There will be four parts to this story. It'll be like taking track of their relationship progress I guess. To when each one first realized their crush, to how they cope with it, and finally the fourth chapter will be them admitting it to each other. And perhaps even a little friskiness. Hence why its rated T.

So, this is taking place after Nico is walking away from telling Percy of his crush. Also bear with me, I'm not too great at third person. qvq

- beginning -

In all his life, he couldn't believe he'd actually done that. His heart was still thumping hard against his chest as he walked proudly away from a dumbfounded Percy Jackson. Though it wasn't because he still liked him or anything — sea-brains were just not his type — but because he'd actually come out to someone. It was weird, like admitting some part of you that was supposed to be secret and hidden. Then again he couldn't not tell him after all those years of loathing. Loathing himself, to be exact.

And it wasn't like he should feel ashamed. Before he had come to terms with his sexuality, he'd noticed a few things. Like some, or rather a lot, of people in Camp Half-Blood were couples. And those couples were of the same sex. It had bewildered Nico at first, but now it didn't bother him as much.

And then there was Will. Nico was forced out of his troubling array of thoughts as he stepped towards the son of Apollo, his blond hair tousled about. Nico's stomach churned in that nervous way it did when he was looking forward to something but despising it at the same time. Anticipation? Probably. As well as a hint of nervousness.

And ever so rudely he was jostled out of his thoughts as a rather impatient and annoyed Will fixed him with two brightly colored blue eyes. "So, what was that all about?"

Nico began to shuffle his feet at the expression on the surfer-like boy's face. Jealousy? No. That couldn't possibly be it. They'd only met yesterday anyways, in the heat of battle. All the while Will had probably seen the worst of Nico. He had practically told the healer to let a crazed guy to kill himself in all his roman-comet glory. And he'd also worn a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt while cutting down dog headed monsters. Brilliant. So much for first impressions.

"Just catching up," he finally replied after thinking long and hard on the question. He couldn't possibly tell Will that he'd had a silly school boy's crush on Percy and had just told him... in front of his girlfriend. That made him smile. At least the air was cleared and he could finally consider Percy and Annabeth his friends.

He heard the fifteen year old mutter something under his breath that went unheard to Nico, but dismissed it as Will poked him in the chest. "Right, well. You'll have to put that all aside for now. Catching up can wait, but your health predicament can not."

He was reminded about the deal they had made. Three days, and he had 'Sworn on the River Styx, and all that!'. Curse him, and his respect on promises. Why had he made that oath again? Oh, right. Because he tended to put himself in weird situations all the time. Like almost become a shadow, or in Will's words, a pile of dark goop.

"So... three days?" Nico began hesitantly. His feathery black hair spread across his cheeks, which were beginning to turn a nervous pale pink color. And for the second time that day, little skeletal butterflies seemed to flutter about in his stomach. All because of a son of Apollo. Well, a rather handsome son of Apollo. You just had to ignore his somewhat annoyingly stubborn attitude.

"Yep. Then you should be looking and feeling much better; but I still don't want you doing that underworld-y stuff again. You should wait for a while. Doctor's orders, n' all," Will said in a commanding voice. It seemed to suit him. No doubt he'd had to use that voice on many of his other patients. That made his stomach flipflop as he thought, so I'm just another patient...?

That annoyed him in two different ways. One, he didn't know why it mattered so much if he was or wasn't. And two, having a sun baked know-it-all doctor commanding him around... that just was not how he rolled.

Nico's brows furrowed as he replied in an agitated tone, "I don't need you to babysit me and tell me what to do."

At least he was being honest. He didn't need to be told what to do. Believe it or not, this 15 year old had seen many a-things in his short life. Some of which would surprise any mature adult. Having lived off of pomegranate seeds and trudged through Tartarus itself, Nico thought he could handle himself. Then again he seemed to do stupid underworld magic when he couldn't afford to. Maybe he did need someone to keep him out of trouble.

And apparently Will had suspected as much as he answered with a stubborn, "Nonetheless, Nico, you'll be spending three days in here. Sworn on the River Styx as I recall. Which will be great for your health complexion, since you look like a vampire that got too much sun."

He glanced down at his tied posterior. His face was probably gaunt and sunken, tired and dull. He had after all hauled a 40 foot statue half way across the world. And it was just because of that reason he was here. Luck or not, Nico wasn't sure.

And so he soundlessly agreed to Will ushering him in with strong hands — which wasn't at all making Nico's heart thump wildly — and placing him next to a hospital bed. As soon as they reached it, he flinched from the physical contact and shoved him away. Not gently, but not harshly. He didn't want to hurt Will's feelings, but he couldn't stand contact.

Then he allowed his eyes to wander the welcoming and sunny hospital. Each bed was sectioned off by thin white curtains. It would have been complete with bird lilt in the air, but alas, the only thing sounding were the desperate groans of pain from other demigods. Nico could secretly feel bits of life flickering in and out here and there.

His hair rose on the back of his neck at that. He'd felt so many people die and fade from life. But he'd never gotten used to it, as much as others may believe or as much as he attempted to convince himself otherwise.

And Will seemed to realize too because his face suddenly turned flustered and contorted. "I'm so sor-" he began, but Nico quickly cut him off with a wave of his hand. The last thing he needed was more babying.

"Nothing to apologize for."

"But-"

"I need to sleep. Night."

"At least let me-"

"Goodnight," that came out a little more harsher than expected. Nico was already wrapping himself with the hospital bed sheets and dared a peek at Will. The freckled boy had a hurt look across his tanned face, but he quickly scrunched up and sniffed as if to say, Fine, don't say I didn't warn you though.

And with that Nico found himself instantly drifting into sleep. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he finally closed his eyes, but the wave of unconscious was almost instantaneous. He was thrust into a sleep that left him sweating and his heart quickening with fear. Nightmares were one thing, but demigod nightmares were another.

What Nico didn't realize was a strong pair of arms hauling him from the hospital bed to a more confined part of the hospital. He was placed down gently against the sheets and tucked in with gentle hands.

Will smiled to himself as he gazed down at the sleeping form of Nico di Angelo. That kid was something, a real piece of work. He chuckled to himself merrily, before inwardly cursing and peering at the son of Hades. Though he didn't seem to stir, thank the Gods. Seems like he was a deep sleeper.

And with one last glance, Will Solace peeled from the specially labeled room and began to tend to his others patients, not as important as Nico, but patients that needed his attention. He had work to do, and he needed to get done with them as soon as possible so he could focus on the skinny boy sleeping soundly in the room next door.

- first day -

He woke to something warm pressed against his forehead, which felt unbearably hot and clammy. Though his subconscious knew what it was, Nico dared to peek behind lidded eyes at the concerned expression of Will. He just didn't know when to let up, did he?

"Wha're... doing?" Nico mumbled. His expression bore that of sleep as he was pulled into the world of waking. He could feel his clothes, drenched with sweat, clinging to his body uncomfortably. Clothes were definitely not made for being worn wet, Nico decided.

"You're running a fever. Started mumbling in your sleep and stuff. It was kind of scary because for a minute you wouldn't wake up," replied the concentrated voice of Will.

It began to slowly register on Nico's drowsy state that Will's hand was still pressed to his forehead. That pulled him awake. It was as if somebody had shot him with and extra dose of caffeine. The younger boy propped himself up and instantly whacked the older boy's hand from his face. He did not like unwanted touching, especially when that person was both handsome and so close. Not to mention the weird bubbly feeling being resurrected in his stomach.

"I'm just trying to help," came the stubborn protest he'd expected to hear.

Instead of replying though Nico pulled himself up to a sitting position and looked out of the curtains. Through the thick shadows, he could see it was probably around Midnight. He'd slept for a while.

His expression turned even more confused when he didn't recognize the bed he was laying in. He hadn't been laying here before when he fell asleep, had he? He glanced at his surroundings with a fuzzed vision and his breath hitched. Had Will... carried him here? While he was sleeping?

"Whoa there, Death Boy. I know you slept for a whole 17 hours and all, but you're still out of sorts," came that annoying concerned voice again. Why did he sound like he cared so much for his well-being anyways?

Well... despite him apparently carrying him to a place that... was confined. He was surprised that he couldn't hear the groans of the others, or the pained souls drifting in and out of near death. If he wasn't so busy admiring Will's valiant effort, he would be blushing from head to toe. Especially after...

Nico ignored the doctors persistent voice and hauled himself from the bed. Instantly he regretted that decision because his head pounded in protest. It was like a million drums had suddenly started an offbeat chorus, and there was no stopping it. His stomach swam and he could feel the contents of yesterday's breakfast slush around - or the day before yesterday's breakfast. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a decent meal, to be honest.

"See?"

Nico huffed stubbornly and pressed his feet against the cold floor. That seemed to feel nice. He could already feel his headache decrease as he let the cool floor chill his overheated body. "I'd rather not be cooped up and in bed all the time, Solace."

Will gave an offended expression towards his direction, and Nico felt himself bristle. What had he said this time? It seemed that everything he said upset the other demigod. But apparently Nico had only imagined it because it was soon replaced by an exasperated sigh and snort before he was handed some liquid. "Drink up. I know ambrosia or nectar can't help you, so this will do."

Reluctantly, Nico grasped the cup and began to drink it hesitantly. And before he knew it, he had finished the whole drink in a split second. Warmth spread through his chest and continued throughout his entire body. Visibly he relaxed and let out a content breath. Not only had it quenched his thirst, but it had calmed his nerves. Never before had Unicorn Draught tasted so good.

However, Nico was pulled out of fond memories by the tsking of Will. He'd almost forgot the shaggy blond was still there, watching him with avid interest. His sudden voice made him jump as well, staring at Will with an incomprehensible gaze.

"What was your nightmare about?"

His question took Nico aback. His... nightmare? He'd honestly almost forgotten about it. That brought heat to his cheeks. It hadn't... exactly been a nightmare. Well, to Nico it had been both that and a joke. When he had quickly fallen asleep the other night, Nico had found himself accompanied with vivid dreams of the son of Apollo. More heat rushed to his face as he recalled a chiseled chest, him only wearing scrubs. Placing him down with a warm look on his already heart melting expression.

"Well?" he asked again impatiently. His blue eyes seemed to be boring into Nico, and for a moment he was afraid he'd be able to pick his mind and dissect what he had really dreamed about. But the rational part of his brain calmed his previously building heart rate.

His eyes quickly averted and he tried to crush the horrible warm feeling spreading from his chest, to his ears, and finally his face. Nico felt like it had been lit on fire. And his inwardly accusing finger was pointed at Will, for more than one reason.

"N-nothing," Nico stuttered at Will. How could he tell him, possibly a heterosexual guy, that he was having homosexual fantasies about him? Just no.

And what Will said next took Nico by even more surprise. "You know... I meant what I said, on that hill. When Octavion attempted to... well, you know," Will began awkwardly. "I meant every word of it. Nobody is pushing you away Nico, you're pushing them away. I just... think it'd be easier on you if you tried to share your load of problems. I'll listen as best as I can and help. I can't promise I know what it felt like, but..."

Nico's dark, onyx colored eyes widened considerably as he listened to Will's babbling. "Solace...?"

That seemed to hit a nerve as Will shot him a fiery glare and huffed out, "And stop calling me Solace. My name is will, I'll have you know."

Nico felt his heart thumping madly against his ribcage. That would be weird. He'd always felt a need to call him Solace. Maybe it was because Will was so insistent on being Nico's friend. It made him feel less attached than he already felt he was. Nonetheless, Nico ignored the oddity of it and replied, "Alright then... Will."

That made the tanned boy smile, which caused Nico's mouth to widen as well. Before he could correct himself, he felt his mouth stretching up awkwardly. He didn't smile usually, so it felt pretty weird and foreign on his face. He didn't regret it though. He genuinely smile at Will. And praise the Gods, it had played in his favor. Because Will's smile became even more dazzling than it already somehow was.

"You should smile more often," Will said with a cheeky grin after a bit of awkward silence and idiotic grinning.

Nico's cheeks collected the heat that had been on his face from earlier. So instead of continuing this subject, he reverted to his nightmares. Somehow talking about his smiles was much worse than that. "I'll tell you about my Nightmares, someday. I just... don't want to talk about them now," he sighed, clearly pushing aside the whole smiling business.

Will looked like he wanted to argue, then apparently thought better of it and drew back with a nod. "I can work with that, Death Boy."

His nickname was followed by a disgruntled hiss from a possibly abashed looking Nico.

Will fidgeted with the medicine in the cabinets. His brow furrowed as he thought back on his and Nico's conversation earlier. He had babbled an embarrassing amount, wanting to grasp their friendship even more. He found Nico interesting, and he didn't want to let that go. Nico made him happy, after all.

Will sighed and thought again about their whole nightmare talk. Nico had been flushed and twisting, turning with little grunts of what seemed to be pain. But his reaction to trying to talk about it... well, that was new.

If Will hadn't known any better... it had seemed that Nico was blushing about a nightmare. But that was just silly, right? But of course he didn't know any better. Because he was painfully slow and realizing his own feelings lying dormant.

- second day -

His second day was even more tiring than the first. Too many times had he accidentally touched Will, brushed fingers or bumped into his chest. Nico was beginning to stumble around flustered by the time lunch had arrived, and he was feeling rather tired. Well, tired of the embarrassing things and tired for real.

Who knew that encountering a cute son of Apollo so many times, in so many compromising situations could make a guy so flustered?

Will did not give him a chance to rest, however. He pestered Nico nonstop with questions and medicine. And by then Nico felt like he would either become a sleep deprived zombie, or smack somebodies ghost all the way back to Tartarus. The latter wouldn't be too hard, since he'd done it before.

The voices seemed to fade into the background after a few seconds of pondering shadow traveling all the way back to his cabin. Actually... everything seemed to fade out for a moment, literally. Had he gone to sleep without knowing it? His vision clouded and his body felt discombobulated.

Nico felt a hand grasp at him frantically as Nico slouched over. He was jolted out of his fuzzy vision. His head had previously felt heavy and his eyes even began to sag. But the touch was like electricity; it shocked him back to reality. He looked up to find himself being clutched — closely — to Will Solace's tanned and rather athletic chest.

His first reaction worked almost at once. He found himself pushing hard against the other boy's chest ad staring at him like Will had grown an extra head. He could feel his heart speed up, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach once again, and he could most certainly feel a painful squeeze in his chest.

Nico managed to splutter, "What are you doing?!"

"You were doing more underworld-y stuff again, Angelo. You were melting into the shadows again - what was I supposed to do?" Will snapped. His jaw clenched, which was possibly the most attractive thing Nico had seen him do yet, and he recoiled angrily.

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe - lets see - try and not touch the socially inept kid?" Nico hissed back before he could catch his harsh tone. He didn't want to snap at Will like that, but Will was making it so... easy. He felt his heart rate speed up again and he flinched at the feeling. Why did his chest feel so tight? It hurt.

"This is about touching?" Will growled back. "Unbelievable. I had at least thought that maybe I had gotten through to you. That maybe we were finally friends."

Nico's face scrunched up. He was being unbelievable? He clenched his fists angrily and shot Will a withering stare. "What did you expect? For us to go hopping around in a field of flowers holding hands? That we'd suddenly be friends and it'd be all sunshine and rainbows?"

By now a few doctors and patients eyes had turned on them. A few even seemed to be walking over to investigate. They had probably been raising their voices and disturbing others, but it wasn't their place to be nosy. That agitated the hell out of Nico, but he simply pushed it to the back of his mind. Right now he had more pressing matters.

"I just want to help-"

"Well don't try."

"But I just think-"

"Solace."

"Can't you see all I want to do is-"

"No," Nico's harsh voice cut off. He had shouted it this time, "Just don't."

Will's jaw clenched even more than it had before, if that was even possible. He fixed Nico with his eyes that threatened to drown him in a sea of blue. The were sharp and looked... almost emotional. Deafening silence followed for what seemed like hours. Neither moved, neither removed the death glare from one another.

Nico would have smiled if not for the bone crushing atmosphere. He took immense triumph in finally shutting Will up about his health. But Will wouldn't say anything, and Nico began to fidget nervously. In fact he could feel his cheeks begin to redden as they continued to stare at each other through the unspoken tension. Was Will's cheeks flushed, or was it just his imagination?

The raven haired boy shuffled his feet awkwardly to attempt at breaking said tension. Hades he wished the shadows would just engulf him already, instead of Will stubbornly holding on. As much as he liked trumping Will, he didn't like the way his smile had turned into a thin line. Or the way he was staring at Nico, as if he'd done something horrible.

His chest constricted tightly as Will turned sharply and vanished into the storage room without even a word. Just like that.

Why hadn't he flung an insult over his shoulder? Had what Nico said upset him that much? And now that he thought back on their heated argument, he realized he probably had said things he hadn't meant to.

Nico's expression tightened and twisted to that of concern and panic. He couldn't deal with Will being upset with him. He just couldn't.

Nico pushed past the other people that had gathered to watch their argument with interest — he remembered a few Aphrodite girls had a smirk on their faces — but he didn't care. He shoved them all aside and shot them a glare that sent most running for the hills. Annoyingly they hesitated before quietly disappearing to their own activities.

He turned back to where Will had vanished and raised a hand to push open the door. Will was the only person who seemed to make Nico smile, at least a little bit. The only person to put up with his sulking mood. If he lost all of that, just because of what he'd said... He couldn't stand it.

He felt that suffocating feeling in his chest again and furrowed his brows. He hadn't honestly realized Will had meant... that much to him.

The desire to rekindle their friendship and apologize was even stronger than before. And so, the son of Hades pushed into the room and grabbed a handful of Will's shirt. He forcefully pulled the sulking boy — wasn't that a change of personality for him — out of the supply closet as Will gave indignant spluttering sounds. Nico ignored them.

That was it. Even if Will was a stubborn, overly tan son of Apollo, Nico couldn't deny he had a crush on him. And he would do anything to help their friendship, even if Will never wanted a relationship in the future. He wasn't Percy... he was much better. And according to Will, he was all Nico's for one more day. Might as well make it worth the while.

Will wanted so badly to shout at Nico. He wanted to push him away in spite. If Nico hadn't wanted to be friends, and if he hadn't wanted him to touch him for Gods sake, then he should have said so in the first place.

But despite Will's anger, he didn't push away for whatever reason. He just continued to let Nico guide him towards the supply cabinet he'd previously been working on. That confused him on a number of levels.

He spotted Nico giving him a little peek. His nose wrinkled up and he let out a huff and rolled his eyes before positioning Will beside the counter. His hands hesitantly let go of Will's now wrinkled shirt — he'd ironed it this morning, seriously — and looked away.

"Sorry."

Oh gods. Had he heard right? Had Nico just apologized to him? He shouldn't have done this in spite of their argument earlier but... he laughed. And soon he found himself wheezing uncontrollably while clutching his sides. Maybe they could possibly be friends, and that made Will very happy.

So. I'll leave their conversation to your imagination. c;
Of course they made up - but they haven't exactly faced their feelings for one another as of yet. Also I'd like to point out in my version Nico is about almost 15, and Will is about almost 16. So just to clear the air, in case you guys felt weird about the whole racey dream Nico had.

And sorry if it wasn't all that fluffy. The next chapter will definitely be, with a little big sister Reyna [ I totally support their adorable bro / sis relationship ] and Nico confessing his feelings for Will to her. Then possibly Will's conclusion on his feelings. I imagine that Will and Nico would start off awkward and prickly towards each other, and then slowly over time begin to unwind.

Anyways. This is only the first chapter. Look out for number two in a few days or so. Rate and review, tell me what I should correct and how to correct them! This is actually my first human related fan fiction, so yeah. JHhjgfvhjgb.