I don't own any of the characters in and I apologize for grammar/spelling mistakes.
Will was busy laughing with his brothers and sisters when he saw Nico come stumbling into the pavilion a few minutes late. He walked over to his table and buried his head into his arms and became still. Will frowned over at the demigod. He caught Jason's eye and pointed over to Nico. Jason looked over at Nico and he frowned. He looked back at Will and shrugged, unsure of what was going on either. Throughout the day, Will felt that Nico was avoiding him, but he decided to leave it be, figuring his boyfriend just wanted space. One thing Will had learned about Nico was that he did everything in his own time and when he felt it to be convenient. This pattern continued for three more days. Finally, Will couldn't stand it anymore. During the middle of lunch, or apparently Nico's nap time, Will stormed over to the Hades table and snapped his fingers in front of Nico's face. The boy dressed in black woke with a start. He squinted at Will in confusion and then put his head back down. Will kicked his shin, hard.
"Ow! What?!"
"You're supposed to be eating, Death Boy!" Will snapped gesturing to the lack of food in front of Nico.
"I'm not hungry. I'm tired."
"That's what the night is for, dummy. Sleeping." Will rolled his eyes. As much as he loved Nico, he couldn't stand when the boy was acting dense or stubborn. And that was NOT because Will acted like that all the time.
Nico rolled his eyes back at him, "Gee, I never would have guessed that. Thanks doctor, I'll keep that in mind." Nico started to get up but Will grabbed onto his wrist making him sit back down.
"Why are you avoiding me?" he demanded. Will looked into Nico's eyes for any trace that he was embarrassed still with their relationship. Will knew that Nico needed time to adjust to the fact that he was gay and people weren't too judgmental about it. They went public with it roughly five months after they started dating in secret. Surprisingly, Will found no trace of it. But the fact that he was avoiding he was avoiding Will was only part of the problem. He had dark circles under his eyes even though they had long gone away. The only thing Will could find in his eyes was exhaustion.
Nico sighed in annoyance, "I'm fine." He yanked his hand away from Will and got up and started to walk away. Nico was never one to be cryptic, as Will had gathered and it wasn't at all hard to tell when he was being bothered by something. Having enough of trying to guess what was wrong with Nico, he got up and caught up to him easily. In a swift movement, he had his boyfriend thrown over his shoulders. Since Nico wasn't going to tell his boyfriend his answer, Will decided that Nico would have to tell his DOCTOR. He began to walk towards the infirmary with Nico slamming his fists in his back.
"Will, put me down right now! I mean it!" he shouted. The entire camp watched them leave the pavilion and then began to whisper to each other and placing bets.
Will walked carrying his protesting boyfriend who was angrily kicking and smacking him like a little kid. The few patients in the infirmary stared at them with wide eyes.
"Put me down!" Nico yelled fiercely and slammed his foot in a place Will had been hoping he wouldn't kick. The boy dropped to his knees and Nico spilled over on the ground, groaning. He was surprised when his boyfriend didn't bolt. Nico simply stared at him with narrow eyes, but they held the slightest pinch of concern.
He muttered, "Want some ice?" Will shook his head and slowly stood up.
"Now that you're done throwing you're temper tantrum—"
"I wasn't doing that," Nico said stubbornly, "You shouldn't have grabbed me like that."
Will rolled his eyes, "Do you have to be stubborn?"
"I was gonna ask you the same question."
Will opened his mouth to say some retort when Nico pressed his lips on his. His narrowed eyes widened before the slipped close. He started to reach for Nico's hair when he pulled away. Will pouted at him.
"If you wanted that, you could have just asked," Nico said frowning. The son of Hades started to get up, but Will pulled him back down.
"You know that isn't what I want."
"You're face said otherwise."
"Well, I, shut up! Why are you so tired?"
Nico's eyes narrowed, "That's not your business."
"I'm your doctor and you are going to stay here for three days to get some proper rest and I am staying here to make sure you do. You should be getting a full eight hours of sleep at night. It's clear you aren't. Therefore—"
Will was interrupted by Nico snoring over-dramatically. He opened his dark eyes and sarcastically said, "Sorry, your medical tangent was making me sleepy. Maybe you should talk like that to me every night and I'll fall right to sleep."
Will smacked the side of his head, "Oh, shush you!" He pointed to an infirmary bed and Nico begrudgingly went and sat on it.
Will grabbed a clip board and began to ask Nico questions in his best medical voice.
"Now, Mr. di Angelo, why are you here?"
"My idiot boyfriend dragged me here."
Will chose to ignore the insult, "And what exactly is wrong with you?"
"I've been impaled by a spear," he said bluntly.
"Nico!" Will ranted, "will you be serious for one moment?"
"Was I smiling when I told you what my issues were?"
"You know what I'm asking."
"Fine! I haven't been sleeping."
"And why is that may I ask?" Will raised an eyebrow. Immediately, Nico tensed up and looked away from Will.
"No," he muttered, "you can't ask."
"Nico," Will started, "you can't—"
"No!" the boy snapped. He sighed, "Will, just let me work through this, okay? I'll be fine."
"Stay in the infirmary and I won't ask anymore," Will consented.
"Deal."
Will nodded and left and came back and shoved a plate of food in front of Nico. "Eat it, or I'll feed it to you." Nico glared at him and shoved the pasta in his mouth. When he was finished, Will took the plate away and came back to work in the infirmary, checking on Nico every hour. Dinner came and Will dragged him to the Hades table, forced him to eat and then dragged him right back to the infirmary. Night fell over and Nico seemed to get quieter than what was normal. Will watched him carefully and checked his vitals. He noticed that his heart right had spiked a little, but Will figured it was just because he was around. Nico's heart seemed to beat like crazy whenever Will walked by him. Will felt the same way towards him.
At eleven o'clock, Will shut off the lights and fell on the bed next to him.
Nico raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you going to—"
"You are going to sleep properly and I'm going to make sure you do. Now close your eyes. Doctor's orders."
Nico growled at him but closed his eyes shut. Will did the same thing, roughly five minutes later.
It was roughly three in the morning when Will assessed the problem. He was startled awake to hear Nico shrieking. He stared as the son of Hades, who thrashed angrily, trying to get away from whatever was after him. Will grabbed him and shook him, shouting his name. Slowly, Nico stopped screaming and his eyes fluttered open.
"W-Will?" he stammered. His eyes shined with absolute terror and were near to brimming over with tears. Will's heart instantly shattered. He pulled the demigod into a tight hug. As expected, di Angelo fought until he gave in and cried into Will's chest. Will stroked his hair and murmured soothing words into his ear.
Nico eventually pushed away and simply just sat there, staring into the darkness. His eyes were still wild with fear.
"Nico," Will started, unsure how to handle this, "why didn't you say anything."
Nico was silent for a moment before answering, "No one will understand."
"Are you seriously—"
"I was in Tartarus a year ago, Will. I haven't been the same since."
Will felt like he'd been slapped. He knew Nico had been through a rough patch, but he'd never expected his boyfriend to spill that. He had heard that Percy and Annabeth had plunged into that terrifying place, but Nico hadn't said a word that he had traveled there. None of the other demigods had mentioned it to him, not that he was expecting to.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I told you, not even Percy and Annabeth would understand. They don't know what it's like to be there alone. I nearly went insane." Nico gripped the edge of the bed and his eyes narrowed.
"Nico…" Will said. Nico leaned over onto Will's shoulder and a single tear ran down his face.
"Please don't make me talk about that place."
Will nodded and simply wrapped an arm around him. Eventually, Nico fell asleep, curled against Will who promised himself that he'd never leave the boy.
