the next morning
Hazel and I slept in the same bed that night talking until we fell asleep. In the early morning she kissed my cheek and told me she was leaving. I hugged her while still laying down and went back to sleep. Stirring in what felt like that in between of being awake and asleep I could hear a television. Was my TV on? Opening my eyes I could see Will Solace sitting in a chair next to my bed eating what looked like last nights pop corn.
"Solace what are you doing in my house!" I shouted still under my blankets unwilling to move.
"I'm watching Netflix. I set your username and password for you. I wrote them down and put them on your desk. I told you I would be here. I can't lie dude. Son of Apollo. "
"Well I'm fine you can go now."
"Nah it's my day off and I haven't caught up on Orange is the new Black. My mom loves this show. "
"Can't you watch it in your room in your cabin."
"Because I want to watch it here with you."
Sitting up my hair a mess I looked at him. Brown meeting blue.
"Why?" I said very quietly.
"Because incase you hadn't noticed I actually do want to be your friend. I think you are funny and smart and interesting and unlike everyone else.. I'm not afraid of your spooky ass. So I would just give in already. Cause I'm not going to stop trying to be your friend."
"Will its .. im... you... I'm gay."
"Yeah so?"
"It's going to come out sooner or later because Jackson knows and it's only a Matter of time before he tells all of the camp and I don't want to bring you down with me ok. You are a nice guy I don't want to see you get lumped in with me."
"Nico that's the most ridiculous shit I've ever heard. We need to work on your self esteem."
"Will! You are not listening to me!"
"Oh I hear you! You are just spouting stupid nonsense that makes no sense. No wonder you have problems making friends. Nico you being gay doesn't matter."
"What do you mean it doesn't matter!"
"I mean that we have a large LGBTQ community here at camp and no one cares that you are gay. My entire cabin is either gay or bi. Plus many many others. Nico I hate to break this to you but... you are not the special little snowflake you think you are."
"There are other gay kids here at camp?"
"Yes"
"This camp?"
"Ya"
Camp half blood?"
"You are fucking dense."
"Fuck you Solace!"
"Yeah well maybe one day after flowers and dinner but that day isn't today. So go into that bathroom get cleaned up so we can go."
"Where are we going?"
"To get lunch! Now move I'm starving. I get that your epiphany is screwing with your head right now but that doesn't make me any less hungry!"
I starred at him for a long time. Then quietly I got up to shower. Under the water some crazy things were hitting me all at once.
One. I'm not the only gay kid here.
Two. Will Solace was actually trying to be my friend.
Three. I'm attracted to him because I'm a idiot.
Four. I still don't know if Will is gay!
Drying off I've come to a few conclusions. I'm going to allow Will to be my friend no matter how annoying he is. I'm going to try to get over how attractive he is. The only way to do that is to get to know him really well. I'm sure once I've glimpsed under the veil I will see some things that will turn me off of him. When I think about it I only got over Percy when I started to really get to know him and see he wasn't perfect. So that's what I'm going to do.
I got out of the bathroom with a towel around my waist to see him still sitting there.
"Dude I have to change!"
"Then change. It's not like I haven't seen it before."
"I'm naked under this towel not in boxers!"
"You are so touchy!" He swung the chair toward the wall so that he couldn't see me. Wasn't the best option but fine maybe this could count as a mark against him. No personal boundaries!
After I was dressed in my usual black on black Will turned around and wolf whistled.
"You look good Death boy!"
"Yeah well... shut up."
"Ok so how do you feel? You up to travel?"
"Uh I thought I wasn't allowed to for a month?"
"Not shadow travel, I have a car."
"You have a car?"
"Yeah I just turned 16. Got my license!"
"Ok so where are we going?"
"A smoothie place I like. It also has sandwiches and such."
"Oh well.. that's really thoughtful actually." Fuck I'm blushing! Fuck that's so sweet! He's thinking about my stomach issues. Damn him!
I ordered a blackberry smoothie and Will had the California avocado something or other.
"Why did you order me this big one?"
"Because that's all you are eating duh. I had them add protein to it too."
"Oh ok." I sipped in silence. How do I do this! How do you make friends!
"So my name is Will Solace. I want to be a doctor one day and my mom is a country singer. We are from Texas and I'm a year rounder because she tours a lot. I love Harry Potter. I hate country music and my biggest pet peeve is people chewing loudly."
"What was that?"
"That was me trying to really introduce myself to you. "
"Are you gay?" What the fuck did I just say! Here it comes return of the blush!
"Um.. uh yeah I am. You are blunt arnt you?"
"Yeah sorry t just slipped out. I guess I was just wondering because of why you said this morning."
"Yeah well yes I am. Now it's your turn."
"You already known I'm gay."
"Not that stupid!"
"Oh uh yeah ok umm.. I'm Nico Di Angelo. I never really thought about what I want to do when I'm older. I've actually kept up with school work doing online school in libraries and such. So I'm actually a year ahead I'm a junior. I like music.. (I refuse to tell him what type yet) I am a year rounder because my mom and sister are dead. Hazel and Hades are my only family. I've been homeless a long time and am having issues with the realization that I have a home now. I hate liars and people that don't keep their promises. "
"See deathboy that's a good start."
*** time jump
I've hung out with Will Solace every day for two weeks now. He drags me out of bed to do camp activities and to help him in the infirmary. Most night he comes over to watch my TV and use my shower so he doesn't have to use the Apollo group showers. I was hoping truly that the more time I spent with him the more I would realize that the crush was stupid and he wasn't at all what I was looking for.
We still fought. We bickered. Will was still the most annoying and tedious person I've ever met. Will is also the most beautiful, sweet, charming, funny, smart creature I've ever laid eyes on. Hanging with Will didn't diminish my crush it only increased it. Ive never blushed before him. Now I find myself blushing constantly. Will had this habit of touching me. I had the habit of letting him. At first I kept brushing him off and pulling away, but as these weeks went on I found myself almost leaning into his touches.
It's weird like I guess I've always had this feeling that people didn't want to touch me. Like they actually went out of their way to not touch me. The minute I start allowing Wills touch it seemed a lot of people followed suit. People were giving me high fives and girls started hugging me when they saw me. Like I thought with Jacksons mouth the whole camp found out I was gay.
Everyone.
Will was right though. No one cared. That didn't change a single persons opinion. In fact I found I was invited to join the GSA of camp. I'm not a joiner but I found the club really fun. I found out that the camp had lots of clubs including a weekly NA meeting down by the beach that was run by Cecil. Once again and I hate to admit it, will was right. I was not the only one that self medicated. A good chuck of the camp did. They also had grief groups and trauma counseling.
I was laying in bed not sleeping, trying to find something good to watch when I heard a tapping on my window. Going over I saw Wills face on the other side. Opening it he slid inside.
"Hey are you cool if I sleep over? Kayla is having a meltdown and all the girls from other cabins are having a sleepover to cheer her up and I keep getting caught in the cross fire."
"Yeah get in here."
Crawling in he pulled his duffle bag full of night stuff with him.
"I hope Chiron doesn't catch us."
"It's fine. Chiron already had a talk with Percy, Annabeth, and me. Those of us that went through Tartarus don't have sleep over rules like everyone else as long as we keep it hush hush. Those of us with nightmares need company according to him. "
"Wow look at you with your special rules. Guess you are a snowflake."
"Shut up and get ready for bed."
"Am I sleeping in here or on the couch?"
"I won't subject you to the couch."
"Thank gods that couch is a nightmare to sleep on."
Will changed into PJ pants. No shirt. Damnit how was I supposed to not stare at him with no shirt on! I went to the bathroom to collect myself. With my hands on the counter of the sink I looked at myself in the mirror.
"Get your shit together Di Angelo!"
Shaking my head and slapping myself a little I walked out to find him stretched out in the middle of my bed.
"I found a great movie for us to watch!"
"Cool what is it?"
"The Breakfast club."
"Well you need to scoot over you are hogging the bed."
"Just sit here. I'm more comfortable than those pillows." He tapped between his legs. I wanted to argue. I couldn't though I was a bit frozen. I just stood there like an idiot looking at the spot he tapped.
"Nico! Wake up!" Getting on his knees he reached over and pulled me onto the bed and sat me in front of him. I hated how much taller he was than me. That's a lie I really liked how well I fit into him. His chin rested perfectly on my head. I found us tangling our legs together as I leaned against him. Wills hands stayed off me until about thirty minutes into the movie.
Then I felt them creep around my waist and clasp in he middle. My heart began to hammer in my chest. Heats and prickles spread over my skin. What was happening! It's one thing to feel butterflies in your stomach when you like someone but this! I've never felt this. The feelings I had for Percy never felt like this. My mouth was dry and I found myself licking my lips over and over again.
"Is this ok?"
"Umm yeah sure."
Did friends do this? Hold eachother like this? To be fair I've seen Annabeth and Piper hold eachother. Maybe friends did do this. I tested my cold hands on top of his warm ones. Wills pinky creeped over mine and clasped it.
Warm breath blew down my neck causing me to tremble.
"Are you cold?"
"Yeah umm a little"
Draping himself around me even more he pulled me tighter to him. I relished the pressure. It felt safe and calming yet I was still shaking. I tried to pay attention to the movie but in all honesty the only thing I could do was be hyper aware of his movements and touches. I could feel his heart beating quickly on my back. Was he just as affected as me? Pushing my long hair behind my ear I could feel his face getting closer to my ear. He began to whisper.
"Do you like the movie?"
"Yeah of course, you have great taste in movies." My voice cracked.
Wills lips brushed against my ear and down my neck. Not kissing it just on my neck, still and motionless. I started to breath deeply. Parting his hands I could feel his fingers brush patterns over my hip bones, fingertips under the hem on my sleep shirt right above my waistband. Pressure pooled in my stomach. Blood rushing from my head to my groin. So this was lust? I'd never felt lust before. Not like this.
I turned my head to look at him. Boring his Lapis eyes into mine we held the gaze. I licked my lips so close to his face. Nose to nose I could feel the pull. I wanted him to kiss me. I couldn't ruin this with one kiss. Will was my first real friend I've made on my own. Sure I had Jason and new people that have come into my life in the last month. Should I do this? I could pull away. I could fake a bathroom break or start to cough.
Fuck it. I can make more friends.
I closed the distance between us. Fire spread through my body. I could feel his hands moving turning me around to face him so that I was in his lap. I tangled my fingers into his curly blonde tendrils. Expertly he worked his mouth against mine. Tongue sweeping over my lower lip asking for entrance. Taking his tongue into me I swirled mine around his in a dance of dominance. My hips ground down on his feeling something hard brush against me, a gasp flew out of my mouth into his.
"Nico I want you so badly."
"Oh Will." I breathed. Picking me up he laid me back on the mattress. The kisses changed throughout. Fierce powerful all encompassing claiming ones to soft little nips at my lips. Finally we broke apart to breathe. Wills weight in top of me felt amazing. We laid there touching foreheads trying to collect ourselves.
"Nico?" Will huffed.
"Yeah " I answered just as breathless.
"Would.. would you like to go out with me sometime?"
"Uhhh I think that uh goes without saying. Yeah I'd love to."
"Is it still ok if I stay or would you like me to go?"
"Umm you can stay, it's just uh.. no sex ok. I'm not.. it's to soon."
"Oh yeah that's ... yeah of course. But can we still kiss? Cuddle? Fall asleep together?"
"If you stop kissing me I may kill you sunshine."
"Well we can't have that."
Mouths back together we spent gods knows how long tangled in eachother exploring each others mouths.
I've never felt this happy... ever
Review it's my life blood
