It never really was about Dave (a son of Hermes). Or the way Will was standing way too close to him for Nico's taste. It never really was about Dave.
It was always about Will. About the way Nico loved Will. How he loved him, achingly and blinding, passionate. Clashing and different, but making each other better and complete.
That's what it was about. Nico who had lost the one person he cared about most and also the only person he had had. And even though, that wasn't the case anymore, he still sometimes felt as if a part of him was gone with Bianca. Like the part of him that cared about people the way any normal person did. And maybe all half-bloods feel this way, but the knowledge that death is literally around the corner and could jump out at any given moment, was something Nico was well too aware of.
So his initial response was to keep people away from him. To never let people in, to keep everyone out. And to never feel the heart breaking loss of a loved one.
No one to love, no one to mourn.
That was the plan. That is, if his heart decided to follow his head for once. But no such luck of course.
Percy Jackson somehow managed to break all of Nico's rules. (It wasn't that surprising, really. With Percy's history as rule-breaker, Nico should have expected it.) And as if it wasn't enough to break Nico's rules, he had to break the rules of humanity too; it wasn't enough that someone made their way into Nico's heart, it also had to be the wrong gender.
That's when Nico decided to just leave, in the hope that maybe the feelings would fade. (Seriously, why did he still expect things to go his way?)
It actually had the desired effect for a while. At least, that's what Nico told himself. And it was true that not seeing Percy helped not thinking about him all day. (During the night, however, those green eyes popped up in his mind.)
And it was also true that Hazel made everything somewhat easier. She didn't even attempt breaking his walls down, she simply found the front door and walked in without knocking, making herself at home. It wasn't that hard, you just had to find the right way. And from the moment they met, Nico vowed to protect and keep her safe. That's where it all came crashing down (His walls, that is. Even though Nico would insist it was his life. He always was a little overdramatic.)
His life became gradually better until those damned green eyes showed up again out of fucking nowhere. Nico was in no way prepared for that.
He pretended not to know him and tried to ignore what felt like being stabbed when all Percy remembered was Annabeth. Because in another life, Nico could've been all Percy remembered. But thinking about that only made the shadows spread further, so he did what he did best and pushed it down, down, down.
And no matter how horrible it was, Cupid forcing him to admit the fact that he was gay and that he had a crush (was in love, he honestly didn't know the difference at that point. Everything was too messed up.) on Percy might have made a difference. Jason supporting him made Nico realize that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't the part of him that he should fear and be disgusted by.
Getting over Percy was surprisingly easier than he expected it to be. And even though he was still scared he might lose them, he even made some friends. He realized that it was better to live with the pain of having loved someone, than the pain of being alone. Because, he wouldn't trade the memories he had of Bianca for anything. He wouldn't change the fact that she had been his sister and best friends once, even if it meant not having to lose her. It was better to have something and knowing you could lose it, than have nothing to lose.
That's when Will marched into his life. What started as friendship, soon became something else (at least, in Nico's mind.). Will's smile brightened Nico's life and the colour of his eyes, so blue, replaced the clouded sky that had previously lived above Nico's head. This time he did recognize the feeling when he slowly fell in love with one of his best friends.
And when Nico found out Will felt the same, he thought that maybe the fates had gotten bored of making his life miserable and decided he had suffered enough.
The feeling of Will's lips against his was ranked just under the feeling of being loved again. Because that was without a doubt Nico's favourite feeling. He was still convinced Will would wake up one day and realize that Nico wasn't worth it, that he could do so much better. But until he didn't, Nico would make the most out of it and eliminate anything that could make Will realize that. He would fight and keep bad things form happening. He always was a bit selfish. (If only he knew what Will felt whenever Nico smiled at him!) And if Will decided he had enough it would not be because of some guy named Dave. (Seriously, what kind of name is Dave?)
Dave was getting on his nerves. Really, really getting on his nerves. People usually tried to stay on Nico's good side (he had been told he could be a tad intimidating sometimes.), but Dave probably wasn't aware of the fact that he was going from 'unimportant' to 'hated' on Nico's mind.
But then Nico realized that maybe Dave knew exactly what he was doing, (Because who wouldn't flirt with Will? Let's be honest) and that thought made Nico's blood boil and he had to refrain himself from summoning skeletons and letting hell loose.
And when Dave put his hand on Will's shoulder and laughed at one of his jokes way harder than he should have (Nico was familiar with Will's humour, it wasn't that funny), Nico decided he had enough.
He was wearing Will's hoodie, which he took as a sign. Because what were the odds of that to happen? Small. Very small. (They were actually higher than you'd think. Nico wore Will' clothes quite a lot.) It was exactly what he needed.
Will was his and Dave would know it too. And if Will got a reminder, that wouldn't hurt too much Nico supposed. So he got up from the bench he had been sitting on talking to Jason, and made his way to Will and Dave standing a little further away.
Jason, who had noticed Nico looking at them with an angry frown, shot him a half-amused, half-encouraging look.
When Will saw Nico arrive, he gave him one of his beautiful smiles that made Nico weak. He tried to stay strong though, and focus on the task at hand. He smiled back at Will and purposefully ignored Dave while he put an arm around Will's waist and sweetly kissed him on the cheek.
Will's face twisted in surprise and confusion. Nico realized he wasn't being very subtle. He normally didn't do any of those things. Not in public anyway.
It was only after he had snuggled closer into Will, that Nico acknowledged Dave's presence.
'Oh, hello David', he said innocently. And everyone that didn't know him might've been fooled; Nico was an excellent liar. 'I didn't see you there.'
As Will wasn't one of the people that didn't know Nico well, his confused look grew even more confused than it already was.
'Hi, Nico', Dave said. 'And I really prefer Dave – ' but Nico wasn't listening. He was wrapping his other arm around Will's waist and was now hugging him entirely, kissing his neck once.
Dave was looking a little uncomfortable and Will was just looking at his boyfriend with amused confusion. Nico suspected he knew what was going on. How strange it may be, Will once told him he was able to see almost everything Nico was thinking by looking at his eyes. Nico wasn't sure he believed him, people often told him they thought he was scary because they were unable to find any trace of emotion on his face. But apparently Will had some strange power that allowed him to do it anyway.
Will lifted one eyebrow and resumed his conversation with Dave. Well, that just wouldn't do. So Nico whispered: 'I love your hoodies. They smell like you.' He said it just loud enough for Dave to hear, but quiet enough to make it seem natural.
Will looked down at him, his cheeks were kind of flushed. His eyes asked Nico a silent question, Nico answered by softly pressing their lips together. It didn't last longer than two seconds, but it was enough to make Dave look uncomfortable.
'What the hell are you doing, Nico?', Will whispered sharply.
'What? I can't kiss my boyfriend now?' Nico could've answered something sweet like 'You just looked really good.' Or 'I love you.', but he was still himself. Let's not get too crazy.
'I'm having a conversation!'
Nico just shrugged. He noticed Will was getting a little annoyed, so he held Will and let him talk to Dave. He didn't say anything, but shot Dave his trademark Nico di Angelo Glare; which he knew was intimidating as hell. Pun intended.
And, sure enough, Dave grew a little fidgety. Avoiding Nico's eyes, but still feeling them. He wasn't paying much attention to Will anymore, but was more interested in his shoes than in talking coherent sentences. Nico smirked when Dave found an excuse that allowed him to leave the two boys alone.
They said goodbye, Will and Dave with words, Nico simply by nodding once. When he was gone, Will turned to Nico, an annoyed look was lighting on his face and his cheeks were a little red. From embarrassment, annoyance… anger? No, Nico hadn't taken it that far. Had he? He was growing a little worried. What if he had, instead of making sure Will didn't leave him, pushed Will into doing exactly that?
'What the hell was that all about, Nico?' He was definitely annoyed, but not angry, and there was something else there too. Nico couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.
'What?', Nico said, trying to play dumb.
Will didn't even say anything, but just lifted one eyebrow. That eyebrow was sharper than any words.
Nico sighed. 'I'm from the forties and I even noticed he was flirting with you. Please, tell me you're not that much of an idiot!'
'I really don't think you're in the right place to insult me.'
'I will always insult you, Will. I thought you were used to it by now.'
Will rolled his eyes. 'I really don't get what the problem was. What I was doing is called 'being nice', maybe you should try it sometime.'
If Nico's eyes were daggers, Will would be all sliced up.
'What you were doing was 'being too nice', maybe you should stop it sometime.'
'Would you just admit that you were jealous!'
Nico blinked slowly, and shook his head. 'I'm not a liar, William.', he said, dead serious.
Will knew he was right about Nico being jealous, people often believed Nico to be one big mystery, but he wasn't really. Well, not anymore. Will had to admit that at the beginning of their relationship, he had found it hard. Being friends with Nico was tough and complicated, but after a while, he started figuring Nico out. At first, little pieces at a time, but quickly becoming clearer until the puzzle fell all together. And even though he still discovered new parts of Nico every day, like his possessive side Will hadn't seen before, the mystery of Nico was quite clear to him now.
He got that Nico had endured many losses and was afraid to lose yet another person. Will never was one for hiding his feeling and had made pretty clear that he wasn't planning on letting go of Nico any time soon. He was also pretty sure Nico knew that deep down and that he probably just was a bit possessive by nature.
Not that he minded. Later that evening when they were lying in bed, Nico on top of Will, straddling him and abusing Will's neck, Will couldn't help but feel his eyes flutter shut and pleasure rolling through his body.
A few minutes earlier Nico had hesitantly asked him if it was okay. Will had just nodded. And that's when Nico had begun showing him that Will was his.
Will gasped when Nico bit down a little harder, but before Nico could ask if he wasn't doing anything wrong, Will let out a moan, pushing him to keep going. He would probably regret this in the morning when he would have to face the whole camp with what would be a huge mark on his neck, but right now he didn't care.
So, it never really was about Dave. It wasn't really about the way he flirted with Will, although that kind of had to do with it.
It was about Will and the way Nico loved him. And the way he wanted to make sure Will wouldn't just leave him like so many others did. And even though Nico didn't know how to express all that, he acted on instinct and burned it all into passion.
And if that meant having Nico leaving love bites (Nico hated that word, Will loved it) on Will's skin, then Will would not complain.