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'Let me be very clear about one thing. I don't do crushes. Not anymore, at least.'
Crushes are messy. They make your brain stop working, and your hand does weird things like waving. You even smile more, which was kind of a big thing for Nico di Angelo when his amazingly wonderful boyfriend Will noticed the small tug of his lips.
But it wasn't a 'crush', crush.
It wasn't even a crush.
He was just happier than usual. Ever so slightly happier, even if a small part of him felt like curling up in a ball and dying because he was supposed to be the mysterious, sulking, always lingering around in the shadows son of Hades. Shadows, ghosts, death, all that fun stuff. He was the edgy one.
So naturally, he had to go and fall for the only other ghost boy who occasionally visits Camp Half-Blood. Danny Fenton, son of Hecate and Champion with a capital C of someone powerful enough to leave the bulk of Olympus relieved he only ever visits camp during summer.
Nearly the bulk of both camps were taking bets on who it was because Mr. D always looked like he wanted to get plastered whenever it came time for Danny to show up, and he wasn't even that bad for being a quarter ghostly revenant, quarter demigod, full-time raccoon who gives every Olympian besides his divine mother a headache.
Danny wasn't actually a ghost. More like a quarter ghost, a demigod with extra steps, though, depending on what time of day it was or what part of his body had phased through solid matter recently, it was hard to tell, especially whenever he forgot he was invisible.
It never failed. Every time he was here, he'd inevitably scare someone by accident, turn slightly translucent in return because he'd get startled and lose more than a few pieces of clothing in the process, which always left Nico unable to look him in the eye for the rest of the day or days. It depended on how bad it was, but Will teasing him about it didn't help matters either because Will was amazingly understanding and Danny was well, Danny.
He looked like he’d just crawled out of a wind tunnel and decided to own the look with eyes so bright blue it was like someone bottled the sky and gave it anxiety.
Oh, and he had this hoodie. Half black , half gray split right down the middle with a white skeletal design snaking down the sleeves. He wore it like armor, even though he usually left it unzipped to show his camp T-shirt. If anyone asked about it, he’d just smile like it was some grand secret he couldn't share, but Nico had caught him fiddling with the frayed cuffs on nights when the fire was too loud and the crowd too close.
Thankfully, tonight wasn't one of those nights.
The campfire roared in the center of the clearing, casting shadows across faces and nearby cabins and the kind of s'mores Grover claimed were “accidentally vegan.” Percy and Danny were on the other side of the campfire, deep in a heated game of Mythomagic Poker, which was basically just regular poker with more complaining and occasional weaponry. It wasn't banned yet, unlike Uno.
Grover had thrown in his cards three minutes ago with a dramatic bleat of betrayal. Percy was trying to bluff with the emotional range of a soggy napkin. And Danny? Danny was somehow winning.
Of course, he was. Danny had a poker face that was just as bad as Percy's, but he could lie to your face and make you believe him somehow.
Nico, though, he wasn't really doing much, just sitting next to Will, not playing, not talking, just… watching.
And yes, he is well aware of how that sounds. It's why he's never going to say it out loud or even risk admitting it.
Will nudged his boyfriend with his elbow as he leaned in closer with a teasing smile and whispered. “You’re staring again.”
“I am not.”
He gave Nico a look. “You’re staring. And brooding. That’s a combo pack.”
Nico blamed any redness on the campfire as he scowled into the flames. “I’m allowed to look at people. It’s called ‘being observant.’”
“It’s called being in denial.” Will's smile grew just a little. “Seriously, Nico. It’s getting painful.”
And Nico wanted to argue. He wanted to tell his boyfriend he was wrong, that he wasn’t interested in Danny because he didn't want to mess up their relationship by admitting he occasionally thought about another guy like that. It was very, very occasionally. Small moments that weren't exactly innocent, mind you, but they were only ever occasionally and only in the privacy of his cabin.
Instead, Nico muttered, “Did you know he guessed my favorite color?”
Will raised an eyebrow at that. “What?”
“I didn’t even have one. He just kept asking every day like it was some mystery he had to solve. ‘Black? Blue? Silver?’ And then, one day, he just blurts out, ‘It’s yellow, isn’t it?’”
Will stared. “...Yellow?”
“I know.” Nico threw up his hands in defeat because he didn't get it either. “I don’t even like yellow! But he looked so excited like he’d just cracked the secret to the universe. And I didn’t want to ruin it for him. So I said he was right.”
“So now your favorite color is yellow.”
“I guess.” Nico looked down at the flames. “It’s just so stupid.”
Will’s voice went quiet as he shifted closer, his tone dropping into something more understanding. “It’s not stupid.”
Before either of them could respond, laughter burst out from across the fire. Danny had just won another round. Percy groaned like he’d been personally betrayed by the cards, and Danny caught them staring and gave this huge, glowing smile like Nico was the most interesting thing in the world.
Then he waved.
Nico's hand, the betrayer of secret crushes that weren't crushes, waved back.
Will smirked so hard that Nico could practically feel it.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Totally subtle.”
Nico just groaned into his hands. “Shut up.”
“You know he likes you, right?”
“What?”
Will tilted his head toward the fire. “Danny. He likes you. Literally, everyone in camp has known about it for months now.”
Nico opened his mouth, then closed it. “He doesn’t. But I... I don't... We're dating.”
"And I'm telling you it's fine."
"W-What... But.."
“Nico,” Will said finally, quietly but steadily, “do you like him?”
“Yeah, I think I so... I'd like to...”
"Then it's fine," Will reassured him as he leaned down slightly to kiss Nico's cheek. "If there’s a chance we could include Danny… make this something more … Then it's fine. He's cute and I wouldn't mind dating another chthonic demigod if it could make you happy, so we owe it to ourselves and him to at least try, Gods know, demigods don’t get many chances like this. Happy endings? That’s not in the job description unless you're one of the lucky ones.”
“We’d be a throuple,” Nico mumbled, his face almost completely red now. “You, me, and Danny.”
"Me and my chthonic boys. I can already hear the rest of camp teasing me about having a type if this works out."
Across the fire, Danny laughed again, head thrown back, hoodie falling off one shoulder. One of his scars peeked out for a moment, jagged and pale across his collarbone and Nico felt something shift in his chest, something warm and awful and electric.
He'd never wanted to kiss someone and also run away from them at the same time before, but now he was trying to imagine Will kissing Danny's scars, and Gods, what was wrong with him.
He was definitely his father's son, because Nico was greedy enough to want it. He wanted Danny and Will, and his boyfriend was giving him the green light to go get the ghost boy.
Will nudged him gently to get him to focus. “Just talk to him."
He could do that much. Probably.
Maybe.
The fire crackled, sending golden sparks into the sky like tiny, fleeing spirits as Nico forced himself to stand up.