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Nico woke up in the middle of the night, hearing a rock hit his cabin window. He grumbled while getting out of his bunk, and swept aside his black-out curtains. Outside the window was, Will Solace, with messy blond hair, a wrinkled green nurse’s scrub shirt, jeans, and red converse. He looked tired, with deep bags under his eyes, but they seemed to disappear when he flashed a sunny grin at Nico.
“What do you want?” Nico snarled out as he was not someone that took kindly to being woken up early. Will’s smile continued, as he knew Nico had a lot of moodiness, and had learned to deal with it.
“You want to come out for a walk along the lakeside?” whispered Will as to try not to wake anyone at the camp.
“And why would I want to do that at 4 o'clock in the morning?” asked Nico grumpily.
“Come on, di Angelo, just humor me while I still have a small break from playing doctor.”
“Fine,” Nico said, shutting the window.
He quickly pulled off his button down skull pajamas, hastily pulling on a skull and crossbones shirt, black jeans, and black converse. He briefly looked in the mirror, at his mess of black hair, and pale skin, sighing at his inability to fix it. A small tinge of pink came to his cheeks when he realized what he was doing. Why did he care how he looked for Will of all people? Giving up on making himself look any better, he went outside.
Will launched into a long tirade of how overworked and tired he was. The season was changing from Fall to Winter and with that Flu season began. Apparently even demigods weren’t immune to getting sick. The whole infirmary was full of sick camp goers, and the responsibility fell mostly to the Apollo cabin. Will hadn’t slept in days.
“If you’re so tired, why didn’t you take a nap during your break, instead of bothering me?” asked Nico.
“I just felt like taking a walk to clear my head a bit.” said Will casually.
“Yeah, sure” Nico replied sarcastically.
Will laughed and ruffled Nico’s hair, like he was a little kid. Nico hated being treated like some kid brother. He wanted to be on equal terms as friends. He batted off Will’s hand, trying to smooth down his hair a bit. He still didn’t understand why people wanted to hang out with him at all in the first place. Being a son of Hades, he had been shunned by the majority of the other campers for years. After helping bring back the Athena Parthenos, he expected all of the credit to be laid at someone else’s feet, but people actually acknowledged his effort for once. He wasn’t sure he liked all of this attention he was garnering though.
Will had tons of friends and was well liked by almost everyone, so why would he want to hang out with a gloomy let-down. It was hard to not get his hopes up.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” asked Will.
“Nothing,” said Nico glancing down at his feet.
“That face wasn’t nothing. I thought we were friends, friends don’t hide stuff from each other.”
“That’s just it though. Why would you want to be friends with someone like me in the first place?” Nico asked with anguish in his voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be friends with you?” asked Will, hurt crossing his face.
“Because I’m a son of Hades. I deal with dead things, and you deal with the living. We’re complete opposites, that in no way should have become friends.”
“I don’t care about any of that, Nico! Damn the Gods if I can’t be with someone that I like. I like you, Nico. I really really do.”
“Don’t say things like that. I only ever get my hopes up, and then they get crushed immediately.”
“Nico…”
“You’ve heard about me right? I’m sure it’s been whispered around about how much of a freak I am. The thing with cupid, and Perc-” Nico’s voice cracked on his name. He thought he was over all of this, but he was starting to realize how much he cared about Will, and didn’t want a repeat of what had happened before.
“Nico, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nobody at camp would spread awful things about you.” Will said softly, putting his hand on Nico’s arm. It was slapped away just as quickly.
“I’ll enlighten you then, about how despicable I am. I’m not only a son of Hades, but I’m Gay too! The lot I was given in life was to be an outcast. I bet you’re disgusted now, so I don’t blame you if you never talk to me again.”
Nico didn’t know why he seemed to be trying to drive Will away. He was just so scared of losing him, the words wouldn’t stop pouring out of his mouth.
Will pulled him towards a hug, Nico trying to push him away with limp arms.
“Please don’t talk about yourself like that. It’s okay.” Will said calmly.
“No, it’s not! It’s not okay, and it never will be. I can’t believe I let myself like someone again. I hate-” Nico was cut off as Will forcibly pulled him into an embrace, and kissed him hard on the mouth. At first Nico resisted, but then he gave into the sweet warmth of Will’s lips. When Will pulled away there was a radiant grin on his face. Nico looked away his face completely red.
“I told you it was okay,” Will said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
“You bastard,” Nico said punching Will’s arm, still looking away from his face. Will took a tight grip on Nico’s hand, and began to quickly drag him onto the beach.
“What are you doing?” asked Nico annoyed.
Will just sent him a small smile, and when they reached the beach he pointed towards the horizon.
“Just watch.”
A few sun rays began to gradually break through the early morning clouds, making the water on the lake glisten like a diamond. The sky illuminated shining through the darkness of night, turning shades of pink and orange.
“Wow. Beautiful.” The response slipped out of Nico’s mouth on it’s own. A small tear slipped out of the corner of his eye, but he wiped it away before Will could notice. He just felt so happy right now, holding Will’s hand, and seeing such a dazzling sunrise.
“That’s why I dragged you over here so fast,” said Will proudly. Being a son of Apollo, he could tell when the sun was supposed to rise and set.
“Thank you,” said Nico faintly.
“Did I really just hear the words thank you come out of your mouth, di Angelo?” asked Will feigning shock.
“Haha,” Nico said sarcastically.
Will leaned in close, and whispered in Nico’s ear, “I love you,”
Nico stumbled backwards, landing hard on the beach. Will chuckled while holding out a hand to help him up.
“Is it really that much of a surprise?”
“Yes, No, I mean-” Nico looked down embarrassed. “I love you too, idiot.” he said under his breath.
“Wow a confession and insult all in one. I like your style.”
“Shut up, Solace.” Nico replied.
“Well I was supposed to go back on duty a while ago, so I need to get back. Want me to walk you to your cabin?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
Will gave him a quick peck on the lips, and ran off to the Apollo cabin, his golden hair shining in the sun.
When Nico got back, it was still fairly early, so he decided to climb back into bed. Thinking about all that had just happened, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.