Will drove to Nico's house with anger clouding his fear. Nico lived close to the school, deep in the neighborhoods Will had never dared venture into before. The houses were large but falling apart, none looking taken care of or relatively new. A dog walked around with no chain, a couple men sat on their porch and eyed Will as he drove by. A gun sat in the one's lap but he didn't draw it.
Will pulled up to one of the largest and most rundown houses. He parked in the driveway, locked his car, and walked up to the porch with shaky legs and one hand around his bracelet. It was a simple blue thread but had used to be Lukas' favorite. A part was still stained with blood.
Nico opened the door soon after Will knocked, his hair a mess and his uniform shirt untucked. His tie hung undone around his neck, the red material laying on the white shirt peacefully. He looked like he had just woken up, despite the fact that he had been texting Will not too long before.
"Come in," he stepped back to let Will in before closing the door behind him, locking it up. "Let's go sit down and talk. We...we need to talk."
"About how you stalked my old friend? Yeah, we do." Will looked at him. "Where are we talking?"
"I'm not the only one in the wrong here," Nico argued. "You called me Lukas!"
"I'm sorry! It was one mistake!" Will put his head in his hands. "God, I feel like my parents."
"Fighting about an old boy?" Nico scoffed.
"Actually, yeah." Will replied bitterly. "Just...take me somewhere we can sit down. We need to actually talk and not yell if we're going to get anywhere."
Nico pulled him upstairs, his footsteps heavy and his grip on Will's arm tight. They soon entered a bedroom about as dark as Nico's eyes, with a mattress on the floor and clothes strewn around. There was no furniture.
Nico sat on the mattress before tapping next to him for Will to do the same. "I don't know how to start."
Will sat across from him. "From the beginning. Everything you know. Because I know you looked him up, Nico, and I know you figured something out. You told Percy that he liked to be called Blue, and I never told you that. So tell me everything you know."
Nico sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Fine. Here it goes."
Maria di Angelo, a respectable woman, married too young to a man much older than herself. She looks down at the babies in her arms, knowing very well that she'll barely be able to even take care of one by herself. She'd never survive two.
The voices outside the room get to her, make her hold the baby boys close to her chest in fear. When Hades came in, she'd have to make a decision. He needed to know which one they were giving away.
Maria pulled the old camera closer before taking a picture of her two newborns, tears pouring from her eyes as she looked down at the identical faces. She would lose one of her babies that day. She hadn't even named them, but here she was, deciding which one her husband would deliver to the family in need.
She kept the healthier one, knowing very well that the little one would need more love and care. Care Hades wouldn't allow her to give. So, kissing the baby's forehead and looking at him one more time, she handed him over to her waiting husband.
She never saw him again.
Will and Nico walked into the school building as the last bell of the day rang, side by side against the onslaught of kids running to get home. They waited in the third-floor bathrooms for Percy, Nico wrapped in a hoodie and Will still in his uniform. Neither glared at each other or held hard feelings, but instead sat together in peace.
"You ready, Will?" Percy asked as he walked into the bathroom. He looked at Nico in surprise before smiling. "So, you two made up?"
"You can say that," Will admitted. "So, where is this sixth-floor swimming pool?"
"Not on the sixth floor." Percy laughed. "Come on, it's at Leo's. You coming?"
Will looked to Nico as they walked out. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Nico glanced over at him, his thin smile gracing his lips. "That wouldn't have been fun, now would it?"
Damn, did Will finally see what he had been missing.
"We're taking my car," Percy looked back at them as they exited the school. "Come on, walk faster, lovebirds."
"Saying me and Will are lovebirds is like saying that you and Jason drank that bottle of wine." Nico retorted, confusing Will to no end but making sense to Percy. The older boy simply shrugged and got in his front seat, greeting Annabeth who had been waiting in the passenger's seat. Will and Nico hopped in the back, barely having time to close their doors before Percy sped off.
"What did you mean?" Will asked. "Something about them drinking a wine bottle?"
"Inside joke," Nico admitted. "Don't worry about it."
Will nodded, assuming that Nico had told Percy off for calling them lovers. Never did he think that Nico would have done the opposite.
"Do you have a bathing suit, Will?" Annabeth asked, looking back at them. "If not, I'm sure Leo has one you can borrow."
"I'm borrowing Nico's, but thanks." Will smiled. "He said he never swims, anyway, and I believe him."
"You're right about that." Annabeth turned back around. "I'm surprised he even brought his."
"I only did so he could use it," Nico grumbled. "I've never used it before and it's been a waste of money."
"I'll use it, don't worry. I love swimming." Will's eyes lit up. "Surfing was my all time favorite, but swimming is still up there."
"Oh, right, you're a Californiac," Nico replied dryly. "I almost forgot."
Will elbowed him lightly before looking out the window. "Where does Leo even live?"
"Suburb not too far," Annabeth replied. "A pretty nice neighborhood. His dad owns a mechanic shop, so they get their money."
Will nodded, watching the streets go by. Nico, Lukas, Nico, Lukas...
At least it wasn't only Lukas filling his mind anymore.
A.N: what Will and Nico talked about will be revealed through flashbacks and their conversations as the story goes on~Peyton
