Chapter Text
To put it simply, Nico was panicking. Will was due to return later that day and Cecil had very unpleasantly reminded him of a Christmas tradition just that morning. Considering all of Nico’s previous Christmases had been spent rather separated from the festivities, he had almost completely forgotten about it.
“So, what are you getting Will for Christmas?” Cecil had asked casually as the two made their way to the canoe lake for a session with the Aphrodite and other Hermes kids.
Nico stopped walking.
“Dude, please tell me you remembered to get your boyfriend a gift,” Cecil said, noticing his shock at the statement.
“I, uh,” Nico began, wondering how he could phrase this without seeming like a terrible person, “I sort of forgot that people gave gifts?”
“You what? Nico, it’s Christmas!” Cecil practically yelled.
“I’ve not exactly had the best experiences of Christmas over the years,” Nico snapped back as a means of defense, but as soon as he noticed Cecil stumble backward at his abrupt tone, he relented. “I’m sorry. I’ve not really been around anyone else at Christmas before and now I have to get Will a gift or he’s going to think I’m a terrible boyfriend. What do you even give people for Christmas? How am I going to get something?”
“Do I hear relationship problems?” a girl’s chipper voice piped up from behind Cecil and a panicking Nico. Nico turned around to see Lacy and Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin, also headed down to the canoe lake.
“Not really,” Nico huffed. He refused to resort to advice from the children of the goddess of love.
“Yes,” Cecil butted in, “Nico hasn’t got Will a Christmas present yet. He arrives back at Camp today.”
“Oh, that’s bad,” Lacy sighed.
“Not that bad,” Mitchell added helpfully, “Christmas is still a couple of weeks away.”
“I’m going to Camp Jupiter next week, though,” Nico pointed out, “I promised my sister. And Frank, Reyna, Piper, and Jason.”
“Hey, maybe they can help you find something over there!” Lacy grinned, cheerfully. Nico raised an eyebrow.
“Have you been to New Rome? It’s hardly a place I can find a Christmas gift.”
“I can always steal something for you,” Cecil added helpfully. Nico sent him a quick glare that shut him up in seconds.
“What sort of thing do I even get him?” Nico asked exasperatedly. Lacy and Mitchell looked at each other thoughtfully and before Nico knew it, he was spending the day floating on the canoe lake with Cecil, Lacy, and Mitchell, deciding what he could possibly get Will for Christmas that wasn’t too expensive, too cheesy, something Will would dislike or something Nico would never get him.
“This is impossible!” Lacy huffed two hours later as the four made their way back to the Mess Hall, “why can’t I think of anything that’s just right?”
“What’s impossible?” an all too familiar voice asked from behind them. Nico spun around faster than lightning and before he could even consider what he was doing, his arms were thrown around Will Solace’s neck as his boyfriend picked him up and spun him around.
“You’re back,” Nico stated very obviously, not even attempting to hide the grin on his face at Will’s return.
“Miss me?” Will asked, leaning his face down towards Nico. Nico didn’t even bother to respond, taking Will’s actions as invitation enough to place his hands on either side of Will’s face and kiss him.
Will made a contented hum that had Nico’s heart skipping a beat before he drew back, keeping his hands firmly on Nico’s waist.
“‘I’ll take that as a yes,” Will smirked. Nico rolled his eyes when a short cough interrupted the moment between the two.
“Nico, if you wanna drop by our cabin later you can do. I guess you two probably want to… catch up,” Mitchell offered. Nico had the decency to at least blush at the act of affection he’d so openly displayed in front of the others.
“Yeah, uh, sorry. I’ll probably drop by,” he said.
“Please go to the Hades cabin or something before you start making out, though. I don’t want to see my two bros swapping saliva again,” Cecil begged as an afterthought just as the three began to leave.
“Shut up, Cecil,” Nico huffed, his cheeks still glowing red. Cecil chuckled and waved.
“Have fun, lovebirds.”
“So do you want to heed Cecil’s advice, or-?” Will started, tilting his head endearingly with a mischievous smile gracing his lips. Nico looked at him properly for the first time since his return.
If Nico didn’t know better, he’d think Will had grown again which was completely unfair considering he already had several inches on Nico. His skin also seemed slightly less tanned than it had in the summer. Nico supposed the sun was out less at the moment, though, so it was only natural.
Will’s hair also seemed a bit longer, falling into his eyes a little more than it had in summer. Nico fought the urge to run his fingers through it. He could do that later. For now, he wanted nothing more than to indeed follow Cecil’s suggestion.
“Holy Hera, I've missed you,” Nico commented as Will continued to look down at Nico with a bemused expression, “now get to my cabin and kiss me, Solace.”
Will didn’t need telling twice. Nico supposed they could properly catch up with words later. Right now, all he wanted was to feel Will’s lips against his own again. He’d missed Will a lot, after all.
Nico didn’t remember to drop by the Aphrodite cabin later that evening. Lacy and Mitchell weren’t exactly surprised, though. They’d suspected Nico might have some more important catching up to do, after all.
Nico didn’t really want to go to New Rome. Especially now that Will was back, but a promise was a promise and he still really needed help on what to get Will for Christmas. Still, now he could wake up to blond hair tickling his face, curled up in Will’s arms in the Hades cabin again, Nico really didn’t want to leave for a week.
That’s why he did a very stupid thing.
“Will,” he said softly, poking Will’s cheek as an attempt to wake him. It was usually never difficult to get Will up in a morning, especially with his father being the sun god, but with it being winter, it was still too dark outside for Will to have received the memo that it was indeed morning.
“Ten more minutes,” Will groaned in response, rolling over to bury his face in the pillow. Nico resisted the urge to allow his boyfriend those ten more minutes purely because he was adorable in the morning and Nico could stare at him forever.
“Absolutely not,” Nico forced himself to say, “I need to ask you something.”
“If you want to get married, my answer’s yes,” Will mumbled into the pillow, still not getting up. Nico spluttered and pushed Will off the bed. He had definitely not been about to ask that. Now his heart was racing at a ridiculous pace and the only thought running through his head was an older Will in a tux.
“Nico!” Will complained as he fell onto the floor from Nico’s push.
“Don’t say stuff like that!” Nico justified. Will rolled his eyes and sat cross-legged on the floor, staring up at Nico with a small pout. Nico had never been a morning person but whenever Will was around, he found himself growing to really love them. Not that Will would ever know.
“Do you want to go to Camp Jupiter with me tomorrow?” Nico finally asked. Will’s eyes lit up.
“Yes!” he grinned, “will it be decorated for Christmas? Oh, I’ll finally get to meet your sister properly.”
Nico chuckled at Will’s enthusiasm, ignoring the reprimands from his head that he had no chance of getting a Christmas gift for Will if Will was there.
Still, with Will’s excitement that the two would be together for a week longer than they’d thought, Nico couldn’t bring himself to regret the decision.
Camp Jupiter, just as Will had hoped, was decorated for Christmas. Nico couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Reyna sat in a throne decorated with tinsel, scowling at the snowflakes on the table next to a grinning Frank wearing a party hat from a cracker.
“Nico!” Hazel exclaimed as soon as she spotted him, throwing her arms around her older brother. Nico hugged her back, relieved that Hazel was still shorter than him. He was pretty sure she was the only person who was.
“Hey, Nico! Will!” another familiar voice called out. Piper and Jason had been sat with Hazel at Fifth Cohort’s table. Piper ran up to Nico and also threw her arms around him. Luckily for Nico, she hadn’t grown and was still about the same height as him.
The same could not be said for Jason who ruffled Nico’s hair affectionately before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.
“We missed you, man,” he said, “how have you been?”
Nico glanced back at Will and gave Jason a wry smile.
“Pretty good,” he said, “Camp rebuilding went well. We’re still working on new statues and cabins thanks to your stupid promise.”
Jason rubbed the back of his neck, guiltily.
“Sorry,” he apologised, “you’re looking good from all the building, though!”
Nico heard Will clear his throat behind Nico before his hand intertwined with Nico’s own.
“Jealousy, thy name is Will,” Nico muttered, nudging his boyfriend with his hip.
“Shut up, di Angelo,” Will retorted, pushing Nico back.
“So,” Hazel cooed, “this is the elusive ‘Will Solace’ I’ve been hearing all about.”
“I wasn’t going to bring him,” Nico shrugged, “but he insisted.”
“That is not how it happened at all!” Will replied indignantly, “you asked me because you couldn’t bear being without me for a week.”
“Someone’s developed an ego. That's not what happened,” Nico retorted.
“Please,” Will rolled his eyes, “like you don’t get all sappy in the morning.”
Nico noticed Hazel turn to Piper and Jason with a look of concern on her face. Piper just laughed.
“Don’t worry, they’re always like this. It’s adorable,” she said.
“Will’s helped Nico a lot. Loads more than the rest of us could,” Jason promised. Hazel turned back to her brother and smiled at him.
“Good,” she nodded, “I approve.”
“I don’t need your approval,” Nico grumbled but he was smiling all the same.
“I had to get my siblings’ approval!” Will complained. Nico snorted and turned to Will with a raised eyebrow.
“Kayla approved?” he asked. Will shrugged.
“Not quite. If I remember correctly, and I do, her exact words were ‘For Zeus’s sake, Will, if you don’t stop waxing poetry about Nico's eyes and snog him, I’ll snog him myself!’” he said. Nico snorted with laughter.
“You two need to come and sit at our table instead of just standing in the middle of nowhere,” Hazel decided.
“Yeah, quit flirting where everyone can see and save those eyes for the bedroom,” Piper rolled her eyes with a mischievous grin.
“Piper!” Will, Nico and Jason spluttered indignantly.
“Before you do sit down, though,” Jason added, “I think there’re a couple more people who might be interested in saying hello.”
Nico glanced up to the Praetor’s table where Reyna and Frank were looking in his direction with bemused smirks. Nico let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he pulled Will’s hand in the direction of the Praetors.
He could already tell this would be the best Christmas of his life.
Nico’s trip to Camp Jupiter ended far too soon for his liking. Whilst it had been great to catch up with Hazel, Reyna, Frank, Piper, and Jason, he knew he was running out of time to get a gift for Will, especially when Nico spent nearly every waking moment with him.
Lacy and Mitchell were not best pleased when Nico returned.
“Nico, it’s like you don’t want to get him anything,” Lacy huffed, “why did you take him with you?”
“You’re a child of Aphrodite, figure it out,” Nico muttered, his cheeks flushing pink. Mitchell patted him on the back which didn’t really feel all that comforting.
“It’s okay. Have you asked Chiron about going out into town? Maybe you could buy him something there,” he suggested.
“I’d spend hours wandering around not knowing what to do,” Nico pointed out, “plus after the trick I pulled with getting a ‘doctor’s note’ to sit with Will at mealtimes, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t let me go without Will.”
“Why don’t you ask his mom?” Lacy suggested. Nico shook his head. The thought of asking Naomi Solace what he should get for her son was far too embarrassing.
“Oh please,” a voice that had not previously been in the conversation drawled, “just ask Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. They arrived at Camp for Christmas yesterday and they always seem to have the answer to everything.”
Nico whipped his head around to find that the voice had belonged to Drew Tanaka. Nico had never really gotten on with Drew, not that he’d tried, and after Piper’s complaints he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Strangely, Drew’s advice didn’t seem all that bad.
“Um, thanks?” Nico responded awkwardly. Drew shrugged her shoulders and continued filing her nails.
“It’s no biggie,” she said, “I do have some idea about relationships. Percy’s at the Mess Hall if you want to catch him.”
Nico got to his feet.
“Thanks, Lacy, Mitchell. I think it might help to at least ask them,” he agreed. The two Aphrodite kids nodded and Nico made his way to the door.
“Oh, and Nico, sweetie?” Drew added. Nico turned hesitantly towards her again, “don’t break Will’s heart. Gods know we need some good things in our lives.”
Nico nodded his head.
“Right, I won’t.”
Drew’s usual tune was that you had to break a heart. Nico couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had brought about Drew’s change of mind but he wasn’t about to ask. He wondered if it had anything to do with the striped pink flag he’d noticed on her mirror. It looked like something he should recognise but couldn’t put a name to.
Pushing thoughts of the Aphrodite cabin out of his head, Nico approached the Big Three table, occupied only by Percy Jackson, just as Drew had promised.
Nico slid into the seat opposite him.
“How’s college going?” Nico asked. Percy grinned.
“Nico! Good to see you again,” he declared, “college is hard. I feel stupid. Reading just takes so long.”
Nico knew his struggle. Most demigods had dyslexia, Nico included, and reading English was often quite a nightmare.
“You’ve got Annabeth there, though. You can do anything,” Nico promised. Percy smiled.
“I suppose you’re right. How’ve you been?” he asked.
Nico sighed, “I actually came to ask your help on something,” he admitted. Percy leaned closer and raised an eyebrow, motioning for Nico to continue.
“I don’t know what to get Will for Christmas. I don’t want it to be some generic gift but I don’t want it to be too big of a deal because it’s just a Christmas gift and I can’t seem to think of anything in between,” Nico spluttered.
Percy didn’t respond immediately. Instead, his eyes darkened and his eyebrows furrowed. Nico knew why monsters shied away as soon as they met Percy. If the son of Hades hadn’t known him for as long as he had, the look Percy was giving him would have terrified him. Nico often thought Percy didn’t know how intimidating he could look when he was deep in thought.
His eyes represented a sea in more than just their colour. They could easily become dark and mysterious, a reflection of the terrors Percy himself had witnessed.
“How do you feel about sentimentality?” Percy finally responded, his expression changing in the blink of an eye.
“Oh, uh, it depends what you’re thinking,” Nico spluttered, having been lost in thought, himself.
“I mean, Will’s helped you to escape the ghosts of your past a lot, right?” Percy asked. Nico nodded. “What about something that showed him how grateful you were for that. Something that means a lot to you and your past.”
“I- don’t really know what you mean,” Nico shook his head in confusion.
“The Hades Statue,” Percy clarified at last. Nico looked at Percy with wide eyes. For a time, Nico had hated the statue. It had been the last gift his sister had ever given him but it was a reminder of the fact that Percy had broken his promise. Now Nico was older, he realised just how much Percy had been trying to tell him that Bianca might not have been safe before they went.
Young Nico wouldn’t listen and so he’d had his heart broken.
Sometimes Nico forgot how intelligent Percy was, especially because he was dating Annabeth. His intelligence wasn’t the same as Annabeth’s analytical, strategic intelligence, though- Percy’s intelligence was impulsive and, in a way Nico didn’t think Percy realised himself, manipulative.
Percy’s suggestion was actually incredible. Will had helped Nico talk about his feelings, something that if Nico had done at the time he found out about Bianca, would have saved a lot of hurt and heartbreak. Will had promised to always be there for Nico just as the statue was a reminder for Nico that Bianca was always watching over him, too, even in death.
Giving the statue to Will would be Nico’s way of telling Will that he truly trusted him. That he wasn’t going to ever leave Will behind. That he wanted Will in his life. Nico’s mind couldn’t help but flicker to the marriage comment Will had made about a week ago. Demigods often died young and many didn’t make it to marriage age. Nico supposed that this was his own sort of promise to Will of ’Til death us do part’, despite how young they both were.
Strangely, it wasn’t an idea that even scared Nico in the slightest.
“Thank you, Percy,” Nico smiled, “that’s actually a really good idea.”
Percy nodded, “glad I could help. Don’t tell Annabeth you came to me first, though- she’ll be salty for weeks.”
Nico grinned, “I suppose I’d better go and say hello to her, too.”
“Hey, Nico,” Percy stopped Nico from standing up by placing a hand on his shoulder, “it’s good to see you so happy.”
Nico nodded, “it’s good to see you alive and uninjured.”
With a small chuckle, Percy released Nico to go and find Annabeth.
Nico woke up to an empty cabin on Christmas morning (Will’s siblings had forced him to stay at his own cabin so they could open presents) and was surprised to find it feeling chillier than normal.
Nico sleepily dragged himself over to the log fire and started lighting a spark. Before he managed to get it started, though, there was a loud knock on his door. Nico grumbled to himself as he got to his feet and stumbled over to it, hoping it was at least Will.
Much to his disappointment, it was not, in fact, Will. Instead, Percy and Annabeth stood in his doorway.
“Merry Christmas, Nico!” Percy grinned. Annabeth stepped forwards and gave him a hug which Nico awkwardly returned.
“We brought you gifts. Can we come in?” Annabeth asked as she released Nico. Nico shrugged.
“Yeah, sure. Let me get dressed- I only just got up,” he huffed, excusing himself to the bathroom whilst Percy and Annabeth disposed of their coats.
Nico only realised once he was in the bathroom getting dressed that their coats had been coated in white specs. It didn’t rain in camp unless Mr D and Chiron wanted it to. Nico wondered if perhaps Chiron had allowed it to snow purely because it was Christmas. If so, Nico was sort of looking forward to it. He didn’t really have any memory of snow from before.
When Nico returned, nothing looked different but Percy was smirking and looking as if he’d done something. Nico gave him a wary look as he perched down on his bed, opposite where Annabeth and Percy had sat. He supposed there was nothing he could do even if Percy was up to mischief.
“Here’s your present from me, Nico,” Annabeth announced, placing a cuboidal shaped parcel wrapped in penguin paper in Nico’s lap. He picked it up and smirked at Annabeth. It was so obviously a book.
When he opened it, he was surprised to find that it was a mathematics book.
“I know it seems a bit random,” Annabeth explained, “but I just thought since Percy and I are going to school now that if you ever wanted to do the same, you’d need to learn some basic math and English. Of course, you don’t have to go to school but if you wanted to, I’d be happy to help you study.”
Nico had never really considered going to school before. He’d always thought he’d just stay at Camp. Admittedly, Will’s stories of school and now Annabeth’s gift had him curious. Nico did sort of like the idea of learning new things.
“Thanks, Annabeth,” he said, finding that he genuinely meant it, “that was a really thoughtful gift.”
“Mine’s a little more fun,” Percy added, handing Nico a more oddly shaped parcel, “Jason gave me the idea and I thought it was great.”
Nico warily accepted the parcel. Whatever Percy and Jason had conspired about together automatically made Nico apprehensive.
Still, he opened the parcel and was surprised to find a plushie fall out. Not just any plushie, though- it was an Umbreon plushie. Nico snorted a small laugh at it.
“When I arrived at Camp Jupiter without memories, I’d been carrying around a panda pillow pet,” Percy launched into an explanation, “it really helped with the nightmares. I know it’s a bit silly but we all need something a little daft in our lives.”
Nico smiled down at the Umbreon. For some reason, the rings of yellow on its coat reminded him of Will.
“It’s really great, Percy. Thank you,” he replied. Percy smiled contentedly as Nico reached over onto his bedside table and grabbed the two parcels for Percy and Annabeth. He hadn’t bought Christmas gifts for many people but he’d already delivered most of them when in New Rome. Percy, Annabeth and Will were the only people he had gifts left for.
“I know it’s not much,” Nico shrugged, “but Merry Christmas or whatever.”
To his surprise, Annabeth grinned down at the owl patterned scarf and Percy was laughing at his pack of Blackjack sweets, the Poseidon mythomagic statue held in his other hand.
“Oh, Blackjack is gonna love these and the statue was actually really thoughtful of you,” Percy said with a pointed look, “thanks, man.”
Nico shrugged again. He’d never been great at giving gifts but Annabeth and Percy didn’t seem too disappointed.
“This is really lovely,” Annabeth smiled, “I must say, considering your cabin interior design I didn’t trust your sense of style too much but you’ve redeemed yourself.”
“Don’t mention the cabin,” Nico rolled his eyes, huffing a laugh all the same. Percy and Annabeth looked into each other’s eyes for a second before they engulfed Nico in a hug.
“Have a good Christmas, Nico. We’ll see you later, yeah?” Percy checked. Nico nodded.
“Yeah. It’s snowing out there, right? I want to see what that’s like,” he admitted. Annabeth’s grey eyes sparkled.
“We’re having a snowball fight,” she declared.
“Woah, Wise Girl, I don’t want to die today,” Percy stuttered.
“Tough,” Annabeth smirked and before Nico could ask what was going on, Annabeth had grabbed Percy’s hand and dragged the two of them out of his cabin.
As the door was flung open, though, another face was revealed in the entrance.
“Do I even want to know?” Will Solace asked. Nico rolled his eyes and walked over to the door with a smile on his face.
“Probably not,” he admitted. Will was dressed in a large navy coat, his blond hair hidden by a ridiculous red bobble hat. Nico thought he looked adorable.
Nico was about to open his mouth to wish Will a Merry Christmas when Will’s eyes wandered up to the doorframe. Nico raised an eyebrow and lifted his gaze too, his mouth falling open when he noticed what was there.
A sprig of mistletoe was hanging from his doorframe.
“Wow, Nico, who knew the holiday spirit would turn you into such a flirt?” Will smirked. Nico furrowed his eyebrows.
“Wait, it wasn’t you who put it there?” he asked. Will shook his head.
“It wasn’t you either?” he asked. Nico shook his head when realisation dawned on him as to why Percy had looked so smug earlier.
“Jackson,” Nico hissed. Will laughed and stepped closer, wrapping an arm around Nico’s waist. His coat was cold from being outside and Nico shivered at the contact, not wearing more than a grey knitted jumper.
“I hope you don’t intend to ignore Christmas tradition,” Will whispered, his breath forming visible vapour right in front of Nico’s own mouth.
“Of course not,” Nico muttered, bringing his arms up to clutch the edge of the ruff on Will’s hood. He tugged the son of Apollo forward slightly and connected their lips, surprised at the warmth of Will’s considering the cold air around them.
Will gave a soft hum as he melted against Nico’s warmth, sending a warm trickle of affection through Nico’s own chest. Nico leaned up into the kiss when a whooping sound behind Will caused him to immediately pull back.
“Percy!” Nico yelled as he caught the sight of dark hair hidden behind one of the trees behind Nico’s cabin.
“Is that Annabeth’s phone in his hand?” Will murmured quietly to Nico. Nico glared at Percy before grabbing Will’s hand and tugging him into the cabin.
“I’m ignoring them. Get in here,” he ordered. Will chuckled and closed the door behind him.
“Wow, eager much,” he smirked. Nico glared at him too.
“Shut up before I kick you out, Solace. I just want to give you your Christmas present,” he rolled his eyes. Will chuckled again before peeling off his coat and hat, revealing a ridiculous Christmas jumper underneath, covered in cartoon reindeers. Nico snorted at the design.
“You’re such a dork,” he said.
“At least I don’t dress like the Grinch personally designed my Christmas jumper,” Will retorted. Nico furrowed his eyebrows.
“Who?”
“I forget you weren’t born in this generation. You’ve missed so much, di Angelo,” Will sighed, flopping down on Nico’s bed way more dramatically than was necessary.
“I doubt that,” Nico commented as he grabbed Will’s present and shuffled up to Will on his bed, hoping the son of Apollo would keep him warm. He’d grown quite cold thanks to the prolonged opening of his door, “Merry Christmas,” he added, handing the gift to Will.
Will looked at it curiously with a smile on his face. Nico wondered if Will could hear how loudly his heart was thumping against his chest. He didn’t think he’d ever been so nervous about giving someone a gift before.
“Nico,” Will gasped softly, “is this-“
“I know it’s probably a stupid idea,” Nico blushed, “but I wanted you to have it. You’ve helped me to move on from the darkness I carried with me after Bianca’s death so much and I wanted to give you something to show you how grateful I was for that. It’s a silly gift. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all-“
Nico was cut off from his fast ramble by a pair of warm lips briefly pressing against his. Nico noticed that Will had tears in his eyes when he drew away.
“I love it,” Will said, “and it isn’t silly or stupid or anything. I understand how important this statue is to you and the fact that you would give it me,” Will choked up for a second, “it means so much. Nico, I really love you.”
“I know,” Nico smiled as Will clutched the statue against his chest and buried his face in Nico’s neck. Nico could feel the dampness of Will’s tears against his neck. “I love you too.”
The two remained there for a moment or two, quietly enjoying the other’s company before Will sat up abruptly.
“I need to give you your gift,” he realised before thrusting a parcel towards Nico, “I don’t think I could ever top your gift but I tried.”
The present was quite bulky but didn’t feel overly heavy. Intrigued, Nico tore into the wrapping paper.
Inside the paper sat a black fur-lined corduroy jacket. Nico smiled at it. It was just his kind of thing.
“Open it out,” Will leaned over to whisper in Nico’s ear. Nico heeded his advice and laughed out loud when he spotted the sun stitched onto the top pocket.
“I wanted to sew the patch slightly more to the right so that it would be closer to where your actual heart lies but Austin told me that was stupid and most people think the heart is further to the left anyway so you wouldn’t mind,” Will started to ramble. Nico laughed again and leaned his head on Will’s shoulder.
“You’re such a medical dork,” he snickered, “you really sewed this on yourself?”
Will nodded, “I’ve got the band-aids to prove it,” he said, wiggling his fingers to show Nico. Nico noticed that there were, indeed, three band-aids plastered over the ends of his fingers.
“I love it,” Nico said, “thank you.”
Will gave Nico a watery smile before swooping down and kissing him quickly yet again.
“What do you think about going outside and joining Percy and Annabeth’s snowball fight?” Will suggested. Nico’s eyes lit up at the suggestion.
“You’re on, Solace,” he smirked, tugging on his new jacket to race his boyfriend to the door.
When Nico returned to his cabin half an hour later, dripping wet with residual snow and dragging an equally as soaked Will into the Hades cabin with him, kissing him fiercely as soon as the door was closed, Nico couldn’t help but think that it had to be his best Christmas so far.
All the other campers that had returned for Christmas were back at school by the start of February. Will, however, had happily informed Nico that he was actually staying until March as the cold winds of late winter and early spring tended to bring about the most climbing wall and canoe lake injuries.
That’s when the disappearances started. Nico tried to ignore them- he could still sense their auras and knew they weren’t dead, but any attempts of searching for them had failed. Will was at least reassured to hear they were alive, even if Nico could tell he was blaming himself for somehow not being able to take care of them.
Nico didn’t know why Will felt the need to take responsibility for anything that could be slightly related to his healing so he advised the son of Apollo to take a day away from the infirmary to actually relax for once. He hadn’t quite expected their peaceful afternoon to be interrupted by Kayla knocking at the Hades cabin door.
“Will, are you in there?” she yelled. Nico rolled his eyes. Way to greet the owner of the cabin first.
“I’ll tell her to get lost,” Nico assured Will as he stood up from the bed they had been playing Pokémon on and opened the cabin door.
“Can’t it wait, Kayla? Will’s on his break from infirmary duties,” Nico asked. Kayla’s face looked exceptionally pale, though and the worried look in her eyes had Nico anxious that it really wasn’t something that could wait.
“I don’t think it can. There’s been… an incident,” she muttered, chewing her lip.
Nico turned around and shrugged his shoulders at Will who mustered a smile and came to join the pair at the door.
“Well, what am waiting for? Let’s see what’s happened now,” he said cheerily before turning to Nico. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised kissing Nico’s cheek. He turned around so that Kayla wouldn’t see his blush.
“Yeah, good luck,” Nico muttered as the two children of Apollo left his cabin.
It was about an hour until Will returned, bringing news Nico was certainly not ready for. Apollo was at Camp Half-Blood. And he was mortal.
When Will brought Nico to visit him, he also discovered that Apollo happened to be surrounded by a strong aura of death.
Nico voiced his concerns aloud and Will scolded him, elbowing him gently in the side.
“I apologise for my boyfriend,” he said as Nico’s cheeks flushed red. That was Will’s father and he had just announced they were dating to him like it was no big deal.
“Could you not,” Nico complained. Will’s grin only grew.
“Would you prefer ‘Special guy’ or ‘Significant Other’?” he teased. Nico huffed.
“Significant annoyance in your case,” he grumbled. He didn’t get the chance to argue more as Chiron drew their attention back to the unfortunately more pressing issue. Apollo was at Camp Halfblood. Mortal. And apparently bound to some demigod named Meg who was already causing havoc. Nico suspected she’d fit in well.
Still, with the disappearances followed by Apollo’s arrival, Nico was getting slightly concerned about their safety. He really didn’t feel like fighting in another war, especially when he’d just started to settle into Camp.
When Will and Nico were excused from the conversation, Nico dragged Will to their favourite spot amongst the trees behind the Hades cabin.
“So,” he started, “your dad’s at Camp. How do you feel?”
Nico knew Will sometimes got mad at his father. Pretty much every halfblood got mad at their godly parent at least once a month and despite Nico’s frequent visits to the Underworld to see his father, he himself was no exception.
“Confused,” Will sighed, “scared. Slightly angry?”
“That’s understandable. I’d be furious if it were me. Your dad shows no sign of even being alive since summer and suddenly he shows up at Camp and begs for our help,” Nico agreed. Will nodded and placed his hand over Nico’s on the ground.
“I want to be really mad at Apollo. The thing is, I know I’m going to help him. I can’t not help him. He’s my father, after all, and I just want to be able to heal everyone anyway,” Will exclaimed, an expression of frustration growing on his face, “I just want to tell him to help himself for once, though. When was he ever there for me when I needed his assistance? Where was he when I cried myself to sleep at night, wishing I had archery skill or musical ability or something other than lousy healing?”
“Hey,” Nico said softly, “your healing is anything but lousy and nearly everyone here at Camp owes you their life at least once. I know exactly why you’re mad but I also think we should help him, too. I mean, if the fate of the world ends up lying on Apollo in mortal form, we’re pretty much screwed.”
Will huffed a laugh and squeezed Nico’s hand a bit tighter.
“And for what it’s worth,” Nico continued, “I think you’re the strongest Apollo camper there is. You’re the best healer Camp has seen in years, you have one of the fiercest and yet most caring personalities I’ve ever known, your sword fighting has improved so much lately and I’m pretty sure I’ve literally seen you emit sunlight when sparring before now.”
“That last one’s a lie,” Will snorted, nudging his shoulder into Nico. Nico smirked back.
“Don’t believe me, then,” he shrugged, “don’t think you haven’t been blessed by Apollo, though. You really have. And if not, then I guess we can place responsibility for your awesomeness on your mom.”
“She also takes credit for my ‘devilishly handsome looks’,” Will added with a grin. Nico rolled his eyes and laughed, leaning into Will’s side.
“She’s not wrong,” he commented. Will didn’t respond, simply smiling as he wrapped an arm around Nico’s back and leaned against the tree behind him to support both of their weights.
“I feel like the world’s about to end again,” Nico admitted quietly. Apollo’s return had sent Nico into a quiet panic since he first saw him.
“I know,” Will agreed, “but do you know what’s different this time?”
Nico shifted himself in Will’s grasp to look up at him.
“What?” he asked.
“We have each other,” Will said. Nico snorted a laugh.
“You’re so cheesy,” he complained.
“You love it,” Will shrugged, “Hey, even if I die, at least you can come and visit me in the Underworld.”
“Don’t even joke about it,” Nico warned, “besides, it doesn’t work like that and you’re not going to die.”
“How can you be so sure?” Will teased, although Nico noted the slightly more serious undertone to it.
“Because,” Nico began, connecting his eyes with Will’s, “I’ll be there to fight and protect you.”
Nico was pretty sure if he hadn’t had a theory that Will emitted sunlight before then, the beaming smile that lit up Will’s face at his comment would have confirmed it.
“Good job I’ll always be there to heal you if you get injured,” Will promised quietly, sending a rush of warmth through Nico’s own face.
As Nico tilted his head up to slot their lips together, he couldn’t help but smile. Never had he imagined he might find someone that balanced him out as perfectly as Will Solace did.
For the first time, Nico held hope for just what his future would hold after the battle. With Will by his side, it couldn’t be anything but bright.