Disclaimer: I do not own The Heroes of Olympus.
Once everything settles down, Nico realizes that he loves doing nothing. Or, more accurately, doing something that's basically doing nothing. Taking a long hot shower, watching a movie, reading a book. Nico's never really had time to do any of those things, so he enjoys doing them now.
Sure, he does the camp activities and sometimes goes to the campfire and even helps out at the infirmary a few times a week, but Nico can mostly be found just chilling in his cabin.
That's how Will Solace finds him. He doesn't even knock, just barges right in on Nico, who's in the middle of his book.
"You're going on vacation," he announces.
"Says who?" Nico says, folding the corner of his page down, to save his place.
"Chiron and I," Will tells him. "You have to get out into the real world and things, not just stay in your cabin here all the time."
"I like it here," Nico says defensively.
"It'll be good to have some fresh air," Will states. "C'mon, it's doctor's orders."
"Chiron would never let me leave the camp," Nico says. "I've already signed up for the whole year, I can't just leave."
Will bites his bottom lip nervously. "I... I may have convinced Percy and Jason to tell Chiron that you needed some time away."
Nico rolls his eyes. "Of course you did. But still, Chiron wouldn't let me go out into the real world alone."
Will grins. "Who said you would be going alone?"
"I can't believe you talked me into doing this," Nico grumbles, crossing his arms.
Will smirks and says nothing, ringing the doorbell.
It takes a few seconds, but eventually a woman answers the door. "Hello?" She glances at Nico, then Will, and her face lights up. "Will?"
He smiles. "Hey, mom."
She smiles and pulls him into a hug. "It's so good to have you home for the week!"
"I'm glad I'm here."
"And you must be Nico," she says, glancing at the other kid on her doorstep.
Nico holds out his hand for her to shake it. "Yes, ma'am. That's me."
Instead of shaking his hand, she pulls him into a hug. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's, um, nice to meet you too, Ms. Solace."
She smiles. "Please, call me Lucie."
Nico snorts. "Your name means 'light' in Italian? That's ironic."
She nods. "It's a coincidence. Come in, you two. I've made you cookies."
"You knew we were coming?" Nico asks, surprised.
"Well, yes," she says, ushering them both inside. "Will called me two days ago and asked if he could bring a friend over for a few days."
Nico narrows his eyes at Will. "Funny you should mention that. Chiron gave you permission to bring me here yesterday."
Will blushes. "I knew he was going to say yes, that's all."
Lucie makes them sit at the kitchen table while she goes into the kitchen and grabs the plate of cookies. Then, she sits down across from them at the table, leaning forward.
"Tell me about yourself, Nico," she says. "Will barely told me anything about you."
"Well, I'm fourteen, and I'm Italian," Nico says. He doesn't want to say the obvious, fearful of what Lucie might think of hm.
"Who's your godly parent?" she asks, and he cringes.
"Um, Hades," he says, expecting her to pale and quiet or maybe even angry at Will for bringing home this weirdo kid of the underworld god.
Instead, she does something completely unexpected. She smiles. "That's cool. What are your powers like?"
"You don't seem perturbed by the fact that I'm a child of Hades," Nico says, feeling strangely comforted by the fact that she doesn't seem to care.
"Why would I care? As long as you use your powers for good, who am I to judge?"
"You seem to be the most understanding person I've ever met," Nico says. "Besides Will, maybe." Will grins.
"Thank you," she says. "Now, what kind of powers do you have? Are they cool?"
"He can raise a whole army of skeletons," Will interrupts. "It's freakin' awesome."
"Oh, I heard all about the Battle of Manhattan," Lucie says. "All the old campers were talking about it. If we'd have been invited to fight, we would've."
"You're a demigod?" Nico asks, surprised.
"Yep," she says cheerily. "Daughter of Hebe. Not a really big goddess, so I'm able to live in the mortal world without a fear of monsters. I didn't get treated too well at camp, though. I had to stay in the Hermes cabin, even after I got claimed."
Nico smiles. "I know what that's like."
"I'm glad they built cabins for children of the minor gods. But enough about me," Lucie says. "More about you! Will mentioned you had a sister? He said that she was a Roman demigod."
Nico's mind had immediately gone to Bianca, but now it switches to his other sister. "Yeah, her name is Hazel. She got the good end of the Hades bargain, I think. She can control gems and underground tunnels and stuff. She's also really good at manipulating the mist."
Lucie grins. "She seems cool. So she's at the Roman camp? I hear they're offering every demigod free college."
Nico nods. "Yeah. It was part of the peace deal between the camps after the war with Gaea. Anyway, do you have somewhere I can put my bag?"
"Let me show where you'll be sleeping," Will says.
"I'll get started on dinner," Lucie says. "You two clean up and make your beds."
"Top bunk or bottom bunk?" Will asks.
"Top," Nico says, sliding his bag off his shoulder and onto the floor. "You didn't tell me we'd be staying with your mom."
"Oh, she works every day, so she won't be home all the time," Will says.
"She seems pretty cool," Nico says.
"She is."
"So what will we even be doing all week?"
"I don't know. Sleep in. Watch movies. Do errands. Anything that doesn't involve being a demigod or using your powers. You need a break. Doctor's orders, remember?"
Nico rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say. I'm gonna go take a shower."
"I'm gonna go help my mom cook dinner," Will says.
At first, he helps her in silence.
All of a sudden, she says, "So how long have you two been together?"
He nearly burns himself. "What?"
"How long have you been dating Nico?" she asks, not even looking up.
"We're not dating," Will says through gritted teeth.
"Oh," she says. "Why not?"
"Because we're friends."
"But you like him," she says, like it's obvious.
"Yes, I do," Will admits. "How did you know?"
"It's not hard to figure out, sweetheart," she tells him. "You smile every time you even look at him."
"And you're okay with that?" Will asks, stirring the red sauce. "With me liking him?"
"It's not like it wasn't a possibility," she says, shrugging. "I mean, your dad wasn't exactly the straightest person I've ever known. Not that that's how you end up being gay."
Will nearly chokes. "What?"
"Apollo definitely isn't straight," Lucie explains. "but if I wasn't okay with that, then I wouldn't have had you, Will. Believe me, I don't care."
Will feels like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders. "Thanks, Mom. But you can't tell him anything."
"Oh, I won't," she promises. "I just want to see you happy, that's all."
The next day, both boys sleep until noon. They find a note from Lucie telling them that there's pancake batter in the fridge, so they make pancakes for lunch. Then they play board games until six o'clock. Nico finds it hard to admit, but he's actually having fun. It's nice to do something this mundane with someone he actually likes. Not that he'd ever admit that to Will.
While they're eating dinner together that night, Will realizes that a crime has been committed. "What do you mean, you haven't seen any of the Harry Potter movies?" he demands.
Nico shrugs. "Never read the books. Never seen the movies."
"We have to fix this."
And that's how they end up spending the first night of vacation watching the first three Harry Potter movies.
By the time Lucie gets home at eleven o'clock, both boys are sleeping soundly. She doesn't wake them.
The next day, they wake up early so they can watch the remaining five films.
During the fighting at the end of the sixth movie, Will instinctively grabs Nico's hand, then immediately pulls away. "Sorry," he says, looking embarrassed. "Battles make me antsy."
"Me, too," Nico says. Then, he does something Will never expected; he reaches over and takes Will's hand again.
"Is this okay?" he asks quietly.
Will thanks the gods that it's dark in the room; he doesn't want Nico to see how hard he's blushing. "Yeah. It's okay."
Even in the dark, he can see Nico's timid smile. He squeezes his hand tighter, and they they continue watching to movie and don't mention it again.
When Lucie gets home, she finds them both asleep on the couch, the credits of the last movie playing in the background. When she goes to cover them both with blankets, she finds them with their hands intertwined. She smiles and covers them with the blanket, not saying a word.
When they both wake up the next morning, they're still holding hands.
Nico rubs his eyes with his free hand, then looks down at the blanket. "Your mom must have covered us up," he tells Will, who is just opening his eyes. "That means she saw… shit."
Will waves a hand dismissively. "She wouldn't care."
"Right," Nico says, relaxing a little.
That night they watch Titanic, because Nico hasn't seen it, and Will tries to hide it but Nico can tell he's tearing up.
He holds Will's hand again, and out of the corner of his eyes he can see the son of Apollo grin. Nico can barely contain his excitement. He's been harboring a crush on Will ever since he got over Percy, so the prospect of Will feeling the same way about him is amazing.
Will puts on the next movie that Netflix suggests, but neither of them are really paying attention. Nico keeps moving minutely closer to Will, and Will definitely notices.
By the time the movie is over, they're practically cuddling. Nico rests his head on Will's shoulder. "Put on another one," he says, yawning.
"Okay," Will says, pulling the blanket over both of them.
That night, Lucie finds them with Will's arms wrapped around Nico's shoulders and Nico's head on Will's shoulder.
Four days later, Lucie drops them off on Half-Blood Hill. She makes Will promise to come home for Christmas, and invites Nico to stay with them again.
She pulls away, and Will and Nico are left alone on the top of the hill. Past the gate, they can see the campers busy running around.
"Thanks for letting me stay at your mom's house," Nico says. "It was nice, getting away from all of this."
"It's no problem," Will tells him.
"I really like you," Nico blurts out.
Will smiles nervously. "I like you, too."
And before Nico knows it, they're kissing.
It's probably not safe to wait outside the borders of the camp like this, but neither of them care. They kiss and kiss and kiss, like they can't get enough of each other.
They don't stop until they hear a whoop, followed by Jason Grace screaming, "Get it, Nico!"
Will stumbles back to see Percy and Jason leaning against the entrance arch.
"What the hell, you guys?" Nico hisses.
"We saw Will's mom drop you off, so we came up here to welcome you back," Percy says with a grin. "Probably wasn't a good idea."
Will wrinkles his nose. "Go away, you two."
"Aw, get a cabin."
Nico smiles. "Hmph. Good idea."
Review, please! Constructive criticism is welcome, but please be nice!