Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.
In the haze of the morning, Nico felt suffocated. His hands were wrapped tightly and squeezed even more. It felt like he was tied down, and that didn't settle well for him. In an instant, he knew who did this. The fresh, white bandages sticking out of the black ACE wrist brace gave him away. Nico sat up, and then he pounced.
His hands curled around Will's neck and his legs kept his lower body immobile, not that the kid tried to move anyways. His eyes shot open, and he just stared with minor surprise. Nico snarled and shook a hand in his face, "Don't you understand? I said no touching!"
A throat cleared and Nico's head whipped up. All four boys were watching Nico. Heat ran through him, but he only hardened his glare and turned back to Will. His mouth was open like he was going to speak, but the boy wouldn't say a word. Nico gave him one last shove against the bed and push off.
His hands began to rip off the elastic brace. "Wait!" Will choked out, lunging for his hand. Nico ripped it away and Will fell face first on his bed. He scrambled to his feet, panting in front of Nico. "Those should let you hold you sword with less…pain," he wheezed, hands clutching his throat. Nico frowned.
And then it made sense. Last night, he was testing the 'gloves' out for himself. Skeptical, Nico grabbed his sword and swung is lightly. It felt different, much less stable than he was used to. His hands didn't wrap around the hilt perfectly like they normally did. But, he could thrust with power and not drop his sword from pain.
He didn't say anything. Nico didn't know what to say. He looked at Will, who had been watching him with his breath held. Nico caved. "It's slippery."
The crazed boy grew a bright smile. "Put maple syrup on it!"
"Shut up, Percy," Jason hissed.
Will flushed and looked at Nico's hands, gesturing to ask if it was okay to touch them. Rolling his eyes, Nico let him. Will twisted his hand, analyzing it. At one point, his fingers skimmed over Nico's. He had been freezing before, but now it felt like the sun came and kissed his entire body with painful heat. It was a good pain, though, something he hadn't felt in so long. Nico didn't pull away this time. He couldn't force himself to.
Will's cheeks seemed a little red, but Nico was sure it was from him almost choking him. "Leo can attach some grips, right Leo?" Will looked expectantly. Leo was watching so intensely he didn't realize he was being spoken to. "Leo."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sticky grips. I'll get on that," he said. Nico nodded and pulled off the brace. Underneath, white bandages were wrapped tightly. He stared at the black wrap in thought. ACE didn't sell black elastic braces. Will had personally painted them somehow. Nico's heart pumped loudly. Nobody had ever done something like that for him. "Uh, can I have the gloves?"
Nico didn't hear him. He continued looking at the braces, and then at Will. His blue eyes shone brightly in the morning rays. The sunlight glistened off his blonde hair like gold, framing his tan face. When Nico looked at him, two thoughts bounced around inside his head. Will somehow managed to look intelligent and slightly mischievous while also giving off the kind and caring look. It was his nose, Nico decided. His small nose gave him an almost pixie-like look, but Will carried it well. His jaw line was more defined than it had been when Nico had first glanced across his face in freshman orientation. Nico also couldn't get over his skin. It ran across his body in an even tan, lighter than caramel but darker than sand on a beach. It made his toned muscles stand out, and…and Nico was staring.
"Thanks, Solace," Nico muttered, looking up slightly at him with a sincere expression, trying his best to hide the blush pushing at his own cheeks. He turned to Leo and tossed him the black braces.
Leo scratched his head, frowning. "Uh, where did you get these?"
Will shrugged. "Clinic."
"And they were black?"
"Can you fix them or not?"
"Yeah…" Leo still sounded confused, but it wasn't that hard to figure out what Will did. Nico fell back on the bed, watching everyone get ready and trying to sort out his own mind. Will was the last to get ready, deliberately tying, undoing, and then retying his shoes multiple times.
"Need help there?" Nico snorted.
Will beamed at him with his smile that made Nico's heart weak. He hated his infatuation with that boy. Of all his secrets, it was his most shameful one. Will would definitely leave him alone if he knew Nico was gay. Nico wasn't sure why he didn't just tell him to get the older kid off his back. He just couldn't find it in himself.
"No, thanks, though." Will sat on his bed. "Aren't you coming?"
Nico looked at Will like he hadn't heard the question. "Why did you do that for me?"
Will's smile didn't waver. "I want you on our team, Nico. You're good and have earned every right to be there tonight."
Nico narrowed his eyes. "Explain the black then."
Will wasn't even embarrassed about his answer. "I knew you disliked anything other than black. Best chance at keeping them on your hands. Kind of badass, huh?"
Nico couldn't help the small smile the treated his lips. "Yes, very badass." He sobered up quickly, as always. Will sensed an unspoken question and waited, patient as ever. "Why do you want me on the team anyways?"
Nico swore he could have seen him blush as he scratched the back of his head. "You're my friend, even if you won't admit it. I'd rather you be on the team than Percy or any of them."
Nico didn't understand his words. It was like when you divided by zero on a calculator. Instantly, it said error and didn't understand what you wanted to do. Nico didn't understand what he meant. How it could be true? But looking into Will's eyes, he found it only had to be true. He was looking with such longing, pleading for Nico not to walk away.
"That's a little rude, Solace," Nico's lips raised in a smirk. Will grinned back at him. He reached forward and shoved his shoulder. Nico resisted the urge to shy away from his hand.
"I'm not talking about the team anymore and you know it," Will protested. Despite himself, Nico smiled. He enjoyed seeing Will so flustered. His rosy cheeks and eyes darting around the room was almost cute. It hurt not to smile in that moment. Will gasped and pointed to his face. "You smiled! Yousmiledyousmiledyousmiled!"
Nico rolled his eyes. "Is it a crime?"
"You always act like it is!" Will jumped to his feet in excitement. Nico groaned as he got up.
"Okay, Sunshine, calm down." Nico stepped around him and pulled off his shirt without warning. Instantly, the jumping stopped. Grabbing a shirt, Nico turned around to see what got into him. Will was staring at Nico with a look in his eyes that Nico hadn't ever seen before. "What?"
Will stepped forward. "You – uh, you have tattoos?"
Nico glanced down. Over his chest and arms, he had a ton of tattoos. They were all black against his white skin. Skulls and bones scattered over his body. Dark lines swirled into jagged points. Lines written in ancient Greek. Black flames licking up his biceps, taking over silhouettes of bodies. Skulls with broken angel wings behind them. He had more skin than ink, but there was a fair amount of ink.
But the noticable tattoo was on his back, written in red ink. It was something he couldn't see, something he didn't have to be reminded of. Blended into the black designs was one name.
"Bianca."
The emotion with which Will said her name was more than anyone reading a name should have. Nico's throat closed up. It became harder to breathe without busting at his seams. Nico jerked his head in a nod.
Will's eyes followed along the rest of his designs. "How did you get so many?"
Nico sighed. "I started drawing them when I was in middle school. Freshman year came along and, one by one, I got them."
Will stayed silent, still looking at his body. Nico grew uncomfortable with the heat trails he left on his body. "You drew all these?"
"The bigger ones and the ghostly mist design. The small ones are just tiny things that jumped out to me."
Nico could see it. Will wanted so badly to reach out and touch him. His hands twitched. Nico had an urge to let him, but he was unsure if he could hide his feelings what with the boy's hands all over him. With red cheeks and a grunt of dismay, he pulled on a shirt. Will seemed to snap out of some sort of trance, but his eyes only jerked up to Nico's. He wished he wouldn't stare at him like that, like he knew what his shirt was hiding. Of course, he did know now. Nico cursed under his breath. That face…it was smug and attractive as hell.
"I write songs."
Nico shrugged off his pants as he rummaged through his drawers. He paused and tried to envision the smiling, cheerful blonde boy sitting behind him and writing songs. "Are they any good?"
"I doubt it. If I could sing, they'd sound better. The lyrics are depressing, too."
Nico pulled on a pair of skinny black jeans with more holes than material. He smirked. "What do you write about? The pain when the string of your bow stings your arm?"
He looked at Will, waiting on the chance to tease him for his answer. Will pressed a thumb to his chin in thought. "Not really, though I'll consider that. I don't write about my mother being the town whore, walking in on her having sex with my eighth grade principal, or even simply my father walking out on me when I was five weeks old. I just write about…blurred emotion. Which seems to make up half of your tattoos."
Nico's eyes briefly scanned his to search for the truth, but he knew it was there. Will didn't lie, even for a joke. It didn't make sense to Nico. Will was so happy all the time. How could that not affect him? How could that not shape him into somewhat less of an optimist? Nico didn't know what to say. These situations were exactly why he avoided people. He had no idea what to say. At this point, almost anything would be the wrong thing to say.
With a heavy sigh, Nico sat directly beside Will, something he'd never willingly done before. He pressed his elbows into his knees and looked up at Will. He didn't look smug, like he had said that to prove to Nico that the golden boy did know pain. Though, Nico already knew that. He just chose to forget about it. It was easier to shove down his emotions for him that way.
"Can I ask you something?" Nico whispered, his voice raw.
"Anything," Will said.
"How do you do it?" Nico strained to ask. He felt his walls crumbling by every breath, but he had to know. "How do you shut out the pain?"
Will eyes darted between Nico's. "I don't shut it out." He sighed. "I'd grown up knowing about my mom, but I also knew why she did it. Her attempts at escaping the memories of my father were futile in the end. I could see it. So when I walked in on my principle and her, I decided not to be like her, to just not let things get to me. So far, they haven't. Not even you, di Angelo."
Nico could tell it was the truth. The way Will carried himself was more impressive than the jokes Leo hid behind, the obliviousness of Percy, the uncertainty of Jason, or the lost look of Frank. Contrary to what Nico originally believed, Will wasn't the classic kid from a perfectly happy family. Nothing was wrong with that, but in his experience, it was those kids who shunned him. If they didn't shun him, he'd give them a week before he let one of his dark secrets slip and expose his damaged side. It scared them off immediately. Of course, he was sure he could still scare him off.
"I wish I could do that." Nico muttered dejectedly. It was another reason not to be friends with Will. He was so much better than him.
A warm sensation appeared on Nico's leg. It was Will's hand. "Talk about it, even if it hurts. When you say it out loud, it looses some of the power it holds over your mind." His eyes were trembling. "You can talk to me anytime, you know that right? It doesn't have to be me, of course, but…know that I'd help you in any way."
Pain seared through Nico's head at the notion of telling Will why he had left school early, why nobody liked him, why he was so scared of having friends. "Thank you, Will." Nico sighed and let his head hang. "I c-can't n-now, but…maybe."
Will didn't smile, and it was more comforting to Nico in that moment than his smile of the sun. Nico didn't need to see his happiness. He needed to see he was normal, he was there, and that Nico didn't have to smile, that it was okay not to. And it was.
"Will?"
"Yes?"
"Your hand is on my thigh," Nico brought to attention the other aspect making him blush. Will frowned, as if not knowing where his hand was.
"What, does my touch disgust you?" Will teased. Nico rolled his eyes.
"No," he hissed. In a tiny voice, "That's the problem."
Will frowned, "What did you say?"
Nico blushed and looked down at his hands. "Will?"
"Oh, right," he laughed nervously and pulled his hand away. "So Bianca -,"
Before he could finish the dreaded sentence, their door swung open. Percy dashed inside with an arm full of food, falling on his bed out of breath. The three other boys ran inside laughing, all looking quite mischievous, Leo more so than before.
The two boys on the bed jumped apart, both startled. "You're welcome, slow pokes! We brought the food to you!"
"Just because it's game day," Jason insisted, looking more upset than the rest about their decision. "You guys need your energy. Especially you, Nico."
He threw his arms up. "Do I look like I eat nothing to you?"
Will coughed by his side, "Nope." The other boys shrugged, though. "Nah, guys, he's got muscles. He just hides them. Now whether he uses them or not…"
"I will end you, Solace," Nico, with a display of ease, shoved Will off his bed and tumbling over his own. Will burst into cheeky laughter, and Nico's glare hardened. He ignored the bubbling in his stomach. It wasn't there.
"See?"
. . .
Last period, Apollo stopped Nico and Will before they left the classroom. "Will, would you mind not teaching the class for me? It looks bad."
Will grinned. "When it speaks to me, it speaks to me. Besides, make it a little harder next time. Even Nico is doing well in here."
Nico grumbled under his breath. Apollo laughed and looked between the two. "You guys are playing the girls tonight, right?" They nodded. "Don't underestimate them. My sister teaches archery and survival training there. Her traps are…insane."
"Traps?"
Apollo hissed under his breath, "She once held me in a net for two days high above the forest ground before I gave back her favorite knife."
This time, even Nico laughed a bit. "We'll be careful."
"One more thing," Apollo sighed. "It sounds like they don't have any main archers. One is both an archer and swordsman. She's the trapper, as well. I'd watch out for her. Thalia."
"That's Jason's sister. We know plenty about her," Will agreed.
Apollo grinned much to wide. "If you want to distract her, ask her about when I let her drive our car."
Nico grimaced. "I remember. I didn't know that was you." Will frowned. "Thalia claimed 'He's hot.'" Nico rolled his eyes. Will snorted and burst into laughter.
"We'll keep that in mind," he said goodbye as they got along their way. The game was set for right after classes ended, with ten minutes to warm up and prepare. Will nudged him as they walked. "Do you agree?"
"What?"
"That Apollo is hot. Do you agree?"
Nico frowned. "I don't know. Why do you care?"
He shrugged. "I kind of look like him," Will grinned. "Who's hotter?"
Nico didn't answer.
"Who?"
"Will."
"Me?"
"No. Will, as in shut up."
"Aw, you know it's me," Will wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulder. With a groan, Nico stuck an ear bud in his ear and was prepared to put the other in to drown out Will's loud moth, but then the boy stole it from him.
"Good song. Who's hotter?"
"You, dammit, now shut up!" Nico shouted, wanting nothing more than to listen to his song. The word just slipped out of his mouth. After all, it was the truth. He didn't lie very often. He risked a glance at Will, and found the boy's smile was so wide it surely had to be breaking his face.
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself, Death Boy. Now let's go beat some girls," Will chirped excitedly and sped them up on their way to the woods. Nico tried to fight off the blush that burned his cheeks. Will was too touchy. Will was too forward. He tried to keep his hopes down that he was into guys. The odds of having a gay roommate weren't in his favor. Nico didn't get lucky. He wasn't going to think like that.
Besides, it wasn't as if he'd never heard Percy compliment Jason, and he knew very well that Percy was completely straight, and Jason, too. Nico shook his head of the hopes.
Besides, Will annoyed him too much for Nico to be with him.
A/N: Ah! SO many great responses! Thank you guys! I really was scared people either didn't like this story or the fandom was dead. And it better not be dead! I'd love to see SIX reviews again!
So who can guess what's going on with each couple? Percabeth? Jason and Piper or Jason and Reyna? Hazel and Frank? A big thing coming for one of them. Tell me your thoughts!
