It all started that one day when Travis and Connor Stoll decided that the kids at camp didn't experience enough pop culture.
So, basically, the Stolls got bored and decided to cause trouble. Per usual.
The two took the matter to Chiron and Mr. D who both couldn't care any less and told them to suck it up, which really wasn't a surprise. A teensy bit annoyed but not at all fazed, the Stolls concluded that their friends and peers couldn't go without the basic understanding of popular stuff and that they had to do something about it.
The Stoll brothers planned and planned and eventually summoned together a group of the most useful people for this scenario. The group as a whole came up with many ways to bring the outside world into the little camp that they called home. Then, they spread the word.
Demigods all throughout the camp heard the news. Many were thrilled, few were terrified. Some threats to tell the camp officials were made, but they were quickly extinguished due to counter threats. This new plan was the hottest gossip for months.
And then, one rainy April night, it happened.
The Hephaestus cabin managed to make a radio that wouldn't attract monsters and could pick up all the normal radio stations. Then they made another. And another. They made more and more until the whole camp had access to more than ever before. The world was finally in reach of Camp Half Blood.
But it didn't stop there.
Parents couldn't use Iris Messaging and needed another way to contact their children, thus the Pomegranate was born. It mocked a typical smartphone, complete with apps, internet, texting, music, and the actual call feature. Demigods with parents could finally talk to them whenever without fear of being hunted and killed by monsters. It was a new era for half-bloods.
And soon almost every camper had their own Pomegranate. People with too much time of their hands made cases and customized apps. The guys started a vine account. Aphrodite kids discovered the wonder of fanfiction, and proceeded to get Athena girls with no more books to read hooked on them. Communication during Capture The Flag was made easier. Someone had the genius idea of tagging monsters so that they could be found on GPS.
It was beautiful. Extraordinary. Amazing. That's what Will Solace thought. Well, that's what he thought before.
It was just another day at Camp Half Blood. Most campers were calm and quiet, others were running around screaming empty threats. Typical.
Will Solace, however, was in a great state of panic. He ran about, looking frantically everywhere he went. His friend, Nico di Angelo, noticed this.
"What's up with you? You being chased?" Will's wide, terrified eyes looked up and met Nico's at his comment. The blonde shook his head.
"No, nothing like that. It's just-," Will took a deep breath. "I lost my phone." The Italian simply quirked an eyebrow at the statement, keeping his calm and cool aura.
"I'll call it." Just like that, before Will could do anything to prevent it, Nico pulled up Will's contact and pressed the call button. A faint tune was heard coming from Will's pants. Said blonde blushed bright red and fished his phone out of his pocket. He chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot I put it in my pocket yesterday before I fell asleep." Nico, however, paid no mind to the words coming from his best friend's mouth. He was far too intrigued in the noise coming from his phone.
It was a familiar enough beat, but the Italian just couldn't remember. It was only when the chorus hit that his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
I really, really, really, really, really, really like you!
The two teens' eyes met, both blushing as hard as they possibly could. Will' mouth went dry. Maybe Nico was just shocked that Will liked the song. Maybe he hadn't figured out that Will only used it as his ringtone for-
"That's the ringtone you have for me?" Damn it. Will chuckled and looked up at the sky.
"Oh, what? This song? Nah, someone must've changed it. Yeah," he trailed off. Nico looked unimpressed.
"You do know I'm your best friend, right?" Oh, Will knew it all too well. "Will, when you lie you always look up. Always. And I know you love this song. You always sing it loudly and off-key when it comes on the radio." Oh, shit. Will slowly made eye-contact with his best friend again.
"So?"
"So, you're lying to me," Nico said in a flat voice.
"Well, I didn't see why it mattered so much what your ringtone was!" Will was lying and Nico saw it. Whenever Will tried to lie without looking up he tapped his fingers in rhythms.
"You're lying." Will groaned in frustration.
"Why did you ask me about it being your ringtone?!" the son of Apollo almost screamed. Nico looked down suddenly then and his whole demeanor became much more timid. That usually meant some bomb was about to be dropped.
"Will?"
"Yeah?"
"I am your best friend."
"So?"
"I know more about you than probably anyone else on this planet."
"And?" Nico looked up into his friend's eyes.
"Well, first off I know you only speak in one word sentences when you're uncomfortable," Nico said with a pointed look. "I also happen to know that the ringtone to everyone else's contact is the default one." Will sucked in a deep breath.
Fuck.
Play it cool, he thought frantically. Don't let Nico know. He can't know!
"And?" Nico let some of his normal behavior shine through with an eye roll. Specially Eye Roll #13: Why is Will such an idiot?!
"Will, the song is I Really Like You. Even you must be able to understand the message of that song." The blonde in question nodded hesitantly. He did know what the sign was about. He knew it all too well. Now Nico sucked in a breath.
"D-did you choose that song intentionally?" The question lingered in the air for a minute until it faded into a silence. No one made any motion for a few minutes. Then Will opened his eyes- which he didn't even know were closed- and gave the slightest nod.
Silence. Complete and utter silence.
Then, Nico, Will's long time crush and, quite frankly, the man of his dreams, turned and vanished into the shadows.
To say Will was devastated was an understatement. Hell, even heartbroken couldn't do this feeling justice. It was more like... soul-ripped, or brutal-bear-attack-of-depression, not heartbroken.
Will burrowed himself under all the sheets in his bed and had a nice, long crying session. His siblings came in and out of the cabin with varying levels of worry for the lump of covers that their brother had become. Austin stopped and gave him a hug, Daniel poked him a few times, and Victoria just marched right past him. The day passed agonizingly slow, yet also surprisingly quickly with very few disturbances.
The next week or so went on like this, with Will sleeping until he had to get up and perform some task or another, only to go right back to his bed and sleep. People were concerned, but not enough to think anything of it. After all, to a good portion of the camp he was just a medic. (AN: cry)
This pattern kept going on until Will's siblings decided that his pity party needed to end. One morning a very loud and peeved Lou Ellen barged into the Apollo cabin followed by Kayla, Austin, and Cecil.
"Get up, loser! We are not tolerating this behavior any longer!" Will sleepily looked up from his pillow only to be grabbed and dragged from his bed.
"No! Stop! Guys, I'm fine! I swear-" Will shouted in protest as he was shoved out of the cabin.
"Nope! Too late for that!" Lou shouted back. Will thrashed and protested wildly, causing quite a scene as he was dragged throughout the camp. Campers stopped and stared, wondering what was going on. Whispers of gossip broke out among them, but none of the four demigods dragging Will cared nor noticed.
"Will, we're sorry, but this is for your own good!" Kayla shouted as she blindfolded her brother and started leading him somewhere. Will was terrified. Knowing his siblings and best friends he could end up anywhere from a red carpet event to a mental hospital, neither of which would be ideal considering his current attire consisting of his boxers (white and decorated with those happy little cartoon suns with sunglasses) and an old, ratty tank top.
"Where are we going?! Kayla! Kayla?!" the son of Apollo continued to shout. Suddenly he heard a door open and was shoved inside. As if that wasn't already terrifying enough, the air inside wherever he was was cold and earthy, and Will could immediately tell where he was.
He spun around and started banging on what he believed to be the closed door to the Hades cabin. He fumbled for the door only to find it locked. Will wanted to scream and cry and moan but he had a sneaking suspicion the inhabitant of said cabin wasn't awake yet and that these actions might wake him up.
"Guys," Will urgently whispered through the door. "Let me out! Please! I swear I'll stop moping around! I'll never complain again! Please just let me out!" He even tried to tap into his musical and poetic abilities to persuade them with the rhythm of how he spoke.
"No can do, Willie. You brought this upon yourself. Now go and talk to him!" Cecil screamed through the door. Will winced. Maybe he hadn't heard...
Cue yawn.
Okay, crap. He heard.
"Hm? Who's there?" Will was already panicing but this sent him into a screaming fit. Well, almost. It almost sent him into a screaming fit. Same thing.
He heard another yawn from the dark-haired demigod behind him. Will froze up and tried not to let out a little lovesick sigh at the adorable yawn.
Gods, I'm pathetic.
Will heard his friend shuffling around in the covers to get out of the bed. Looking around fanatically for an exit or something, the blonde dove into an empty bed parallel his crush's. Just time too, seeing as the second Will buried himself under the covers he heard the dull thud of Nico's feet on the ground.
"Hello? Who's here?" Will tried to steady his breathing so he wouldn't get caught. The footsteps neared the bed he was hiding in. Of course fate wouldn't work in his favor. Of course.
Will felt his shoulder get poked and breathed out sharply. Crap crap crap crap. "Who are you?" Nico's groggy voice questioned. That's sorta hot, was Will's first thought before he realized that now really wasn't the time.
"Um, no one," was squeaked out from the lump of covers that was Will. Nico rubbed his eyes gently.
"Will?" Said blonde gulped and tried his best to remain calm.
"Uh, yes...?" Nico was awake immediately. Will awkwardly emerged from underneath the bedsheets and waved. Both boys looked flushed and had wide eyes.
"Why are you in here?" Nico winced at how harsh the question sounded.
"Um, y'know. I was in the neighborhood and decided to pay you a visit..." Will internally face-palmed. Of course you were in the neighborhood, idiot! You two live at the same camp!
"Oh. Okay." Nico then spun around and headed back to his bed. This action rubbed Will the wrong way.
"'Oh. Okay.'?! That's all you have to say to me?!" the son of Apollo shouted in a rather sudden outburst, causing his companion to turn back around to face the furious blonde. "Do you know what it took to get me in here?! It took four people dragging me across the camp in my underwear while I screamed bloody murder! I had to be blindfolded! I was dragged, blindfolded and in my underwear, into the cabin of the guy ran away from me- using a method of transportation that he knows I dislike!- when I said I liked him, and all I get is an 'Oh. Okay.'?! Screw you, di Angelo!" Will then got out of the bed and started walking to the door, head held high.
Just before Will opened the door and marched out he heard a faint chuckle. He was about to turn around and straight up slap Nico when he heard a quiet, "You idiot." Will turned around, eyebrows raised.
"Excuse me?" Will was so done with this guy. This guy makes Will fall for him, rejects Will, and then calls Will an idiot for calling him out on it?! Oh Hades no.
"You're an idiot, Will." Nico says, approaching the son of Apollo. "Have you even thought about who exactly you're dealing with? Or did you just take my response as offensive in general?" Will shook his head. He didn't know that rejection could differ depending on who it was; He thought that it was all the same regardless.
"What? Are you seriously that arrogant that you think you not returning my affections makes you special?" Will was baffled. Why were men so confusing?
"Will, I'm your best friend. You know me. How exactly do you think I'd reject someone's confession of love?" The blonde thought about it for a mere second. He knew exactly how Nico would react.
"You would do whatever you could to get the Hades out of there, including diving into the nearest shadow and transporting yourself away from there," Will answered.
"And how would I react if my long-time crush confessed their affections?" This was even easier for the son of Apollo to answer, but suddenly he went silent. His eyes widened in comprehension. Oh. Oh.
"Well? How would I respond to this scenario?" the impatient a Italian boy asked. Will gulped.
"You... You would react... the same way." A pointed look from the son of Hades was passed on to his companion.
"See why you're an idiot now?" Nico asked in his "Will-is-such-an-idiot-but-in-a-sorta-cute-but-mostly-annoying-way" voice.
"Uh-huh," a dazed son of Apollo muttered as he stared blankly at his friend. Nico was starting to grow uncomfortable with the staring after a minute or two and decided something needed to be done.
The Italian demigod took a tiny step closer. And then another. And then another. The two were now nose-to-nose, eyes almost parallel. Then, the dark brown eyes gazing into Will's sky-blues fluttered shut as Nico's head tilted to the side and pressed through that last tiny distance between the two.
Their lips met and Will realized he had no idea what to do. Sure, he'd kissed people before, but those were girls. Was he supposed to go about this differently? Did he put his hands on Nico's face, shoulders, or waist? Should Will start using his tongue? What should he do?!
The moment was over before Will figured out exactly what he was doing. Nico gave him an unimpressed look.
"You weren't nearly as good as I thought you'd be. Especially since you always brag about kissing half the Aphrodite cabin." Will attempted to sputter out some excuse. "And here I was worried I'd be embarrassed by my lack of experience," Nico finished with a snort. Then Will started sputtering for a whole different reason. That's right. Nico hadn't kissed anyone before.
"Um, sorry about that." Will was blushing insanely. He just kept on embarrassing himself over and over again. This was not how he planned to woo his crush.
Will's eyes, and spirit, fell. He just wanted to get out of there and stop making himself look like an idiot in front of suave, charming Nico who never seemed to miss a beat. Just as the blonde was about to turn around and quietly exit, a tiny, musical little laugh rang out.
Will's eyes yet again met Nico's and everything seemed a little better. Nico's laugh, per usual, was contagious, and Will started chuckling along with it. They laughed together the way only good friends could. Will no longer felt embarrassed and Nico broke the uncomfortable silence growing between them.
After a while the laughter died down and was replaced with warm smiles and friendly silence. Nico glanced back at his bed.
"C'mon. You woke me up this early on a Saturday, now you have to snuggle with me." Will gladly accepted the invitation and followed Nico to the bed. The two boys climbed into the one person cot and found themselves getting comfortable easily, due to all those sleepovers they had.
Okay, Will thought as he snuggled up to the warm heat that was Nico di Angelo. Maybe the Stolls weren't that bad.