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It was truly a lovely summer day, not that the days were anything less than lovely in the climate controlled Camp Half-Blood, and Nico and Will were on a date. Will had finally found an opportunity to take a break from his work in the infirmary, the summer session starting meant that there was suddenly an influx of campers, and injuries.
They sat by the canoe lake as Will prattled on about his work in the infirmary this week. Some new campers who had been unfortunate victims of the Hermes cabin's pranks, two Ares kids who had decided to have an arm wrestle which ended in not one but two broken arms, and the twin Nike campers who suddenly had the bright idea to turn sharpening knives into a competition, which of course ended in a stab wound.
Nico stared, transfixed, and honestly only taking in about half of what Will was saying. All he could think about was how beautiful Will looked in the sun, truly in his element. A thought popped into Nico's mind, one that absolutely terrified him.
"I want to marry him someday."
And just like that Nico had shadow travelled away without a word, leaving Will both hurt and concerned. He let out a sigh, this wasn't how he planned to spend his day off, but he knew whatever was going on would be something they could work through together. So he set off to go find Nico at his cabin.
Will knocked on the door in a pattern he and Nico had invented to make sure Nico knew when it was Will at the door and not anyone else. After not getting a response, he let himself in and saw Nico sitting on his bed, staring down at his hands. When he looked up to meet Will's eyes, he could see fear written all over his face.
Will moved to sit next to Nico on the bed, not touching him yet. He wasn't sure exactly what Nico was upset about, but when it was something really bad he knew Nico could be touch averse. Will sat there quietly for a minute or so before clearing his throat, prompting Nico to talk.
"I'm really sorry I... shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have left you like that..." Nico muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Will to hear. As if he was about to share a secret.
"It hurt me, and we can talk about that later, but for now I want you to tell me what's on your mind." Will was so patient with him and it made Nico feel worse. It made him feel unworthy to admit the real reason why he ran. He knew he had to, if he wanted to heal the hurt he had caused.
"I looked into your eyes out there and I realized something... something that scared me." Nico's voice was shaking at this point, and he paused for a while before continuing. "What I feel for you is so intense and I realized in that moment that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. There's no one else for me and there truly never will be."
Nico felt Will's hand on top of his own, encouraging him to continue, because even though Nico thought he had said everything, Will knew him too well and could tell there was more left unsaid. He looked up in that moment and could see nothing but love in Will's eyes, which gave him the courage to speak more.
"Everyone that I've ever thought I'd spend forever with has died. First my mother... then my sister... and I had this thought that maybe I'm cursed. That I'd doom you to the same fate if I tied myself to you. So I did what I do best when I'm scared and I ran. I ran from you even though I really shouldn't have..." Nico admitted with tears pouring from his eyes. He hadn't even noticed he was crying until he felt Will place his hand, the one not busy covering his own, on his cheek, wiping the tears away.
"It's okay to be scared, Nico. But you shouldn't run away, not when I'm here. Not when I accept you and whatever big emotions come with that." Will whispered before placing a soft kiss on Nico's forehead. A reminder that he hadn't ruined anything, that Will still loved him.
"And to be honest... I feel like I've always known that it would only be you for me. Even when we were young and fumbling through our feelings. Perhaps my father gifted me a bit of prophecy in that moment ,but I knew when I asked you to stay at camp, that by saying yes you'd be in my life forever." Will suddenly looked sheepish, no longer as confident. Comforting was a part of healing, and if Will was anything it was a healer. But this... this was out of his wheelhouse. A truly raw confession from the depths of his heart, his soul.
"A-and I know we're still young. We aren't even adults yet... but I don't feel like I'm making a mistake, never with you. I know what I want in life and that is one Nico di Angelo and I am set on making sure you never forget that." A smile grew on his face as he used the hand on Nico's cheek to lift his head enough to meet his own eyes. He could see the mix of emotions in his eyes, the lingering guilt that told him that liking men was wrong and the part of him that told him he didn't deserve to be happy. At the same time though, he could see the hope swimming there, and the absolute devotion he had towards Will.
"One day... maybe in a few years, when we're a bit older. I want us to get m-married" Nico's voice stuttered at the concept of marriage, but he knew in this moment that he wanted to express everything on his mind. "I want us to have a small ceremony in New Rome, not that Camp Half-Blood has anything wrong with it, but the Romans really know how to throw a party, no offense to Mr. D."
"Tell me more, about how you've imagined it." Will knew Nico was calming down, he wasn't so frightened like a cornered animal, he was more like... a stray cat trying to figure out if he could trust the stranger he met on the street.
"I wanted to invite our friends of course... but also our parents. Apollo and Hades I mean. I don't know how close you are with your father now that he's a god again, but... my father has always been in my life. He's important to me and he told me that he wanted me to be happy." Nico thought of the time he's spent in the underworld, how him and his father have grown close over the years, working to heal the rift caused by Maria and Bianca's death.
"I'm sure my dad could spare some time to watch his favorite child get married. I wonder if we'd be the first demigods to have both of our godly parents present at the wedding." Will smirked, truly amused by the idea of bringing two gods to New Rome just for a wedding.
"We could certainly ask them at the ceremony, whether we're the first." Nico had a small smile on his face. "But don't tell Austin or Kayla about the 'favorite child' thing. Something tells me they might get jealous and curse you to speak in sonnets again." Nico shivered at the memory of when Will had been cursed to speak in poetry for a week after Kayla caught them making out in the infirmary.
"Well I'm sure I'd come up with the cheesiest sonnets to grace this earth. All of them singing praises of your beauty and declarations of my love to you." Will was giggling to himself as he felt Nico push him away. It was a loving gesture, one that meant 'I'm pushing you away so you can draw me closer again and show me you care.'
"You're the worst, the whole camp is going to make fun of us forever." Nico muttered into Will's shoulder, after he was pulled into a hug.
"Hey, if the campers make fun of us forever then I'll be happy because it will mean we succeeded. In being together forever." Will said with his face buried in the hair on the top of Nico's head.
"Oh gods, I'm dating the sappiest demigod alive." Nico said with deadpan sarcasm.
"And yet you want to stay with me, forever even." It was strangely tender, instead of joking, the mood turning more serious again. "Promise me this. Promise me that you won't run from me, even when your emotions feel too big to handle. I want to share them with you, and honestly, I love you so much it scares me too."
"Yeah I... I don't have to be scared, because you'll always be with me." Nico perked up as if he had just realized this. Truly he did only now have this revelation, the gears in his mind turning in such a way to finally accept that he was loved unconditionally.
"Why don't we just lay here together, I want to make sure I make the most of my day off here with you." Will guided them both to lay down, wrapping his arms around Nico protectively, smiling as he felt Nico snuggle closer. "I forgive you, because you promised you won't run from me again." Will placed a kiss on Nico's mouth, lingering for a moment before parting.
Will listened as Nico's breathing slowed, he adored the amount of trust Nico had placed in him over the years. It had taken so long for them to get to this point, where Nico could drift off to sleep knowing he was safe in Will's arms. Will silently prayed to the gods for allowing them to be together, the series of coincidences which allowed for a son of Hades, born in Italy in the 1930's and a son of Apollo from Texas, his opposite in nearly every way to find each other and fall in love.
With that, Will fell asleep next to Nico, basking in the fact that the two of them were now inseparable. "Till death do we part" would never do them justice, Will knew that they would find each other in the fields of Elysium, still in love even in death.
Not even death could part them, and Will wouldn't have it any other way.