpet, all Will made was some fart noises. Lee laughed and said he still had healing to try.
The two walked into the infirmary and Micheal, his other older brother, asked Lee, “Aren’t you supposed to be taking a break today? I mean, Lee,” Micheal glanced over and saw Will, realizing, “Ah, Will can go ahead in room 103 and Cecil is in there, he just needs some stitches.” Lee nodded and led Will over.
”So, some Apollo kids get the gift of Vitalkinesis, some don’t. We can see if you have it. Just go ahead and put your hand on him- no not on the wound- yeah right there- and visualize your mind going into the body to see the different parts,”
Following Lee’s instructions, Will could suddenly see all of Cecil’s muscles, blood, bones, veins, anything if he focused. Closing the wound seemed like second nature to him- he could just make new skin there. Opening his eyes, he saw that the wound was now closed and his hand glowed ever so slightly.
Lee smiled, “Seems like we have a healer!”
In his bed that night, Will almost cried. He didn’t know why he was crying at all. It was so overwhelming. He couldn’t do any combat- nothing cool. Just his stinking healing.
(He also knew that he could plague his patients as easily as healing them, he felt the bacteria in Cecil and knew he could take it all and push it onto someone.)
5.
The second titan war was over. He now only had 2 other siblings. Lee, Micheal, Grace, all of them. Dead. Some missing, some with a quick shroud. He was head medic and counselor of the Apollo cabin now, at 14. He wanted to sob. Wanted to grieve. But people needed him. So he put on his mask and gloves, smiling as he checked on more people.
(Every time he heals, he feels Lee’s shadow on him.)
+1
Coming out of Tartarus, Will closed off on Nico. He knew he shouldn’t and talk about his feelings- but he isn’t supposed to feel. He’s still haunted by his nightmares and how he used his plague on Nyx. It wasn’t even that bad, but it’s so exhausting. Blinking, he registered his name being called.
”Ill? Will?” Will looked over at Nico, who now sat next to him on the docks. “Oh, sorry. What?” Will shook his head lightly, forcing himself awake.
”Are you okay?”
Will bit his lip. Is he? He feels so numb. Nodding his head, he smiled (he won’t notice it doesn’t reach his eyes today), “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Please, Cucciolo, tell me what’s wrong,” Nico pleaded, knowing that Will was shutting himself out. Lonely and the other cocoa puffs scurried on them, Lonely jumping on Will’s shoulder.
Nico pleading broke Will. “I-I’ve been,” Will looked away, into the water,” tired. I don’t know if I’m enough. Hades, Lee or Micheal could handle this. Maybe- I should’ve died. Instead of them.”
Nico’s heart shattered, hearing these words from Will. His sun, his Solace. “No, no you shouldn’t have. You’re so, so talented Will. Look at me,” Will looked back, seeing Nico’s outstretched arms, falling into them,” You’re enough. More than enough, Will. You’ve always been there for me. You deserve to be here.”
Nico rubbed slow circles into Will’s back as he sobbed. They racked his whole body, Will shaking. Nico held him tighter. Nico’s never seen Will sob- except during Tartarus. Even then, he had quickly stopped crying. Slowly, they reduced to sniffles.
”I’m sor-“ Will started, but Nico shushed him with a kiss. It was a soft one, like when they were in Gorgyra’s boat. “Wanna stay at my cabin?” Will nodded, following Nico. Will took off his shoes and Nico helped him change into the pajamas they kept at the Hades cabin for when Will stayed the night. They were sun patterned and Will absolutely loved them.
Will went to bed first- Nico showering before. Nico softly climbed next to his boyfriend, careful not to wake him. He’ll talk more with Will next morning, but for now, they’ll be content together.
(Will slept soundly for the first time in years, dreams instead not plagued with death but with a certain black haired boy.)