The camp's general consensus regarding the cause of the hellhound attack sucked. A rumor had begun, one that I was at first blissfully unaware of.

I had been sitting in the training area, watching the Ares kids fight, when it finally was brought to my attention, an astonishing two hours after lunch.

"Hey, kid," a fairly new Ares kid called to me. "Stop watching us, creep. I don't want the camp traitor knowing all our moves."

"What the hell," was all I could think to say.

"Everyone knows you organized the hellhound attack."

"You mean the hellhound I helped kill within a minute of its appearance?"

"What other hellhound attack could I mean?" the kid snarled back.

I could tell this kid wasn't so bright, so I dropped it, hoping that it was only this specific idiot who thought I was responsible.

It wasn't until I went to the climbing wall an hour later that I realized this belief was camp wide. There were a few Demeter kids, children of Athena, and even one of the Hypnos campers gathered around the wall.

As I approached, I could hear them mutter.

"Look, it's that di Angelo kid," the Hypnos girl said.

"Isn't he the one who summoned the hellhound?" a Demeter boy asked.

Oh my God, shut up about the hellhound already, I thought to myself.

"Well, it's not confirmed," an Athena kid answered. "But honestly? It probably was him."

I scowled and gripped one of the lower rocks on the wall, hoisting myself up. Idiots. Who cares what they think?

I supposed it really didn't matter what they thought. But I still cared. Maybe it was that I was worried they would tell the lies to Will, or Jason, or Hazel or someone, and I would lose the few friends I had.

Will caught up with me on my way out of dinner, and his look of concern told me he had heard the rumors. I felt my heart sink to my stomach.

"Hey, Nico, how are you?"

"Fine," I lied, looking away with narrowed eyes.

"Has anybody been bothering you lately? I can beat them up if I have to, but I'm obligated to heal them afterwards."

"No, I'm fine," I insisted, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Alright," he said after a long pause. "Are you going to the campfire tonight?"

"No- I- um, I don't think it'd be a good idea, me going to campfire." After a beat, I added bitterly, "I might scare the other campers."

I could feel Will tense up next to me, before throwing an arm over my shoulders. "Nonsense," he assured me. I glanced at him, studying his expression. He was smiling at me, but he seemed upset. "C'mon, you can sit with me."

"Don't you have to lead campfire? You probably should sit in the middle," I reasoned.

"Remember what I said? No musical talent, what-so-ever, unless you count my whistling."

My eyebrows drew together as suspicion prickled throughout me. "Fine, I'll go to campfire, but we have to sit towards the edge. I don't want to make anyone else uncomfortable."

Will brightened considerably. "Great!" he chirped. "It starts in half an hour, so what do you want to do before then?"

I thought for a second before shrugging. "I don't know, usually this is about the time I go lie in bed and stare at my roof, contemplating my reason for existing."

After a few seconds of silence, I glanced at Will and realized he had been staring at me in horror.

"Kidding," I clarified. "I may be some dark son of Hades, but I still have a sense of humor."

He visibly relaxed. I wasn't sure why, but the weight of his arm on my shoulders was fairly calming. I was mo longer terrified of the prospect of campfire; apprehensive? Absolutely. Shaking? Not quite. Close, but not quite.

"Why don't we just sit on that bench over there?" Will suggested, pointing at a stone bench somewhat near to the Hypnos cabin.

"Sure," I agreed quietly.

For the next 25 minutes or so, we simply sat there, ocassionally sharing a few thoughts.

Suddenly, Will stood up. "Time for campfire!" he told me happily, grabbing my wrist and dragging me along.

I stumbled after him, apprehension building in my chest. I felt like my eyes were glued to Will's hand, though, which still gripped my wrist and propelling me along. Apprehension didn't acurately describe my emotions; it was more like an intense show of nervousness. Butterflies swarmed my stomach violently.

No, I thought firmly. No, no, no. Hell no. I will not have a crush on Will.

I started to squash the butterflies, one at a time, fighting to maintain my composure.

When we got to the apitheatre, Will, true to his word, sat at the edge of the area, leaving us segregated from the rest of the camp.

I struggled to follow along with or even understand their songs, and the ghost stories were awful. I told myself firmly, over and over again that I hated it. I believed it.

At the end of the night, Will and I filed out as everyone said goodnight. We walked towards our cabins until we had to part ways. Then, we stopped for a moment, hesitating to say goodbye.

"So... did you have fun?" he asked me. His bright blue eyes looked down at me hopefully.

I was weak. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I hated the entire experience. "Yeah. It was... cool," I told him after a moment.

He grinned at me. "I'm really glad that you enjoyed it!" Will said. Then he glanced over his shoulder at the other campers, who were now slowly approaching the cabins.

"Sleep well, Nico," he told me. Despite it being such a common goodbye, the way he said it made it all feel more sincere.

"Yeah," I answered. "You too."

Will gave me one last smile and turned to leave, waving over his shoulder.

A/N

two updates in one week? its more likely than you think.

also i know its super cliché and edgy right now bUT I SWEAR IM WORKING ON IT GETTING BETTER