A/N: Hello there! This is the first story that I'm publishing on . It's part of a really big series. The majority of its chapters are posted to a different website, namely Archive of Our Own. However, for this particular story, I'm posting the remastered chapters of Three Days in Darkness, whereas the chapters posted to AO3 haven't yet been given a second editing pass. They will be updated at the same time as my chapters, but if you'd like, you can read the rest of the series over there.
Nico di Angelo. It was a name that rolled off of Will Solace's tongue so smoothly and easily. Anyone with two ears and a brain between them would have been able to tell that the feelings that dwelt in his chest were far more than just mere friendship. Will Solace wanted to know Nico di Angelo in the way that only a lover could.
Will was disappointed. Yet, a part of him was relieved when Nico asked for a moment to talk to Percy and Annabeth. He didn't know why the boy went to talk to the two demigods, though he should not have found it strange. Nico and the two were friends, after all.
Will watched the three with longing. There were so many things that he did not know about Nico di Angelo. There were so many things that he wanted to know about Nico.
There were days when Will had to wonder whether it was Aphrodite or the Fates being exceptionally cruel, but one thing was for sure: over the years, despite the son of Hades' merely fleeting presence in the camp, Will had fallen for Nico. It was the most intense and powerful crushes that he'd ever had, and it didn't seem to be fading one bit.
Will looked down at his hands. They were trembling. He despised those hands. Incapable of wielding a bow, or using any of his father's other gifts. He could work healing miracles with his hands, but he could do only that: heal.
One of Will's feet was tapping incessantly on the ground in front of his cabin. He looked at his leg. "Now I can keep a proper beat?" he noted bitterly. "That's just great." He clutched his thigh with one hand, trying to make it stop, although the efficacy of the action was doubtful..
The hand on Will's thigh was all he could do to stop his knees from knocking together, too. His show of bluster and confidence around Nico was all just that: a show. Truthfully, Nico terrified him, but not for the reasons that Nico would probably think.
Will was one of the few people in the camp that didn't fear Nico for his heritage, or his dark powers. He admired those things about Nico. He admired the fact that despite being a son of Hades, Nico had been noble and had come to the rescue of the camp time and again without second thought.
Simply put, Will Solace was afraid of Nico's rejection.
Will groaned in exasperation. His trembling was not subsiding. He could tell that soon enough, his entire body would be shaking from the nervousness. He didn't want Nico to see him like this. He thrust his hands into his pockets.
That didn't work. A moment later, it became clear that there wasn't much sense keeping Will's hands in his pockets. He brought them back out. His palms were sweaty. His face felt hot. He tugged at his collar. Why was he suddenly so nervous?
Will's thoughts turned back to the last few days. He'd seen Nico in action on the battlefield. Will had tried his best to not show it, considering they'd been in a life-and-death situation, but the whole time there had been fucking eagles flapping around inside his stomach. Some part of him had been in awe of the son of Hades, especially when Nico managed to off six of the dog-men even in his weakened state.
Will closed his eyes and relived the memories of the battle. Nico had been fighting like a madman. He'd never seen anything like it. Even Percy Jackson didn't come close to what he'd seen from Nico.
Will had to wonder just how much more Nico could do if he was at his full strength.
Lou Ellen was privy to one fact about the battle. Will had been blushing the entire time. From the moment they came across Nico, to the time that they confronted Octavian for the last time, he'd been blushing. Thankfully, Lou Ellen had had his back.
Just as soon as they went to disable the onagers, Will had looked helplessly at Lou Ellen. He remembered the way she'd smirked as she wove the mist into a mask for him. He was thankful for her magic.
Will's mind turned to the night of the burial rights at the campfire. Nico, dressed in something appropriate for the occasion: his senator toga, had looked so impressive. He'd looked at the crowd as though it didn't even faze him.
Nico looked and acted as though presiding over burial rites was what he'd been called to do all his life. Will supposed it was probably something he knew by instinct, being one of the children of Hades. Still, the way that Nico had handled himself had made Will's heart flutter.
Will's mind turned to other things. During the days since the battle, he'd seen Nico watching him from the edges of his vision. There was always a strange melancholy on Nico's face. He'd often tried to make contact with Nico, but whenever he looked in Nico's direction, Nico looked away.
Will had to wonder if the sadness on Nico's face meant that he was still thinking about leaving the camp for good. Will shook his head. He wouldn't let that happen. He just couldn't. He didn't know why, but he felt so very strongly for the son of Hades, and he didn't think he could live with himself if he let Nico go that easily.
Still, Will had not approached Nico those times that he saw the son of Hades. He'd always felt a surge of fear, and then a twinge of anger.
Will was afraid because he didn't want to get rejected by Nico, but at the same time, he was angry because Nico had said that no one wanted him to stay. It was a slap in the face. All that Will had ever wanted whenever Nico visited the camp, was for the son of Hades to stay for good.
Instead, Will resigned himself to just watching Nico from the distance, too afraid to go near him, and, even during the times he felt more confident, too afraid that he was going to say something he would eventually regret.
Will already regretted unintentionally dismissing everything that Nico had gone through over the years. He'd been angry with Octavian. He'd been angry at Nico's insinuation that no one cared enough for him to want him to stay. He'd been angry that Nico thought the camps would be better off if he was gone.
Just the other day, Will had had a rather awkward conversation with Annabeth. At first she hadn't wanted to tell Will of anything, but he'd begged her. He told her that he just wanted to show Nico that there were people that wanted to befriend him at camp, people that wanted him to stay. It was the truth.
Reluctantly, Annabeth had told him of what she knew about Nico. Will shook his head and blinked away tears. It had been a harrowing talk. Even through Annabeth's second-hand account, he couldn't imagine the pain that Nico suffered. When they were done, Will felt even more guilty for what he'd said.
Will stirred from his thinking when he heard noticed Percy's absolute confusion. The son of Poseidon was looking rather distressed and unsure. Will tilted his head in curiosity, but couldn't make out anything that they were talking about. Idly, Will wondered if Nico was confessing previous feelings for Percy.
Will shook his head. He reminded himself that not everyone was gay. Will, himself, was still grappling with his feelings for Nico. He didn't understand why they were so strong. He wanted nothing more than to confess undying love for Nico, but at the same time, he didn't want to accidentally scare away the son of Hades if he was incapable of reciprocating.
Will took a deep breath. He thought about just the previous night. He remembered the feeling of relief and hope that swelled in him when Reyna showed Nico what Will had been trying to say during that encounter with Octavian. He was welcome.
Camp Half-Blood was as much Nico's home as it was Will's. A small smile tugged at the corners of Will's lips as he remembered that at some point during the hug between Reyna and Nico, he'd wanted nothing more than to grow breasts and obtain Roman Praetorship.
Will sighed. It was the kind of sigh of longing and pining. He remembered Lou elbowing him in the ribs after the hug, and telling him that he'd just sighed out loud like a love-sick schoolgirl. He'd blushed. Then, he'd realized that he had missed everything else because he'd been staring at Nico for too long. He'd blushed even more.
Will blinked. His attention was brought back to the real world. Nico was walking back to him from across the green. The corners of Nico's lips were turned up in a tentative smile.
Hands trembling, Will couldn't help but blush as well when he noticed the pink twinge to Nico's cheeks. He grabbed his hand and willed it to be still as Nico approached. A gentle breeze blew past Will's face, and a lock of hair dropped over his eye.
With a single motion, Will brushed the blond hair away. At that moment, Nico's eyes had taken a momentary pause from their frantic darting. They had settled on Will's face. Instead of seeing a nervous and jittery son of Apollo, Nico saw a confident and rather good-looking one instead.
Will looked past Nico at Percy and Annabeth. The two looked as though they were in earnest conversation. Percy had a baffled look on his face. Annabeth, on the other hand, was shaking, presumably from laughter. "Hey," said Will. He forced his hands to be steady. Then he forced his foot to stop tapping.
Will shifted all his weight to the leg that was trembling. He wished with all his might, to all the gods, that Nico wouldn't notice. He felt like a jittery machine. He felt as though all his springs and coils were wound tight, and a single poke would send him bouncing all over the place.
"Hey," said Nico. He wasn't really sure how to respond to Will's greeting. He wasn't very good at this whole being social thing, after all.
Will's eyes wandered from Nico back to Annabeth. The daughter of Athena stopped talking to Percy for a moment, then turned to face Nico. She smiled as she saw him approaching Will. Then she looked at the son of Apollo. She winked at Will.
Instantly, Will felt all the blood rush into his face. Then it spread to his ears. It felt like his face was on fire.
Annabeth's laughter was so loud that both Nico and Will could hear it. Nico looked back at Percy and Annabeth. The tiny smile on Nico's lips fell for a moment, but the melancholy was gone almost as soon as it had come.
Will took the moment to try and compose himself. It wasn't working. His hands were still trembling. His foot was still trying its best to tap the ground into submission, or somehow dig a tunnel straight through the earth to China.
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Will's face.
"Shall we?" said Will. He walked over to Nico, surprised at how easily he then slipped into his more confident persona. He supposed it was much easier to pretend once he had to. He reached out to grab Nico's shoulder. Then, at the last moment, he stopped. He remembered that Nico was touch-averse.
"Right," said Will. He looked at Nico, and at his hand hovering above the son of Hades' shoulder. "No touching," he reminded himself under his breath. He snatched back his hand and looked apologetically at Nico.
The son of Hades' eyes widened. Will found it cute.
"W-wait," Nico said. Even Nico's stutter was cute. Will bit the inside of his cheek. He had to focus. He couldn't afford to be lost in staring at Nico. That would have been far too awkward to deal with. "H-how did you know that?" asked Nico.
Nico was cursing himself. He couldn't understand why he was suddenly so nervous around Will Solace. It was like Percy all over again. Nico frowned. It was all he could do to keep in the gasp that threatened to spill from his lips. It was just like Percy all over again.
Nico looked at Will. There was no possible way that he was attracted to Will Solace. He'd fallen for Percy because he'd looked up to Percy as a larger-than-life hero. A god among demigods. In truth, some small part of him had started doing the same for Jason before he quashed it to save himself from any further pain.
Looking at Will Solace and the way with which the son of Apollo held himself, Nico couldn't help but think that Will was about as far as a demigod could get from Percy and Jason. Still, there was an inexplicable attraction that Nico felt in his chest.
"I-I-I…" Will sputtered. He was unable to process his thoughts. He was unable to form coherent words. He'd not expected Nico to ask that question of him. He'd prepared an entire conversation in his mind the previous night as he lay awake in bed thinking of Nico. Things were already not going to plan.
Will took a deep breath. He cleared his throat. He turned away, hoping that Nico wouldn't notice that his ears had turned red. Nico did notice, but didn't know what to make of it, so he kept silent instead. "Well, Death Boy…"
Will nearly jumped at the loud threatening growl that came from Nico. He had to turn back around to face the son of Hades to make sure that he hadn't summoned a hell-hound. Will fought to maintain his cool and collected demeanour. "You struggled when I caught you and stopped you from falling."
Nico thought Will was done. The son of Apollo wasn't. "Then, when I got you up on your feet, you pushed me away even when I was making sure you wouldn't fall over again." Truth be told, Will had felt somewhat hurt by that, but he'd learned to live with it.
"It's kind of obvious that you don't want… anyone…" Will's voice faltered. His face turned even redder. He looked away. "Touching you." There was a wistfulness to Will's words that Nico couldn't quite place. Some part of him wished it meant that Will liked him, but he quickly quashed the thought, unwilling give himself false hope.
"O-oh" said Nico. He paused. He'd just realized that there was another layer to Will's tone of voice. He knew it more than anyone. He'd walked so long among the dead of Asphodel. That tone was one he'd used himself many times in the past, even if it wasn't consciously.
That tone was longing. What Will could possibly be longing for, NIco couldn't tell.
"A—" Will felt as though there was a plug of phlegm stuck in his throat. He coughed to clear it away. "Anyway," he said, "Three days in the infirmary starting now."
Nico sighed and grumbled something about not needing any help. "Doctor's orders," said Will. "Death Boy." Nico didn't appreciate the teasing, but at the same time, he was a bit confused. He felt as though he was talking to two different people.
One was the confident and open Will Solace that he'd come to know and begrudgingly appreciate. The other was a different Will, one that he'd not seen yet, one that was shy, uncertain, and seemingly socially inept. Nico must have been looking at Will for too long because the healer's face got progressively redder and redder.
Will wished that Lou Ellen was there. Will wasn't sure where exactly she was, but she was definitely elsewhere. That, or she was watching from a distance so she could teaser him at a later time.
Will took a deep breath and composed himself. "So, come on, Death Boy. We don't have all day."
Will had expected an annoyed reaction from Nico. He hadn't expected a bad one. "Don't call me that!" said Nico. His words were sharp. His tone was angry. "Stop it!" he said. Nico didn't know what made him so angry, but he lashed out.
"Or I swear, Solace, I will summon the armies of the Underworld to end you," said Nico. He'd meant it as an empty threat, just to show how displeased he was with being called Death Boy, but as soon as he'd said it, Nico could tell that something had gone wrong.
An unnaturally angry Will Solace scowled at him, red-faced. Nico took a step back, but before he could take another, Will had grabbed his arm. Nico quivered. Why did his threat make Will so angry?
Nico gasped. The grip was tight, and it was right on his wounds from Lycaon's attack. It hurt.
"You will do no such thing, Nico di Angelo!" said Will. His words were almost as sharp as Nico's had been. "You hear me?!" Nico tried to shrink away from Will, but he couldn't, not the way that Will had him by the arm. "I can't have you—"
Will blinked. He looked at Nico. A horrified expression crossed his face. He quickly took back his hand as Nico rubbed his arm. Will looked at his hand, disgusted.
Will couldn't even bring himself to look Nico in the eye. "I-I'm sorry," he said. Nico couldn't help but find the way that Will stammered somewhat cute. Then he slapped himself mentally for thinking that anything Will did was cute. The boy had practically assaulted him! Still, the way that Will hung his head dejectedly made it difficult to stay mad. "I just…" Will sighed. "Never mind."
"Sorry," said Will. He turned away from Nico, unwilling to let the son of Hades see the shame on his face. He'd only just told himself to take it easy with Nico. He'd only just reminded himself of Nico's touch-aversion. "I'll understand if you don't want to come," he said.
Nico heard a soft slap. He didn't realize, nor could he, that the sound was of Will slapping himself across the face. Will would have done it harder, but it would have been too suspicious.
"N-no" said Nico. He stuttered, not really knowing what to do with the situation that had been put in front of him.
He was Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and one of the Heroes of Olympus. He knew how to fight monsters, from cyclopes, to centaurs, to empousai. What he did not know, however, was how to deal with other demigods.
Nico reached out to Will, but it was a tentative gesture. He stopped his fingers just short of Will's back. Nico's fingers hovered over Will's shoulder for a few seconds before he took them back. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He wouldn't even have known how to comfort Will!
The claw marks on his arm stung because of what Will had done to him, yet, Nico found himself unable to stay angry. Will had expressed remorse that was far and above what was understandable, and, in truth, Nico was intrigued to learn why.
Nico came to a realization. Perhaps the reason he was gravitating toward the son of Apollo was because Will seemed so willing to give Nico a chance. He seemed to be so eager to try and be Nico's friend. All the other campers were courteous, but none of them really seemed all that interested to befriend him. They were either intimidated or downright scared.
Will talked to him and treated him so differently from everyone else. To the others he was the creepy son of Hades. To his friends, he was someone to be protected. Will, on the other hand, seemed to look at Nico as someone he wanted to figure out.
Nico found himself, rather begrudgingly admitting, that he was beginning to look at Will the same way. He wanted to know why Will had called his a friendly face when it was anything but. He wanted to know why Will had insisted on him staying at the camp. He wanted to know why Will wanted to befriend him so much.
Nico was intrigued, and whether he liked it or not, he had to sate his curiosity. Nico had to admit, though, that he was somewhat uneasy about the whole thing. It seemed as though Will had a rather short fuse. "I-I said I would go," he said.
Nico pondered the thought of Will having a short temper. He never would have guessed. All the times he'd seen Will Solace, the head counsellor of Apollo had been cool and collected. He remembered describing Will as a cat.
A short temper was definitely not a trait he would have associated with Will. "I'm going," said Nico. His voice was firmer. He did swear on the Styx, and some small part of him really wanted to give Will Solace a chance. "Doctor's orders, right?" he said, trying to make light of the situation.
Instead of the cheery response Nico had come to expect, Will said "Yeah, sure, doctor's orders." Will's tone was glum. He sighed. The sound was so forlorn and dejected that Nico felt a tug in his chest. He felt sorry, but he didn't exactly know for what.
Then, all of a sudden, as though a switch had been flipped, Will said "Well, come on then," with his normal cheery clip. "When I said three days in the infirmary," he said, "I meant three days in the infirmary. This doesn't count!"
Some part of Nico felt like slowing down instead of speeding up. He watched Will as they walked toward the Big House. Nico chased the thoughts of spending more time in the infirmary away from his head. He was willing to admit that he was intrigued by this Will Solace, but he wasn't that interested.
Nico almost jumped when Will buried his face in his hands for a moment. He looked back quickly, as though to check if Nico wasn't watching. Their eyes met. They flushed and looked away. Nico's heart fluttered in his chest. Okay. He definitely wasn't that interested.
Still, as he watched Will walk, he noticed that Will was trying his best to maintain some semblance of composure. Nico knew better. He'd been in that place more than once. He could tell from the way that Will held himself that he was beating himself up over something.
Could Will possibly be angry at himself for lashing out at Nico? Nico dismissed the thought. He'd lashed out first. If anything, he should have been the one feeling bad. Nico tilted his head as they walked. He had to wonder why Will looked so dejected, if it wasn't for the unwarranted aggression earlier.
A/N: Alright. There we go. First chapter of Three Days in Darkness done. I hope you liked it. I hope it's refreshing. I hope it's enjoyable.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please, leave favs if you liked it, and leave reviews if you'd like me to hear your thoughts! It would be fantastic. I'd love the feedback.
Just so you know, I'll be updating every week on Thursday, so I'll see you next week for the next instalment of Three Days in Darkness. 3.