Nico lounged on the steps in front of the infirmary. He leaned back, resting his head against the door frame, and closed his eyes. It had been a week since Will had finally given him a clean bill of health and stopped nagging him to take it easy and rest. He'd been glad to go back to sleeping in the Hades cabin (regardless of the awful decorating), if not the usual camp activities. Even so, he'd spent most of his free time at the infirmary helping out wherever he could. It was nice to feel wanted somewhere. Will was always happy to have a helping hand and Nico was always happy to help, even if his intentions weren't necessarily borne of altruism. So he'd wanted an excuse to see more of Will, there was nothing inherently wrong with that, was there? Without warning the warmth disappeared from Nico's face and he felt a shadow fall over him. He opened his eyes to see Will standing in the open doorway. The older camper smiled down at him, amused, and shut the door gently behind him. The butterflies in Nico's stomach resurrected once again. Will stepped around Nico and looked over the camp ground for a moment. The sounds of campers arguing and laughing floated on the gentle breeze. There was the sound of swords clashing at the arena and splashing on the lake. Nico half closed his eyes and watched Will beneath his lashes. Will was dressed in a strange mix of scrub shirt and cargo shorts with flip flops. Will inhaled deeply, causing the scrub top to tighten across his broad shoulders, and exhaled slowly. Will turned to Nico. "Hey, Nico." Nico opened his eyes and looked up at Will's smiling face. "Can we talk?" He glanced around. "Maybe somewhere private?" He asked.

A phantom boot of cold dread stomped on the butterflies leaving Nico feeling sick with fear, though he did his best not to let it show."Uh, sure. I guess we can use the Hade's cabin." He unfolded himself from the step and loped toward the dark forbidding building in the distance. "What's going on?" His voice was flat and calm even as his heart hammered in his chest.

"You'll see," was all Will answered.

Nico opened the door and cringed. He hadn't gotten around to making any changes to the décor yet and the interior still had the look of a cheesey vampire movie, complete with coffin like bunks and red velvet sheets. To make matters worse, the floor was strewn with castoff clothing including a couple pairs of boxers which Nico tried to discreetly nudge under the bed with his foot. In a corner of the room a sheet was still tacked around the bed where Hazel had stayed. Nico leaned against a bedpost and crossed his arms. He looked at Will, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "So are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

Will closed the door and gave Nico a weak grin. "Sorry for all the secrecy, I just don't want to make an ass out of myself in front of everyone so I figured it was better to keep things between the two of us." There was a pause. "Are you at all interested in me, because it's fine if guys aren't your thing. I just don't want to waste my time if that's the case." The shock must have shown on Nico's face because Will rolled his eyes and groaned. "Don't tell me that I've been flirting with you for a whole week now and you haven't even noticed." Nico was still in too much shock to answer. "Seriously, you were completely oblivious the whole time?" He asked exasperated.

Nico smirked and uncrossed his arms, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Sorry. I haven't exactly had much experience with flirting. I've been a bit busy saving the world recently and my previous social life was a bit more anti than social. I guess I'm just not the kind of guy that picks up on subtle romance."

Will rolled his eyes again. "Okay." He moved so fast that Nico didn't have time to process what was happening. Will grabbed Nico's shoulders and pulled him towards him, unbalancing the smaller boy. Nico's hands flew out of his pockets as he stumbled and fell against Will's chest. He looked up into Will's face in confusion as Will pressed his lips against Nico's. In a flash, the moment ended and Will let go. Nico staggered back, eyes wide with surprise. He could feel his face grow hot as blood rushed to his cheeks. Will smiled broadly and Nico was reminded of his first meeting with Will's father, Apollo. He had the same smile, it seemed to radiate warmth and just a bit of smug self satisfaction. "So, was that clear enough because if not I think I would need to get your consent before I can give you another clue."

The blush on Nico's cheeks grew deeper. "I think I've got it," he muttered, awkwardly. "And you're not wasting your time, I like you too," he hastily added.

Will nodded. "Good. In that case why don't we meet up after weapons practice later for some quality time not surrounded by the wounded. Oh, and just to be clear, it's a date."

Nico smiled shyly. "Sounds good."

"Cool. See ya then." With that Will turned and disappeared.

Nico's lips tingled. He flopped backward onto the mattress and rubbed a hand over his burning face. He was such an idiot. How could he not have noticed that Will was flirting with him? And why did he feel so humiliatingly embarrassed by a kiss that he'd imagined several times now, if he was honest with himself. Even as he asked himself , he realized that he knew the answer. It was his first kiss. His first real kiss anyway since kissing your sister on the cheek definitely didn't count. He idly wondered if Will had somehow known before considering that to be a stupid question. He had to know. He could have guessed as much easily in any case. Will knew how anti-social Nico had been until recently and he'd spent all of his recent time either with Will in the infirmary or at camp get togethers. Nico folded his arms under his head for a pillow. Maybe things really were changing for him. Maybe he really could be happy. He'd dared to hope that things were looking up, especially after Jason and Reyna hadn't rejected him after finding out his secret. His hopes had been further bolstered after he'd told Percy about his previous crush. It had amused him a little to see Percy so flustered at his admission and he'd gotten a high five from Annabeth too. Still, it was hard to be entirely optimistic. He wanted to be, but it was a struggle. After all, he'd been through so much pain, anguish, and heartache that it seemed impossible for anything good to last. He'd try not to think about what could go wrong though. He was a child of Hades. He knew how brief life could be, particularly for demigods. As he'd told Hazel, a second life is one thing, making it a better life was the trick. He resolved himself to making every moment count. How could he be happy if he was always waiting for the world to come crashing down around him?