Nico wasn't tired. He knew he should be – he had just spent forty-eight hours collecting escaped spirits and bringing them back to the Underworld, and the job had not been a piece of cake. He should have been exhausted, to say the least. But as he walked up the steps to the Hades cabin in Camp Half-Blood (he had had to stop by the Big House to inform Chiron of his return), he realized he wouldn't be able to sleep for hours.

It was late November, and it was in the middle of the night. The camp was asleep, all the lights were off, and even the forest seemed quiet and peaceful to an untrained eye. Nico tried to make as little sound as possible as he opened the door and slipped inside, but once the door was closed behind him he knew he was safe – thank the gods for sound-proofing. Thanks to that, Nico was able to sleep during the day while the rest of the camp made noise.

Nico snapped his fingers, and the torches lighted up with green flames. In the dim light he saw a slim figure in his bed, slightly shifting in even breaths, wrapped in the soft grey blankets. Now, a year ago Nico would have been alarmed, maybe drawn his sword and summoned a dozen zombies. But nowdays, after so many such occasions, Nico knew better. He knew it wasn't just any unwelcome intruder. He saw he neatly folded clothes in the arm chair and the mob of curly golden hair and heard the light, endearing snoring, and knew his boyfriend had been waiting for him to come back.

A tender smile made its way to the fifteen-year-old's lips as he watched the sleeping boy. He'd missed Will. After a little over a year of being together, five days was still the longest they had yet been apart, and Nico always missed Will like crazy. He knew it was sappy. He knew it was weak. But he couldn't help the fact that every time he saw Will his heart leaped and he got those gods damned skeletal butterflies in his stomach, and he just wanted to kiss Will's stupid face until he ran out of air.

Quietly, Nico took off his shoes and tossed his leather jacket on top of Will's clothes in the arm chair (it was his spot, after all, and Will knew the risks when folding his clothes there). He made his way to the bed and lowered himself in it, halfway on top of Will, and buried his face to the boy's hair. He took in the familiar warmth of the body under him and inhaled the scent of lemony shampoo as he felt Will stir awake.

"Hey, you", he whispered and propped himself on his arms to give Will some room to turn on his back. The older boy was still half asleep, but his lips curled into a happy smile to the sound of Nico's voice.

"Hi." Will opened his eyes a little, and Nico could see the sky blue orbs that made his heart pound against his chest. Will leaned up to catch Nico's lips with his. "Missed you."

Nico kissed him slowly, thoroughly, and leaned most of his weight back on Will after slipping under the covers. "Mm, me too. Dad says he's sorry, but I think we all know he doesn't really mean that." He hadn't even bothered to change out of his day clothes, even if he knew they were filthy and probably smelled like death. He kissed Will again. "What's important is that it didn't take longer than two days."

"Agreed." Will sighed as Nico's lips trailed down to his neck, finding his pulse point and sucking on it lightly. "What did he need your help with anyway?"

"Just some stupid spirits, thinking they were too good to follow the rules. Honestly, if I have to use the shadows like that one more time this year I swear to gods…"

Will was suddenly a lot more awake as he took Nico's face in his hands and made him look at him. His eyes were intense, searching for something. "You were catching spirits again?" he asked concerned and Nico sighed. "Are you hurt?"

Nico rolled his eyes and let his hands travel up Will's bare torso (he was secretly very happy with the lack of clothing). "What's hurting", he said, "is that my boyfriend doesn't seem to want to kiss me as badly as I want to kiss him. So shut up, okay? I'm fine."

"Promise?"

As a way of answer, Nico connected their lips again, this time with a lot more pressure and emotion. "Promise", he breathed against Will's lips once they broke out for air, and then attacked the son of Apollo once more, this time without any objection from Will.

Without breaking the kiss, Nico moved so that he was straddling Will. One of Will's hands was running up and down his spine, the other was in his hair, massaging his scalp and tangling to his hair. Nico kept his own hands steady on Will's face and neck, only tracing his thumbs on the soft skin from time to time to feel more of his boyfriend. This is what he loved about kissing Will: they both knew exactly what the other liked, and they knew what small things to do, and it was all more than enough to drive him crazy.

Will broke the kiss and looked Nico fully in the eyes for the first time in days. "I love you", he whispered, and like every time, it made Nico smile and giddy and he wanted to jump around the room or run a marathon or just kiss Will silly.

Nico pressed their foreheads together and nuzzled Will's face with his nose. "I love you, too, dork." He started kissing a trail again, finding his way to Will's ear and nibbling on the earlobe as his hands travelled south to caress Will's chest. "And I really missed you. Every second."

If Will ever told anyone that Nico had allowed such corny things leave his mouth, the son of Apollo would have been dead – no matter how much Nico loved him. Thankfully the other boy knew that, and Nico knew the feeling behind the words was mutual as he felt Will tremble under him, making him shiver, too. Both of Will's hands were now at the hem of Nico's shirt, tugging it up to get more skin contact.

Will pushed Nico up a little so that he could sit upright, but kept the boy in his lap. Nico's shirt war tugged up, up, up, until the younger boy had no other choice but to take a break from nibbling the sensitive skin of Will's neck to get the stupid shirt off. Before the article of clothing hit the floor, Will's lips were on Nico's neck and throat and chest, and his hands were on Nico's hips, pulling him even closer. Nico let out a sigh as he felt their bare chests pressing together, felt the rapid beat of Will's heart against his and the strong hands on his hips and lower back. He wondered if Will had any idea what that kind of contact did to him.

Will's lips traced Nico's collar bones, skimmed up to his jaw, got back down to suck on the spot where neck met shoulder. He was careful not to leave any marks where they would be seen, because he knew how much Nico hated it when Cecil pointed them out (and Cecil always did), but he did bite down on the pale shoulder and kissed it better.

"Great, now I can't train in the arena without a shirt for a week", Nico muttered with a half hearted annoyance, but ran his fingers through Will's hair to get him closer to his throat.

"Mmh", Will hummed, and Nico shivered at the feeling of hot breath on his skin. "Too bad. I would have enjoyed that."

Nico pulled at Will's hair and the older boy leaned back just enough for Nico to press their lips together again. It was now less of a dance and more of a battle, and Nico thought that it should have felt weird to tangle his tongue with someone else's like that, but it didn't. Will's hands seemed to be all over at once, finding each of Nico's scars and memorizing them, like they had so many times before, and Nico breathed in the same air Will was breathing, and he was pretty sure this is what people meant when they talked about being one with someone.

It wasn't until Will's right hand trailed down the left side of Nico's ribs that the son of Hades took a sharp breath and froze. There was a large bruise there that covered half of his ribs. It was hard to see in the dark of the cabin, but it was definitely there, and when Will saw it, he looked like he wanted to get really angry at Nico.

"You said you weren't hurt", he said accusingly, and Nico couldn't do more than sigh.

"No, I didn't actually", he muttered. "I said I was fine, and I am. I didn't even know there was a bruise. It doesn't hurt that bad, I swear."

Will huffed, but his other hand was still making soft circles to the small of his back, so Nico knew he wasn't that mad at him. "Well, sorry if I don't take your word for it." He looked at Nico, and there was more worry than anger in his eyes. "You would tell me if you really were hurt, right?"

Nico leaned down to press a soft kiss on Will's lips while caressing his cheek. "Of course", he breathed. "Of course I would tell you. Like I would trust anyone else to heal me if I was hurt."

"Good." Will's fingers once more trailed down to the bruise, and even if it hurt a little, Nico kept his mouth shut. "Hey, is it okay if I try something? An Apollo thing."

"Sure. As long as you're not dislocating anything, by all means."

As Nico watched, Will gently placed his palm on the bruise, spreading his fingers to cover more area. The son of Apollo closed his eyes and started humming. It wasn't any particular tune – even though Nico could swear some parts sounded dangerously like You Are My Sunshine – but more like a mix of every tune Nico had ever heard Will humming. At first, nothing happened. Then Nico's side started burning under Will's touch, like a thousand burning needles were punctured through his skin, but the scary part was that it almost felt nice. Nico kept his eyes on his ribs, and he saw how slowly, little by little, the bruise turned to purple, then yellow, then finally faded altogether. The burning stopped, and once Will's humming ended, it looked and felt like the bruise had never even been there.

Nico touched his side with his fingers and looked at Will in awe. "How the hell did you do that?" he asked, voice full of admiration and new kind of respect for the healer. He had always known Will was a gifted healer, one of the best in centuries, but he'd never even heard anyone doing something like this – anyone other than the gods, that is. And last time he checked, Will wasn't a god (though he very well could be, and Nico wouldn't complain).

Will blushed slightly, the freckles all over his upper body starting to shine once more in the way Nico loved. "I just had a thought. Couple of weeks ago I read about some of the most famous children of Apollo doing stuff like that, and I just… I don't know. A simple prayer to my dad, and a tune that could work as a hymn and, well…"

Will made it sound so simple, like it was nothing. But Nico knew it wasn't nothing. He looked at his boyfriend and it ached his heart how much he loved him at that very moment, and he just knew, always had, that Will was special in more ways than one.

"You're freaking amazing, you know that?" Nico muttered before crashing his lips on Will's, showering him with love and admiration and gratefulness and enthusiasm and so much love he wondered if there ever would be enough. "You're the most wonderful person on this stupid planet, and I love you, and don't you ever dare forget that, okay?"

He didn't exactly give Will time to reply as he attacked his lips again, more intensely and heatedly than before. Nico's hands were in Will's hair and shoulders and neck and back and chest and stomach, everywhere at once, and Will's were pretty much the same. Something about the healing process had triggered a side of Nico that didn't surface that often, but now that it was awake there was no turning back.

It felt strange to think that a little over a year ago he could barely let Will hold his hand. They had come a long way since that, but now, straddling Will and pulling him closer and wanting to feel every inch of him, the fifteen-year-old Nico just wanted to punch the fourteen-year-old Nico in the face. True, the younger Nico had been insecure and scarred for life and didn't trust anyone, but that was something that was so hard to remember sometimes, especially when Will's hands were – oh.

Nico let out a shaky moan, barely audiable, as he felt Will's thumbs on his nipples. It wasn't like Will hadn't done that before (oh, he had), but it still made Nico's head spin every time.

"Is this okay?" Will asked against his mouth, and his voice was raw and breathless and gods Nico loved that.

"What do you think, you idiot?" he muttered before sucking Will's bottom lip to his mouth, earning a moan from the older boy, too. It felt like a victory. "Have I ever complained before?"

At this point, Nico could already feel the familiar outline of Will's hardening member. He was quite turned on himself, too, but he wasn't sure how far they should go. Despite all the nibbling and teasing and touching they had had going on for the past few months, they hadn't yet… that.

Will pressed a thumb on his nipple again, drawing a circle and making Nico pant embarrassingly loud. "No, I guess you haven't."

As the teasing continued, Will flipped them over so that he was pressing Nico against the mattress while hovering over him. In the split second before Will dipped his head down to kiss his chest, Nico saw how much darker the usually light blue eyes had turned. But then the son of Apollo was slowly but surely making his way down and pressing his hot and wet lips on a now hard nipple, and every rational thought Nico might still have had flew out the window.

"Will", he breathed out, and later he thought the sound was kind of embarrassing, but right then he didn't care a flying – "Will."

Just when he thought he couldn't stand it if Will was to stop, the stupid boy stopped and leaned up to kiss him again. The kiss was hungry and desperate and – in the lack of a better word – needy, and Nico panted in Will's mouth in a way he couldn't remember he had before. Not quite like that. Nico felt Will hard against his thigh, just pressing there and just waiting. Will's eyes shot open when Nico shifted slightly under him, and the younger boy knew Will felt his erection against his lower stomach. He had to feel it.

There was a question in Will's eyes. Nico could hear it, even if the other didn't say it out loud. Do you want to stop? Because just like Nico, Will wasn't exactly sure about anything regarding… that yet. There had been a discussion, a month ago. Positively the most awkward five minutes of Nico's life, after which they had agreed to wait for the right time and place and – and maybe there needed to be another talk there before going all the way. But that didn't stop them from experimenting, right?

Nico didn't speak, either. He held Will's intense gaze (the gaze that was doing things to him, oh gods) as he wrapped his legs around the boy's hips, pressing with his heels slightly to bring him closer. The second he felt their hips grind together his eyes fluttered closed, though, and he dropped his head to the pillow as Will groaned against his neck. He shifted again, just to get more friction, and Will answered by grinding down again, slowly like testing the waters, and gods Nico felt like he had died and gone to Elysium, because this was the best feeling yet.

"Nico", Will breathed against his neck, and the way his boyfriend said his name made him whimper and arch his back so he could press their hips closer together, earning a low moan from Will. "Oh my gods, Nico."

Using what little control he still might have had, Nico flipped them over again. He started thrusting his hips down to Will in a slow rhythm, making electrical waves run down his body. He looked at Will, who was now starting to respond to his grinding with thrusts of his own. The blond boy was making noises Nico hadn't heard before, and the blue eyes were now closed shut, and Will's lips were slightly parted and he arched his back to meet Nico's thrusts, and he was so unbelievably gorgeous and – holy heavens, did Nico do that?

Nico leaned down to drag his teeth along Will's collar bone – something he had learned the older boy enjoyed a great deal. He felt Will's hands travel down his back, lower, lower, until they grabbed Nico's bottom and squeezed, putting more force into the grinding.

"Will!" Nico heaved, being fully aware of the way his cock was throbbing inside his tight jeans as he pushed down again and again to meet Will's hips. He could feel the building in his lower stomach, knowing he was getting closer.

But Will didn't hear what he was saying. As Nico bit his lip and watched, the son of Apollo jerked forcefully up a few times, lips parted in a silent scream, and the smaller boy felt the whole body tense under him. Nico had never seen Will like that, and he loved it. Will was panting heavily, his eyes rolled to the back, the freckles on his chest glowing and his heart beating against Nico's palm harder than ever.

"Gods, Will", Nico mumbled, not being able to speak fully. His hips moved up and down faster and faster. "Will you're so beautiful." He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on Will's chest as he felt himself starting to come. "Will, I – I'm – "

"It's okay, love", Will whispered, his voice still shaky and breathless, and his fingers got up to Nico's hair, petting it soothingly. "It's okay. I've got you, Sunshine. You can let go."

And Nico did. He felt his jeans get hot and wet and sticky as he collapsed against Will, chanting his boyfriend's name like a mantra, gripping the sheets in his fists on either side of Will. He was seeing stars, blinded by them really, and he could hear a roar in his ears when he let go.

Nico was still shaking when he felt Will's arms wrap around him and pull him close. He couldn't move a muscle, he was exhausted, but he relaxed against Will's sweaty chest, listening to the slowly steadying heart beat, though he wasn't sure if it was his or Will's. It didn't really matter. Nico breathed in his boyfriend's odor, heard Will whisper something in his hair, felt the loving touches on his neck and back, and the first thing he did when he could move again was smile.

Somehow he felt like he should be embarrassed. He had just come in his jeans, on top of his boyfriend. But it wasn't like this wasn't going to happen eventually – some might even say it was long overdue. And frankly, lying there with Will, thinking of the past half an hour or so, Nico didn't even know what there was to be embarrassed about. As far as he was concerned, it had all been good. Really good. And he doubted Will was complaining, either – not with the way he was holding Nico close to him like a dying man to a life line.

When Nico finally raised his head from Will's chest and looked up in his eyes, he felt his tired smile get just a tiny bit wider. "So that happened."

Will still looked out of breath, but he smiled and pushed Nico's sweaty hair back from his forehead. "Yeah", he said, and Nico leaned forward to give him a soft kiss. "Yeah, it did." They looked at each other with tired eyes. "I love you, Nico."

In that moment, Nico didn't even care that his jeans felt really uncomfortable and that Will's pajama pants probably weren't any better. He just smiled happily and kissed his boyfriend again. "And I love you, Will. What a coincidence."

Will's chest rumbled with silent laughter as they shifted so that they were both under the covers and Nico was tugged at his side. "Shut up, di Angelo. No snarky remarks while cuddling." A kiss was placed in Nico's hair. "I don't know about you, but personally I'm way too tired to get up now. We'll clean up in the morning."

"Mmh, good thinking." Nico closed his eyes as he buried his face to Will's neck, just like he had done so many nights before and wished to do for many to come. "As always, I suppose."

(But, as it turned out in the morning, it wasn't good thinking at all.)