These characters belong to the wonderful Mr. Rick Riordan.
chapter four:
Will's pov:
A knock came from Will's front door. He leapt up and hit his shin of the coffee table. Cringing a bit from the pain Will walked over to the front door.
"Guys Nico's at the door, I'll be back in one sec.." Will checked his hair in a mirror quickly and blushed, seeing Lou Ellen, Cecil and Kayla all looking at him with raised eyebrows. He rushed out of the room to the door.
"Hey Nico." Will said, leaning against the hallway wall trying to look nonchalant.
"Hey Will, sorry I'm late. The bus schedules are all mixed up because of the weather."
"Don't worry about it, c'mon and meet everyone else." Will took Nico's wrist in his hand and led him into the living room, not sure whether to be pleased or embarrassed at the red that was creeping onto his cheeks.
"I can walk, Solace." Nico said, stumbling over a pair of shoes.
"Obviously not." Will replied, letting go of Nico's arm and pushing him lightly into the living room where his other guests sat chatting.
four hours later:
Lou Ellen had left about fifteen minutes ago, and Will was in the kitchen chatting with a slightly drunk Cecil. They were talking about their plans for the rest of the year before going back to camp next summer, but Cecil really wasn't making much sense, so Will excused himself from the conversation to go to the washroom.
Instead, he walked into the living room to check on Kayla and Nico. Kayla was sitting on the couch with a magazine in her hands, staring bemused at a sound asleep Nico. She chuckled lightly when Will walked in.
"He's so cute! I approve." she whispered jokingly. Will rolled his eyes and glanced again at the sleeping boy. He really did look cute, with his dark hair mussed and ringing his face, his peaceful expression and his sweater ever so slightly hitched up, showing a bit of his stomach.
"Very funny. Don't wake him, it's getting late." Will said quietly flicking his sky-blue eyes away from Nico and back onto Kayla's bright smile.
"I think I should get Cecil home before it starts snowing to hard. I heard there's a real storm coming tonight." She replied, standing up to stretch and set down the magazine. She went off to get Cecil, who was singing "Here Comes the Sun" in the guest bedroom.
After they had left, Will lay down on the other couch and stared out the window, as the snow began to fall harder and faster. It was beautiful, but not exactly fit for driving in. He hoped Cecil and Kayla had gotten home safely. About an hour had past, and Will was just starting to think about heading to bed, when he heard a small yawn come from Nico.
"Will?" he croaked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up on his elbows. Will looked over and blushed a little.
"You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you up. Kayla, Lou Ellen and Cecil left a little while ago, but it's snowing to hard to go outside now."
"Oh." Nico yawned again and fell back onto the couch cushions. His eyes started to close when he sat straight up and looked at Will.
"It's Christmas!" he exclaimed.
"Well, yah. Oh wait. Hey it's two-thirty in the morning. It really is Christmas!" Will smiled and sat up too. They smiled at each other, then started laughing. Nico and Will were too excited about Christmas that they ended up talking for another hour, but when the clock started ticking closer to four, the conversations became slower, interrupted by the occasional yawn.
"We should probably get to bed. There's a guest room beside the bathroom." Will stretched and stood up, then reached down to help Nico up. He showed him to the room, then stood in the doorway as Nico flopped onto the bed.
"I can't remember the last time I laid in a bed this soft. My bed's crap."
"You're just tired. I bet you it won't feel half as great tomorrow morning." Will looked into Nico's dark eyes, the felt his eyes slip down quickly to his lips. He blushed and looked at the floor.
"When I was little my mom used to tell me a story before I went to bed. Do you have any paper?" Will looked at Nico, confused, but handed him a scrap of paper from on top a desk. Nico patted the space on the bed beside him, and Will sat down, peering over the paper.
Nico's story was simple, about two people living in a forest by a lake, who's sheep were being stolen. As the story went on Nico added more drawings to the picture, then when he finished speaking he flipped the paper over and it showed who had really been stealing the sheep.
"I don't know why I liked it so much, but I guess it showed how much things change when you look at them differently." Nico was blushing now, and stuffing the drawing into his pocket. Will smiled and lifted Nico's chin a bit.
"I know what you mean." he said softly. Nico's lips collided with him own, and for a second Will felt like they were the only people in the world.
Will ran his fingers through Nico's hair and felt Nico's arms around his shoulders. He tasted like cinnamon and coffee, and felt so small in Will's embrace. All he wanted to do was protect him. Protect him from the memories he knew traumatized him, and the monsters that hunted him, the friends who'd betrayed him and the wind that howled outside, beating on the windows.
Will wouldn't let anymore pain get to him. He'd defend him with his life.
When they finally stopped for a breath, Will couldn't take his eyes off Nico. He watched as he fell asleep, and his breathing became slow and even. He watched Nico until sleep took him as well.