Will was busy, anyone could tell. As a son of Apollo in a demigod camp, he was always needed for some form of medical help. It wasn't like he minded really, he loved to help people. But it put a strain on his smile, something that he tried, and usually failed to hide.
Annabeth stared at Will from across the table, the two enjoying a small lunch on one of his rare breaks. She frowned slightly at the boy, and he pretended not to notice. His shaggy, blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail so he could better eat his food without it constantly bothering him.
"You seem more tired than usual," Annabeth finally said. Not one to beat around the bush, he inwardly thought. "What's going on?" she asked, resting her forearms on the table and leaning towards him. He shrugged, avoiding her piercing gray gaze.
"Is it about Nico?" This caused Will to choke on his food as he gasped for breath, eyes wide in surprise.
"I don't know what you mean," he finally managed after hitting his chest a couple times. Annabeth snorted and leaned back in her chair.
"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes. "You're an open book, especially when it comes to Nico."
He flushed a deep red, but didn't refute her either. What was the point? It was true. His already rare visits with the demigod had been cut in half, making it next to impossible to even wave hello. Will thought he had been hiding his disappointment at this, but apparently he was mistaken.
"Doesn't matter," Will grunted, trying to hide his frown by staring at his food. His appetite had left him though.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Annabeth said frustratedly. "Of course it does! You just need to-"
"Need to what?" Will snapped, harsher than he meant to. "We both have our responsibilities, me with this camp, Nico with… whatever he does." Will made a wild hand gesture to account for Nico's activities.
Annabeth took a deep breath, obviously trying not to be too upset with him. "You need to make time, Will. You're obviously miserable, and I'm sure Nico isn't exactly happy about it as well."
Will sighed, his features collapsing. "It's not like we're going out Annabeth," he said lowly. "What am I supposed to do, call him up and demand he come spend time with me?"
Annabeth nodded. "Yes, that is exactly what you need to do."
Will couldn't help it, he started to laugh. It must seem so simple to Annabeth, the most straightforward and blunt person he had ever met. But it was different for him, much more complicated. He had no idea if Nico even felt the same way, or even held a shred of affection for him. It wasn't like they always got along well.
Smiling, Will looked at Annabeth and said, "Thanks Annabeth." He shrugged and looked back down at his barely touched food. "Who knows, maybe Nico will show up and stay longer than before."
He shot Annabeth a comforting smile to reassure her, but it only seemed to work a little bit. Through the rest of their lunch she retained a worried frown, despite his pleads to drop it.
After that, it was back to work.
Bandaging cuts, giving ambrosia to severely hurt patients, cleaning up the clinic, doing camp chores, press repeat.
He found himself glancing around the camp a lot, subconsciously looking for the son of Hades to just appear from the shadows like he usually did. It seemed that with every passing day, his heart grew a little tighter at the missing demigod.
Worry grew. It had been three months since his last visit, and Will had started imagining terrible scenarios where Nico never made it back home.
It got so bad that he often started daydreaming while taking care of a patient. But that all ended one morning. Will was sweeping outside the clinic when he heard a loud thunk and a groan. Glancing over towards the woods in alarm he saw a dark shape huddled on the floor, not moving. The longer he stared the clearer the shape became. Slight legs and arms could be seen, with dark as night hair spread around the ground. It didn't take long for Will to recognize him.
It was Nico.