New Year guys! What kind of bullshit resolutions are you going to make today? Whatever they are, have fun with the disappointment knowing you probably won't keep to them! But to help that disappointment here's a chapter of solangelo to help you ;)

It was New Years Eve at Camp Half-blood and Nico was very content. The time was just gone two in the afternoon and a slight mist had settled over the valley. Nico was in a black sweater and skinny jeans with warm, fluffy pink socks on (they weren't his choice, he just authorised them, don't listen to what Will said.) while Will was in a grey turtle neck and mustard coloured jeans which went surprising well together and the two of them were just relaxing on a bench on the porch of Cabin 6, watching the day past by them. Will was sitting up and Nico was lying on top over Will with a blanket coving him while Will painted his nails black and a radio was on quietly next to them.

Nico was watching his boyfriend- gods it felt nice to say that- hypnotically brushing the nail varnish over his nails while enjoying the warmth of Will as his head was all snug in the crook of the blonde's neck.

"Why are you going this again?" He mumbled before placing a soft kiss onto Will's warm skin.

"Because you'd look nice with these nails," He dipped the brush into the little pot next to the two of them, "and if you got your ears pierced with small black earrings, you'd look extra beautiful."

"Is that even proper English?" Nico muttered.

"Maybe."

Nico just snorted and buried his face deeper into Will's warmth and gave a big yawn. Both of them were very tired from the previous night of restlessness though both were coving it up as much as possible in front of other people, but in this moment the two could relax...

Oh, wait, no they couldn't.

For a day or two after Christmas Will's nightmares almost subsided and Nico was elated, he began hoping that this was a progressive thing, something to show that Will was getting better. He had hoped that in a few months, the nightmares would be gone, it would be the perfect start to the New Year. Unfortunately, only three days after Christmas, Nico's hopes were dashed.

One night he found himself woken up at three in the morning. All was dark except the mini-sun at the top of the Christmas tree and Nico had been very confused as to why his inner body clock had gone whack.

He sat up trying to collect his thoughts when suddenly next to him, Will sat straight up and began to scream loudly in his sleep with eyes wide open.

Night terrors.

Nico took action fast, he'd had faced so many dreams when he'd woken up screaming and he never wanted to see this happening to anyone else. He started whispered Will's name in his ear and tried desperately to wake him up by stroking his face while running his hands through the blond hair, kissing his forehead . He could feel the sweat pouring from Will and he wanted to cradle the boy in his arms for ever and ever. He had faced a lot in his years on Earth but he'd never wanted to panic and cry as much as that moment.

A few seconds Will stopped screaming and opened his tear filled eyes.

"Nico...? What..." He said in a broken voice, a few tears slipped down his cheek.

"Hey, hey, Will, you're ok..."

A camper stirred in another bed and Will and Nico's eyes widened before they both hit deck and pretended to be asleep while the other camper (Nico guess it was Max ) sat up, muttering something about 'So much bad music from Austin was making him go mad' for a few seconds before laying down slowly and going back to sleep. Nico and Will just lay there in silence, looking into each other's eyes for a few minutes longer just to make sure no one was awake, water running down Will's face and water threatening to run down Nico's face as well as he was forced to lay there, unable to help the beautiful boy in front of him.

"I think they're all asleep..." Nico whispered shakily a few moments later.

Almost immediately Will lunged at him and pulled him into an almost suffocating, bone crushing hug, weeping into his shoulder. Hearing a sound Nico never wanted to remember made a tear slip down Nico's face before he pulled himself together again. Will needed him.

"He- he wasthere. He was just- just there." Will choked on a sob and made a strangled sound that made Nico's heart clench with worry before he started taking deep breaths mixed with little moans of pain.

Nico sighed and thought for a second. He had to try to talk to him, to keep him anchored, focused and not lost in a world of tears and bad memories.

"He's gone now Will... Don't wo-"

Will let another strangled noise. "He's gone!" Will whimpered.

He hugged Nico tighter, curling up his legs until his body was cramped into a ball-like shape a person would make when hugging their knees for comfort. Seeing Will like this made Nico want to scream and hot angry coursed through him, he wanted to hurt whoever did this to Will and then build a castle of solitude, just for the both of them. But seeing this also reminded him of something... Or more specifically someone.

Himself.

Nico didn't want to think about himself at a time like this, in his opinion he'd spent too much of his life wallowing in self pity and he intended to stop, especially when someone else was hurt, but holding Will just made memories resurface. Memories of a 10 year old Nico, crying by a fire on the streets, still trying to comprehend his sister's death. Nothing hurt more than her at the time. His heart felt like it had been ripped and he remembered how he sobbed and sobbed into the darkness on those gloomy nights...

...

Wha-

"Have you ever experienced heartbreak?" Will asked suddenly

Nico was quiet for a second before saying, "Yes."

"I have. It killed me." The blond's eyebrows furrowed. "Metaphorically of course."

Oh.

"Listen Nico, I appreciate your concern but you can't do anything, no one can. That's why I hide it. I'm a doctor, I know I have a problem, but I also know that there is only one person that can sort this out and he's... dead." Will whispered the last part.

Oh.

Oh shit.

Did Will...

Oh.

Nico's heart felt like it was going at a million beats per second but the rest of the world had slowed down. Will's crying seemed distant and low, the tightness of his hug going from bone-crushing suffocation to lethal. Nico realised he was no longer holding a boy with PTSD, desperately trying to hide the night terrors for some mysterious reason, he was holding a cold survivor with no one to truly turn to. He was holding on to someone who thought they were always going to be alone, no one to understand them so they had to hide the night terrors.

When Nico came to Camp after the Battle of Manhattan, after a while people just used to dismiss his nightmares.

"Hey buddy, we've all lost someone. Get over yourself."

But the nightmares kept plaguing him.

He was snapped out of his little realisation by Will choking on more words. Nico shook his head and began to stroke Will's hair, whispering comforting words into his ear.

"He was there Nico! I could have saved him. I could have saved him! And I didn't. I didn't!" Will voice was rising into hysteria now. "He was THERE and- and I could have saved him!" Will sobbed loudly. "But I didn't. I didn't. The only talent I HAVE." Will laughed a small humourless laugh. "And I'm not even good at it. Pathetic." Will finished off in a whisper, confirming Nico's theory even more and also adding to it. Will saw this man die in the flesh.

Nico thought of all those times Will had looked down at his hands with disgust, saying how he was only good for one thing with such malice that Nico had sometimes become slightly afraid of complementing his healing powers. Nico had always been so confused. He was the best healer in camp and he knew it. Nico use to wonder for ages at a time why had had he always been so tough on himself.

"Oh Tesoro... Don't say that..." Nico cradled Will's head against his chest and kissed the top of his hair. "You are the most gorgeous, talented, beautiful person I know Tesoro and it breaks me to see you like this..." Nico moved one of his hands lower and started to draw random patterns on Will's back with one of his fingers. The boy in his arms snuffled a bit but he seemed to be done with crying. Done with crying, done with caring. Done with hoping, done with feeling motivated. Just silence. Nico wanted to carry on but he was cautious. Will was so much more than Nico expected. He thought that just knowing about the nightmares meant that he saw the sensitive side of Will but what Will was letting past his happy, careless mask that everyone knew and loved was just the beginning of a whole different person. It reminded him of the talk he had with Reyna after they went to San Juan.

After a minute of silence Nico heard Will take a long, deep breath and Nico would have given a limb just to know what he was thinking and feeling.

"I'm sorry." Will whispered against Nico's shirt.

"No Tesoro, don't be..." Nico ran his fingers through Will's hair.

Will pushed his head up and started to slowly uncurl his legs until Nico could feel them against his own before he decided to tangle them together like any other night before they went to sleep. Will's head peaked out through Nico's arms and Nico made space for him but never letting his eyes stray from the blonde's red, blotchy face. They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, both lost for words, neither ready to break the silence that had settled between them. Nico's mind had been racing at a million miles per hour but suddenly it stopped. All that mattered was this broken man in front of him felt safe, no matter what it would take Nico would find a way to get him through life no matter how tough that promise may be. He'd find a way for the both of them.

What a pair they made. He had a feeling the two of them would spend many, many nights crying their tears, whispering words of comfort in each other's ears until five in the morning and there was nothing else to cry about. But maybe, just maybe, the two of them would get to a point when they could laugh and laugh and laugh without worrying or yearning or just hurting in general. Not to say they hadn't had some great times already. Nico couldn't count the amount of times Will had made him laugh until his sides hurt but there was always times like this to sour them good memories.

A quote he heard Chiron mutter when the centaur was visiting the hospital wing because a camper had a severe flashback in the middle of training came back to him.

"The worst memories stick with us while the good ones seem to slip through our fingers."

Well Nico intended to let no more memories slip through his fingers, he wanted to keep them under lock and key for whenever he wanted them.

In front of him Will suddenly pecked Nico's lips and looked at him with sad longing eyes and it took all Nico's will power not to wrap him in blankets and hug him for eternity.

"I'm sorry, I just- It was too much for me I guess... I should have tried harder to just-"

"Hey, no Will. Listen to me. I will be here. Any time, all the time. I love you Will, I'm not going to- to just... leave you. Ever." Nico spoke with confidence, not caring at that moment if the promise could be fulfilled. Hopefully he spoke the truth.

Will gave a shaky smile and pecked his lips again. He took in a deep breath of air and swallowed audibly, the smile falling from his face leaving a very scared, raw picture. Tears welled in his eyes for a second but Will brought a hand up and wiped them all away before blinking rapidly until there were no tears left.

He looked at Nico, his face tired and weary. "Tell me what Tesoro means Nico..." Will said in a small, childish voice. Despite being almost ten months older than Nico, Will suddenly looked like a scared five year old.

"Darling. You are my Darling. You are my Tesoro." Nico paused, tossing around an idea in his head before deciding on a final decision. "My... My sister and I had nicknames for each other." Despite his attempts to hide it, Will's face betrayed him and Nico saw curiosity suddenly appear. Nico frowned realising he literally never talked about to Bianca to anyone any more. This thought somehow spurred him to talk more. "She always said I was like a little kitten, over excited and always curious. But even then I never really let many people in easily. So she called me Gattino. It means kitten in Italian. And... and to me, Bianca was like a Labrador puppy because she was just... Bianca. Sweet and always there. For me." Nico smiled. "So I called her Cucciolo which means p- well I'm sure you can guess."

"Puppy in Italian, right?" Will said.

Nico laughed. "Yes, gods you're almost fluent Will."

Will snorted and Nico gave himself a high five. "Well obviously, Italian is the language of music and we all know how I'm the next Mozart." He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"That piece you gave me was really good!"

"Hush with your lies young one. Now, how does the fact that you called your sister puppy have to do with Tesoro."

Nico saw and picked up on the fact that Will quickly moved the subject from him but decided not to comment. He may seem like a bad boyfriend but he understood that Will wanted to forget the past half an hour. Why would anyone want to remember their weakest moments? So they could build themselves up from it? No. Nico knew that sometimes some things are best left forgotten. So he let the conversation move on swiftly but not before giving Will an affectionate, little kiss on his forehead.

"I thought that Tesoro could be your nickname." He frowned. "Or pet name. Whatever, the point is that I call you Tesoro. Under you'd rather something else..." Nico trailed off as Will looked at him with such intensity that Nico wasn't sure whether to think that it was with anger and run far away or hope it was love and run away anyway.

"You are gorgeous." Will whispered and all Nico could remember was two hands holding his face for a second before he was pulled into a soft but long kiss, lips locked with each other. Vaguely in the back of Nico's mind he was wondering if it was healthy to go through so many moods in the matter of thirty seconds but the way Will was looking at him as if there was no one else that mattered in the world made Nico's heart melt and he had to focus all his energy so he wouldn't give up his soul to the boy in front of him right then and there.

Will had stopped kissing him and was now staring at him again but with a look of slight shock.

"I'm..." He blinked. "I'm sorry, I just..." Will honestly seemed speechless with himself but Nico had an idea.

"Can you call me that?" Will frowned, obviously confused. "Gorgeous I mean. As a nickname because I was going to call you Tesoro but if-"

Will smiled. "I would love to."

Nico smiled back with relief deciding that he had lived through one of the most stressful and confusing nights he'd probably ever experienced and yet there they were three days later painting each other's finger nails.

After Will was done painting both hands at least twice the two them sat in silence, Will stroking Nico's practically frozen fingers and Nico had found a little blond curl longer than the others and was concentrating very hard on making it bounce up and down like a spring made out of silk. Every now and then Will would rest his chin on Nico's head before kissing his hair gently and Nico would somehow try to snuggle deeper into Will's neck, seeking warmth on such a cold December day.

Last day of December Nico thought with a slight sense of surprise. It's felt like November was only a week ago and yet here they were, ending one year and just starting another. But he was starting this one with people. With friends and loved ones, with people that Nico wanted to protect and they wanted to protect him. He hoped they did anyway.

Suddenly a small boy from what looked like the Hephaestus cabin sprinted past them, an older girl chasing him, screaming at the top of her lungs and Nico noticed the boy was holding what looked like either the most dangerous firework ever or just lots of smaller fireworks mixed together. Either way, the girl had a valid reason to run after him screaming but Nico thought of something.

Nico tore his eyes away from the explosive boy and looked up at Will. "Do they have fireworks on New Years here like on the fourth of July?"

Will swallowed before stiffly nodding his head, lips in a tight line.

"Are they as good as the fourth?" Nico asked raising an eyebrow.

Will gave a non-committal shrug.

Nico bit his lip, not oblivious to the fact that Will had decided to become distant. He decided that he would just have to be blunt.

"You... you want to talk about anything Tesoro?" Nico asked hesitantly, hoping to be soft.

Will took a deep breath of cold air and breathed out, filling the air with smokey-looking frost before he put a tired smile on his face and looked at Nico, sadness etched into his eyes as Nico felt the boy force himself to relax.

"I'm ok Gorgeous." Will whispered and kissing Nico softly and silently on the lips. "Don't worry about me."

Nico frowned. "Will, I want to worry about you. I hate seeing you like this, I hate waking up to you sweating buckets and you just brush me off when I ask about it. I have kept your secret because I know how important secrets can be, believe me, but ever since that first night you have never told me anything. I hate thinking that the most I know was because the dream was so bad it woke you up screaming and crying." He felt his lip tremble a bit which was strange. He usually had more control than this over himself but slowly he felt all the barriers collapse. "I don't want to pressure you into... intoanything. All I ask is that you just give me just one explanation. Just one. To why... just why Tesoro." Nico stared Will in the eye and raised his hand to stroke Will's cheek.

Slowly, Will took Nico's hand in his and opened his mouth to speak.

"Your nails are still wet." He whispered.

...

Nico blinked. He was torn between wanting to snort with laughter or to slap the boy in front of him at the incredulously off topic answer to his little speech.

Will must have realised his inner debate and must have realised that the side that was winning strongly wasn't going to work in his favour because he quickly started talking again.

"Look Nico..." He bit his lip. "I just have... I just have ghosts I guess and I don't want to worry you, yeah?"

Nico deadpanned. Will sounded like he was trying to convince himself instead of Nico and Will knew Nico enough to know that Nico had faced a few ghosts in his time too.

"Will, I don't want you to feel like I'm just trying to guilt trip you into confessing something but I worry myself sick over you. I just want to help. When my sister died I pushed away all help and look where that got me. Just let me in please Will. I love you." Nico finished.

Will bit his lip and sighed.

"Ok. I'll tell you what happened."

Nico was speechless. He felt like he was about to open a book telling him the secrets of the universe.

"Tomorrow."

And suddenly the book was gone, the universe exploded and Nico was no longer speechless at all.

"Tomorrow?"

"New Year, new start?" Will said hopefully.

Nico sighed. "Ok. But definitely tomorrow."

"Thank you Gorgeous." Will muttered before kissing Nico's head. "Let's just enjoy the fireworks tonight without any bad memories."

Nico smiled. "That sounds like a plan."

They sat there, the picture of a perfect couple looking after each other despite the inner turmoil that was invisible to the outside world. The two held each other, covered in a blanket keeping out the cold, listening to the radio next to them.

"Why is Taylor Swift on?"

"She is a good music artist!"

"..."

"Better than what you listen to."

"Is not!"

"Yes, it is."

"KAYLA! WHAT'S BETTER TAYLOR SWIFT OR PANIC!"

...

"HA."

"Shut up di Angelo."

"I love you too Tesoro."

Everyone was getting ready for the New Years fireworks at midnight. Coats were flung every surface, scarves and gloves could be found almost everywhere (even though someone was yet to find a matching pair) and the sound of stomping boots was heard all through camp as everyone made their way over to the beach where the fireworks were being held.

Nico had been ready ages ago despite the little set back when Will and him had a bit of a... debate to whether Nico's 'New Year, New Days To Regret yay' jumper was appropriate and, unfortunately for Nico, Will won after a few very persuasive kisses. Now he had to wait for Will who very gradually started to slow down. Just putting a pair of socks on had taken him five minutes and he'd also become very quiet. Nico frowned. Perhaps he would have a reason tomorrow when Nico was going to be given a full explanation. He hoped that explanation also told him why everyone had been looking at Will like he had been sent an invite to his own funeral (Nico almost got one himself when one of the zombies at Hades palace was certain he'd killed Nico when Nico was hit in the head accidentally with a broom and had fallen down three sets of stairs.) and then everyone looked like Apollo had turned up at camp and did a tap dance when Will started getting ready for the fireworks. Nico felt like everyone else had a bar of gold and Nico's had gotten lost in the post.

Finally Will zipped up his puffer coat and put on a smile before taking Nico's hand in his. The two of them stood there for a moment, the only ones in Cabin 6. Nico bit his lip and took Will's other hand as well so they were facing one another.

"Anything wrong Will?" Nico asked softly.

Will swallowed. "Nothing that I won't tell you tomorrow Nico, I promise. For now let's just say I haven't been to the fireworks in a while."

"I can deal with that." Nico said. He reached up and pushed a curl of blond hair out of Will's eyes gently, suddenly feeling the need to absorb every detail of Will's face. He took in the little dimple that had appeared on the right side of his mouth with is smile, he took in the slightly visible cheekbones that structured Will's face and the jaw line that made Nico want to place little kisses along it. He realised how much he loved how Will's nose curved up just slightly to make it look a little snubby and how freckles were dotted all over it. His eyes were truly something to look at too. They were the colour of a crystal clear sea, sparkling in the sun light and just them eyes alone made Nico want to never stop smiling for this boy in front of him.

Nico brought his hand down and put it in Will's. "Do you want to go now?" Nico asked.

Will looked at his watch. "I think we've got time." Will smiled again and this time it was 100% real. "Have I told you how much I love the colour of your eyes Nico?" Will whispered. Nico shook his head. "Well, I do. I can never decide whether they are chocolate or hazelnut and sometimes they brighten up when you get excited and then there are a million more possibilities of colour. They're just gorgeous. Gorgeous eyes fitting a gorgeous boy..." Will leaned in smirking because Nico could feel that he was blushing. Hard. Nico ducked down and quickly walked towards the door.

"Oh would you look at the time, yup just what I thought, we've got to go now."

Will laughed "Ok Neeks." Will walked out the door with him into the cold air. "You haven't been that flustered in a while Gorgeous, what's wrong?" Asked Will with fake surprise. Nico didn't answer, his cheeks not quite recovered. Will smirked "Although I notice... Your cheeks turned a little... red, didn't they?"

"Shut up Solace."

Will snorted before dragging Nico in for a sudden kiss on the lips. To Nico's slight dismay it was a very short kiss. "As you said Gorgeous we've got to get going. Come on."

And off they walked to the beach together, hand in hand.

When they got to the beach, Nico was surprised at how much change had happened in one day. There was almost never anyone on the beach in the winter with the freezing sea and frigid winds. That added with the fact that almost no campers stayed in the winter holidays anyway made the beach quite quiet in December but tonight the area looked like a fiesta on drugs with colourful lights, people everywhere (some didn't even stay at camp ever unless Nico had been missing giant centaurs cantering around for the past few weeks.) and the drop-dead gorgeous smell of food. Shouts of joy could be heard from every direction, mostly coming from the people who were biting into crepes, doughnut, candyfloss, caramel apples and any other sweet, sugary treat that you could find in the stalls lining up and down the beach. The cliff over-looking the sea, the one where Nico and Will had shared that special morning a few weeks ago, was lined with little candles, making it look homely and cute. Couples and groups of friends could be seen on blankets everywhere on the cliff, as it was the perfect place to admire the fireworks and celebrate the coming of a New Year. Nico could make out the figures of their friends sitting on the cliff, quite near the front and quite possibly with the best view.

Nico was trying to obtain Will's attention to ask if they could go up and join everyone else but every time he opened his mouth to speak, someone came up to pat Will on the back or ask if he was ok. Will was very nice to all the campers who approached them to express their concerns for... Well, Nico didn't know yet but he was hoping he would tomorrow. Nico was less considerate. He'd much rather tell everyone to get lost and take Will off to the cliff with all of their mates. Unfortunately for Nico the amount of people interrupting them seemed to be increasing and after a while Will started to get sick of it too, answering everyone with short, snappy words until eventually Chiron came over.

"Hello Will, hello Nico, I see that you two seem to be-ah, a bit popular tonight?"

Nico snorted. Will elbowed him before smiling at the cetaur. "Yes, it's becoming a bit of a problem actually. I'm finding it pretty hard to enjoy an evening with a million people asking the same question."

"They're just concerned though, you know that don't you?" Chiron asked.

Will sighed before nodding.

"I'm also a little surprised to see you hear too but never the less I'm also incredibly happy that you're here to enjoy the fireworks with the rest of us." He looked at Nico who was gazing at Jason and Piper who were making their way up the hill to the rest of their friends. Nico snapped his head back to the conversation after realising his lack of attention had been noticed. Chiron smiled. "I see Nico would like to find a seat hmm?" Nico flushed in embarrassment but nodded anyway. "Well I won't stop you two, I just came over to check up on Will. Don't worry, I'll be the last one interrupt, I'll make sure of that. Go on, enjoy your evening." With one last smile he walked away.

"Finally." Nico muttered. "Can we go and sit down now? Preferably without anyone rudely interrupting?"

Will laughed. "I admit, they were getting a bit annoying."

"Abit?"

"Ok, very annoying. But remember Nico, I haven't... been here for the past few years. At the beach I mean. So some people would be a bit concerned and surprised."

Nico sighed. "Yeah I see your point. But still, now we're going to sit down. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah but first we need food."

"Now that is something I agree with."

Will took Nico's hand and led them through the hordes of people milling around the beach. Together they went to almost every stand and ending up carrying candy floss, doughnuts, crepes, roasted hazelnuts and what felt like a million other types of junk food up to the cliff where all their friends sat.

They dumped all their food down onto the ground in front of the blankets.

"I present to you all... Diabetes!" Will said proudly.

Percy chuckled before putting his hand up. "I thought you were the doctor here sir."

Nico rolled his eyes. "That's what I thought but Mister Stuff-Your-Face here insisted on buying everything out there." He raised an eyebrow as Will sat down on the blanket and reached his arms out to Nico as an invitation to sit on his lap.

"You know you love me and the food."

Nico sighed. "I can't disagree there." He said and welcomed Will's arms by sitting in his new seat and wrapping both arms around himself. No matter how much he teased Will, he loved the huggable idiot from head to toe.

Will frowned. "Wait did you just agree to loving me or the food? Because your grammar was a bit unspecific."

Nico laughed and turned round to face Will with a doughnut in his hand. He reached up and put the doughnut in Will's mouth. "Shut up Solace."

Will bit into the sugary treat and pulled away a little too fast so jam flicked onto his nose. Nico smiled softly.

"You've got jam on your nose." He whispered.

Will crossed his eyes. "Oh."

"Yeah..." And before Nico could stop himself he had tilted his head up and kissed his nose, taking the sugary jam along with him. Slowly pulling away he stared at Will in the eye, getting lost in them once again but this time he'd brought a map. Putting the doughnut down, Nico turned to straddle Will and brought both hands up to cup his cheeks before pulling him into a deep kiss. Just like Nico memorised Will's face earlier, he wanted to memorise Will's lips now which belonged to him. He wanted to remember every little crease he came across, he wanted to remember how it felt to lock mouths and to feel their face's so close to one another. He wanted to remember Will's tongue and how both of them moved together like a dance that was worth four tens. He wanted to remember every little part of the experience of kissing Will.

They broke apart, the picture of innocent love on both of their faces. Nico swallowed thickly.

"Gods I love you Tesoro." Nico choked out before lunging at Will and burying his face into Will's neck, inhaling his scent. He wasn't quite sure why he'd come over so emotional suddenly.

"I love you too Gorgeous." Will mumbled. They stayed like that for five minutes while the rest of the world went on around them. Nico wanted to stay like that forever with the boy of his dreams in his arms but unfortunately for him, the New Year was knocking on the door.

"Come on Gorgeous, let's count down. It's only a minute left." Will said in his ear.

Nico nodded and came out his cocoon to turn around and face the clear, dark sky stretched out in front of them. If Nico concentrated hard and blocked out the noise around them he could pretend that they were the only people in the universe and there was nothing that could disturb their peace. Nico knew more than anyone else that deceiving himself even for a few seconds wasn't a good idea but for once Nico allowed himself to hold the fantasy in place for a moment or two before coming back to reality.

Behind him he heard Piper say something about the time and Nico was suddenly aware that the camp had gone quiet. Well, as quiet as you could get a bunch of kids and party ponies to be really but it was still a difference and it was only then that Nico noticed something.

"Where are the Romans?"

Everyone looked at him like he was mad and Nico didn't appreciate it. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well?"

Percy looked at Annabeth quickly with a concerned look on his face. "We told you before Will presented us with the food, remember?"

Nico shook his head looking around with a confused look. After a few seconds debating in his head he decided they must be pulling his leg. He gave a short nervous laugh. "You're kidding right?"

All his friends shook their heads with completely serious expressions. Nico felt Will tighten his arms around his waist. Nico bit his lip and desperately tried to remember what they had said to him but there was a kind of a blank space just before Will presented the food, like a piece of film had been cut out of a movie.

"They're at Camp Jupiter because they have their own celebrations there." Jason half whispered.

It didn't ring any bells in Nico mind but he just went along with it, ignoring the pit of panic that was siring in his stomach.

He let out what was supposed to be a fake but convincing care-free laugh to settle everyone's worries but what came out sounded like a monkey being strangled. "Oh I remember now. Whoops!" He could tell no one was convinced but at the moment the countdown for New Years had started.

"TEN."

But they never said that to me...

"NINE."

They never said...

"EIGHT."

Never said what again?

"SEVEN."

About the Romans.

"SIX."

What about the Romans?

"FIVE!"

I... I don't remember.

"FOUR!"

They just told you!

"THREE!"

Told me what?

"TWO!"

I... I don't know.

"ONE!"

And suddenly the world came into focus again and Nico had forgotten about the internal panic he'd just had. Just before everyone screamed 'Happy New Year' Nico remembered that people kissed on the stroke of midnight on New Years so he quickly plastered an intelligent and happy mask over his face.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

A cheer went up from everyone as the sound of fireworks went off and soon the sky was lit with colourful lights that filled Nico with genuine joy. He felt like a kid again as he stared, wide-eyed at all the patterns in the sky. The Hephaestus cabin had truly out done themselves.

After just circles and multi-coloured shapes, fireworks representing the cabins started.

"JUPI- Zeus, whatever. BEST CABIN, YEAH!" Nico heard Jason yell behind him as a blue '1' exploded with blue lightning all around in.

Following the Zeus cabin, each cabin's number with a little image to go along with it appeared in the sky. For Poseidon there was a massive trident and Nico swore he saw a little Nemo swimming around the tips. Never the less Percy let out a whoop.

For Demeter there was an array of different plants and crops, Ares had miniature wars breaking out all over sky, Athena had an array of snakes and owls flying everywhere (Nico could almost feel Annabeth's proud face as he heard her whisper about animals of wisdom). Apollo apparently was the god of far too much and so was represented by five children, one holding a sheet of music, one who was sticking bandages and plasters all over their arms and legs, one who was holding a sun high above their head, one who was writing the words 'haiku, sonnet, free verse' over and over and finally one child was shooting arrows in the sky which exploded into more fireworks.

"I do believe," Nico murmured twisting his head to look at Will, "that the little kid with the plasters was based off you."

"I wish to correct you actually," Will whispered in Nico's ear, making him shiver. "That kid is me."

Nico twisted round more in shock. "Really?"

Will nodded. "When I first came here my pockets were stuffed with plasters and bandages. I used to turn up to dinner after hiding for hours with them all over me. Jake Mason was around my age and we hung out a lot and he must have remember my younger self and put it into the firework." Will gazed up with a soft smile if remembering younger days when they didn't have to worry. Nico sometimes did that. He spent a lot of his spare time remembering the days of Italian sun spent hearing his mother singing softly in the heat. He reminisced on dragging Bianca to every new arcade game that appeared in the Lotas Casino. No matter how much Nico resented the Casino for leaving him in the past and then thrusting him into the modern world, he couldn't help but think if they'd be better off there. Bianca would be alive, Nico could go about his life in some fantasy and it would just never end. It was a kid's dream. But then he wouldn't have met Will and that was a meeting that Nico just couldn't give up.

Will kissed the back of Nico's ear and Nico stretched his neck to give him most space.

"I love you Tesoro, strange plaster habits and all." His eye's fluttered shut.

"Hmmm..." Will murmured against Nico's pale neck. He felt Will place kisses down his neck and then up to his jaw line before finally ending on Nico's mouth. They kissed sweetly and innocently, merely touching lips but the feeling behind it all made it so much more.

"It's your cabin next Nico." Will mumbled against his lips.

Nico nodded and turned slowly to face the sky. A rocket came up and a '13' filled the sky and a skull came up. Usually Nico would be miffed that it was just about death but what a skull it was. Exquisite patterns covered the forehead and the cheek bones making it look like Nico's Halloween make-up and all the lines were made of what looked like glitter making the entire skull light up. It was most certainly one of the most beautiful things to line the sky that night.

"Happy New Year Tesoro."

"Happy New Year Gorgeous."

The next morning the entire camp was silent. Despite Chiron's strict rules Nico was sure that 80% of the campers were just suffering from hangover and the rest of the just wanted a lie in. Nico was a little bit of both. Last night was truly amazing despite his... Nico frowned. He was sure something unsettling had happened last night but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Weird.

Next to him Will stirred. He gave a long yawn and looked at Nico bleary eyes.

"Morning Tesoro."

"Grh." Came Will's response.

Nico chuckled and kissed his forehead. "I love you too."

Will grinned at him for a second before sighing deeply. "Give me ten minutes Nico to wake up and we can get changed. I know a place where no one will find us." Nico looked at him questioningly. "I owe you an explanation."

Please review guys, I love this fanfic but I'm losing will to finish it if I don't know that the work is being appreciated or hated. So just leave a little comment for me to read, I really do appreciate it.

Happy New Year! A little bit of angst coming up, most than usual. Xx

PalletshippingSolangeloLove