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Aphrodite closed the book.
Apollo eyed Hestia, wiggling his eyebrows. "Dinner?" He asked.
"Dinner," Hestia answered.
The brother's Stoll started to laugh. "Maybe 'dinner' will be their always."
All the demigods gathered in the kitchen hall – which was surprisingly small and ordinary considering they were on Olympus. No way that everyone would've fit – the gods had to eat in the Throne Room. Hestia explained that no god had ever took the liberty to be in the kitchen, much less use it, other than she and Hera. So the kitchen was as big as an ordinary classroom, which now contained very chatty demigods and three little kids staring at the future people.
Percy was eating pancakes – he was drowning them syrup. Annabeth was eyeing him with half a smirk, as if she was trying to hold herself from either laughing, or making a comment.
Annie and P.J. were just eyeing their older selves, wondering how on earth they could be those two people. P.J. was wondering how he ended up with such a beautiful, smart and amazing girl – when he was a nobody. Annie was trying to grasp the fact that she, the most rational person she knew (except her mom) could end up with a guy she thought was dimwitted and annoying from the moment they met. The two kids didn't even touch their food, they were too busy just staring.
Frank was trying to find something to eat in the cabinets – something that would still taste good, without lactose. Hazel was trying to use the stove to bake some more pancakes for whoever wanted, but her boyfriend kept 'accidentally' bumping into her on his search. She didn't complain.
Even the couple Piper and Jason were inseparable. Jason was eating pancakes, too, but without syrup, and he ate very neat, not spilling anything anywhere. (A big contradiction to the mess Grover and Percy were making.) His girlfriend tried to do anything to make him spill, from nudging him in his thigh, to kissing him on the cheek, or stabbing him with a fork in his leg. Nothing worked. He stayed cool, smiling at her, as if nothing she did could piss him off. Piper got redder and angrier with the minute, but bursted out laughing when Grover got sick of watching the couple and threw the bowl of syrup in Jason's direction.
Grover didn't dare to sit anywhere near them again – after Jason lived up to his infamous nickname, 'Sparky.'
Thalia was trying to cut her pancakes in tiny little animals – though here so called 'elephant' didn't even come close to resembling the elephant all the roman demigods knew from camp. He resembled Hermes' crooked nose – but no one had the guts to tell her. Connor and Travis just kept complimenting her on her creations, winking at her, making silly faces, as if to taunt her from her sacred oath to keep away from boys.
They, too, sat away quickly, when they realized Thalia truly was the sister of Jason.
The only one in the room not enjoying himself was Nico di Angelo. He eyed the group of happy demigods with a heavy burden – one of a longing for his secret heart. Normally, he would have sat there, equally sad, goggling over Percy's cuteness, torn between wanting to hate Annabeth and knowing he liked her. Now? He didn't even remotely looked longingly at the son of the sea god. Yeah – sure, that sixpack he showed off earlier had been dazzling, but it had made him miss his boyfriend Will even more. And reading the books, not being able to glance at Apollo every once in a while, thinking about his love all the time?
Nico balled his fists. No. He wouldn't do this. He promised Reyna – dam it, he promised Will, too – that he wouldn't go back to brooding all the dam time. 'Doctor's orders.' Yeah, sure, his thoughts were still haunted with his time alone in Tartarus, and the fear of never coming back from the shadows, but somehow, missing Will was worse.
"Hey, Death Breath," Thalia suddenly said, and Nico looked up from his uneaten plate. She was eyeing him with pity, as if she knew what he was thinking about. Dam it, Nico thought angrily. Her brother told her. He recognized her expression immediately – it was the same one Jason had every time he looked at him. "Are you okay?"
That did it. Without answering Nico stood up quickly, pushed his plate away – and tried to ignore the fact that his left hand passed through the plate as if it was mist – and walked away.
He hated this. He hated reading about his old crush, realizing that idolizing Percy to be this amazing hero in his head wasn't far from the truth. He hated missing his crush from now. He hated it all, he hated everything, and what he hated above all was that everyone –
CRASH.
Without a warning, something – or someone? – had pushed Nico from his path, pulling him in an unoccupied broom closet, yanking him from his dark – and, well, son-of-Hades worthy thoughts.
"Dude!" Nico yelled, his voice an octave higher then it'd normally would've been. The broom closet door had closed behind him, turning the world dark. Nico's eyes widened. Great. Just great. Darkness. His newest biggest fear. Just as he needed. "What the hell are you thinking? I'm Nico di Angelo –"
The something that had knocked him off his feet starting laughing, and a weight that had been on Nico's chest ever since they had been sent to the past suddenly lifted. He knew that laugh! Furthermore – he owned that laugh!
"Will!" Nico yelled even louder, smiling for the first time of what felt in ages. The lump of vastness that was probably before him somewhere in the darkness was shaking, and without waiting Nico lurched forward and put his arms around the bigger, warmer, better, boy. "Will," he whispered this time, breathing in the warm and sunny smell his boyfriend tended to have.
Will laughed softly, embracing the small and trembling boy. "I missed you too, Death Boy."
Nico whimpered. "Don't lie."
"Doctor's never lie."
Something welled up in Nico's chest, and before he knew it, he was laughing. Genuinely laughing. For the first time what felt like ages forgetting his time in Tartarus, forgetting what it felt like to survive from poisonous air, forgetting everything. "Will, you're not a doctor."
"Pff, diploma's. Who cares about that? I'm the friggin son of Apollo, how much prove for my dazzling healing powers do you want?"
Nico just gniffled a bit, still not wanting to let go of him just yet, even if that meant that they had to stay in that broom closet forever. "Anyway," he said slowly, "how'd you suddenly get here? Percy didn't include you in his wish to come with him to the past." For which Nico still felt incredible anger.
Will was tracing figures with his hand on Nico's back, making Nico shiver even more – but not because of fear this time. He was making figures of the sun, and… Hades' son gasped. A skull. God. Will was perfect. "Um… this is sort of embarrassing. I felt kind of… lonely, without you at camp. Yeah, sure, it had only been a day or something, but ever since the battle and your treatments…" Nico blushed. Oh, did he remember those treatments. "We've never really been apart for more than two hours. I realized that. After you'd all gone. And, truth be told, I got a little jealous, too. Reading about that git called Percy? Sure, I wanted to do that too!"
Nico sniggered. He tried not to blush – because seriously! Will missed him? He realized they'd never been apart, too? – and was for the first time glad they were surrounded by shadows. "Percy isn't a git."
"Sure he is. Way too perfect. Way too dimwitted to not notice that such an incredible hunk was crushing on him."
Nico blinked a couple of times, and looked up. Saw nothing. Realized – oh, yeah, it was dark. "What? No way. Don't tell me you're jealous of Percy? You're a great hero, Will! You saved so many lives! You got Annabeth even back from the brink of death, you saved me… without you, I wouldn't be able to hold you, much less be here." His voice started to crack, and he tried to keep his cool by breathing in slowly. "Listen, everyone looks up to Percy, but you are one of the few people to be wrong in doing so."
Will snorted. "Though I am very, very flattered, sweetie –"
"Don't call me that."
" – I didn't mean that. I'm not jealous of his heroic fame. Dude, do you want to be Percy Jackson? Hell to the no. That dude has got some bad luck."
"But," Nico spluttered, "why would you be jealous of him?"
Nico suddenly felt two hot, sweet-tasting lips on his, and he melted. The whole world disappeared, and he knew that even if his dad and Apollo would yank this door open and bust the two of them, he wouldn't have cared. Mrs. O'Leary could walk in and jump on them, and he wouldn't notice.
In a dazed state, Will stopped kissing him, and turned on the light.
Blinded, Nico cringed, blinked his eyes a hundred times to adjust to the sudden brightness, and gazed at his handsome, wonderful, perfect boyfriend smiling down at him, an equally dazed expression on his face, as if he had just skipped a few steps on the stairs. "I am jealous of Percy Jackson because he was the one to steal your heart." He whispered after a few blissed moments, looking away.
'Death Boy' cringed again, clasped Will's head in both heads, turning Will's gaze in his direction. "Will Solace," Nico said slowly, as if he was talking to a little child. "It wasn't his to steal."