The Prince's Heart

Leila Rivers

Chapter Seven

(Will)

What am I doing?

This had been the thought playing on repeat through Will's head ever since he'd returned to Hades' kingdom. He was vaguely aware that he'd been sweeping the same empty room repeatedly for over an hour, but he was too lost in thought to care. Too busy thinking about Nico and his dark eyes and how adorable he was when he got all flustered and started blushing. Too busy thinking about King Hades and his lack of subtlety.

No official statement had been released, but it was obvious that King Hades was parading a stream of women under Nico's nose in an attempt to get him to propose to one of them. Will had been a servant long enough to know how noble families worked. Nico would be engaged by the end of the month, at the latest. He paused his sweeping, clutching the broom hard enough to turn his knuckles white, as he fought against a tide of emotion. Attempting to swallow the lump in his throat, he forced thoughts of Nico's impending engagement from his mind. It was too painful.

He moved to the back of the room and began going over the floors yet again. He tried not to think about Nico, but it was impossible not to these days. When he'd come to Hades' kingdom, he'd been excited to see Nico again, and he'd known that he still had some unresolved feelings for him, but he hadn't expected those feelings to come back so strongly. He knew he had it bad; and no matter how many times he told himself to stay away from the prince, every time he was in his presence he couldn't resist the pull of him.

He remembered when he and Nico had been in that pantry together. How he'd told himself to keep his distance, before they both got hurt again. How he'd known that making a move on him could never end well. How he'd been just about to kiss him, despite all that. But just as he was going to lean in, Nico had bolted from the room.

Even as the painful lump in his throat returned, he reminded himself that it was a good thing that Nico had run. If they'd kissed and been caught, Will could've been killed, and Nico could've lost his title and been exiled, separating him from his sister. Trying to kiss him had been a terrible, terrible idea. ...And yet, all he could think about was trying it again.

Giving up on cleaning, Will dropped the broom and sat in a corner of the room, hands in his hair. This had to stop. It had to.

What am I doing?


(Nico)

Nico was heading through a corridor toward his room when he heard a loud clatter from a room that should've been empty at this time of day.

Curious, he opened the door, poked his head in, and saw Will Solace sitting in a corner of the room, staring right back at him. Of course. Nico had taken a different route through the palace than usual in an attempt to avoid Solace, who - according to the timetable Nico had swiped from the servants' quarters - was supposed to be three corridors over by now; but of course Will was here instead.

He'd been about to apologise and run away in a panic, when he noticed the abandoned broom in the centre of the room, and the way Will was curled up in a corner with his hands in his hair.

Against his better judgement, Nico entered the room, the door swinging shut behind him, and he sat beside Will. He was careful to leave a definite gap between them, and yet he knew he was still sitting closer to the boy than he really should've been.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Will looked at him, and for just a moment Nico saw a lifetime of pain and sadness in his eyes, but then it was covered beneath his usual sunshine smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, but his entire demeanour said otherwise. Nico shifted uncomfortably, knowing the conversation was moving into dangerous territory, but he was unable to stand the sight of Will in pain.

"Seriously, what's going on, Will?" Nico watched as Will stared at nothing for a long moment, seeming to mull over his next words.

"I don't know. I guess I just missed you all these years and... Did you miss me?"

Nico made the mistake of making eye contact with him, and a part of him melted. He couldn't look into his bright blue eyes and lie; he couldn't see all that pain and worry and not reassure him.

"Of course I did," he swallowed, and unwittingly glanced at Will's lips, before returning his gaze to his eyes, "you... you were everything to me." Will's gaze softened, and Nico became all too aware of how close they'd moved to each other, his eyes seeming to draw him in. Nico could feel his warmth, and when Will licked his lips, he couldn't help but glance down at them again. When he looked back up, a blush had spread across Will's cheeks, and he temporarily forgot how to breathe.

Will slid one hand around the back of Nico's neck and pulled him closer. Nico closed his eyes and felt Will's lips against his. As their lips moved against each other's, Nico felt like his whole body was tingling, and a warmth began to spread through him. He mimicked Will, placing a hand against the nape of his neck and pulling him closer, his fingers toying with the ends of his golden hair. It felt so... right.

Nico heard a loud gasp, and they pulled apart, turning to face the door. Panic surged through Nico's veins. He hadn't closed the door properly. Standing in the doorway, gaping at them with her mouth open, was Princess Kayla. Kayla turned and bolted, and Nico jumped to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his entire body.

"Kayla, wait!" He yelled, chasing after her, but by the time he was in the hallway, she was already gone.


I had a lot of fun with this, but this is probably the only time I'll tell part of the story from Will's perspective. I was originally planning to write this entire story in Nico's point of view, but a comment left by BubbleSpAce asking whether Will knew that Nico was going to be forced into marriage made me realise that Will's motives and grasp on Nico's situation weren't clear enough to the reader, so here we are ^.^
~ Leila