Nico's heart raced uncontrollably in his chest as Will held him. He couldn't quite grasp what had just happened, couldn't believe he had said what he had said. It seemed so… unbelievable. After a moment of silence, Will was the first to speak. Nico didn't mind; he had no idea what to say, anyway.

"So…" Will began. "I'm glad you don't hate me."

Nico looked up, confused. Will studied him gingerly.

"Hate you?" He asked in a small voice. "Why would I hate you?"

"Well… um…" Will stammered. "You know, I kissed you 'n stuff. Without asking." He blushed.

Nico blushed, too.

"Oh," he said. "That's… okay."

Will chuckled. In the distance, the Conch Horn sounded for dinner.

"I guess that's our call," Will glanced towards the dining pavilion.

Nico almost sighed; he felt so comfortable in Will's arms, hiding away in the shadows of the trees that he didn't want to go. He wanted to hold on and tell Will to skip dinner.

"I guess," he answered instead.

Will took a step backwards, taking Nico's right hand and tracing his cheek with the other.

"You're too damn cute, you know that, Death Boy?" He grinned, his expression full of affection.

His tender gaze made Nico so uncomfortable that he blushed and looked to the side.

"Don't call me that," he murmured, but, even to himself, he didn't sound convincing.

"Sure." Will started in the direction of the dining pavilion, still holding on to Nico's hand.

Nico stayed put and glanced at their joined hands.

"What?" Will asked.

"Um…" Nico began. "Could we not…?"

Will followed Nico's eyes and frowned.

"What? You want to keep this a secret?"

Will looked so displeased that Nico hesitated. But he simply wasn't a person for showing affection in public, much less admit that he and Will were now – wait, what exactly were they, anyway? He stared at the ground until Will sighed and let go.

"Okay, okay." Will put his hands up in defeat. "But don't expect me to hide forever. I do want to show my boyfriend off to people."

"Boy –"

"Oh, don't look so surprised, Nico!" Will chided. "Or are you so easygoing that you would go around smooching just anyone?"

Nico only glowered at him. Why was it that he liked this boy, again?

"See? Didn't think so." Will shrugged and started walking off.

Nico had to take a few big steps to catch up to him.

"And don't say 'smooching'," he grumbled.

Will grinned.

Will sat at the Apollo table, the object of highest interest with all his cabin mates. Nico at the Hades table almost faded into the shadows. Will was in such high spirits, the pestering didn't bother him in the slightest.

"Sooo…" Austin eyed him mischievously. "What did Nico want with you earlier?"

"Hm." Will shrugged. "Talk."

"You talked for an awful long time." He wiggled his eyebrows and Will grinned, bringing his face closer to Austin's.

"What? You never have nice long chats with your friends, Austin?"

The other boy blushed, losing his train of thought, and Will laughed.

"Campers!" Chiron's voice rang through the dining hall.

Will and his cabin mates looked up.

"This week, I have received very favourable news." He smiled warmly as he gazed towards Percy. "It seems that Leo Valdez, the boy we thought had sacrificed himself for the sake of defeating Gaea –"

A ripple of sigh and sobs went through the tables. Cheerful, funny Leo had been an annoyance, but also a camp favourite. And he had been head counsellor for Hephaestus.

"Now, now," Chiron said. "What I was about to say is that, apparently, we were wrong."

"Wrong?" A young boy from Hephaestus jumped to his feet.

"Yes. Leo seems to be very much… alive. It appears he is currently travelling, though, and will only come by Camp Half-Blood sooner or later."

A sudden cheer erupted all throughout the hall. Will saw the little boy crying happily and glanced to Nico who, when he thought that nobody saw him, smiled fondly. Will chuckled.

"So!" Chiron called and they settled down. "In honour of this news, we shall hold a game of Capture The Flag tomorrow night." Chiron raised his goblet. "To the gods!"

"And to Leo!" Another Hephaestus camper called. Chiron chuckled.

"Yes," he said. "And to Leo."

"To the gods! To Leo!"

After dinner, they all gathered at the campfire and, as always, the Apollo cabin led a cheerful sing-along. Everyone was in a wonderful mood that evening and Nico couldn't blame them. What he had told Will had been true: he had never really bonded with Leo. But after losing his mother and Bianca and going through so much on his own, Nico had felt pretty bad when Leo had died. Something had felt off with Leo's death, sure, but Nico had still felt him die. It was a child of the underworld thing that he could feel it when people slipped off into his father's realm.

Now, in the celebrations of the night, Nico studied Will. Together with his cabin mates, he sang and danced in front of the fire. He didn't play an instrument, but his brother, Austin, was a wicked saxophonist. The orange light of the fire gleamed in Will's hair and he was practically glowing. Maybe that was an Apollo thing? Just as Nico was pondering that question, Jason popped down next to him.

"Will's a pretty good singer," he said, following Nico's gaze. Nico cursed himself and frowned.

"Whatever," he mumbled.

"Hm." Jason studied him. "Don't you wanna join us?"

He gestured towards the better half of the Argo II's crew that was gathered together at one side of the fire, together with Grover and a green tree nymph. They were joking happily, Annabeth encased in Percy's arms and the tree nymph dancing around them. Nico made a face.

"No thanks," he said. "Too much fluffiness."

"Aw, come on man." Jason elbowed him. When Nico silently rubbed his arm and stared into the fire, Jason rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, I get it."

But he stayed by Nico's side for a while.

"Say," he said after some silence.

"Hm?"

"So… you're really over Percy?" Jason looked worried, the shadows of the fire deepening the lines in his face.

It occurred to Nico that he might have taken Nico's unwillingness to join them as a sight of not wanting to be near 'Percabeth', as the Aphrodite kids called the couple. Recalling all of the events that had happened today (okay, admittedly, all the Will), the thought of jealousy towards Annabeth almost made him laugh. He granted Jason a small smile.

"It's not like you think," he told him. "I'm honestly very much over Percy. As I said," he glanced towards the son of Poseidon who grinned sheepishly with his girl in his arms, "he is cute, but he's not my type."

Jason seemed to believe him and his face relaxed.

"Okay," he said, suddenly looking mischievous. "Who is your type, then?"

Just as Nico was about to deny having a type, his type appeared and squeezed in between Jason and him. Nico blushed and wanted to slap him.

"Hey Nico, Jason." Will nodded at them both and smiled, obviously satisfied with himself.

"Hey, Will…" Jason eyed him curiously.

Will hadn't put an arm around Nico or grabbed his hand, but their shoulders were touching and Nico's heartbeat sped up.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Nico's –"

"Nothing!" Nico intervened, before Jason could say anything.

"Nothing?" Will knitted his eyebrows.

"Nothing of importance." Nico shot him a warning look like 'hold back, will you'.

"Hm." Will shrugged.

Nico wanted to roll his eyes when he saw Piper trotting over to them, followed by Percy, Annabeth, Grover and the nymph.

"Hey guys." Piper called, smiling.

The others joined them and Piper chatted away cheerfully, occasionally joined by Percy and Annabeth, who tried to look annoyed at him, but mostly failed. Great, now Nico was encased in a cocoon of fluffiness if he wanted it or not. When they started recalling the stories of their adventures, Jason throwing in bits and pieces of his time in Camp Jupiter, Nico decided it was time to grace the Hades cabin with his presence. He had made improvements to it during the week and, unexpectedly, it started to feel like home to him. Unnoticed by the others, who were entranced by Grover's story of being a Cyclops' bride, he slipped away.

Of course, Will followed him shortly afterwards.

"Hey Nico!" He called and jogged up to him just as he was nearing his cabin. "Wait up."

Nico took a deep breath and forced his racing heart to calm down. It was a minor success. Will put a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly, though worry clouded his blue eyes.

"You okay?"

Nico almost smiled.

"Yeah," he said.

"Um…" Will walked beside him, their fingers touching every now and then. "Sorry about earlier."

"Earlier?" Nico asked.

"Er, you know…" Will blinked sheepishly. "When I kind of interfered with you and Jason…" His voice drifted off and this time Nico couldn't help but smile.

"You were being a bit obvious," he told him.

"I know…" Will pouted and Nico wanted to kiss him very badly.

"What was that, anyway? There was way more space on my right."

Will halted and stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Seriously?" He asked and Nico frowned.

"What?"

"I sat between you and Jason on purpose, Death Boy!"

"Don't call me – wait!" Nico blinked. "On purpose… don't tell me you were –"

"Oh no." Will groaned and covered his blushing face with his hand.

"Jealous?" Nico asked, incredulously. He was genuinely surprised.

"Of course I was jealous, Nico," Will admitted. "Jason is like a blonde superman."

They had now arrived at the Hades cabin and Nico looked up at Will, a little flustered.

"I don't feel that way for Jason, I never have," he said. "We're only friends."

"I know, but still…" Will pouted again.

Nico couldn't take it anymore, so he took Will's hand and dragged him behind the cabin, in the shadows were no one could see them.

"Nico, wha –"

But before he could finish his sentence, Nico had already pressed his lips upon Will's. Startled at first, the son of Apollo did not respond, then he pulled Nico closer and tenderly cupped his neck. When they let go of each other, Nico blushed and stared to the side.

"Do you understand now?" He asked quietly.

Will nodded.

"Good."

With that, Nico briskly walked to his cabin's entrance, turning back only when he was almost inside. Will still stared at him, his face flushed.

"Good night, Will," he said and quickly entered.

Through the closed door, Nico could hear Will's muffled voice.

"Good night, Death Boy."

Nico sighed and a smile crept over his face.

Okay, I admit it, I thought I had finished my story, but then I kind of want to continue. Damn these to awkward little cupcakes, I love them so much!

Yours in demigodishness and all that.

Peace out,

Chapgirl