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Will Solace was the type of guy that wanted to know and be friends with everyone in the camp. And there, there was Nico di Angelo—a guy that doesn’t want to talk to anyone except a few people like Percy, Jason, or Hazel, who aren’t at camp that often. Most of the time he was sitting all alone or spending all day in his cabin. Will was always curious about him but decided to just observe him from a distance. Analyzing his actions, looking at him while he was eating or whenever he was ending up in the infirmary, Will was delegating the responsibility of taking care of him to someone else, peeking at him.
Then one day, he noticed that the son of Hades was missing from breakfast. And then from training. And also from dinner. He started being worried, so after he ate his meal, he took some food with him and headed to the 13th cabin.
“Hey, Nico?” He knocked on the obsidian door. “Lil’ buddy, are you here?”
But no one responded. He tried to knock once again, and even tried to open the door, but it was locked. Then he heard someone’s voice behind him.
“Give up, Solace,” it was Nyssa, the counselor of Hephaestus’s cabin. “Every single year, on this date, he’s not going out from his cabin.”
“Do you know why?” he asked, feeling a little bit more worried
“I heard that it is his sister’s death anniversary or something.”
“Oh,” he sighed, “thanks for telling me.”
“Don't worry about that,” she shrugged her arms, “after all, he is not the type of guy that wants any help. Just go back to your duties,” she added and walked away.
But Will wasn’t going to give up so easily. After all, he wanted to get to know that guy. He found a scrap of paper and a pencil in his pocket and wrote a short message on it.
‘I know it’s a hard day for you, so if you want someone to talk to or to hug, then I’m waiting in front of the door. Just unlock it, and I’ll go inside.’
The son of Apollo folded the letter in half and slid it under the door. He knocked once again and said.
“Hey, Nico, I left you a message. You can read it if you want.”
Inferring from the sound of the steps inside the building, the son of Hades did want to read it. Then, after a while, Will heard the unlocking door. Slowly, he got closer and pressed the handle.
He'd never been to the Hades’ cabin before, so he started looking around. There were no windows and all the walls were black, so the interior was really dark. Everything there was looking like some kind of Halloween decoration: coffin-shaped beds, bloody-red sheets and details, or even the little shrine made from bones. No wonder why someone would feel depressed here.
Will looked at the guy standing in front of him. Nico’s face was full of sadness, his eyes were swollen after crying, his hair was all messy, and he was trying to avoid eye contact, crossing his hands on his chest.
“Do you want me to hug you?” Will asked gently. Nico nodded his head, so Will did what he wanted.
Di Angelo hugged him back, and his grasp was really tight. Like he hasn’t gotten any affection for a long time. Like he was so touch-starved but was too afraid to ask anyone. He hid his face in Will’s chest and started breathing really fast.
“If you want to cry, then go ahead,” he whispered.
“I’m not going to cry in front of anyone,” Nico mumbled.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone.” He stroked his back. “You’re not going to lose your reputation.”
Nico indeed started crying. It was silent, but somehow it was still breaking Will’s heart. This kid lost his beloved sister when he was so young. He went through more than probably anyone in camp. And even there, most of the time he was all alone. Who, if not him, deserved to cry and get any emotional support?
“You think now that I’m weak, don’t you?” He whispered after a while.
“Nico, listen to me,” Will started. “You may know that I’m a healer in the infirmary, and that means that every single time during all those wars, I’m responsible for anyone that needs medical help. They all trust me that I can help them. But sometimes… I just can’t. Every time someone dies, I blame myself and cry out loud. No matter how many deaths I’ve seen, it's always the same pain. Death is not something you can just get used to. But I think it’s a good thing, because being unmoved by something like this… just doesn't feel human.” He moved away a little and made the son of Hades look at him. “Nico, it’s absolutely fine to struggle after a loss, especially when it was someone so important to you. It means that you love her with all your heart, got it? And remember, nothing would make me think that you’re weak. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks… I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear.” He smiled and looked away. “I guess you’re not as bad as I thought.”
“Wait, why would you think I am a bad person?” Will was confused.
“Well, maybe not ‘bad,’ more like ‘annoying’ or ‘Oh, I need to be friends with everyone or else I’ll die,’” he answered. “It was just the thing that most of the time you’re in the spotlight, everyone is talking about how nice and friendly you are, etc. And you were watching me most of the time, weren’t you?”
“Oh, well. about that…” Will spluttered, “Maybe a little bit…?”
“I just felt like I’m just your next target, another person to check off from your list of people to befriend and then leave me.”
“Oh,” he gasped, “but… now you know it wasn’t like that, right?”
“You can say I’m not, like, fully sure about that anymore, but you have to try harder if you want me to trust you completely.” Nico smiled nonchalantly.
“Oh, I’ll definitely do that.” Will looked at him. “By the way, have you eaten anything today?”
Di Angelo stayed silent.
“Yeah, as I thought,” he went out from the cabin and brought the food he had left there. “Now, sit down and eat.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I don’t care; you have to eat.” Will answered, passing him a bun, “It’s…a doctor’s appointment.”
“You’re using it as an argument for everything?” He looked at him annoyed but started eating anyway.
“No… I just made it up,” he sat next to him, “but I think I’m going to use that more often.”
“You’re a dumbass,” Nico said, chewing the food.
“Don’t talk while eating,” he sighed, “and who is the dumbass here?”
They were sitting in silence, but somehow this silence wasn’t awkward, even for Will, who just hates when the conversation just randomly stops. And he started thinking, why does Nico have that reputation of the ‘heartless’ and ‘always serious’ guy when he was actually really nice and friendly in his own way?
“Could you tell me once again what your name was?” Nico suddenly asked.
“Are you kidding me right now?” He laughed. “William. But my friends are calling me Will, so feel free to call me like that.”
“Then…Will” Nico whispered, “Once again, thank you for today. You really helped me.”