::: Hey everyone...ShinxLover99 here. Sorry it took me so long to update. Didn't think school work would be that hard. Ugh, andways my demigods, here's the continuation of that chapter. Hope you enjoy, puns intended. :::
Will led him to a nondescript building behind some extremely tall fan-like bushes and ushered him inside through a side entrance. It was nice if not rather bland and appalling. The walls were all the same cream color and it was full of blue colored lockers with benches in front of them, foggy mirrors attached to the side and barely functioning ceiling fans slowly twirling above them. In all honesty, it reminded Nico of the football player's locker rooms back in California, except this one smelled more like chemical solutions rather than body odor.
Either way, if the gleam in Will's eyes told him anything, it told him that he planned on ravishing the young Greco-Italian against one of those suspicious looking walls. This was almost okay with Nico; except he was truly afraid he would catch something if his bare skin came in contact with any of the shady looking surfaces in the changing room.
He followed Will down one the last isles and watched silently from a few feet away as he put in the combination to his lock. He sent a smirk over his shoulder at the shy looking boy and opened the locker to rummage through a bag.
Nico took a moment to look over Will's shoulder at the inside of his locker door. There were three pictures taped to it. One was obviously a picture of him and Clarisse from their younger days. They were maybe twelve or thirteen and Clarisse was taller than him, slinging an arm over his shoulders and holding a sheild to his chest and a sword in her other hand, raised in victory or something. Will was beaming at the camera and wearing an orange t-shirt, the same as the girl next to him, one arm slung around her waist and the other lifted to wave at the camera. It made something unpleasant rise in the back of Nico's throat.
The next picture was a larger one, a family picture with four people in it. Will was sitting in the middle of an antique looking couch with a little girl in his lap, both of them smiling as overdramatically as they could. On one side of Will was a women with bleach blonde, shoulder length hair and a kind face, a small and amused smile playing on her lips as she tried to ignore the two kid's antics, and on the other side of him was an older man with soft brown hair and gray streaks running through his small beard, one hand resting on Will's shoulder and the other rubbing the back of his neck. They looked happy.
The last picture was of Will and the same little girl from the other picture, maybe a year older. She was adorable, with the same brown hair as the older man but longer and in crazy kinks and curls, calming green eyes and a bubbly smile, which was perhaps ten times as adorable because she was missing her two front teeth. The little girl, Hope if he remembers correctly, was sitting on top of Will's shoulders, her small grubby hands thrown into the air in excitement. Will's hands were wrapped around her feet to keep her from falling. His shing summmer day eyes were twinkling with adoration as he was looking up at the little girl with a proud smile.
They all looked so happy and full of life in those stolen moments. Photographs had always fascinated Nico because it was hard to believe something so precious could forever be captured, the emotions spread across people's faces as they lived a moment that could never be lived again. Even though memories would dissolve and words would be forgotten, you would always remember the surge of emotions that you must have once felt because the evidence would be right there in front of you. Even if memories faded and lives changed, there would always be proof that it did happen, that you were once young and strong and beautiful, happy and carefree, and that gives you hope that maybe you could be that way again.
Will was watching him look at the pictures with softened eyes, standing there with his button down shirt hanging off of his shoulders and his belt open. Nico blushed when he realized he was being observed and met Will's eyes hesitantly. "Is this your family?"
One of Will's hands came up to briefly caress Nico's cheek before moving it to ghost over one of the pictures, relishing how his blush traveled down his neck and towards his collarbone at the fleeting touch. "Yes. This is my mother, Victoria, and my father, Christopher. The munchkin is my baby sister. You remember how I told you about her?"
Nico nodded once and allowed his eyes to travel from Will's long fingers to the picture with the little girl on his shoulders. "She looks like a sweet little thing."
He cut his eyes over to the older boy at Will's snort. "Oh, yeah, she's quite the endearing little monster. Don't turn your back on her though, next thing you know, you'll be in a pink princess dress having a royal tea party with the stuffed animal court, drinking tap water tea and stale cookies under threat of tattle-telling that you said a no-no word. She's only four and she already knows all she needs to in order to be a perfect lawyer, blackmailing and persuasive puppy dog eyes and all."
Nico laughed at the thought of Will being stuffed into a frilly dress and making small talk with inanimate animals. Will's smile was far off as he ran his fingers down the picture. "I take it you know from experience?"
"More than I care to admit. It was horrifying." Will's smile widened at Nico's laugh, one that was as uninhibited as he had heard so far. He wanted to hear that laugh more often, preferably with his also being the cause of it. "What are you laughing at, di Angelo? It was awful."
A peel of disbelieving laughter escaped his lips as he took a step closer to Will. He didn't notice his sudden proximity to the older boy, but Will sure did, and he took full advantage of it, resting one hand on Nico's side and pulling his body even closer. "You have nothing on me, Solace. I have an older sister, that means I was forced into being her real life dress up doll from before I could walk until she just didn't have time to torture me anymore."
Will had slowly maneuvered Nico around him while he talked until he was being pressed against one of the closed lockers, Will's body mere centimeters away from his. "Mm. So she made you wear dresses?"
The metal was cool on his back, the change in temperature finally alerting Nico to their change in position, but he couldn't find it in him to care when Will's plush lips were so close to his own. He knew he probably should think more about what he was doing before he made any decisions, but thinking seemed so impossible with the way Will was looking at him, like he was the most delicious and the most precious thing in the world at the same time. Nobody had ever looked at Nico like that before, and it was intoxicating.
"Yes." He whispered, eyes locked onto Will's lips moving closer to his own.
He could feel each exhale of hot breath against his parted lips, tasting like summer air and heat. Nico was shivering with anticipation each time Will's lips barely touched his own, but he would just pull away before Nico could even think about trying to turn it into a proper kiss. Nico's gaze never broke away from Will's lips, but Will's eyes were firmly set on Nico's own, watching him watch his lips. If the younger boy was to look up at that moment, he would see the lust swirling in his blues, but he would also see overwhelming affection for the smaller boy. But all he could see was the pink of Will's lips and the only thought in his head was how much he wanted to take his bottom lip between his own and bite down, turning that alluring pink into a deep red.
"Now that is something I want to see." Nico's eyes widened in surprise. He breathed in a sharp gasp at the dark look plastered across Will's face. Before he could fully wrap his head around Will wanting to see him in a dress, and, oh, what a wealth of images that gave him, Will's lips were on his own and every rational thought left his mind.
Will's lips were surprisingly cold, much colder than they were when they kissed in the bathroom at that restaurant and the library. But they tasted just as sweet. He tasted exactly like how he smelled; sweet and with the sharp bite of salt, much like he knew his skin would taste. The blue eyed Adonis was not hesitant in his movements this time, quickly turning the chaste kiss into something more hot and heavy.
He could feel his tongue pushing against his lips and he wanted nothing more than to allow him entrance. Barely parting his lips, Will swept his tongue inside his mouth slowly, allowing him plenty of time to pull away. When Nico moaned at the taste, he took it as permission to further his exploration.
His tongue was slow in its investigation, taking his time to taste his gums and the backs of his teeth, rubbing sensuously against his own inquisitive one. Will withdrew his tongue from his mouth and left it just barely brushing against his lips, like he was waiting for him to follow. So that's what he did. Hesitantly, he stuck his own tongue out in an unsure way, not used to kissing after it had been so long.
Will pulled his tongue into his mouth and sucked on it, swirling his tongue around the muscle in his mouth in a suggestive manner. Nico's knees went weak and he fell fully against the locker, Will's body pressing against his own and keeping him from falling to the floor. He felt Will's half hard cock rubbing against his stomach, the base of it just brushing the tip of his own erection.
Nico moaned around Will's tongue, which had thrust back in his mouth urgently. He pushed his fingers through Will's wild locks and grasped him by the back of his neck, locking their lips together hungrily.
He forgot all about the nasty lockers he was being pressed into and just enjoyed the feeling of Will's body rubbing against his own, the taste of his tongue dancing in his mouth for the first time sober.
Cold hands slid down the side of his face, his neck, running over his smaller chest and lean stomach, stopping at the hem of his pants to push up under his thin t-shirt. A single finger made a circle around his belly button before continuing up to run over a nipple. Nico threw his head back from the kiss to gasp at the sting of Will's fingers pinching his slowly erecting nipple. He never knew his nipples were so sensitive, but hot damn, was that a nice feeling.
Will used the opportunity to move his lips sloppily down his jaw and then his neck. He left wet kisses down his neck, stopping to bite harshly at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Nico let out a pathetic whimper at the playful bite, hips thrusting in the air to get some sort of relief from friction, but Will was denying him, pulling back from his body far enough where Nico couldn't reach him. Nico whimpered in protest and the other boy chuckled darkly at it.
He felt him pull back to inspect his handiwork and saw him smirk at the mark he left, which would surely be a garish purple by morning. Nico whined as pathetically as he could manage in his ravished state at the lack of contact, trying to entice the older boy to put his lips back on his body. Will stared at him with hooded eyes and smirked, leaning in to lick a wet stripe up the side of his neck. When he reached his ear he sucked his earlobe into his mouth and bit down onto it ruthlessly.
Desperate moans were flooding out of Nico's mouth as the shell of his ear was being licked and bit. Will's hands, which were still tugging at his nipples, moved around and swept down his back, this time moving past his jeans to cup his butt. He pulled the younger boy into his body with his new leverage and crashed their lips back together, both of them moaning at the feeling of their cocks grinding against each other.
Nico's hands were thrown over Will's shoulders, one hand grasping his neck and the other clawing at his back. They were kissing frantically, breathing heavily through their noses and trading breathless whimpers. Nico was being louder than Will, he knew that, but he couldn't stop. It felt so right for Will's hands to be all over his body.
It was only when Will's hands traveled to the front of his pants and attempted to unbutton them that Nico remembered his resolve to not get fucked into some sketchy locker room wall. With an effort he didn't know he had in him, he pulled his lips back and breathed against the ear, not trusting his lips to listen to his brain if they were within kissing distance of Will's. "No, Will... "
He felt the body pinning him to the wall tense and then he was pulling back, still holding Nico by the hips but disconnecting all other contact form their bodies. Will's eyes were a mix of confusion and subdued lust, not understanding why he asked him to stop. "You don't want... ?"
Nico laughed breathlessly at the concerned furrow between his brows, loving that Will actually stopped to listen to him even though it was obvious he was beyond aroused by now. "No, no, not that. I do want... "
A small amount of relief bled into Will's muscles and he started to run his hands soothingly up and down his sides. "Yeah?" He was grinning at him rather stupidly, but it was hiding so much restrained yearning that it was hard for Nico to focus on anything else but the erection he could feel again if he just moved forward maybe six inches. Will spoke again and he forced his eyes from his manhood to meet his gaze. "Then what is it, babe?"
A part of him melted a bit at the nickname. He allowed his own grin to spread across his face as he wrinkled his nose exaggeratedly. "Well, it stinks in here."
Will's face morphed into an expression of utter shock, eyebrows disappearing into his hairline and mouth forming an inviting 'o'. Then he let out a loud peel of laughter, his head thrown back and exposing that long neck. His laugh was contagious and soon he was joining him, giggling foolishly and watching Will melt years off his face, leaving him the carefree young boy from the picture.
When his laughter finally subsided into silent chuckles, Will leaned forward and rested their foreheads together, winking at the younger boy. "You're right. It smells anything but pleasant. Give me a moment to change?"
Nico nodded and pushed on the other boy's chest to give him room to maneuver around his body to give him access to his locker. He situated himself on the bench as he watched the beautiful blue eyed boy slip his shirt the rest of the way off. He saw another tattoo on his shoulder blade and more of the one running down his side, but before he got a good look, Will had thrown on a light blue shirt with a Sunshine State Flag on the back. He would have to remember to trace every one of his tattoos with his hands and lips when he had the time.
Nico moaned loudly when he bent down right in front of him to take off his jeans. His ass was not even a foot away from his face and Will was doing it on purpose, he knew it, because could hear him snickering and then he was waving it back in forth playfully. Will was wearing bright yellow boxer briefs that clung to his ass like a second skin and it was taking all of Nico's strength not reach out and grope them, pulling them down to get a peak at what lay beneath them.
He snapped his eyes shut and spun around on the bench until he could no longer see any tempting part of Will. "What, Nico? Weren't you enjoying the view?"
Groaning at the taunt, he was almost tricked into throwing a glare over his shoulder, but he stopped himself at the last moment, knowing that he wouldn't be able to turn away again if he saw any part of the smooth expanse of skin laid out for all to see. "That was the problem. I was enjoying it too much."
Will laughed at his response and then there were arms wrapped around his shoulders and a nose pressed against his neck. He breathed noisily in and a pressed a quick kiss to the side of his neck. "Well, show's over anyway. Ready?"
Nico nodded and stood up, Will letting his hands slide from his shoulders down until he clasped their hands together, tugging him along.
Exiting the room, he saw that night had fully fallen trough a window. Will was moving them along as fast as he could with both of them still hard and aching. He didn't bother asking where they were going this time, he couldn't care less, as long as it had some sort of horizontal surface and was away from prying eyes.
He plastered himself to Will and left random kisses all over the broad expanse of his back and shoulders and the side of his neck, basically anywhere he could reach. They had only been walking for maybe two minutes before he ran into the body in front of him because he stopped walking. Will turned around and attacked his mouth, biting at his top lip and wrapping his large hands around the backs of his thighs, right under his buttocks, and lifting him effortlessly.
Nico was never one for manhandling before, but the way Will had done it as if he weighed nothing, something about it left him breathless and yearning for more. So he just hitched his legs a little higher up around his waist and draped his arms over his shoulders, allowing his mouth to be plundered and explored.
He felt Will's hand kneading his backside as he continued to walk backwards into a doorway, opening it loudly and bringing them into a room that Nico didn't take the time to look around at. Before he knew it, Will had dropped him onto some soft surface that he thought must have been a couch and then was covering his body with his own once again.
As soon as he felt Will's warm weight on his own, he reached down and tugged the offending shirt off of the enticing body so close to his own. Will followed suit and soon they were only left in their boxers, clothes strewn carelessly on all sides of the couch.
Will was ducking down to tug Nico's nipples into his mouth, biting at them and laving his tongue across them. It was all Nico could do to grip his shoulders tightly and pant at the ceiling. He ran his hands up and down his back, palming the muscles available to him. "Will... "
He was desperate, aching for anything to give him relief, and Will must have seen that frantic gleam in his eyes because he was suddenly pulling both of their boxers down and pressing their bare cocks together.
Nico's breath stuttered when he was finally given the friction he was seeking. Will was devouring the skin of his neck, giving the pale skin sharp, cutting bites, moving down to suck on his collarbone. He was no longer an active participant in his own body, too caught up in the pleasure Will was eliciting from his body.
A broad, tan hand ran down his abdomen to grasp both of their cocks, pushing them together and squeezing deliciously. Will slowly stroked their cocks with unhurried movements, hand too loose and moving too slowly to get them anywhere near to release even though they were both right there at the edge. Nico's hands were buried in Will's hair and in the back of his mind he wondered if he was pulling too hard and hurting him. From the dark moan that escaped Will's throat, Nico doubted the emotion he was feeling was pain.
"Will, please... " He was trying desperately to rock his hips with the movement of Will's hand but his weight was keeping his hips firmly in place, the only thing he could do was to allow the other boy to have his way with him.
A few torturous strokes later Nico knew that if he didn't come, he might actually explode. He tugged mercilessly at the locks twined between his fingers and wrapped his legs around Will's hips; doing anything he could just to get him closer god dammit! "Will, PLEASE."
The blue eyed young man let out an obscene moan at the tug to his hair and looked at the desperately writhing body underneath him. Nico had tears in his eyes he needed to come so bad. Will didn't say anything; he just kept staring into Nico's haunting eyes and tightened his grip on their cocks, speeding up his motions.
Nico's blush spread down to his chest and his breathing sped up, eyes caught with Will's. He felt Will's cock twitch against his own and he knew the other boy must be close, just like he was.
Will's hand was moving unforgiving around their cocks, setting a fast pace. He just couldn't look away from those sapphires, so bright as they stared at him half-lidded, so full of lust. Nico felt his mouth drop open as Will ran his thumb slowly over the glands under the head of his cock, then over the slits of both their cocks on the next upstroke, spreading the precome down the sides.
Nico shuddered when he felt Will's pinkie rub against one of the prominent veins on the side of his cock. All the while, they were staring at each other's faces, panting and begging with their eyes to come. His thumb ran over the head of his cock again and he felt the familiar pull of pleasure building in his gut.
He had just managed to whisper, "Will, I'm gonna-" before he choked on his words and the tide came crashing down on him, the waves carrying him away to a place with only enough room for pleasure and nothing else. He spilled over Will's hand and onto his own stomach, eyes rolling back into his head and mouth falling even further open. He felt more than he heard Will gasp and shudder against him and then he was joining him in his ecstasy, mixing their seed together.
They lay there on the couch breathing heavily for a couple of minutes, trying to catch their breaths and slow their heart rate. Will had fallen to the side of him but he was mostly still on top of him, his weight more comforting rather than constricting.
Nico was getting drowsy and the hand pushing through his sweaty curls wasn't helping him stay conscious. After a few more minutes of just enjoying their post orgasmic bliss, Will pulled away to walk to the back of whatever room they were in. He returned with a couple of tissues which he used to wipe away the sweat and come from both of their bodies.
Not knowing what else to do, Nico just watched him and enjoyed the view of a very much still naked Will roaming the room. When he had thrown away the dirty tissues, he sat down on the edge of the couch and kissed Nico on the forehead, beaming down at him.
"Well, should we get back to the party?"
That threw Nico off a little bit. He frowned at the other boy and sat up, giving him a confused nod. "I guess."
Will didn't seem to see his discomfort and just gave him a cheery "Great!" and started to pull on his clothes. Nico followed his example until they were both fully dressed and heading back toward the door. Nico was still frowning heavily, but gave an even more confused glare when Will stopped him at the door, laying his hands around his waist and kissing the edge of his mouth teasingly.
"Stop that. Everyone will just come looking for us if we don't get back." Nico looked at him suspiciously but he could see his point. As if sensing his hesitancy, Will chuckled and rubbed their noses together. He winked at the younger boy and pulled away to whisper into his ear.
"Don't worry. I'll be sure to ravish you something fierce after the party. What do you say, give it another hour and then make our excuses? I'll have you on your back and moaning in no time, sound good?"
Will was smirking at him confidently and Nico just rolled his eyes to downplay the blush he developed at his words.
"If you promise."
There were quite a few more people moving around in the museum than there was when they left. When they turned the corner to go back to their friends, their hands were still clasped tight together and Will was tapping his fingers on the back of his hand to a soft tune he was humming under his breath, bumping their shoulders together and smirking at the younger boy with each fake glare he sent him at being jostled.
But when the pulsating music could be felt in their bones and the flashing artificial lights from the party could be seen again, Will squeezed his hand and sent him a last wink before running off to disappear into the crowd, telling him that he would be back soon.
That was over an hour ago and he hadn't seen him since.
In that hour, Nico had managed to keep himself busy talking with his sister and Frank for ten whole minutes before deciding to go look for Will for the next twenty minutes, meeting everyone in his new group of friends and every other person at the party that was not named Will before realizing that he had a better chance of finding him if he wasn't running around from place to place and just stayed still.
So he found a concrete ledge that people were using as a makeshift bar and sat down in a lawn chair in front of it. And that was where he had been sitting, for over half an hour, hitting back shots like no one's business and eyes perusing the gyrating bodies of wasted college kids in front of him trying to catch a glimpse of compelling eyes and plump lips.
He refused to believe he was being stood up, not after the moment they just had. There was no way in hell that Will would just hump and dump him like that. Heh, hump and dump. That was for some reason really funny to Nico's tequila soaked brain. Which was strange in and of itself, he could have sworn he remembered promising himself he wasn't going to drink that much. What happened to that promise? Oh yeah, he was being humped and dumped.
Nico threw back another shot and glared at the fuzzy images moving before his eyes. He thought one of the blurs coming toward him looked like Clarisse, so he took a shot glass from the person seated next to him, ignoring their drunken protests, and downed it.
When his head tipped back down, Clarisse was standing next to him with an amused eyebrow raised but a concerned furrow to her brow. She reached out a slim hand and took the empty glass from his hand and put it on the ledge he was leaning back on. "I think you've had enough to drink. Nico?"
He could lie and say he was looking right at her and listening to her every word, but honestly, his gaze slid somewhere off past her shoulder where he thought he had seen a flag on the back of someone's shirt. Or maybe that was an actual flag he saw, wearing a hula skirt and drinking a corona. Maybe he should slow down on the shots after all.
A hand grabbed him by the chin, squishing his cheeks together and forcing him to meet Clarisse's stormy gaze. "Nico. Snap out of it, will you?" Her jaw was clenched tight and her lips were set in a firm line, and Nico would have flinched at the cold glare she was wearing, but it wasn't fixed on him. No, her icy glower was directed over his shoulder. Why was she allowed to look over his shoulder but he wasn't allowed to look over her shoulder? Maybe he would be allowed to look over his shoulder too.
Nico made a move to follower her stare, but Clarisse's eyes snapped back to meet his, slight panic gracing her features before she relaxed her face back into a blank expression. Her grip on his face tightened instinctually to keep his head facing toward her. His lips were puckered like a fish and his eyes were bugging out of his head in surprise.
He tried to grab her attention by calling out her name, but he could only manage a gurgled approximation to "cl-aw-isse?" that couldn't be heard over the sound of Natalia Kills purring about her sex life. Nico pouted at her and tried to cut his eyes to see what exactly was so fascinating behind him but she wouldn't ease up at all. What if he had bruises in the morning?
When he grasped her wrist and tried to pull it away from his face, she looked at him with that same wary expression and let him rub at his aching jaw. Her eyes were cutting between him and whatever caused her to adopt such a defiant stare, and when he finally got the opportunity to turn around, Clarisse was sliding behind his back and pushing him forward with rough hands. He was yelling at her, trying to figure out what exactly the hell was her problem, but she just kept shoving him through the crowd until they stumbled on a group of their friends.
His sister was sitting on Frank's lap, a beer in each of their hands. Leo was lying with his head in Calypso's lap and Jason and Piper were leaning against each other beside the sleepy Latino. They were all huddled in a half-formed circle, leaving just enough space for Clarisse and himself to fit in, almost as if they were expecting them at any moment. Which was strange enough, but they were looking at him with the same slightly panicked eyes and downturned frown that Clarisse had when she found him at the make-shift bar.
He narrowed his eyes at the sorrowful bunch in front of him. Something was definitely up. "What are you all looking at with those stupid faces?"
His sister was the first one to react, plastering a fake smile on her face and jumping up from her position on Frank's lap to take both of his hands in her own, pulling him down until he was a part of the circle. Clarisse slid in beside him, gracefully sliding to the floor and exchanging a significant look with Hazel over his head. He didn't miss the silent conversation between the two females, but he was more focused on the fact that they were both tall enough to have silent conversations over his head, which was completely unfair.
"Nothing, Nico." She was petting his hair, and even though he usually enjoyed it, he wasn't comfortable with the others seeing him like that. He scowled at her and swatted her hands away, but he misjudged where she was and ended up smacking himself in the face. Thankfully everyone chose to avert their eyes and pretend they didn't see him just make a fool out of himself. Seriously, how many shots did he take? He didn't feel drunk, so that was a bad sign.
Hazel withdrew her hands from his locks and gave him an encouraging smile. "We were playing Truth or Dare, we thought you might want to join us."
Leo raised his head up lazily and blinked at him. "Yeah. You totally missed it. Jason had to admit that he stapled his lip on purpose, Clarisse and Piper kissed, and Frank coped a feel on Hazel." Nico intensified his glare and turned it on his sister's boyfriend, daring him to confirm it. Frank looked like he was about to pass out from fear and Hazel was shooting daggers at the betrayer.
Leo's eyes widened and he glanced at his girlfriend, who was barely managing not laughing at his screw up, before stuttering to try to amend his mistake. "I-I, did I say Frank? I meant-I mean that I coped a feel on Hazel." Nico turned the full force of his glare onto the panicking boy and made like he was coming at him. Hysterical laughter accompanied the now scrambling Latino as he tried to hide from the angered younger boy by cowering behind his girlfriend. "T-That's not what I meant! I-I-I would never, really! What I meant to say was that I coped a feel with Cally here, y'know, my girlfriend."
Nico paused in a half-crouch from reaching out the strangle him and cocked his head to the side in suspicion. "Really?" He looked around at the other's faces disbelievingly. They were all nodding frantically and beaming at him with their fake smiles, so of course he didn't believe any of them. He was lucky that he was pretty sure he would fail at throttling the other boy as much as he failed at slapping his sister's hands away in the state he was in.
Sighing, Nico sat back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine." He wasn't pouting, of course he wasn't. Leo slowly peeked around his girlfriend and sat back beside her when he deemed it safe enough to come out again. Calypso gave him an exasperated grin and grabbed his cheek playfully.
Hazel cleared her throat and met her brother's eyes, her blush still burning. "Anyway. Let's play! Frank was the last to go." The Canadian gave him a sheepish grin and waved. "So, it's Frank's turn to ask the next question."
Clearing his throat, Frank looked anywhere but at Hazel and Nico. "Uh, I guess, Leo?" The little imp smiled at him. "Truth or dare?"
Leo lifted a finger to his chin as if the question was of vast importance. "Hmmm, dare! Because I am a macho-macho man after all." They all giggled a little and even Nico, who was still fuming about his sister being treated inappropriately and Will going off on an adventure and forgetting about him, managed to quirk an intrigued eyebrow at his answer. He might be interested in that story later, when he was sober.
"Okay, so, I dare you to take your pants off. And leave them off for the rest of the night." The group let out collective wolf whistles but Leo just shrugged and hauled himself to his feet. He shimmied out of his jeans and threw them over his shoulder, striking a pose like he was some underwear model.
He sat back down to applause and slung an arm around his girlfriend. Nico was looking at him with his mouth hanging open, unbelieving that he really just took his pants off in front of all these people. "What?" He smiled at him mischievously. "It's not like anyone will care, and besides, I don't have to be drunk to believe it's a good idea."
Nico had to admit that he had a point. Leo waggled his eyebrows and settled them dancing toward Piper. "Truth or dare, Pipes?" The Native American tugged on one the braids weaved into her choppy hair. "Truth for me, please."
"Is it true that Annabeth calls her dildo Pipes after you?"
Nico's eyes just about popped out of his skull. Annabeth was turning an alarming shade of red while the rest of them were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces. Piper was the only one who was controlling herself above the uproar, waiting with a patient smile until they could all settle down. Nico was astonished that they all could speak of such intimate things so nonchalantly. If he even thought of speaking about such things back home, Alex would have beaten him black and blue for being so callous.
They eventually calmed down enough to wipe the tears from their eyes. Piper waited until it was all quiet before speaking. "No." Disappointed groans sounded all throughout their circle. "But she likes me to call her the master of sex."
Groups from twenty feet away turned to stare at them because of the volume of their raucous laughter. Even Annabeth couldn't help but join in the merriment this time, red-faced and mock glaring at her girlfriend.
Piper patted Annabeth's face in a patronizing manner and turned to smirk at the instigator. "Back around at you Leo, still going with dare?" The gleam in her eyes promised revenge and Nico did not blame the guy at all for hastily shaking his head and choosing truth this time. Piper shrugged and looked at her nails. "Fine. Is it true that you say 'flame on' when you start to initiate sex?"
Nico was sure that their little group was going to die of laughter if this was kept up. Leo was turning an even darker shade of red than Annabeth did, Nico wouldn't be surprised if he literally burst into flames at any moment.
Leo crossed his arms indignantly and made several scoffing sounds in the back of his throat that were probably meant to be interpreted as a no but came out as a resounding yes. Calypso put a hand on the back of the embarrassed boy's neck and stroked it lovingly. She cleared her throat and pinched her boyfriend's ear. "It's totally true."
Nico could no longer see them clearly, he was shaking so hard from laughter. This was way more information than he had ever wanted to know in friends, especially new friends. Laughing like this was not very compatible with how much he drank, Nico noted with a queasy complain of his stomach.
The party resumed around them again, the people far more interested in their own conversations than those of their small gathering. Leo grunted to get all of their attention again. "Okay, okay. Let's all laugh at Leo, I get it. Moving on." His pout turned into an impish smirk that he directed at Nico.
"New guy's turn. So, Nico, truth or dare?"
Now he was uncomfortable again. They were all staring at him so welcomingly though, smiling like they had known him for years and were truly glad that he was here at this stupid party, playing truth or dare with them. Nico sobered a bit at the warming sensation spreading through his veins. "Um, truth, I guess."
"Are you a virgin?"
Just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Like ice being added to a warm drink, he turned frigid as a solid block of it settled into his stomach. His eyes dimmed and he tried to swallow around the hard lump that had lodged itself in his throat.
"Come on, you little bitch. Tell them all about how you just loved to put out for me. I'm sure they would all just be dying to be friends with you if they knew what a fat, cock slut you actually are."
The others were oblivious to his inner turmoil, waiting for him to answer with eager smiles. All except for Hazel and Clarisse, who were looking like they were waiting for him to run away. He had to admit he was tempted.
Instead, Nico just turned his eyes down to the grassy ground and whispered out a small "No", not audible over the still blaring music. He shook his head as well, hoping that they would just leave it at that.
Leo was halfway through a wolf whistle when Calypso hit him hard in the stomach with the back of her hand, effectively shutting him up. Everyone else seemed to notice the shift in Nico's mood and grew quiet accordingly, and even Leo understood what was going on after glancing around at his unusually somber bunch of friends, shutting his mouth with an audible pop and glancing guiltily at Nico.
Nico wasn't looking at him though; he wasn't looking at any of them. The grass beneath his feet was the most fascinating grass he had ever set his eyes on. So he plucked at it and tore the blades into little pieces until he had a nice pile of pseudo-lettuce covering his denim clad knee.
Someone cleared their throat and the whole group turned to stare at Frank, who had stopped coughing and was just grasping at his throat, frozen with everyone looking at him. He awkwardly lowered his hand back to his lap and gave a hesitant smile. "Sorry."
Leo acted like he wanted to giggle at him for breaking such an awkward moment in such an awkward way, but he made an effort to look contrite again at his girlfriend's raised hand. Every single one of his new friends were looking anywhere but at Nico, and he knew that there was no way that they all knew about his past, at least not any of them except for Hazel, but the way they were all avoiding looking at his face, pretending they couldn't see him, it hit too close to home.
His heartbeat sounded too loud in his ears, and even that could barely be heard over the sound of his harsh breathing. He couldn't breathe, only pulling in shallow little puffs of acidic air into his rapidly fluctuating lungs. The world was spinning and Nico couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or if his world was actually whirling him away into oblivion. The last option seemed far more appealing.
He could hear Hazel calling out his name but she sounded far away, like she was shouting at him from behind thick glass windows. People were staring at him now; not just his friends, but other people at the party, looking at him with concerned or fearful faces.
When did he stand up? He didn't remember, but he wasn't sure he was going to be standing for long, not with the way he was swaying with the rolling motion of his vision. It felt like he was caught in a tumultuous wave, lost in the ocean under the pressure of the water, drowning him and pulling him further under the current. Everything was muffled and he thought for sure that he was getting sea sick. Could someone even get sea sick when they weren't at the water?
Everything was blurry, colors mixing together and shapes becoming irrelevant. Nico whipped his head from side to side slowly, moving like he was stuck in molasses. Stuck in molasses under the sea, cloying his lungs and pores-that was what he felt like.
Nico slowly turned around in a circle, looking at all of the people looking at him, trying to meet the dark smudges where he knew their eyes were meant to be but his focus inevitably sliding off to the side to look through the next blotch of muddied color. He passed blurred image after blurred image until his eyes finally landed on a figure more solidly formed the others clouding his vision.
There was a small break in the crowd, and that was the crevice that he spied the bright figure through. Nico blinked owlishly a few times, trying to get his vision to focus. The figure slowly became less fuzzy the more times he blinked, but the others remained blurs of mutated shapes. It didn't matter; the bright figure in the distance was the only one that mattered to the disorientated boy.
The bright spot of color was in the form of a man, tall and slim and muscular, warm, inviting skin, shaggy hair, bright eyes and a smile that shone more brightly than the moon overhead and the neon lights streaming from the various portable light machines randomly scattered throughout the park combined.
Alex.
Nico's stomach churned in an awfully confusing way, like there were thousands of tiny butterflies fluttering around inside his intestines, knocking into his internal organs painfully, leaving him wanting to throw up from excited nervousness and uncomfortable alarm. He felt happy and terrified for his life at the same time, the cruelest divide between pleasure and pain.
He didn't know if he wanted to run up to him and hug him or run a knife through his chest. But he knew that he had to get to him, no matter what happened, he just had to at least see him again up close, touch him, kiss him, ask him to forgive him. Show him that he lost some weight, see?
Then those bright blue eyes were staring right at him, glinting dangerously. His mouth didn't move but Nico could still feel his words caressing his skin from the short distance between them.
"Well? What are you going to do about it?"
Unwelcome air rushed into his lungs when he inhaled sharply at the stab of pain and longing he felt at hearing his voice, so similar to the one he hears almost on a daily basis but sounding so much more real. Nico sputtered trying to get the air back out of his lungs, not ready for breathing again if it meant losing sight of his beautiful nightmare so close in front of him.
Nico took an unsteady step forward, Alex's image fading out like a TV losing signal before coming back into focus after more blinking on Nico's part. His image came back, but it was darker, his golden locks dimmed quite a few shades and his smile now absent. When he made to take another step in his direction, Alex's image faltered once again, not turning blurry, but like he was morphing into someone else. That wouldn't do. He stopped mid-step, his foot dangling in the air and holding his breath.
Alex smiled at him when he put his foot back down next to the other, choosing not to take that step. Nico wanted nothing more than to keep that proud grin on his face, but there was something chilling about it that kept him from returning it. It was like a shark in bloody water, swimming through the molasses sea he was drowning in, coming up on his prey, confident because he knew he had Nico exactly where he wanted him to be.
There was a pressure on his arm, hard like a vice that forced him to reluctantly tear his eyes off of his... his... what was Alex to him anyway? Another demanding squeeze and Nico looked doe eyed down at the hand on his arm before looking up into Clarisse's stormy, pleading gaze. Then she spoke.
"Nico, don't."
Everything slammed back into reality then, full color and picturesque as it was before. Nico could still feel his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage but the music and the sound of chattering people could be heard over the sound of his breathing. Clarisse was looking at him with wide eyes, no longer trying to hide the concern behind her emotionless mask. She was shaking her head at him, frown creating lines in her usually smooth forehead, every wrinkle pleading with him to listen to her.
Nico furrowed his brow in confusion at the panic so openly displayed on her face, and this time when her eyes darted behind him, he jerked his arm out of her grasp and turned to face what horrible thing that was causing her to look so downtrodden for him, wondering if somehow she knew and that Alex was actually here.
Oh.
He found Will. And the guy whose throat his tongue was thrust into.
Oh.
His world was no longer spinning. It stopped. The noise, movement, the very breath in his lungs. Everything just... stopped. Everything but the two in front of him.
Nico didn't notice anything about the guy clinging to Will other than the fact that he was a guy and that his grubby hands were pulling Will's face down into his own. No, he was looking at Will.
Will, who had his hands resting comfortably in the front pockets of his jeans. Will, who was doing nothing about the seemingly random guy clutching at his cheeks and invading his mouth. Will, who was allowing this other guy to dance around him. Will, who was maybe enjoying the other guy's lips on his own, lips that were not Nico's. Will, who was smiling around those lips that were not Nico's and who was probably inviting the other boy back to that stupid room with the couch in it.
Stupidly, Nico was missing Alex. At least he knew what was going on between them when they were together.
His view of Will and the mystery whore was interrupted by a worried face surrounded by frizzy, brown hair. Hazel was looking at him intensely. He stared back at her blankly. They stared at each other. Why was everyone always staring?
She reached out to take his hand and that was when the emotions bubbled over.
Nico's face twisted into a rage, tears marring his vision and a growl escaping his throat. He yelled at her, loud enough to cause a scene. "Don't touch me!" Hazel was looking at him hurt, not understanding why he wouldn't let her comfort him. He hated that look on her face, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.
His shoulders were heaving, breath fast and nauseating. "Nico... " He spun around to glare at the source of the gentle voice trying to reach him. It was Clarisse again, looking more human and caring than he had ever seen her before. "Please, it's not what you think."
Nico scoffed at her and felt rage boil under his skin. "Not what I think? How could it not be what I think?"
Clarisse's eyes hardened slightly, but remained calm and spoke in a tender voice, calling out to him like he was a wild animal, cornered and ready to attack. He supposed the description wasn't too far off. "No, it's not-"
"Oh, shut up!" He yelled, some spittle falling onto his chin with the force of his outburst. "Why are you pretending to care anyway? You don't even like me!"
Her lips thinned at his accusation. "You shouldn't speak of things you know nothing about."
"That's rich! Don't feed me that bullshit. The fuck if it matters anyway, I'm done." As quickly as his stomach let him, he whirled back around only to almost run into Hazel, who was still standing there blocking his way. He'd feel bad about the way he shoved her out of the way later, but for now, all that she was to him was an obstacle on his way to get back to his car.
When she was out of his way, he couldn't help but to look back in the direction that he saw Will at. He wasn't there, and neither was the guy he was with. Well, he hoped the couch was hell on that asshole's back.
Nico walked as fast he could out of the museum, only getting lost a few times before finding his way to the correct parking lot where his Baby was parked. He could barely see because of the tears spilling down his cheeks, but even with the tears, he hadn't had any more alcohol since before the start of their little game and he had sobered quite a bit, especially after the emotional rollercoaster he had just hopefully disembarked from.
So Nico knew there was no way in hell that he was imagining Will leaning up against the driver side door of his car. He stopped in his tracks to stare at the older boy, maybe five feet of distance between them.
After several uncomfortable minutes of the impromptu staring contest, Will cleared his throat and reached out a hand to smooth down the hood of Nico's car. "Nice car. She's a beauty."
Nico didn't say anything back. He just kept staring at the boy leaning up against his car so casually, like he had every right to be there. He didn't try to wipe away the tear tracks on his cheeks or try to stop them from falling down his nose.
"Nico?" Will pushed himself off the car. Nico's eyes flashed dangerously. Will fell back on the door.
The sounds of the party could be heard faintly in the background. Nico could hear both of their breaths, escaping out into the strangled atmosphere of the night. A car honked form the highway. A couple passed them laughing a couple rows away.
Silence reigned supreme.
But the silence was never Nico's friend and this particular silence was suffocating him. He could hear Alex chuckling in the back of his mind, begging him to find a way to screw this up even more than it already was.
He took a deep breath and set his eyes on the fabric covering Will's chest, moving past him to shove his key into the door of his car. When he had unlocked it, he tried to open the door, but Will's body weight was too much for his slim frame to move. "Move." He grunted.
Will just leaned further back on the door, trying to catch Nico's eyes. "Are you okay to drive?"
"Fuck you."
"It would be my pleasure."
Nico's shoulders were shaking as he tried to ignore how close Will's body heat was. His reflection was glowering back at him in the window, seething with anger and shaking with hurt. Nico felt more broken now than he ever had. "Just please move." A little more snappily, he added "Why don't you go back to dancing? It looked like you were enjoying yourself."
Will pushed himself back off of the car, out of surprise or hurt or confusion, Nico didn't care. He took the opportunity to heave his door open and throw himself inside, hoping to slam it behind him. Before he could fully close the door, Will's hand shot out and grabbed the window, stopping him from shutting him out.
He tightened his grip on the door handle but stared resolutely ahead. When Will spoke, his voice was indecipherable. Nico couldn't tell if it was because it was emotionless or because it had too many emotions brewing beneath it. "Jealous?"
Jealous. Was Nico jealous? He didn't feel jealous. Not anymore. He just felt... done. Very, very done with everything at the moment. Yes, that was what he was. Done, but not jealous. Jealousy would entail him feeling insecure and fearful, and that didn't sound like Nico at all.
"No."
Will withdrew his hand. Nico slammed the door, started up the car, and drove away. he didn't look at Will in the rearview mirror and he pretended he didn't see the hallucination of Alex sitting so pompously in the back seat of his car.
Nico drove down the streets of New York blindly, not paying attention to where he was going, relying only on instinct to get him back to SOCU. He absent mindedly wondered if Percy would be able to find himself a ride back, but he had to focus on his driving when he drifted into the other lane and almost had a head on collision with another car. They honked at him and he straightened himself out again.
He told himself that he was fine to drive, because he was. He couldn't see to drive and the alcohol was still making his vision a little swimmy, but he needed to drive, to get away.
He needed to get out of there. Out of his head. Away from Will. So that was what he was going to do. He was going to drive and he was going to drive until he was far enough away to not be bothered. Then he was going to find the nearest hidden area and he was going to throw up every last bit of food and excess fat he had consumed in the last twenty-four hours, and hope that it will be enough to make Alex disappear for a little while. Just long enough to clear his head again.
Make sure you read the AN at the bottom, or you will miss out on a big offer... :D
::: Okay, okay, I know, that was mean of me to do, but I couldn't resist. Have to have as much drama as I can manage. I wrote thids one correctly, and I'll have you know that I only cried for about half the time I spent writing this. If I can get a total of twenty five reviews, including the ones that are already thdere, so I need about ten more. They don't even have to be about the story. Give me some ideas as to what I could call you guys... Also this is time for a voting as well... I am tempted to ddo another version of the party... This time from Will's point of view. Find out what he was doing, why he was doing it, was he using Nico, or was he actually in love with Nico? Put the number 369-963 if you think that I should do that and put the number 666-666 if you think I should just continue. When I have twenty five reviews, or more, since I'm probably going to leave this alone for a while, see what people think, I'm going with whichever one has the majority. This is a once in a lifetime chance for all you demigods that have favorited and followed my story and possibly me... Hope you enjoyed my little mini disaster between Will and Nico, not sure how I shouldd resolve it... BYE! :::
