Hello everyone! I know Will and Nico belong together don't kill me please! I think I will be doing a whole series on this readerxcharacter thing so tell me if you want more, and if so, who? I know I haven't updated Strawberries and Hot Chocolate in forever but I just realized I didn't have the plot figured out so whoops. Now I know what I am going to do so expect an update soon. ANYWAY, enjoy the story!
y/n: your name
l/n: last name
e/c: eye color
ReaderxWill
The acoustic guitar rests heavy on your legs and you nervously glance up at your blonde instructor. Will Solace's sky blue eyes are focused on his fingers as he strums a progression of chords. His couple golden strands fall in front of his eyes and he casually brushes them away before striking a G chord… or was it a C chord. You have been trying to pay attention to his teaching but you also may have been trying to count his freckles.
A dozen other campers sit around you on the logs surrounding the fire pit. A couple Demeter girls, a boy from Persephone's cabin, and a handful of Hemes' kids. Nobody from your cabin (Athena's cabin) signed up for outdoor music, but instead most of them chose war strategy with Clarisse, or Architecture with Annabeth. What can you say… you're just a sucker for learning things with a hands-on approach. Or maybe you have a tiny crush on the teacher BUT that's not the point. You just really wanted to learn the guitar… yeah, that sounds about right. Will shifts his arm so it wraps around the guitar better and you catch a glimpse of strong muscles under tanned skin. Focus.
Suddenly everyone started strumming their guitars around you and you are shocked back into the real world. Sometimes you just tend to get caught up in your own thoughts and miss important things, like what chord you are playing and how to play it.
Oh no.
You nervously glance around at your fellow campers' fingers but their fingers shift before you replicate the fingering. Before you know it, everyone is packing up and the class is over. You can't believe you spent 45 minutes thinking about Will Solace; thinking about his hair, his eyes, his freckles, his muscles, his- SNAP OUT OF IT.
"Hey! Y/n right?"
You jump and your guitar slips out of shaky fingers. A tanned hand shoots out and catches the instrument by the neck,
"Careful," Will Solace grins, "These aren't cheap."
Your hands are still shaking as your carefully take the guitar back,
"Th-Thanks," you stutter. Your face is heating up and you just know you are strawberry red. Will chuckles and continues,
"I noticed today that you seemed to be having a bit of… trouble with the fingerings and I was wondering if you might be interested in a private lesson later today so you can really nail down the basics of guitar."
"By private you mean… just the two of us?" you say, your voice trailing off at the end.
"Just the two of us," he confirms, and if you weren't blushing before you definitely are now.
"I'll just come find you later, then." he smiles. You don't even notice him packing up and leaving, all you can see is his smile and the fact that he knew your name.
The rest of the day passes in a blur, the only thing on your mind is the fact that Will Solace will come find you and spend his free time teaching you how to play guitar. Before you know it you are sitting at the campfire singing the last song of the night. The flames burned golden and taller than you could estimate. Obviously the camp was in a great mood, but you felt a little differently. There were definitely butterflies in your stomach. Or maybe geese. You couldn't tell if you were nervous or excited, but you were definitely something.
Who took the weapon from the weapon shack? Laura took the weapon from the weapon shack.
The Apollo campers were leading the sing-along but you couldn't find Will anywhere. He wouldn't ditch you, though… right? You hugged your guitar closer to your chest, the guitar that you definitely had not been carrying around all day just in case a certain son of Apollo found you.
Who me? Yes, You! Couldn't be! Then who?
The song continued on, and so did your nerves. The sky was getting darker and as more and more campers left, the fire was growing dimmer. Finally the song ended in halfhearted cheers from the Apollo cabin and remaining campers. Soon, the only person remaining on the logs was you, with only your guitar for company. The fire burned still, but it was only embers with the rare flicker of flame. When you looked up, you could see stars.
It felt like someone punched you in the gut. Will just didn't seem like the type of person to commit to something, then flake off. You furiously blinked as you started to rise from your seat on the logs to head back to the Athena cabin.
Then something tapped your shoulder. Or someone. You turned slowly, not daring to get your hopes up.
"Y/n! I am so happy you are still here, thank you for being so patient with me," Will said, white teeth glinting from the dying campfire. You couldn't believe it! He didn't forget, and suddenly the geese were back in your stomach and flying around with a renewed vigor.
"I am so sorry it took so long for me to find you… there was an emergency in the infirmary. An Ares kid was dared to climb the lava wall, but his arm is reattached now so everything is fine."
You sat back down and Will sat on the log opposite you. You noticed he didn't have a guitar. How was he going to teach you?
"Okay, let's get to business." he stated, suddenly business-like, "First things first, can you play a G chord for me?"
Everything you knew, however limited it was, just flew out of your brain. You ducked your chin down and nervously wiggled your fingers,
"A G chord… yes I know how to do that." you half-giggled, a panicked expression displayed across your features. Your face was heating up; you just hate feeling dumb.
"It's all right," Will smiled encouragingly, "Here, let me show you."
He took his hand and carefully moved your fingers into position. It was uncomfortable but Will Solace just touched your arm.
"Now strum."
You strummed down, but the chord didn't sound quite right. Your body slumped a bit, even with his help you are completely hopeless.
"Sorry," you whispered, "I'm not really good at this…"
"Nonsense! You just need to curve your fingers a bit."
Will gently adjusted your wrist so your fingers weren't touching more than one string at a time. You tried to strum again and it actually sounded kind of… good. Maybe you're not completely hopeless after all!
"Perfect!" Will exclaimed, "Now try a D chord."
Just kidding. You're completely hopeless.
After about 20 more minutes of twisting your fingers into knots, and constant encouragement from Will, you finally somewhat master four basic chords.
"Ready to play your first song?" Will grins, "Do you know the song 'I'm Yours' by Jason Mraz?"
You nod hesitantly and he continues,
"Well, believe it or not, you already know how to play it! Just go through the same chords we have been practicing with this strumming rhythm."
He gently takes the guitar from you and demonstrates the technique on a couple chords,
"Now your turn!"
Your fingers shakily move into position and he gives a nod of encouragement. You start playing and after you run through your chord progression once the son of Apollo starts singing,
"Well you done done me and you bet I felt it…"
The more you play the more confident you get, and Will sounds amazing, of course. You are feeling great and playing better than you ever thought you would until Will stops singing. You stop playing immediately and look up at him,
"Is something wrong?" you ask, "Why did you stop singing?"
He has a mischievous look on his face and you start to get nervous.
"You know, Y/n, I've never heard you sing before. You are a pretty quiet person but I feel like you have a good voice."
"Oh no. No no no. I don't sing." You respond quickly, "You can handle the singing."
He's not wrong, you don't have a terrible voice. However, compared to his, you don't have a whole lot of confidence in yourself.
"Come on," he begged with a smile, "It's just me here."
Yeah, just you, the one guy that I really like. But you can never resist that smile, it's your weakness.
"Damn," you mutter, "Fine."
Will sends you a huge smile as he removes the guitar from your arms, you could see every single one of his snow white teeth. He looks down and begins the intro. Some of his hair falls into his eyes and you get a sudden urge to push it back. You sit on your hands because you don't trust yourself, especially because that idea is so tempting.
His intro nears the end and you mentally brace yourself,
"Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it, I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted…"
As you sang, you closed your eyes. All the better to avoid humiliation, my dear.
"… you best believe, you best believe, I'm yours." you ended, slowly looking up. Blue eyes met e/c eyes and there was something different about his gaze. Something… darker. He gave you the guitar back and your fingers brushed and was there a spark there? You thought that was just in books.
You both looked away, your eyes somehow landing on the fire which was a soft pink and a bit larger than a couple embers. You immediately turned away,
"I should probably be getting back to my cabin." you said softly. Will nodded in agreement,
"Probably. Want me to walk you back?"
A small smile worked its way onto your face and you fought it back,
"That would be nice, yes."
The two of you walked in silence, but not an uncomfortable silence. Your arm sometimes brushed Will's arm, but that was just a coincidence, right? What seemed like seconds later you were standing in front of the Athena cabin. Lights bled through grey curtains, casting a soft glow on the two of you. The guitar was swung over your back with the strap and you stood facing Will. Neither of you were saying anything, yet nobody made a movement to leave.
Will suddenly looked down for a second, then back up. Something changed in his eyes and he looked like he was trying to give himself confidence for something. You had only a moment to be confused before strong hands gently cupped your face. Will was much closer now and you could see every gold speck in his eyes, every freckle on his face.
"Is this okay?" he whispered, his eyes darting down your face and back up. It took a second, but then it hit you: holy shit he is about to kiss me. You nodded without breaking eye contact and then his lips were on yours.
Confession time, you had never actually kissed someone. You heard horror stories from some of the Aphrodite girls about their first kisses but this seemed nice. From your limited knowledge about kissing, it seemed like Will was a good kisser. No, not good, amazing. In fact, you didn't want this to end. You willed your lips to respond to his and you felt him smile. Too soon he started pulling away and you let out a little sound of resistance. Will laughed and kissed your nose,
"You're adorable, but I need to go."
You must have looked a bit sulky, because he laughed again and kissed you on the nose one more time,
"You need to go to bed. I will find you tomorrow… much faster than I did today, as well. Goodnight, Y/n L/n. Sleep well."
You smiled to yourself as you watched him walk off,
"Goodnight, Will Solace."
A/N: If you liked this please leave a review telling me who you want next! Thank you so much for reading. (Also if there are any spelling or grammar errors give me a heads up… I have a feeling I missed some stuff)