Nico sighed for what must have been the thousandth time that morning. He turned and gazed out of the window at the passing buildings and people. Jules-Albert stopped at a red light, leaving Nico the pleasure of watching a boy and a girl argue about where the nearest Egyptian monument was ("No, you dolt! This is clearly the wrong part of the city -"). Nico let his head bang against the window as the limousine continued on its drive through the upper east side.

"Take me back to camp, Jules," Nico said, sighing again. The glamour of the museums and restaurants soured his mood - not that the sunlight that did peak through the tinted-glass windows of the limo didn't do that already.

Nico stretched and settled on staring into the back of Jules-Albert's moldy skull (no exaggeration there). Will was going to nag him about sneaking out of the treatment tents again ("Three days, Nico! That's all I asked for."). But Nico didn't care. In fact, he was actually looking forward to it. Gods, he was such a gushing schoolgirl with all his feelings. But unlike in the past where he might have beaten himself up about it, he was actually allowing himself to fall into his feelings. It was weird.

In the past seven days since the fight with Gaea, Nico had so many parts of himself to explore. When he allowed himself to relax, everything he'd been feeling for years - the heartache, the anxiety, the fear, the anger - everything rushed through his brain in thoughts too hurried and jumbled to sort out. It was a rush, so Nico decided to allow himself to explore them all one by one, and so far, the fuzzy feelings he had whenever Will looked at him seemed easy enough to examine. And fantasize about. And blush uncontrollably at the randomist of times because he'd accidentally allowed his mind to wander. (Like that really important meeting about him being an official ambassador to regulate communications between the Roman and Greek camps. His head slipped out of his palm. He hit his head on the table. The Stoll brothers sniggered next to him. Everyone had actually been staring at him for the past thirty seconds, waiting for his answer to Annabeth's question. What was that again? Something about assistants? Yes. Yes, it was such a funny occasion - another cringe attack to add to his film reel of shame.)

Anyway, despite Will's protests about resting, Nico took the opportunity to sneak out whenever Will wasn't looking. For the first couple days Nico was as good as dead, sleeping for nearly 48 hours. On the third day, he woke - to his surprise - to the motherly concern of Percy Jackson (he looked really cute with his eyebrows all scrunched together). And after a full and hearty breakfast, Nico slipped out of camp to ride around Manhattan. Ever since then, in between long naps, he'd took to going on drives with Jules-Albert and chilling out in graveyards (the drunk weirdos from Taco Bell he found there at three a.m. were mildly entertaining). Nico couldn't help it. He couldn't just stay holed up in bed all the time.

"Zeus' balls, Nico." Will gently touched a large bruise on Nico's side. "How in Hades did you manage to hurt yourself already?"

Nico shrugged, a bit uneasy under Will's intense gaze. He squirmed on the medical bed. "I may have run into a dracaena or two while I was...out." He scratched the back of his head.

"You've got to be kidding me." Will smoothed Nico's shirt back down. "Nico, it's only been a week and you've been overexerting yourself."

Nico's brow furrowed. "Look, Will, I'm perfectly able to handle some dracaena no matter how I'm feel-"

"Aha! So you do admit to still be recovering."

Nico looked away. "I can't just sit around doing nothing."

"See here, Death Boy. You keep messing around and you really will end up dead."

Nico glanced back at Will. He was smiling. Nico almost did a double take. Will's smile seemed to radiate light and warmth and comfort. This wasn't helping his ability to concentrate on something to say other than "Uh".

Will laid and hand on Nico's shoulder. "I'm worried about your well being. I asked Reyna how you were doing during your quest. She told me that you were fading in and out of touch?"

Nico made a motion to speak but Will shook his head.

"Nico, that's really scary. And if the rest of your friends heard about that, they'd be worried too."

Nico stared at him. Friends? He had a hard time imagining anyone as his friend aside from Hazel. Okay, probably Reyna, and maybe Jason. But that was it. He shrugged out of Will's touch and scooted back on the bed.

"You haven't shadow traveled since then have you?"

"No," Nico replied, slightly annoyed. Secretly, a part of him had been a little nervous about shadow traveling. He'd heavily abused his power during the quest, and he wasn't sure he wanted to feel as exhausted and lifeless as he did before. He'd used so much power summoning warriors and turning that one kid into a ghost. The more he thought about it, the more he felt a little scared. Almost, like a monster. If the other campers knew the full extent of what he had done, they'd dislike him even more than they already did. He looked into Will's blue eyes. Why did he care so much?

His expression must have betrayed his thoughts because Will said, "Nico. I think you'll find that people care about you more than you think. You don't have to ostracize yourself just because of your differences from the other campers. There's a reason why Percy asked the gods to acknowledge all of their children. You belong here as much as anyone else." Nico visibly tensed under the intensity of Will's expression. "I-I want you to see that."

When Nico didn't say anything, Will continued. "Just give camp a chance. Just-just give me... two weeks. I'll show you how camp can feel like home."

Home. Nico considered Will for a second. The closest thing to home he'd ever had was in Hades palace, surrounded by the gloomy and wailing dead. And ever since Tartarus even the Underworld made him a little uneasy.

"I don't know…" As much as he'd enjoyed seeing Will so often - and Hades be damned if there ever was a more attractive guy - he wasn't sure about sticking around. Hazel had already left for Camp Jupiter with Frank the other day and he already felt a tug in his heart to see her.

Will studied his face. "Give it a chance. Give me a chance."

Nico blinked. Was Will implying what he thought he was implying? Nico took a deep breath. "I guess...it wouldn't...hurt."

Will's face brightened with his smile. Gods, it should be illegal for anyone to look that radiant. Nico suddenly wondered what he just signed himself up for.