When Nico woke the next day the sun had already moved quite a bit over the sky. The realisation made him think of Apollo, which made him think of Will. He grunted and covered his eyes.

"You awake?"

Nico looked up and saw one of the Apollo campers stand over him. the girl was younger than him and resembled Will way too much for Nico's taste.

"Uh, yeah…" He sat up and looked around the room. Quite a few bunks had emptied from before and the atmosphere seemed more relaxed. "Where's Will?" he asked unconsciously and wanted to bite his tongue.

The girl blinked at him.

"Having lunch, but he'll be back on duty after his break." She rolled her eyes. "Pulling an all-nighter and insisting to be back after lunch the next day, I swear he's the most stubborn mule of all times."

Nico chuckled; he thought the description fit Will quite well.

"What?" he asked when he found the girl stare at him in wonder.

"Nothing!" she said and blushed. "I, uh, I guess I've just never seen you… smile."

Nico knit his eyebrows. If just the thought of Solace made him smile, he didn't know what would happen if he met the boy. Nico had been glad that the patient had disrupted their conversation last night. He had felt uncomfortable with Will and his sheepish comments and silly questions. Then he had watched the medic work. He had been surprised how quickly the son of Apollo could forget everything else and concentrate only on his patient. The sight had stunned Nico and he had caught himself staring at Will quite a bit too long.

Nico was caught off-guard when his stomach rumbled noisily. He blushed.

"Uh, do you want me to get you some food?" She asked.

"No," he said quickly and winced when she looked hurt. "I mean, I'm able to go by myself. I'm only here because Will insisted I rest, anyway."

"Okay." She turned her attention to another patient and Nico got to his feet. With a pleasant surprise he found a pile of clothes on the chair beside his bunk. A black T-shirt and a pair of black jeans were neatly stacked together and a simple white note lay on top. Nico could discern Annabeth's neat and orderly handwriting.

This is the best I could find in the Camp store. I hope they fit. Thank you for being honest and for trusting us.

Love, Annabeth

P.S. Sorry about Percy. He's a seaweed brain.

The last sentence made Nico smile. He closed the curtains around his bunk and got dressed, folding up the note and slipping it into one of his pockets.

Then he walked to the dining pavilion to grab some food. Even from afar he could hear Will's laughter ring through the valley and he saw his mop of golden hair dance in the sun. His heart jumped and he shook his head. He had to stop being so obvious about this.

"Nico!"

Nico's eyes followed the voice that had called him and he saw Jason waving at him, gesturing him to sit down with Percy and him at the table of Zeus. Nico smiled and waved back, though his eyes darted to Will who had looked up and was staring straight back at him. When their eyes locked, Will got startled and concentrated very hard on his food. Nico's heart sank a little, but he didn't show it. He strolled over to Percy and Jason.

The son of Poseidon blushed and waved awkwardly. His face was so sullen that Nico couldn't help but laugh. The other two boys stared at him.

"Chill, Percy, I'm not going to kiss you," he said. "I told you I'm over you, right?"

Percy nodded slowly as if his brain still hadn't processed the information and Jason's eyes widened.

"You told him?" he asked incredulously and Nico shrugged.

"I needed to clean the air."

"I see," Jason said and looked at Percy. "Good for you, but I think you broke Percy."

"Why does everybody keep saying that?"

"I'm not broken!" Percy protested and pouted. "Just surprised."

"Thanks," Nico grumbled, willing his magic goblet to fill with creamy hot chocolate. "You're not the only one."

"No, I mean," Percy started. "Rather than that, why exactly am I not your type? What's wrong with me?"

His face was so curious and worried that Nico couldn't help but snort, though he didn't answer.

"Really, that's your problem?" Nico stared at him with amusement.

"I'm adorable," Percy insisted.

"Yes, yes." Nico grabbed the sandwich from his plate and bit into it. He hadn't noticed just how hungry he'd been until that moment. In mere seconds, the food was gone. "Gods, that was good."

Jason smiled warmly at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just glad you're okay." The son of Jupiter leaned back. Then Jason's eyes narrowed and Nico noticed a shadow hovering over his plate.

Before he could turn around, Will's angry voice rang in his ears.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Nico jumped, blushed, glanced at Percy and Jason and blushed even deeper. He closed his eyes and turned to Will.

"Solace."

"I said," Will insisted, looking very upset. "What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch." Nico tried to sound confident, nonchalant as Will's eyes narrowed. The other boy scanned the situation, his gaze shifting to Percy for what Nico felt was an eternity. Then he looked back at Nico.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed."

"I was hungry."

"Then you should have let someone bring you food."

Will's voice was so stubborn, Nico got annoyed. That Percy and Jason carefully watched their exchange didn't help.

"Gods, Solace!" he burst out. "I'm only exhausted, so technically I wouldn't even have to be in that cabin."

"You promised me –"

"This has nothing to do with you!" Nico sprang to his feet and glowered at him. Will's expression went from surprised to hurt and Nico instantly regretted his words. Nevertheless he grumbled, "Get out of the way." and brushed past Will.

…

Will stared after Nico, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. He had been a fool to assume that he had a chance with Nico, but love turns people into fools. At Zeus' table, Percy whistled.

"That was intense," the son of Poseidon commented and Will knitted his eyebrows.

"Don't you have a girlfriend to attend?"

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, Will," Jason Grace interfered, trying to break up the oncoming argument. "What is it that Nico promised you?"

Will was unwilling to share this information, but under Jason's bright blue eyes, he couldn't lie.

"He said he would stay in the infirmary and rest for three days. He almost drained himself to death during the last weeks."

He crossed his arms; the memory of a weak and ghostly Nico irritated him.

Percy looked glum.

"I know," he said weakly. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," Will said, but he could barely hold back his jealousy. "I'm forcing him to recover, though it doesn't look like I'm very successful."

"That's not true!" Jason encouraged. "I'm sure you're doing great."

Will did not like the attentive and inquisitive way in which Jason studied him.

"I've got to go now," he said. "Medical shift."

"Sure." Jason smiled.

"See you." Percy waved shortly.

"Bye."

As he left, Will could hear Percy turn to Jason.

"Hey, when Nico said I'm not his type do you think…"

The last words were drowned out by a host of campers noisily crossing Will's path. He was curious about what Percy had to say, but unwilling to turn back and ask him.

He made his way to the cabin, confused and angry so that he had to take a moment to compose himself. Negative emotions didn't work well in a healing environment. He took a deep breath and entered the cabin. It struck him by surprise to see how empty it was already. Several wounded demigods had left, many Romans on their way to Camp Jupiter and a couple of Greeks who had eagerly discharged themselves. He smiled at the confident way his cabin mates held themselves as they worked through the rows of the wounded. Then his heart jumped as he discovered Nico lying in his bunk, fully clothed and staring up at the ceiling.

A smile crept on his face as he approached the other demigod.

"Well," he said when he stood in front of Nico's bed.

Nico scowled but didn't look at him.

"It's good to see you here."

"Shut up, Solace."

Will grinned stupidly.

"Shall I have a look at your arm? Come with me."

He turned around without looking back but he heard Nico shuffle behind him so Will knew that he'd followed him into the private nursing room. Without saying anything, Nico sat down on the couch.

Will got out some supplies, ointment, a fresh bandage, and turned his attention to Nico's wound.

"It looks better," he said cheerfully.

Nico grunted something unintelligible.

"I'm glad you came back."

"A son of Hades doesn't break his promise."

"Really?" Will looked up to stare into Nico's confusingly attractive black eyes. "Because you seemed more than ready to, earlier."

"I didn't want to talk about it, right then, right there," Nico said.

Not in front of Percy, Will translated. A fresh wave of irritation surged through him and his grip around Nico's arm tightened.

"Solace!" Nico protested.

Will realised he was pressing his fingers on Nico's wound.

"Oh Gods, Nico, I'm so sorry!" Flustered, he let go and took a step back.

They shared a moment of heavy silence until Nico said:

"Don't worry about it."

Slowly, carefully, Will returned to his work. He applied some ointment and, while bandaging, sang a healing incantation. Soon, Nico was all patched up and ready to go. Will looked up, eager to instruct the other boy further and found Nico staring at him in a daze. Instantly, blood rushed to his face.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered, annoyed that he was unable to produce any better comment.

Nico knit his eyebrows.

"Nothing." He said, covering his bandage with his good hand. "I'll go back to sleep, then."

He got to his feet and moved towards the door.

"Yeah…" Will agreed. "And make sure you drink enough!" he called after him weakly as Nico slipped through the door and left him behind, flustered and feeling stupid.