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Nico woke up to someone touching his chest. He immediately sat up and slugged the person who'd been touching him. He remembered way too late that he was in the infirmary and the person touching him was most likely Will. He took a deep breath and looked at the boy crumpled on the floor. Sure enough Will was lying there, holding his cheek. "Holy Hades Deathboy" Will groaned as he stood back up.
"Will, I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I just woke up and- it was a reflex, I-" Nico rambled.
"It's okay Nico" Will said as he removed his hand from his face to reveal a red welt. "I should've woke you up before checking on your wound, but you just looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you."
Nico glanced down at his chest to see the bandages had been removed. "Yea, you should've" Nico mumbled as he lied back down on the bed. Will sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at Nico. Before Nico knew what he was doing he propped him self up on his elbow and reached up to Will's face with his other hand. He hesitantly touched the welt on Will's cheek. "I'm sorry" he said before letting his hand drop.
Will shrugged, but a blush filled his cheeks. "It's no biggie, I've gotten much worse from trying to patch up Ares kids" he said. "Now just lie back down so I can finish cleaning the cut and bandaging you up."
Nico lied back down and let out a long breath. "How long did I sleep?" he asked.
"Bout 36 hours" Will said and Nico shot back up, but Will shoved him back down.
"What! How could you let me sleep that long?" Nico asked.
"You needed it Deathboy" Will said as he stood up and surveyed Nico's newly bandaged chest. "I should go tell Hazel you're awake, she's been waiting to go back to New Rome until you woke up."
Nico nodded and once again watched as Will left. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. A few minutes later, Will came back in with Hazel. "Nico!" she said before slinging her arms around him. He smiled and hugged her back.
Will glared at him and Nico blushed. "Thought you didn't like physical contact Deathboy?" Will asked.
"I, uh- go away Solace. Let me talk to my sister" Nico said, his words coming out harsher than he'd intended.
Will frowned. "Fine, but I'm singing another hymn when she leaves" he said before turning and leaving.
Hazel turned and looked at Nico. "He was much nicer before you were awake" Hazel said.
Nico bit back a smile. "Yea, he's um... He's taking care of me well enough I guess" Nico said, and he felt a blush creeping up and he decided it best to change the subject. "So you're going back to New Rome?"
"Yea, Frank and I are heading back today" she said "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Me too" Nico said with a yawn, and Hazel let out a little laugh.
"Maybe you should get back to sleep," she said "I need to get going anyways. Promise me you'll come visit me?"
"Course" Nico said before pecking her on the cheek. For a brief second Nico considered telling her about his... feelings and Percy and everything. You should tell her about Will. The thought popped into his head before he could stop it. No, he thought. There's nothing to tell her. There's nothing to tell about Will. Nico felt his face heat up yet again and he discarded the idea. "I'll come see you soon" he said and Hazel smiled.
"Okay. And Nico, just try and reach out to people. Don't hide from things" Hazel said as she backed up towards the door. "Trust me, you'll be happier that way."
Nico forced a smile. "I'll try" he said.
"Okay, I'll send Will back in" Hazel said before saying goodbye once again and leaving the room.
Hardly ten seconds after Hazel left Will came bursting back into the room. "How ya doin' Deathboy?" he asked.
"I'm fine" Nico said, but he yawned halfway through. "How is it possible that I'm still tired?"
"I'm not an expert on people fading into the shadows, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say it takes a lot out of you" Will said "I told you you'd be sleeping most of these three days." Will sat down next to Nico on the bed. "But that wasn't really what I meant" he said "how are you? I mean after everything that's happened, and now your sister's leaving, I just wanted to check in on you." Nico glanced at Will to see he was blushing. "Cuz uh- for doctor's reasons of course."
Nico snorted. "Doctor's reasons?" he mocked and Will nodded. Nico let out a long breath and stared at his feet. "I'm fine. I'm used to being alone, so this isn't anything different" he mumbled.
Will reached over and grabbed Nico's hand, and Nico only considered removing his hand for only two seconds. "You're not alone Deathboy" he said. "Stop saying you are, you have friends here. You have Jason and Percy and Annabeth and well... you have me."
"I-I do?" Nico asked in a small voice. Nico realized what he must look like, sitting there holding his hand and talking like a sad little girl. He ripped his hand away from Will's. "We're not friends Solace" he spat.
"Oh, no no no di Angelo, you're not doing that" Will said as he stood up and crossed his arms. He glared down at Nico. "You're not doing your little 'get afraid of my feelings and push people away' thing. We are friends. I just decided it, and you're not pushing me away. So shut up while I sing you a freaking hymn."
Nico realized his mouth was hanging open and he instantly snapped it shut. "Fine Solace, sing your song" he gritted out.
"I will, thank you very much" Will said before sitting back down and grabbing Nico's hand. He'd barely got one verse out before Nico interrupted him.
"Why do you care?" he asked.
"Because, Nico" Will said with a sigh. He turned so he was facing Nico and stared into his eyes, still holding Nico's hand. "I like you. I want to be your..." his voice trailed off and he looked away for a moment for shaking his head slightly. "Friend. I want to be your friend."
Nico tried to pull his hand away, but Will tightened his grip on him. "But why?" Nico persisted. "If you knew me, the real me, you wouldn't like me. The things I've done, the things I've been through, the things that go through my head... I... if you knew me you'd be disgusted."
"No I wouldn't" Will said, but Nico looked away from him.
"No, you're a happy little son of Apollo who sings songs and heals people. You've never felt alone or out of place. You've never been afraid of who you are. You don't get it" Nico said.
"Nico, listen to me" Will said "you're right when you say I don't understand everything you've been through, but I have felt out of place before. So if you'd take a second and open up to someone they might be able to relate to you."
"Open up?" Nico spat. "The last person I opened up to died so excuse me if I'm a little hesitant to spill my feelings."
Will squeezed his hand. "I'm not saying you have to bare your soul to me right now, I'm just telling you to give us a chance" Will said. "When these three days end, our friendship doesn't. I'm not asking, I'm telling. So get used to me Deathboy."
Nico felt the corners of his mouth turn up. "I- I guess I can do that" Nico mumbled and Will flashed him a smile.
"Close your eyes and lie down Deathboy" Will said, and Nico did as he said. Soon enough he drifted to sleep by the sound of Will's humming of Apollo hymns.
Hope you liked! Thing'll pick up in the next couple chapters, which I'll post tomorrow. Please review and tell me what you thought!