Disclaimer: I do not own this series. Only the right to make Fanfiction about it.


Things were different between them after that. They had been friends for over two years now and Will had always been someone that Nico felt he could be himself with, but now….there was a hint more warmth than there'd been before.

Just a twinge more touching and laughing and dare he think…Affection?

It felt like they'd overcome some milestone in their relationship with that simple early morning walk. Like Will had passed some kind of test that Nico never knew he needed to in order to fully trust him. To trust that Will could be there for him at his absolute weakest and not take advantage. To never be more Alpha than Will; if that made any sense.

Still, Nico tried not to get his hopes up. He'd made that mistake with Percy once before and he didn't want to make another perfectly good friendship awkward just because he couldn't handle his own stupid feelings.

Still at night, when the world was as dark as the Underworld, he let himself imagine what it would be like to be Will's mate.

Sweet things like waking up in Will's embrace or being given a kiss goodbye before he left on missions for his father.

And, admittedly, he imagined hotter things too.

Things like being knotted and bitten and claimed.

Things that would have terrified a younger him; things he would have once run away from.

Once, on a day when his thought had been particularly dark, he even let himself imagine what it would be like to have a family of his own.

To place a hand to his stomach and feel a little life stirring around inside him.

He never imagined past that. He wasn't that masochistic. He knew if he started picturing little blonde babies with olive skin or raven haired infants with zaffre blue eyes he'd end up longing for them forever. It would eat him up from the inside out and he'd end up hating Will for inspiring such longing inside him.

So he just imagined the sweet and the hot and the feel of little feet kicking inside of him.

He imagined. But he didn't dare hope.


It had been months since Nico's last heat. Since that moment on the doorstep of cabin 13 where Nico almost let Will in.

It was in late evening on a Friday and Will and Nico were sitting on the latter's bed playing Mythomagic. It was something they'd started doing way back when Nico was still new to the camp and Will was trying to pry him out of his shell. He'd caught sight of Nico's Hades figure and wouldn't stop begging Nico to play against him. Apparently Will loved the game and had run out of opponents since the summer kids had gone home.

Reluctantly Nico had agreed to one match.

But then Will had destroyed him at it and there was no way he was going to let Will think he was better at Nico's game than the raven was. He'd declared a rematch and they'd been playing every Friday ever since.

After getting over his initial rustiness Nico had eventually regained his title as Mythomagic champion, but he still liked to play. To pretend, even if only for a few hours, that they were normal teens at a normal camp and not kids expected to protect the world.

Especially since just being together, alone in Nico's cabin, made his heart race. Omegas were very territorial of their personal space, especially unmated one and especially around Alphas. All these things applied to Nico just as strongly as they would have for any other Omega, but he still allowed it. He still let Will in. A kind of weekly reminder to himself that Will could be trusted. That Will being an Alpha didn't mean that Nico had to be afraid of him.

It seemed calming to the both of them to play. Even if Will didn't usually get the chance to win as much as he assumed he would in the beginning.

The son of Apollo was never a sore loser though. If anything he seemed to almost enjoying losing more than winning. (When Nico had once asked why Will said he couldn't dislike something that made Nico smile like that. Something that made the younger demigod blush like a child of Aphrodite).

Nico was winning again, but his heart wasn't really into the game. Will had been distracted all throughout the campfire earlier and Nico had hoped the blonde would say something once they were alone, but so far he'd just stared down at his cards with a frown on his face and a sigh on his lips.

Eventually it became too much and Nico put his cards down.

"Okay Will, spit it out. You've been in a funk all night. What's got your head in the clouds?"

Will jolted up at the unexpected question, but quickly flashed him a guilty grin.

"Sorry Sunshine. I know I've been a bit preoccupied today." He admitted as he ran a hand though his golden curls.

Nico rolled his eyes.

"I know that. I'm asking why."

Will blushed.

It was so unexpected and vivid that it caught the young Ghost King by surprise.

"I'm…." Will gulped audibly. "I'm going to go into a rut soon." He admitted.

Nico felt his own blush rise to his cheeks.

"Oh." Was all he could think to say.

Will nodded before shuffling his cards nervously.

"The room in the infirmary is all set up and I'm on my pre-meds for it, but I hate feeling like I'm leaving my siblings short handed and unsupervised. Plus it's never something I enjoy happening when I'm at camp."

Nico nodded in understanding, not trusting his voice.

"It's easier at home, in my own territory you know?"

Nico nodded again before licking his lips and asking the first question that had popped into his head when Will had uttered the word rut.

"Are you going to share it with someone?"

It wasn't a polite question. Especially not between an Omega and an Alpha who weren't together. But Nico knew Will wouldn't judge him for it. Will never made him feel like he had to play the role of an Omega around him. Never made him feel like there was anything he could or couldn't do because of his status. The same way he had never made Will feel like he wasn't welcome in Nico's space because of his own designation.

Plus it was an important question. Since there were so many Alpha's and Omega at camp it wasn't uncommon for either of the two to request that another camper share their rut or heat. It wasn't something people talked about much at camp since most of the hook ups didn't result in bondings and never resulted in pregnancies (Chiron was very strict about the use of birth control on camp grounds) But no one judged others for who they wanted during a heat and no one was forced to share one with someone they didn't want to. (Or at least they weren't supposed to.)

Nico knew for a fact that people like Percy and Jason got asked to share heats at least once a week, but they had never accepted and Nico himself had never been asked to share a rut with anyone.

He couldn't imagine someone turning down a chance with Will though. He knew he couldn't.

Will's blush deepened, but he didn't shoot Nico a dirty look like most others would have.

"I'm old fashioned." The blonde admitted with a self-reproaching grin.

"I only want to share something like that with the person I'm going to be mated to forever."

Nico didn't say anything for a moment as relief flooded his system.

Will misinterpreted his silence as something else and looked down at the bedspread instead of at the Italian's face.

"I know it's stupid. Most people are fine with hooking up with someone during their heats or ruts, but I just…I want it to be special."

"That's not stupid." Nico defended. "It just shows that you'll care about your partner. Not just about using them. It's…. actually admirable."

Will looked back up at him with hesitant eyes before flashing him an endearing grin.

"Thanks Nico. For understanding."

Nico nodded as nonchalantly as he could before picking up his cards again.

Will understood it as a sign that the raven wanted to drop the subject and grabbed his own cards.

"Will." Nico began after few silent turns.

The blonde looked up and met Nico's dark chocolate gaze with his own.

The Italian fidgeted beneath the scrutiny, but continued on anyway.

"I don't think you need to worry about it being special." He eventually confessed."If it's with you…..I can't imagine it not being that way."

Will's eyes were so wide and so blue it looked like he'd replaced them with Delftware pottery plates. They made Nico feel so raw and exposed.

After a pause Will's eyes returned to their normal size and his face filled with warmth.

"Thank you Nico. I think that's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said about me."

His grin turned mischievous as he continued.

"No one would ever believe me if I told them how sweet you really are Death Boy."

Nico shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes before playing the last move of the game and making himself the winner.

They didn't talk about it the rest of the night, but at the same time their conversation never lagged or grew awkward.

There was a moment though, just before Will left, where he seemed to pause at the foot of Nico's steps. He looked up at Nico standing in the doorway, his frame silhouetted by the light inside, and seemed to want to say something. Nico waited with baited breath for a heartbeat, then two, but in the end Will just smiled ruefully and gave a little wave up at him before slipping into the darkness.

Nico closed the door a moment after, but didn't end up moving from that spot for a long time.


This chapter is a get well gift for my BFF Bramblerose4 (Tina). I hope this makes her feel better!

Be sure to read and review!

Yours Truly,

Jessica499499/ Lacy Fairgold