CRACK

Nico tensed underneath his blanket, gripping into the tacky skull pillow Reyna got him with a vengeance. Nico couldn't do anything but sigh and hope no one would think to look in his cabin for the next hour.

CRACK

As the lightning lit up the cabin while the mind rattling thunder shook the camp, the rest of the campers were outside, watching as the rain pounded down only on the strawberry fields, and how the thunderstorm's intensity was only tripled by Jason, showing off for the younger demigods. For the past thirty minutes, Nico hadn't moved from his bed's corner, curled up under the new blanket and strangling a pillow.

CRACK BOOM

Nico squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the storm. It wasn't necessarily his fault that he was terrified of the storm. Nico was sure it was leftover from the whole Zeus-zapping-his-mom deal, and it was stuck in his subconscious. And he would never say it to anyone, but during his rogue years, the second he heard of a thunderstorm in the forecast, he was shadow-traveling out of there. It was so embarrassing, the son of death himself, reduced to a terrified mess because of a little lightning.

CRACK CRACK BOOM

Nico curled the blanket around himself more, trying to ignore the childish whimper that just escaped his lips. Right now, Nico wanted nothing more than to shadow travel away, anywhere but under the storm. But no, for the past six months, William Doctor's-Orders Solace demanded he refrain from all underworld-y powers, claiming he could still sense the hint of darkness underneath the Italian's skin. Nico wasn't sure what made him listen to his new friend.

It was the door slamming open (in actuality it was probably opened normally, but Nico was terrified and paranoid and still) that caused Nico to yelp. Yes, yelp. Like a helpless, shivering chihuahua of death.

"Startle you?"

"Fuck you and everything you stand for, Solace." Nico hoped his voice wasn't shaking as much as his hands were.

"Ooooook then," Will dragged on, placing his hands up and laughing. "Why aren't you out there with the rest of us?"

"I don't want to."

"What?"

"Listen sun boy, I said I don't want to be outside in the thunderstorm right now." Nico spat, irritated and slightly flinching at every sound of thunder.

"Wrong language, Doom and Gloom. You haven't said a word of English." Will said, closing the door and striding over to where Nico was. Nico just sighed, it hasn't even occurred to him that he was talking in Italian, which apparently was something he did when scared.

"Shit. Sorry." Nico checked his words as they came out, making sure they were in the right language.

"Anyway, why aren't you out there with the camp?"

"Don't want to be."

"Aww, c'mon di Angelo. It's all lit up outside and everyone is playing in the rain and Jason's going haywire toying with the lightning, and the light show looks amazing. You should be having fun too and why do you have that thing?" Will trailed off, taking the pillow from Nico's hands and plopping down next to him, letting their shoulders brush. Nico did his best to ignore the blush on his face.

"It was a joke from Reyna, and I'm just tired. I'm fine, Solace."

"You can't just be antisocial all the time, all holed up in your cabin." Will says, nudging his shoulders into Nico's, and Nico's left looking down attempting to conceal his blush at the casual contact.

"I'm not being all antisocial, sunny boy, I just don't want to be out there right now. I'm fine, and just tired." But Nico can tell Will isn't buying it.

"Come on, Oscur."

"I am going to murder you if you mention my middle name again, and No. I'm not going out there and that's final." A particularly loud bolt crashes a few cabins over, and Nico tenses and startles a bit, muttering in Italian. Will stays silent for a moment, just looking at the smaller boy.

"Neeks?"

"What." Nico spat. Right now, Nico was just feeling more irritated at his stupid fear for making him look so weak.

"Are you scared of lightning?"

"No." Nico says as offhandedly as possible in reality he as someone could be while practically vibrating.

Of course right then, Jason would lose control of a bolt and land it inches from Nico's window. It would be just his luck that he would practically jump out of his skin and yelp out in Italian. It would be only a coincidental occurrence would he latch himself onto Will, out of breath from fear, grasping onto him like his life depended on it, and shaking like a leaf.

Before Nico even had time to recover, Will had wrapped his arms around Nico and was rubbing his back and speaking calming words. Realization washes over Nico like a wave of 'oh shit', and he blushes furiously, and tries to disentangle himself from Will's (strong?) arms.

"Nuh uh, sunshine, you are terrified of lightning aren't you?" Nico just blushes furiously and glares straight away, trying to get Will to let go with his mind. Finally, he gives in, dropping his hands and accepting the fact that Will was not going to let him out of this hug and he probably wasn't going to take his chin off the Italian's head (not that he noticed how strangely comforting it was), and Will most likely was not going to rubbing Nico's back (again, not minding it too much).

"...Maybe."

"It's ok. You could have just told me, you know." Will had assumed his 'I'm-your-friend-and-you-need-to-open-up' voice. Nico just sighed and leaned into Will a bit, giving up. This was one of the most embarrassing moments of Nico's life, but he was silently thankful is was one of his best friends instead of some other camper. How, over the past six months, Will had managed to get Nico to open up about so much to him, and convince him just how much he was accepted here. A few months ago, Nico wouldn't have said anything, but now Nico found the words coming up naturally.

"It just feels so stupid. I can summon the dead, manipulate the dark, and travel in shadows. I can literally call up a zombie army, but something as frivolous as lightning can make me all jumpy. I'm a mess.." Nico trailed off, trying to ignore the blush on his cheeks at the realization of the whole situation.

"It's not frivolous at all, Neeks, and it's not stupid. Do you know why you're scared of it, or is it just one of those things?" Nico sighed, and mentally prepared himself to reveal yet another thing to Will. It was odd opening up about so much to living people. But Will had said something about keeping everything bottled up would ruin him.

"I guess it's old trauma from Zeus zapping the apartment from 1939, but I just…" Nico left the rest of the sentence hanging, trying to figure it out himself.

"It's ok, but I don't get why you don't say anything about it," But Nico's mind was taken over at the fact that Will had just leaned back and was practically laying down, still holding Nico. "I mean, if thunderstorms scare you, can't you just ask Jason to stop? Or ask Chiron if he could call off the storm with some fake reason, or-"

"Solace." Nico cut off the blonde. It was kind of important that Will explain what exactly the hell he was doing right now. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable (ok maybe it was probably the most comfortable he had been in a while, but that wasn't important), but Nico still felt it necessary for Will to point out just exactly why he was all but cuddling with the son of Hades.

"Yeah?" Will said, looking down at Nico, who was currently being held hostage in the crook of his shoulder, in a half-hug half-sleep position.

"First off, I can't just tell Jason to stop, there are people out there who are enjoying themselves, like you were, and I don't want to stop that. I can survive a thunderstorm." A flash of lightning and the loud echoing of thunder cuts him off, making Nico flinch and accidentally grab onto Will a bit harder. The second he realized it, though, Nico growled at himself and all but ripped his hands off of Will. Nico wasn't going to let a stupid crush ruin his life again, just as it was starting to get better. "Secondly, what are you doing?"

"Hugging you," Nico heard himself make some noise of disagreement, which Will ignored and continued talking. "Which is a thing other people do to comfort people, Death Boy."

"Last time I checked, most regular people hugged for less than five minutes straight and without laying down." Nico shot back, sarcasm evident in his voice. Nico felt Will tense up a bit, and he grinned to himself.

"Yeah, di Angelo, but most regular people aren't demigods who have such a messy past with lightning, and a friend who can control it." Nico's self satisfied grin fell a bit. Nico hated the fact that he was right. Still. Will should be outside with his friends, not stuck in Nico's cabin pointlessly laying with him trying to help him feel better (it was working, but again, Nico wouldn't admit to it).

"You know, if I knew any better, I'd say you're using this as an excuse to get all cuddly with me." He said, amusement obvious in his voice, despite flinching again when another particularly loud roll of thunder sounds off outside.

"Damn straight, ghosty." Will retorted immediately, not missing a beat, hugging Nico a bit tighter for a second. Nico froze, registering Will's words, meaning Will actually wanted to get all cuddled up to the kid who radiates death. What?

"Wait, what?" If Nico was a little pink from blushing beforehand, he was a full on red now.

"Yup." Ok, even for Will, that was a bit odd. He had always been more of the 'subtle touches for comfort' type, especially when Nico was the one being all sad, but this was a little much.

"Ok, let me rephrase that. Why?"

"Maybe 'cause I wanted to cuddle you. You looked like you need some cuddles." Will said, still looking down at Nico, and they locked eyes, Nico daring Will to keep cuddling him, and Will was probably daring Nico to tell him to stop. Nico was totally not thinking about the fact of how clear and blue Will's eyes were, or how his golden hair was all wind-tossed from the storm and practically glowed in the dim lights of the Hades cabin, or how the shots of electricity that shot out from where Will's hands were rested on him rivaled the lighting outside, and he definitely wasn't thinking about how fucking cute Will's concentrated pout face was. Nope. Definitely not.

…Ok maybe a little.

Actually, a lot.

So really, it was just his luck that probably the biggest strike of lightning would hit his porch right then, and taking that moment and shattering it to pieces. But when the very intimidating whimper Nico accidentally let escape his lips, and how he dug his hands into the softness between them, and when he shoved his face into Will's torso, he realized just how embarrassing this really was for him. But the slight ringing in his ears died out, and the blush that had just started to go away showed right back up when Nico realized that Will was on his side, facing Nico, pulling him into the weirdest hug he's ever been in, and rubbing his back. Nico cleared his voice, trying to make it sound normal-ish.

"S-solace." He scowled when he realized how frail he actually sounded, voice cracking and sounding like a lost puppy. Ugh.

"Yeah?"

"Can you, uh, let me go?" Nico just hoped he sounded at least a bit serious, talking into the other boy's collarbones. Gods above, Will Solace was going to be the death of him.

"Ghosty, you are going to have to realize that you're stuck with me for the rest of this." Nico froze at how much meaning the saying actually had, before shrugging it off and scolding himself. This was stupid. He was the son of death himself, and here he was, stuck in his cabin, inadvertently keeping Will stuck in here comforting him, while he could be out there with his friends and siblings enjoying himself.

"You are allowed to go, you know that, right?" Nico mumbled into Will's shoulder. He was practically being shoved into it. Gods, Will was the complete opposite of himself, all happy and making sure nobody around him was ever sad. It seemed Will's presence could lighten a room, while his own would cause the shadows to reach out towards him and darken it.. Huh, people weren't kidding when they said opposites attract. At least one way, at least.

"Yeah, but you're not ok right now, and I don't want you to be alone, doom and gloom." Nico could hear the tease in the nickname, but another crack of lightning, another time Nico buried his face into Will, and another round of blushing, Nico gave up.

"Thanks." Nico whispered, barely audible to either of the two. But Nico still felt when Will grinned.

.

.

Of all the things Will would have guessed Nico to be afraid of, Lightning wouldn't have been in the top 10. Scary animals? Sure, anyone who is sane is at least a little nervous around an angry bear. Heights? Makes sense, considering his natural realm is below the earth, not above it. But thunder and lighting, while one of his best friends controls it? Never occurred to him. Will was just glad that Nico finally shut up about how Will should be with his friends outside, and let him stay. Will would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this. Will had been harboring quite the crush on Nico since he saw him charge into the battle of manhattan, all dark and dangerous and awe inspiring. And ever since that day on the battlefield, Will's thoughts were often overrun with the powerful Italian boy. So when he saw the son of Hades stumbling into battle, wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt all ripped in shreds, all cut up and dirty from fighting and traveling halfway across the world, Will immediately jumped on the situation, and all but forced Nico into the infirmary (the boy was so close to not existing it was scary, and the amount of wounds he had collected was insane). And lucky Will, out of that first encounter on the hill, the two had become fast friends, meanwhile Will had to kick himself every time he caught himself staring at the Italian.

And Will wasn't ecstatic that Nico was terrified of the lightning outside, but Will was stoked at how he got to use this to actually touch Nico. And as much as Nico didn't want to be touched, Will could tell he needed a hug right now. And Will was not going to complain about the fact that he got to cuddle the grump of the camp in peace. It was certainly not a chance he got every day. And it was one he was not going to pass up.

"Thanks." Will almost didn't hear it, being as it was whispered into his shoulder where he was holding Nico in a hug, but at that single word, it felt like Will was flying, and he felt his heart double in size. If he was smiling any bigger, he was worried that his face might split in half.

"Anytime." If the way Nico's arms tightened the slightest bit, Will could tell that Nico actually appreciated him. And for now, that was enough for Will.

As the storm slowly drifted off, as the strikes of lightning that scared the Italian so much grew fewer and further in between, and as the applause for Jason died down, Will realized Nico hadn't said anything for a while. Will also realized that he had somehow started lightly playing with Nico's hair. Blushing, he dropped his hand. Nico was probably asleep, and Will was laying down with his arms around him.

"Hey Will?" Will almost didn't hear the question Nico whispered. It also hit him that Nico had used his first name, which was something they didn't do that much, so this had to be something that was bothering him.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for staying." Will could barely hear the words that floated in the small space between them. He wasn't sure how to respond, so he just tightened his hug on the smaller boy a bit.

Will could hear the doors to cabins being closed, as the campers dispersed from the two of them sat for what felt like hours, but in reality was only probably 20 minutes. In the new silence of the night, Will could hear and feel every breath that Nico drew in and let out. He could by his slow breathing and calm heartbeat that he could barely feel over his own that Nico had finally fallen asleep. Will chanced a look down, and couldn't help but smile. Nico looked young in his sleep, the darkness that rested under his eyes almost was gone, and the lines of worry and irritation that often sat between his eyebrows was replaced with a look of contempt. Basically Nico looked his age.

"Night, Death Boy." he whispered, lightly placing his lips to Nico's forehead, and leaning back into the pillows a bit more. Smiling, Will closed his eyes. But they snapped open when he felt a kiss on his jaw.

"Don't call me Death Boy." Will looked down to Nico, who already had his eyes closed again, but there was no mistaking the smile on his face.

.

.

We're going to ignore how terrible this is and how deep in Solangelo Hell I am right now