"Hey, close your eyes, I've got a surprise for you."

Nico blinked. "I hate surprises."

Will smiled. Nico considered being irked at this infuriating tendency of his, but saw the hidden note of sadness underneath it. He said nothing. "You really don't like me, do you?" Will asked.

Nico shifted uncomfortably under the sheets. Will was honest about his feelings, which kind of weirded him out. Another difference between him and Camp Half-Blood's golden boy. "No…" Maybe he should try being honest. "It's not your fault. It's been a rough couple of…years, I guess, for me. I'm not really used to the idea of friends yet. I'm getting better at not shutting people out, though." He tried to meet Will's intense blue eyes. "Am I?"

This time Will's smile reached his eyes. "I think you're making progress." he said.

The stupid skeletal butterflies were back. Nico sprayed imaginary bug killer in his gut and shut his eyes. "Can I have my surprise now?"

Will pressed something cold and metallic into his hands. "I guess it's not as good now that I know you don't not like me." he admitted.

Nico snorted and looked down at the syringe cupped in his palm. He furrowed his brow at Will. "I have to get a shot?"

Will shook his head, letting his wild mess of curls flop everywhere. "No. I'm due for my flu vaccine. And you get to give it to me."

Nico felt his eyebrows shoot up. "Really? I'm qualified?"

Will shrugged. "You just washed your hands, and I put a dot on my arm so you know where to put it. All you have to do is put the needle on it and press down. You'll be fine." He waited a beat. "And I trust you." he added casually, as if those words didn't invite a swarm of butterflies in Nico's stomach.

Nico set off with a massive invisible flyswatter and swallowed, leaning forward. "Okay. Cool. Which arm?"

Will rolled up his right sleeve and turned it to Nico. "I'm left handed." he explained. The purple marker dot stood out from the freckles scattering his arm, daring Nico.

Nico held his breath, positioned the syringe, and pressed down. Will flinched momentarily, then grinned. Nico took the red Band-Aid he offered and pressed it against the tiny purple mark.

"Good job."

At Nico's incredulous look, Will shrugged. "What? You did it." He glanced at his watch and smiled again. "Only twelve more hours till you're released." he said as he left the room, clutching a clipboard.

Nico tried to smile back and wondered why he suddenly wasn't looking forward to leaving.

"Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."

Will snapped them shut. Nico's curt tone gave him no other choice. He pressed his lips together to hide his growing smile.

He was totally taking it as a compliment that Nico copied him.

"I went in the city with Jason and Piper today because I needed new clothes, and I saw these and I thought of you." Nico rambled. "And I bought them. Guess you knew that. Um…here."

Will didn't even try to mask the grin that flew into his heart when Nico said that. Something soft with a paper tag was pressed into his open palms. He tried to suppress a shiver as Nico's hands brushed his own.

Will was in denial of a very strange kind. He knew exactly how he felt about the eccentric Hades child, but happy to try tricking his brain into thinking that absolutely nothing should or would happen about it. It was almost not of his own volition that he'd imprisoned Nico in the hospital, that he'd took the boy's obvious attempts to push him away as signs that he needed to get closer or else lose him. It was as if his brain had split in two and had become engaged in a violent tug-of-war.

In short, he was quite confused. But quite content to accept free stuff.

He opened his eyes and examined his gift. A pair of blue toe socks that went up to the knee, each embroidered with a cartoonish, large-eyed cow. White splotches resembled milk splashes, and lowercase letters blissfully declared "moo." under each bovine.

Will's eyes widened. He brandished the socks at Nico, who was blushing quite profusely (and adorably.) "How'd you know I collect knee socks?"

A shrug. "I asked Kayla what I should get you if I got you a present. But I picked these for you."

Will was tempted to ask why Nico had wanted to get him a gift. Instead, he asked, "Where on earth did you find these?"

Nico flushed so red he nearly turned purple. "Jason thinks I should shop in some pretty weird places." he muttered. Will didn't pry. "Well, I love them." he declared, grinning brightly.

One of Nico's rare smiles appeared, fragile and fleeting as an apparition. Will so badly wished it to be solid and whole, but he was glad to see it all the same. "I'm happy you like them. Do you…"

Will squinted. "Do I what?"

Nico tucked a strand of hair behind his ear self-consciously. "Never mind. See you later."

As he walked away, Will noticed the haircut, and beat himself up for hours after that he hadn't said anything.

"Close your eyes, I've got a surprise for you."

Nico shut his eyes. If this was becoming a habit between him and Will, he was totally okay with it. "Do I get to give you another shot?"

"Hardy har har. No. Here." Will said airily. Nico squeezed his closed eyelids tighter as Will's hands cupped inside his.

The feeling of the object was instantly familiar. Nico's eyes flew open and he gripped the card tight. "Oh my god."

Will grinned. "Do you like it? I know you like this game. Maybe-"

"But an Ophiotaurus card? Do you know how rare this is?" Nico waved it in Will's face. "Where on earth did you find this? How much was it? Good gods, it's in mint condition-"

Will looked quite proud of himself. "Travis and Connor helped me."

Nico blinked. His excitement suddenly mellowed and began sinking into the pit of his stomach. "Oh…oh gods. They did?"

Will nodded brightly. "Uh-huh. All I did was Google the best Mythomagic cards and they got it for me. They were happy to help-"

"Will," Nico asked gently, "do you know how much this card is worth?"

"No."

When Nico told him, Will actually screamed. It was a short, quiet scream, but it still caused a few people to look over with alarm. "Nicowegottagiveitback."

"Will, it's okay, you didn't know-"

"Nicotheydidn'tpayNicowegottafindtheStollsrightnow!" Will grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him out of the infirmary.

They found the Stolls in their cabin, apparently taking bets on how long it would take for Will to figure out how much their heist was really worth. (Or something. There was an awful lot of money piled up on the bed.) With his arm still hooked around Nico's elbow, Will snatched the card from him and waved it in Connor's face. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS THING IS WORTH?!" he roared.

Connor looked like he was trying not to crack up. "Yeah."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

Travis, sitting on the bed, drew the stack of bills toward himself. "I win. Nico and Will aren't that stupid." he told his brother.

"PUTITBACK! PUTITBACKRIGHTNOW!" Will screamed, red-faced, still waving the card.

"Sheesh, okay." Connor took the card and pocketed it.

"Will? Can you let me go now?" Nico asked, hoping Will was done raging. He was kind of pinned against Will's side. Not that that was a bad thing…but awkward.

"Oh! Sorry." Will slipped his arm out. He didn't blush, but Nico saw a flash of red creep up the back of his neck. Travis smirked. Nico made an inappropriate gesture at him behind Will's back.

He and Will supervised the return of the card to its rightful glass case (luckily the theft hadn't been noticed yet) and took the bus back home. Turns out one of the five mint condition Ophiotaurus cards in the world was in the home of a collector in Brooklyn, and Connor and Travis were pretty good at sneaking people in and out of camp.

Will looked out the window and rubbed his elbow self-consciously. "Sorry about that." he muttered. "I just thought you'd like it."

Nico pretended. "I don't care. I wouldn't have been able to play with it anyway. I…got rid of my collection." No way was he ever telling Will that he burned all his cards and chucked all the figurines in the River Styx. Nuh-uh, no way, no how. No need for Will to think he was a psychopath.

Besides, it was the thought that counted, and Nico really wanted to know why Will had come up with this idea. In October. When he knew Nico's birthday was in January.

"Yeah…about that." Will fished out his phone and pulled up a photo. "This is the other part of my gift."

Nico leaned over. Mythomagic cards…like five hundred of them. And eleven statuettes. Minus one.

He touched the figurine in his pocket, cold against his leg.

"Will…oh my gods."

Will smiled. "Will you teach me? Please?"

Nico almost kissed him right there on that nasty bus, but channeled his prepubescent joy into a quick shoulder hug. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"If I'm crazy, you're actually insane."

Nico immediately switched from a hug to a punch on the arm. "That's a lie and you know it."

"Yeah, we're both actually insane."

Will was just asking for it. But Nico couldn't bring himself to punch him again. He just laughed, and was working up the courage to take Will's hand when the bus jerked to a stop. Home, Nico thought, and was glad when he realized that that was his reflex when he thought of camp.

He and Will played Mythomagic all afternoon, through dinner, until lights out. Nico won every round but one.

"Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."

Will closed his eyes. This had become a regular occurrence, and all their friends grew to expect it. Just small trinkets, things found under the bed, bought for fifty cents (or a tenth of a drachma) at the camp store. Jokes and stories and songs poured into each other's hands, creating jokes and stories of their own, crafting a friendship. (Will had taken extra pains to not go overboard like he did with the Mythomagic episode. He also never enlisted the Stolls again.) It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Will always looked forward to see what Nico might give him, and kept Nico at the back of his mind every time he had to buy something.

"Uh…okay. Ow!" Nico yelped.

Will almost opened his eyes, but Nico shouted, "Don't!" So he just shifted on his bed and furrowed his brow.

"Okay. Here."

It was warm, wriggly. Slobbery. He opened his eyes immediately. "You got me a!" He couldn't even say the last word because it died in his throat.

The puppy was furry and black. It was pretty big too, for a puppy. Really big, in fact. It blocked the rest of the infirmary. That wasn't what surprised Will. What surprised him was the two tongues lolling, the four eyes shining.

He peeked around it at Nico. "Two heads?"

Nico grinned. "She's a baby hellhound. Friendly. I had to show her to Chiron to get her inside, but he's fine with it. Her parents are Mrs. O'Leary and Cerberus."

A baby hellhound. A baby hellhound was licking his face. Will reached around and scratched both of the heads. The single tail thumped on his legs. "Why would you give me an Underworld puppy?"

"She reminded me of that photo you showed me. Of Sunny."

Will's pulse stopped. Sunny. He barely ever heard her name anymore. No one knew about her but his mom...and Nico.

A few weeks ago, Nico had been with Will in the Apollo cabin. They hadn't had anything to do, and they were just hanging out and talking. It was Nico's idea to share things.

"Not any deep dark secrets, or anything like that. Just, like, things no one else knows about us. I guess. Never mind, it's not a good idea-"

"I like it." Will had said. Of course, the big one had popped into his head first - the big secret, the gay secret. The one absolutely no one knew. But that was off-limits for now. Will wasn't ready to give Nico that kind of power over him, not when he already had the kind of mega-crush that was actually capable of crushing things on him.

Instead he told him about Sunny, and showed him the picture he kept under his pillow. The best dog ever, an ironically named black Lab mix who he'd had since she was a tiny puppy. Sunny loved him and protected him from dangerous mailmen and squirrels. They'd played and learned, grown up together, the boy and his dog side by side. Until the day they were playing in the street and Sunny was hit by a truck backing out of a driveway. She had to be put to sleep. Will had cried and cried, holding her tight and kissing her face until the end. She was five, and he was eleven. He left for camp soon after, and never told anyone there about her.

Until Nico. By the end of the story, Nico had been sitting really close to him and holding his hand. When he finished, he'd murmured warmly, "Thank you for telling me."

Then he'd told Will about Bianca.

"A lot of people knew her, but no one really knew her like I did. I want to tell you everything."

So he told him who she was and how she'd protected him from every fear and danger, how she'd been his only peer and the closest thing to a parent he'd ever had. Everything good and bad and important and trivial and everything in between, that was what Bianca had been. He told him how betrayed he felt when she shrugged off her heavy burden of caring for him, but how now he understood why she made the choice she did. He pulled out the tiny Hades statue and told Will about how she'd died because she'd taken it for him.

A few times, he got choked up, and Will put his arm around his shoulders. But Nico didn't cry, and Will loved him for it.

After all that, they were more than friends. Not like that, they hadn't kissed or anything, though Will had his own opinion about what it meant. At the very very least, they had forged a deeper bond than before.

And now Nico was acknowledging that that day had happened, that Will hadn't been deceiving himself about the things they'd said and left unsaid. He was not letting that day slip away, and Will felt a warm, Nico-shaped glow fill his heart.

"I love her. I think I'll name her…" Bianca? No. But something to remind him of Nico and Bianca. "Angel."

The glow on Nico's face was worth everything. Every thump of Angel's tails, every moment Will had forced himself back, back to the safety of his lies.

"Close your eyes, I've got a surprise for you."

Nico smiled at Will's singsong voice and closed his eyes. He liked how his friendship with Will was turning out, a nice tight bond. There were so many more people that he would fight for than there were a year ago, and so many more people who would fight for him. Six months after the war's end, he had a lot to be grateful for.

Soft, itchy, thick. Nico opened his eyes and looked at the red knitted scarf in his palms. "Why do I need this?" Even in January on Long Island, the camp was perpetually warm and sunny.

Will shrugged and smiled. "I got a pass into the city for tomorrow. I was wondering if you'd like to come."

Nico raised his eyebrows. This sounded suspiciously like the time Cecil brokenly tried to ask Lou Ellen to sit next to him at the bonfire. "Like a date?"

He froze, then quickly turned it into a laugh so Will would think he was joking. Even though Will was totally smart enough to see that he hadn't been…

Will bit his lip, then grinned. Nico knew him well enough to tell that it was fake. "Yes. Exactly like a date. Please come with me on a date."

Nico laughed falsely and shook the scarf around. "You've made me an offer I can't refuse."

Okay, that was super awkward and Nico hightailed it out of there really fast, but the…outing was really fun.

First off, it was freezing. Literally freezing, the coldest January New York had seen this decade. Nico's fleece proved woefully inept the moment they left the camp's borders. He immediately pulled his scarf out of his pocket and knotted it tight around his neck. Will, equally underdressed, shuddered. The van's shabby heat system did nothing to help.

"Oh gods." they muttered at the same time. Nico hugged himself and glanced at Will, wondering. If they were on a date…maybe. Maybe-

Will interrupted his thought by draping his arm around Nico's shoulders. "It's a matter of life and death." he explained jokingly, smiling.

Nico smirked up at him. "We're on a date, aren't we? Aren't you gonna hold my hand?"

A year ago he never would have been able to imagine being this bold, this reckless. Nico was barely able to grasp that he was doing it now. But Will just laughed and took his ungloved hand, rubbing warmth in it.

When they were deep into the city and off the bus, the very first thing they did was find a clothing store and stock up on gloves, hats, and a thick woolly scarf for Will, nearly blowing all their cash. Nico thought Will looked really cute in his beanie, which was just a tad too large. Of course he said nothing. He didn't have an unlimited supply of flirting in him.

After leaving the store, they picked a street and walked with the crowd. The air was heavy with cloudy breath. Nico gripped Will's green glove tightly in his brown one. He didn't want to lose his sun in the sea of people. (The moment he thought that, of course, he tried and failed to dismiss it. But he didn't let go of Will's hand.)

Without warning, Will pulled Nico off the sidewalk and onto a smaller street. "You want to get ice cream?" he asked, bobbing his freckled head.

Nico was startled by the odd request. "In this weather?" It wasn't snowing, but it sure looked like it would soon.

Will grinned. "Of course."

Nico felt his mouth curl up into a mirror image of Will's. "Of course, then."

They stepped in, and there was such a dizzying array of flavors, Nico heard himself say "You pick for me, Will."

"Cool beans." Will replied, and then Nico was faced with the dilemma of picking something for Will. A sudden, welcome flashback gave him the image of Will pouring an entire bottle of caramel sauce on his…pizza? Maybe? Nico hoped not, but remembering that was enough for him to order the dulce de leche ice cream as Will covered his ears and hummed.

They ate on the freezing bench outside (the indoor heater was for cowards, Will had declared loftily) and Nico was buoyed to see the triple chocolate brownie bit cone Will had picked. "Perfect," he said, and Will beamed so brightly Nico wondered that the day didn't suddenly become summer.

The ice cream effectively froze their brains, and the rest of the time was mostly spent exploring and screeching about how cold it was. They slipped into a tour group and listened to facts about the Empire State Building, exchanging knowing looks about everything the mortals just didn't know.

Then the first flakes began falling, and Nico was so weirdly glad about it that he started laughing. When Will looked at him funny, he grabbed his arm and yelled, "It's snowing!" and then it started snowing hard enough that traffic stopped and Nico could taste something magical and perishable in the air. The world was just beginning.

Will felt it too, he knew it. Nico knew that he could see the whole universe in that moment, as the bright, stinging snowflakes brushed their faces.

They made a teeny tiny snowman and placed him on a bench. There was a giant snowball fight too, and some guy was screaming death cries in fluent Italian. So Nico had to holler at him and smack him perfectly. So of course, the guy (who was like, seven feet tall and had a glittery parka) threw about nine hundred at him, and they were swearing at each other in hurried Italian and the best part was Will's confused face. Finally he shoved some snow down the back of Nico's shirt.

Nico howled and nearly tackled him. "Will! What was that for?"

"I don't speak Italian." Will smiled. Nico totally creamed him in the ensuing battle. (He forgot about the other guy, who exchanged a knowing smile with his fiancé and walked away.)

Then they sang Let it Go for an appreciative group of third-grade girls, and Nico gave Will a highly detailed description of what would happen to him if he told anyone. The little kids were really cute though…

By the time it was over, Nico couldn't feel his fingers even though they were tight in Will's grip. But he didn't regret a single moment.

Argus picked them up, and the second the van drove into camp they both began ripping off their gloves and hats. Will even managed to shimmy out of his coat while keeping his seatbelt on. Nico took the scarf off and wound it around his wrists.

"Why is it so hot out?" Will panted, running his fingers through his impressive hat hair. Nico rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. "It's unnatural."

The eye on Argus' earlobe rolled at Nico. He quickly averted his gaze - Argus freaked him out. He looked at Will instead, and told a stupid joke, and Will told another, until they were laughing so hard they slumped on top of each other.

When they arrived back at camp, Nico knew, Hazel and Frank and Reyna would be there, that there would be food and celebration and talking and singing. But for now, he was content to tell ridiculous stories and soak in the here and now, soak in Will.

"Thanks, Will." he said as they stepped out, arms piled with coats and gloves.

Will winked. "Anything on our first date." he said happily.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I know about the surprise party, Will. Percy was being loud and I overheard."

Will sighed. "Yeah…the date was my idea though. They needed time to set up. You'll pretend to be surprised, right?"

"Of course." Nico tried for a small smile. Maybe a small part of him had been hoping he was wrong. He didn't know. "But I really had fun."

Where had that come from? It was the truth, though, and Nico didn't regret it when Will grinned. "I did too. We should do it again sometime." He made a joking face.

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Maybe." He prayed, as they walked into the balloons and the singing and the love of the party, as he blew out the ninety-one candles on the cake, that Will heard the yes he couldn't say.

Will took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Nico…"

He tried again. "Nico, I…I'm…"

He couldn't say it. He looked himself straight in the eye and he couldn't say it.

He turned away from the mirror.

Nico was slurping up a spaghetti noodle when he felt the tap on his shoulder. "Hi, Will." He turned and was surprised to see the anxiety written on Will's face. "Is everything okay?"

Will shrugged. "Can you meet me in the woods outside your cabin after dinner? When everyone else is at the bonfire? It's important."

Nico hesitated. Will Solace, the camp's literal golden boy, asking him to break a rule? But it wasn't that highly enforced, and rules didn't really matter when Will was this worried… "Sure. Will Kayla watch Angel?"

"Yeah, she loves that dog. Thanks." Will said abruptly. He skulked (skulked?!) back to the Apollo table.

Nico wondered and worried for the rest of dinner. The moment the conch shell blew, he disintegrated into the shadows and reappeared in the clearing Will had mentioned earlier. (The war had ended a year ago, and he was allowed to shadow-travel inside camp boundaries whenever he wanted. Long distances required supervision.)

When Will stumbled into the clearing, Nico went to him. "Will? Are you okay?"

Will frowned. "I'm fine…"

"You've been fine all day, and now you're acting nervous and grumpy." Nico folded his arms. "Are you sick? What's wrong?"

"Um…" Will took a deep breath and stepped back. "Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."

"Seriously?" Will's face crumpled, and Nico immediately snapped his eyes shut. "I'm sorry. It's just that this seemed more important-"

"It is important." Will said with such vehemence that Nico was shaken. "I'm sorry, Nico. I just have to talk to you. And…it's important."

"Okay." Nico decided not to talk anymore.

"Nico…um…well, you should know that I've never told anyone this." He let out a short, terrified breath. "I want to tell other people soon, but I really wanted to tell you first."

His voice was moving - he was pacing. There was a tremor in his words. Nico could almost tell where this might be going. Maybe.

"Nico, I...um…I'm sorry, this is kind of difficult..."

Nico broke his own mental promise. "Will, you can tell me any-"

"I'm gay!" Will broke in, surprising both of them. He exhaled nervously. "I'm gay." he said again, slower, surer.

Nico wished his stomach came equipped with a skeletal butterfly masher.

"And…of course, I'm not out, I've known for a while but I've been afraid to tell people, which I know is completely ridiculous." Now he was just talking really fast. He'd stopped pacing. "I didn't really think I wanted to tell anyone until later, but then you came, and you were brave and out and Nico, you kind of helped me overcome that fear, if you get what I mean."

Holy crap.

Nico had been out since a few weeks after the war - he'd figured that telling Percy meant it was time to tell everyone. It had been met with little fanfare. A cute ten-year old had shyly asked him out one time, but Nico had gently let him down. Nothing else had really come of it.

But now, here was Will Solace, leader, healer, extravert, pushy-as-Hades boy, saying that Nico was the reason he was coming out. Now, suddenly, the world had turned to paper and Nico didn't know how to move without crumpling something. Crumpling Will.

"And…um…I like you, Nico."

Nico hadn't gone weak at the knees. It was more like his body had completely forgotten it had knees at all.

Memories flashed through his mind. Catching Will looking at him, sometimes. Will dragging him into the infirmary. Will gripping his hand tight in the freezing crowd. Will laughing at a stupid joke. Will telling him a secret.

Will smiling at him.

Will trusting him.

Did Nico want this?

Yes. Yes, he did.

"So…um…that's it, I guess. You can talk now, if you want. You can open your eyes. I'm done."

The words somersaulted out of his mouth. "Will, close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

"Uh…"

"Will!" Nico ordered. He opened his eyes, and there was Will, eyes squeezed shut.

There.

There was Will.

Nico put his hands on Will's shoulders first. "Are you okay?"

Will nodded. His lips were pressed tight, and his hands tapped nervously at his sides. Something tugged inside Nico's chest.

He placed a hand on Will's cheek. Will immediately drew in a sharp breath and Nico retreated. "Will? Are you okay?"

Will nodded again, too fast. Nico made himself remember when he was frightened and snarling in the infirmary so long ago. He remembered how Will had been gentle, soft-spoken but firm. (Most of the time.) He tried to emulate the stubborn healer that wasn't here right now.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nico asked again, softly, firmly. Will nodded once.

Nico nodded back even though Will's eyes were shut. Then he summoned up any and all courage that happened to be inside him, which, in front of Will, wasn't much.

And of course, it was light and shadow, night and day, dusk and dawn, everything that mattered and nothing at all.

Nico found himself wondering how he had ever imagined that it could be anything else.

He kept a single eye cracked open, just in case Will wasn't okay. Will blinked and saw him, to his great embarrassment. But Will smiled. Thank the gods.

Then Nico closed his eyes because that was still really embarrassing that Will had caught him.

He drew away from Will quickly, not because he thought it was bad, but because he was really scared. Instead of looking at Will, Nico pulled him into a hug. He could feel trembling, but he couldn't tell if it was him or Will.

"Thank you for telling me." Nico whispered. "Thank you."

They held each other, then broke apart. Nico looked at Will for reassurance, just to make sure that he hadn't completely ruined everything. Will was looking back at him, as if he needed the same thing. He probably did, Nico realized, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Uh...hi."

Okay, maybe that wasn't his best line, but Will smiled broadly and replied, "Hi." Then he broke Nico's gaze and stared down at his feet.

They stood in a terribly awkward silence until Will said, "So...did you…"

Nico caught his drift. "Yeah. I did. Will, I really did."

"Okay."

"...Okay."

Will laughed. "Gods, we suck at this!"

For some reason, Nico found it funny too. Maybe it was just the adrenaline and the fact that he'd stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep them from shaking. "Yeah, there should be a prize or something."

"Percy and Annabeth probably weren't this bad."

"Don't compare yourself to Percy and Annabeth," Nico scolded jokingly, "you won't get anywhere. Just be yourself."

When they were done laughing, Will looked at Nico again. "Um...now what?" he asked, wringing his hands.

Nico shrugged. "I don't know. Are you...okay if we tell people? Is that alright?"

"I guess so. I was going to tell people anyway. Might as well drag you along." Will looked mildly terrified at the prospect, but stood up straight.

Nico had been blushing since he first considered kissing Will but now he felt an even greater heat creep up his cheeks. "Really?"

Will realized what Nico was asking. "Oh! Um, yeah. Yeah! Um…" Suddenly, he dropped to his knees. "Nico di Angelo, I have had a crush on you for an embarrassing amount of time and I like you a lot. Will you please go out with me?"

"Will! Shut up!" Nico cried as he pulled Will to his feet. "Oh my gods, people will hear you-"

"I haven't gotten an answer yet." Will teased.

Nico smacked his arm. "Yes, yes, sure, I'd love to go out with you, just please, please, never ever do that again."

"Okay." Will was beaming from ear to ear. Nico couldn't help but feel his mouth pull into a smile. He was dating Will Solace. Things could be worse.

"Can we go Iris-message my mom? I'd like to introduce you." Will asked.

"Sure, but then we have to tell Hazel too. I want to tell Hazel first, before Jason finds out."

Will may have turned green. "Oh no."

Nico laughed. "I promise, Jason will have to go through me to get to you." Will smiled gratefully, the setting sun casting a hopeful light in his hair. Nico slipped his hand in his and began to take him out of the forest. Maybe the Hades cabin would be a good place to make those messages-

"Wait," Will called. Nico could barely make out Will's eyes glowing as he pulled him near and kissed him, and Nico thought dizzily that he could never get used to this.

As they left the woods and stepped out into the night, to the Hades cabin and their burgeoning family, though, Nico corrected himself. He really could get used to this.

This. You know. Will. Home.

Happy.