Nico woke up drowsily, the sunlight streaming through the window, into his eyes. He sat up off of Will, looking over to see he was still asleep. He looked better, however, even though only the medicine had affected him.

Nico pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at his missed messages, seeing that most of them were from Percy, while some were from his manager. Knowing what that meant, Nico cursed under his breath and opened his social media sites.

He really should have been expecting it, but he never dreamed it would be that bad.

First he opened Twitter, seeing how his inbox was blown up with fans asking if he was alright. This wasn't bad, and he would have responded, but then he saw the hate tweets that never really went away. They talked about how the band had staged the shooting, trying to make themselves more famous.

Nico left it alone, not saying a word, and opened Instagram. He checked the trending hash tags, sighing in relief when they were only about the shooting, not him. Luke Castellan's name was everywhere as the news got out, but Nico was mostly kept out of it.

He turned his screen off, leaving it to Percy to tell of Beckendorf's death.

Charles Beckendorf.

Nico hadn't been that close to him, but it was still sad to seem someone killed so young. At least, Nico thought, he had gotten to live before he died.

But most kids at that school hadn't.

The door opened, a nurse coming in to check on Will. She left soon after, but Nico still felt like it was a disturbance. It made him lose his train of thought, his thoughts going back to the day before.

It shock him up just thinking about it, remembering how Will bled out on top of him and the screams of his classmates. The way Nico had been raised…he should have noticed the gun on Luke that day. Maybe, just maybe, he may have been able to save all of their lives. But he had been stupid, caring too much about Percy Jackson figuring out his stupid mistake and yelling at Will.

He had yelled at Will, who could have been dead by the end of the day.

"Nico…?"

Nico whipped his head around, facing Will. The blond was staring at Nico, his eyes squinted in pain as he tried to get his bearings. "Where am I?"

"The hospital." Nico told him. "You're okay. They fixed you up. Annabeth called your parents, so they're probably on their way."

"The hospital?" Will asked, wincing. "Why am I at the hospital?"

Nico sighed, picking at his fingernails. "Remember? We were fighting, and there was this school shooting…"

Will flinched. "T-that wasn't a dream?"

Nico shock his head sadly. "Unfortunately, it wasn't."

Will looked at him sadly. "Who's dead?"

Nico shrugged. "We don't know for sure. I mean, they probably do, but I don't. I only know Beckendorf, Silena, Luke, and Chris."

"Luke…" Will laid his head back, closing his eyes. "He shot me. Why?"

"I don't know." Nico told him honestly. "Just be happy that you're alive. A lot of kids lost their lives yesterday."

"It was already yesterday?" Will looked out the window, seeing that the sun was up. "Why have I been out for so long?"

"You had surgery." Nico explained. "On your shoulder. You lost a lot of blood, Will."

Will flexed his fingers on his bad side, wincing from pain. "I was shot…"

Nico looked at him hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Sunshine." Will waved his good arm, smiling. "I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, look exhausted. Have you been here all night?"

Nico nodded, trying not to smack him for the nickname. "They said somebody needed to stay with you, and your parents were out of town. I didn't mind, though, so don't worry."

Will sighed, nodding. "So, yesterday was a pretty rough day. Do you…forgive me for telling Percy? Nico, I was just trying to help-"

Nico connected their lips, not even realizing what he was doing until Will kissed back, his good arm now wrapped around Nico's neck. Nico pulled back quickly, looking down at the boy as a blush covered his face.

"I forgive you and I remember." Nico told him.

"You remember now?" Will asked, his voice laced with excitement, despite the situation.

Nico nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I do. That's the only good thing that came out of yesterday."

Will smiled largely, looking in Nico's eyes. "So you agree to be my boyfriend?"

Nico blushed. "So-Solace!"

Will laughed, the noise echoing throughout the room. "Come on, Nico. You know you were thinking it."

"Fine…" Nico looked down at his lap in embarrassment. "You got me this time."

Percy cleared his throat from the door, making Nico jump up from embarrassment.

"Jackson!" he yelled. "What did I tell you about eavesdropping?!"

Percy smiled, strolling into the room and going up to Will. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." Will responded. "Did you hear from my parents?"

"They should be landing in New York in about ten minutes." Percy answered. "I told them everything and your room number, so they'll be here as soon as they can. I'm sure they'll love to meet their son's boyfriend."

"Percy!" Nico picked up his phone. "Do you want me to leave?!"

"Walking out on him already?" Percy smiled.

"Bye, Will." Nico nodded to him before walking past Percy, waiting in the hall for Percy to leave, leaning against the wall.

"Nico, what's up?" Jason called, walking down the hall next to Piper. Nico wondered if they were a thing, but didn't have it in him to ask at the moment. "What are you doing out here?"

"Percy's being insufferable." Nico answered. "Will's awake, if you want to go in and see him."

Jason nodded. "You should come in, though. Annabeth and the rest are on their way down, and we're all going to talk about this, share stories and regroup.

Nico scowled. "We don't need to share stories."

"Yeah, we do." Jason told him. "Please, Nico? It'll help some of us get over it."

"There'll be no getting over it." Nico told him, but nodded, following him inside the room. He sat down next to Will, waiting and dreading the others' arrival.