A/N: This one was also kinda rushed, but I'm positive anything is better than Thanksgiving. And I realize that most of these if not all have been centered around Will and Nico, but I feel this one is the worst of them all for that sort of thing. The others aren't even mentioned after one part. :P I hope you enjoy this one, and blessings on the rest of your day. (Or night depending on when you read this.) And HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Nico was on his bed, sleep almost upon him when the door to his cabin suddenly burst open, and two demigods came in. Percy Jackson was dressed for the snowy weather, covered in the white powder. Nico groaned, wanting nothing more than to get some sleep. He had just gotten over his cold, and was now trying to catch up on lost sleep from that time.
"You slept so much while you were sick, it's time to celebrate for real this time!"
"No. I just want to sleep."
"Too bad. You're going to join us at the best party ever for the new year," Percy insisted, throwing the covers off the younger teen, and grabbing his ankles to drag him off the bed. At least that was the plan until Nico started fighting back, sitting up quickly and hitting Percy with everything he got. Percy released Nico, turning to the other person who came in with him; Jason Grace.
"C'mon, Nico! It's not even going to be as big of a group as Christmas. It's just going to be me, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, and Will. That's an odd number, and we really need you."
"That's ten people... Last I checked, ten was an even number. Nice try though," Nico responded, laying back down. "All we lost was Grover and Juniper."
"That's if everyone shows up. We don't know if Frank and Reyna can make it..."
"So? You would still have an even number of people."
"But we really need you!" Percy put in, though it didn't seem to help at all. "If Frank doesn't show up, then Hazel will have to pair up with someone else.. Like Will, since he's the only one who doesn't have a girlfriend."
Nico opened his mouth to answer, but closed it to think about his response. Jason and Percy smiled to each other knowing that they had the son of Hades in the position they wanted him in... They knew that he would agree because they mentioned that.
Nico sighed. "What are we doing?"
"Get ready to hit the slopes," Percy informed his little cousin. "Because we're going snowboarding!"
"I refuse to snowboard," Nico told Percy. Percy's face fell, knowing that this could all end right then all because he told Nico what they were doing. "But I'll see if I can find my skis..."
"Yes!" Jason exclaimed, both him and Percy engulfing Nico in a hug.
By the time Nico was walking out of his cabin, skis in one hand, resting on his shoulder, and poles in the other, the others were already gathered by the two vehicles they would be taking.
Percy was in the drivers seat of the big Suburban, while Reyna was behind the wheel of the little Escape. Nico handed his skis over to Piper who put them in the rack with the other two pairs, while Nico tossed his poles into the trunk of the Escape. Nico then got into the back seat of the Escape, Piper following close behind, while Jason got into the passengers seat. With everyone in the vehicles, they took off into the night. The thought of what ski resort was open this late never crossed Nico's mind as he closed his eyes in hopes of getting a little bit of sleep before they arrived - he didn't know of any ski places around Camp Half-Blood anyway.
In the other vehicle, the conversation was booming with everyone taking part.
"Okay, we got him coming, so now everything else is up to you," Percy said, only looking at Will through the mirror, otherwise keeping his eyes on the road. "Can you manage that?"
Will nodded. "I think so."
" 'I think so' isn't good enough," Frank, who was sitting next to Will said. "If you're going to do it, you have to be confident in yourself."
"Because you're the one who's the master with confidence," Leo said with a small laugh.
"Frank's lack of confidence aside, this isn't Frank we're talking about," Hazel put in. "Will, I only have two things to say to you."
Will turned around and looked at Hazel who was squished between Calypso and Leo in the backseat. Hazel stuck her chin up a little bit to seem more intimidating as she said, "Nico has helped me with a lot of things in life, and if you do anything to break him further, you will be answering to me." Will didn't want to admit it, but Hazel really got to him, scaring the living daylights out of him.
"Wh-what's the second thing?" he asked carefully.
"Good luck," Hazel replied with a smile.
Will nodded, turning back to the front.
"Do you know how you're going to do it?" Calypso asked from the backseat. "We got him this far, but do you know where you're going with it?"
Will smiled nervously. He hadn't really thought Percy and Jason would get Nico to go, and hadn't really been able to come up with anything. "I have something, but I won't share it... It's pretty stupid, and I'm hoping I can come up with something better before we get there."
"Translated," Annabeth told the group with a smirk, "he doesn't have a plan, and is still trying to think one up."
Leo and Percy laughed at this being pointed out, but Hazel, Calypso, and Frank all looked at Will sympathetically. "We'll help you out," Calypso told Will.
"That's right," Hazel agreed, "Piper might be in the other vehicle, but we can still help you think of something. Besides, who knows Nico better than the people in this car?"
"Um... Jason?" Percy suggested.
"I would think his sister knows him better," Frank responded to Percy.
"But Jason seems to be the one he spends the most time with," Annabeth put out there.
"It doesn't matter!" Calypso cut in before an argument could take place. "Let's just help Will out a bit more before we arrive, and we'll let him take it from there."
The others nodded, and began collaborating one what Will should do at the ski resort.
The two vehicles stuffed with demigods pulled into an empty parking lot, killing the engines. Reyna got out of the vehicle and went over to talk to Annabeth about what they should do about getting in, while Jason and Piper were left to wake Nico. The people from the backseats of the Suburban piled out and began unloading everything and getting their equipment ready.
"Nico, we need your help," Reyna said, approaching Jason, Piper, and Nico. Nico was getting his ski boots on, while Jason and Piper were getting the skis down from the rack.
The still half asleep demigod looked up at Reyna with half lidded eyes. "Need help with what?" he questioned, his voice sounding alert and suspicious.
"The doors to the operating of the lifts are locked, and as much as we trust Leo with getting them unlocked... We're not so sure in his abilities to lock them back up again. Think you can help us out?"
Nico nodded. "We'll probably only need to turn on one of them since most of the hills are connected in some way... It won't be hard."
"Awesome!" Piper exclaimed, handing Nico his skis. "We owe you one!"
Nico rolled his eyes as the group worked their way to the snow. It was a beautiful night, and the lights were on to show the world how beautiful the mountains were. Though he didn't know where exactly they were, only seeing snow and trees with the exception of the lifts, lights, and chalet, Nico didn't think much of it as he shadow traveled himself into the operating room, starting the chair lifts. When Nico returned the others, they were all waiting for him. Leo, Percy, Piper, Jason, and Will had one foot strapped to their snowboards while Reyna, Calypso, Annabeth, Frank, and Hazel all had their skis attached to their boots. They were talking excitedly complaining about how long it had been since they last did this, and how glad they were that they were all able to do this tonight.
Nico pulled down his ski goggles, grabbing his poles, then looking to the others, who immediately noticed he was ready to go. The group made their way to the lift, going a bit slower thanks to Frank, Calypso, and Hazel, who were all a little out of practice. Once they got to the chair lift, they decided riding buddies. It was quite obvious for most of them, but then Reyna decided she would be riding with different couples each time. That was fine for everyone else, and so, the group of demigods made their way up, Nico not missing the fact he didn't really get a say in who he rode up with.
Will glanced over at Nico who was sitting as far away from him as the lift would allow, his arms crossed in a pout. Will couldn't see Nico's eyes through the goggles, but he was certain they were glaring at Percy who sat two chairs in front of them. Will coughed to gain Nico's attention, and though Nico didn't make any sign that he acknowledged Will, but the blond continued on anyway.
"So uh... It's a nice night for this."
"Nice?" Nico questioned. Will swallowed. He barely knew what he was doing out here, and didn't know the conditions for skiing and such. He was afraid he said something wrong. "This weather is perfect for skiing. We've got no one else here to bother us, and the snow is still fresh. It's not cold enough for the snow to freeze into ice, so we won't have to worry about that, and on top of all of that, we have the snow that won't be getting in our eyes because we were all smart and brought goggles."
Will couldn't help but smile. Nico sounded passionate about this, and was talking a lot more than usual. Will considered this a good thing considering the types of words that usually come out of Nico's mouth. It was a pleasant change.
When they reached the top, Will was greeted with the sight of an extra person he found familiar, yet couldn't place a name to her face.
"Thalia!" Jason exclaimed happily. "I thought you said you couldn't make it."
Thalia merely shrugged. "Artemis doesn't approve of men, but she can't keep me away from my baby brother. Besides, how am I supposed to prevent you from running into a tree if I'm not here?"
"Oh, ha ha," Jason said sarcastically.
"But he just wanted to speak to your kind!" Leo said with a loud cry. He pretended to wipe a tear from his face. "He wanted to get to know them for your sake."
"Valdez, you better muzzle yourself before I decide I've had enough of your voice," Thalia warned, successfully shutting Leo up. Thalia took in a deep breath, taking in the moment. "So, shall we begin?" she asked, clipping her other foot to the snowboard she had, also moving her ski goggles so they were in front of her eyes.
She was gone before anyone else was, down the closest hill. Jason and Percy were quickly following her, but the others stood back for a while. It wasn't too long before Piper challenged Leo to a race down the hill, and they were gone.
"Hey look," Annabeth pointed to a ski run, a smile on her face. "Anyone wanna see who can go the fastest?"
"I'm game," Reyna responded with a smirk.
It wasn't long before the other skiers also agreed to try it. They sent Will off to time them, while they picked the order. Frank would go first, then Calypso, then Hazel, then Annabeth, followed by Reyna, and finally, Nico.
"They even have those stick things poking up for us to hit with our poles," Hazel pointed down the side of the hill where there were in fact orange poles sticking out of the snow for this sort of run.
Frank got into position, waiting for Will to signal him, and was soon going down the hill slower than he had anticipated. Halfway down, Frank's left ski got under his right as he was turning, causing him to not only fall, but to roll, losing a ski. Hazel and Calypso both went down to help him down the rest of the hill, while the other three got ready to go.
Annabeth went up to the flat board, adjusting her goggles for good measure. When she saw the signal, she was off, going down much faster than Frank had. Annabeth successfully made it down the slope without falling and managed to stop herself right before she ran into Percy.
Reyna was next, and for Nico, it was hard to tell which girl had done it the fastest, but he didn't really care. He was focused on how he was going to do because he hadn't done this in a while, and his style was a little different then those who already went down the hill. He took in a deep breath of the cold air, calmed by the sting of pine in his nose. With one last calming breath, Nico prepared himself, looking down to the others, ready for his signal.
He approached the first pole, narrowly missing it with his skis as he jumped slightly to make a sharp turn, repeating the process until he made it to the bottom where he covered Will and Annabeth who was watching the time next to him with snow with his sudden stop. Satisfied, Nico nodded, wiping his nose with his jacket sleeve.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Annabeth asked in awe.
Nico shrugged. "I don't really know.. But skiing is a lot like riding a bike, right? Once you know how to do it, you never forget it." And with those words, Nico went to get back on the chair lift, almost getting on without Will. And now that there was an even number, the group of demigods could go off wherever they pleased after that show of skill.
"That was pretty amazing," Will told Nico while the lift slowly moved towards the top of the slope. "I didn't think you'd be that good at skiing. Color me impressed."
"How is it so surprising?" Nico inquired, his head turned to Will this time.
"I dunno... You just don't seem like the type to me. Regardless, it was impressive, and now I have to try to keep up with you? May the gods have mercy on me for having to ski with you, Ski Genius."
"We should try to make our own trail," Nico said out of the blue.
"Ow," Will said, rubbing his neck. "Ouch, sorry... I got whiplash from how fast you changed that subject."
Nico didn't even crack a smile. This was going to be harder than Will initially thought. "We should make our own trail," Nico repeated himself.
"So like... Go through the trees? Go where we're told not to go?"
Nico nodded. "It'll be fun."
Will smiled nervously. He didn't really feel comfortable with this yet... He almost fell on the way down the first hill, and that was a marked slope. Where people were supposed to ski. And now Nico wanted to go off somewhere no one else had been before? Going downhill? Probably really fast? And it was fun for him? Will wondered just what he had gotten himself into before he responded to Nico. He figured he'd be fine so long as he stayed in Nico's path.
"Yeah, All right..." They slid off the lift. "Lead the way." Will couldn't believe what he had let himself get into. Nico was so far ahead, he could barely keep an eye on him and keep his own self out of the ditch. Was there even a ditch here? Weren't they gliding on the ditch? Will didn't care. He was panicking on the inside, wondering if he would make it out of this trip alive. Will thought he was going to cry tears of joy when they reached a clearing. His time of thanksgiving was quickly put out though when he realized he was going too fast. He started screaming, and almost didn't hear Nico's voice tell him to go sideways to slow down a bit.
But Will royally screwed up on that, only managing to trip himself, and tumble down to where Nico was. Will sat up when he stopped moving, and heard one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. Absolute silence. He started to freak out when he heard someone gasping for breath, and knowing it was just him and Nico, Will started wondering if he had hit Nico without even realizing it. But that idea was quickly put away when Will saw Nico, hunched over, a wide smile on his face, which his shoulders shaking. Laughing. Nico was laughing. At him, of course, but Will couldn't care less that the one he admitted he had feelings for was laughing. That meant Nico was happy, right? And all Will wanted was for Nico to be happy.
Will sat on the ground for two glorious minutes before Nico spoke. "Okay there Captain Christmas?"
"Just fine, thank you Sergeant Snowball."
"Anytime Lieutenant Luge."
Will laughed, standing up, but not letting himself go down the hill any further.
"I love this kind of weather," Will ended up speaking after a minute or so of silence. "It's nice when you're not burning to death like in the summer."
"I used to love winter," Nico responded slowly. "This was the same season as the last time I saw my sister..."
Will closed his mouth. How was someone supposed to respond to that? Stupid Will thought of something oh-so clever. "And how come that changed the way you felt about this season?"
Nico remained silent for a few moments as if carefully forming what he was to say next. "I don't remember much... But I know she's the one who taught me everything related to snow."
"So coming here is the worst thing to happen to you since you lost your sister?"
"Not even close," Nico muttered under his breath. He then answered Will, "One of the worst."
Will nodded, and Nico was thankful he didn't ask anything else related to the topic. Nico, while sideways on the hill, decided to sit down, but did so without taking his skis off. He took off his hat and goggles, revealing his silky black hair and dark eyes. Will did the same, but he couldn't help but mention how different things were without his goggles.
"Everything's BLUE!" he shouted, looking around, not missing Nico who rolled his eyes.
"That's because you were wearing red goggles," Nico explained easily. "It's like you've never done this before."
"Well I've never had to wear goggles for snowboarding. I never really understood the point."
"Do you want to try to go down the rest of the way without them then?" Nico asked. "I wouldn't suggest it, but hey, who am I to tell you what to do?"
"Shove off... What time is it anyway?"
Nico shrugged, taking off his gloves before pulling out his LPhone (Leo Phone - because I'm running out of time and can't be more creative) to check the time. "It's nearing midnight. We should probably go find the others..."
"Let's not. They're probably going to be doing that kiss at midnight thing anyway."
Nico looked at Will, confusion in his features. Will couldn't help but think of how adorable Nico looked with his head cocked like a puppy's. "What's that look for?" Will had to ask.
"What 'kiss at midnight thing'?"
"You know... That thing where the couples kiss each other at midnight..? It's huge in this country."
"First I've heard about it," Nico said, putting his head in his hands to wipe off the snow on his face. The flakes falling from the sky deeply contrasted Nico's clothes and hair, and Will smiled at how cute the son of Hades was - even if he was one of the scariest demigods when angered.
"Yeah... But wouldn't it be nice to be kissed like that? I mean... It's in their minds that they'll be together forever, and be able to do all of this. I think that when I get a significant other, it'll be the best thing in the world to know that they love me and want to be with me forever. You know?"
"No, I don't," Nico answered. Will didn't miss the slight bad mood that was coming on. Will dropped the topic knowing that if he continued now, it would only end up with him getting a black eye or something like that.
Will reached over and checked the time on Nico's phone. He swallowed thinking about everything that could go wrong if he did this. But there was no other way he could say it, and if Nico didn't like it... Then Will would have to put up with Nico hating him for the rest of his life. Something he really didn't want to do, but if he wanted Nico to know how he felt, he had to do this now. He had helped the younger (or was he older) demigod on several occasions... Whether it was getting something off his chest, or healing him from battle, Will had become a constant in Nico's life, and despite that being said, Will wanted to become the kind of constant that didn't fade over time.
Before he could convince himself otherwise, Will leaned over, and just as the clocked changed from 23:59 to 0:00, Will kissed Nico. Nico, on the other hand, froze upon the impact of Will's lips with his own. He didn't know what to do now. What was Will trying to do?
"I... We should get back to the others," Nico said after pushing himself away from Will, getting up and began gliding down the rest of the hill. Will could only sit there shouting to Nico, "Nico wait! I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking! I didn't mean to! It doesn't have any meaning! Please!" Will felt tears prick his eyes as he watched Nico's form get smaller and smaller before he could no longer see him. He knew he messed up, and now he didn't know if there was a way to fix it.
"Why are you so bad at this?" Will asked himself, getting up. He put his goggles and hat back on, and was about to get going before he noticed Nico's gloves, hat, and ski goggles sitting on the snow next to where he stood. "What are you going to do now?" he questioned himself again, picking up Nico's things. "He probably hates you now, and even though you said you could live with it, you know you really can't." He sighed, getting himself in motion before he talked more to himself, watching Nico's path best he could so he could make sure the other was okay. "Things were just fine the way they were, but then you got the brilliant idea to tell him how you feel about him, and how does that turn out for you? Not well. Nope. Now you'll have to move on... Maybe move away so you won't torture him with your presence."
Will continued on, not seeing any sign of Nico except the marks in the snow his skis left. "What are you going to do now?" He asked, though the question wasn't only directed at himself, but it was also meant for Nico. He didn't know how things were going to be now, but something told him that things would work out for him. If only his brain would listen to his instincts.
Will came up to the rest of the group, though Nico wasn't with them. He felt his heart skip a beat with extreme guilt when he realized Nico was probably gone because of him. "How are you supposed to fix this now?" Will asked one last question to himself before he prepared to return to Camp Half-Blood. Where things would hopefully go back to the way they were... But Will knew things would never be the same for him again.