"This is an old one," Nico murmured into his microphone as the lights dimmed around him and the screams from the crowd quieted down to a murmur.

He looked over at Jason, slowly nodding his head, and the two of them started the song with slow chords before a loud cheer erupted from the crowd in recognition of the song.

"Going out on a weekday,"

The cheers died down immediately when Nico's voice cut through the speakers, accompanied by only a few guitar chords, sending shivers up Will's spine.

"Hoping on the collide with a soul that,

knows a heart from a lie when you show it,

See the heart from in the lie that you show,"

Will closed his eyes, mouthing along with the words through a smile that was probably too big for his face, much to Cecil's amusement. He couldn't help it, Nico's voice, raw around the edges, rough, smoky, and commanding, yet honeyed at the same time, was a pleasure to listen to.

"I'll deny all the weak play,

Not a style that I take any pride in,

But the greed of my mind isn't going,

No, the greed of my mind isn't going away,"

Will didn't think he'd ever get used to it, and it was a little awkward to think about. Thrice Greek, on stage, playing songs he'd loved for years; songs that pulled emotions straight from his gut. Thrice Greek, fronted by Nico di Angelo, the man with the singing voice that made his stomach turn into knots, made his skin break out in goosebumps, made tears fall from his eyes. The very same Nico that spoke in hushed tones off stage, was a completely different person from the commanding presence he was watching right now.

"Have some,

But I'll be taking it all again,

Yeah, I'll be taking it all,

And on my way,

And on my way,"

He supposed it helped, knowing that there were two sides of Nico. Yeah, he counted himself as a huge Thrice Greek fan, and he'd wondered how he'd be able to reconcile that part of him with the fact that he was now Nico's boyfriend. It felt weird to him, although he was sure that Nico wasn't bothered by it; he knew Nico saw them as equals. He supposed it was something he'd have to learn to get used to.

"I wanted it all,"

He was glad for the sudden pounding of the drums, shaking him out of his thoughts. Thinking could happen later; for now, he'd just focus on the music and let it carry him to greater heights.

"Hey, I can see a little light here,

Know that I'm ready to fight,

Oh, but I'll run and I'll hide again,"

He wasn't very close to Nico, but even from his spot near the side of the stage, tucked away in a corner, he could see the hurt flash across Nico's face, eyes squinted shut and his brows pinched, but with every strum of his guitar, he lifted his hand and held it in front of him, into the light shining down from above, bright orange guitar pick clenched between his fingers, like he was reaching out for something he desperately wanted.

"Hey, I can see a little light there,

Know I should get up and try,

Oh, but I'm better at hiding it,"

He'd always wondered about the lyrics to Nico's songs, especially since he'd seen Thrice Greek perform live a few times now, having witnessed the flashes of emotions that crossed Nico's face when he sang; sometimes he looked hurt, sometimes he looked angry and snarled out the lyrics, lips curled up in a sneer, and sometimes he'd look happy, like how he'd shown the briefest of smiles earlier when they'd played Riddles - the song Nico had written about their budding relationship a little while ago.

Another verse, another chorus, and the smile on his face was there to stay. The show was nearing its end, and he knew this song would be the last, and while it wasn't his favourite song - Riddles had quickly taken that spot for now - he liked the way the song ended, and the way it ended the performance.

Nico sang the last words of the chorus, and the hall went silent. No music, no cheers. It only lasted a second, but it was thrilling to Will. Nico stood still, squinting into the harsh light, his chest heaving, and Will could see his t-shirt clinging wetly to his frame, sweat dripping from the tips of his hair. It was a beautiful moment, just a small moment in the show, but it marked a turning point in which Nico let go of everything.

As the cheers erupted again, Nico closed his eyes and leaned in towards his microphone, gently strumming his guitar.

"When I'll wait for the dueling to get a little cold again,

And no one but I will know me,

When all of my light ends,"

Nico repeated the bridge, sounding stronger and stronger as the drums and the bass built up with him, drawing out the last line until he was screaming, before pulling away from the microphone and playing his guitar like his life depended on it; bent over, sinking down to his knees, stepping up onto the little podium where Percy was and vaulting off it again.

Will smiled as he could see the tension draining from Nico's shoulders as the song erupted in melodic euphoria and like Nico, he let go as well, howling along with the chorus when Nico sang it for a final time, hands thrown in the air.

"When I'll wait, I can see a little light there,

Know I that I'm ready to fight,

Oh, but I'll run and I'll hide again,"

He screamed along, not caring if he'd be hoarse later. He was enjoying himself, whooping loudly when the song lost all coherency and he was listening to a wall of white noise, mixing with the crowd's cheering. It kept going even after Nico laid his guitar against his amp and nodded curtly at the sea of people in front of him, threw his guitar pick into the crowd and quickly dashed off stage, closely followed by Jason and Percy.

After the house lights had come back on, Cecil patted Will on the shoulder. "That was awesome!"

Will was slightly annoyed with Cecil for breaking his post-gig glow so suddenly, but he supposed he couldn't complain. Cecil was right, after all. "Yeah, definitely."

"I suppose you're off to see your boyfriend now? Or are you going to have another beer with me since you're ditching me tonight, too?"

Will frowned. "You said you didn't mind. I could stay here or cancel on tonight if you want me to."

Cecil rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You finally have the boyfriend of your dreams, but I'm totally going to make you come over to my sister's for lukewarm beers instead of the expensive champagne you'll be drinking in a fancy hotel. I'm kidding, you idiot." He waved his arms in the direction of the backstage entrance. "Go on, give loverboy a kiss from me. Y'know, for the guestlist spot and all."

"You're the best, Cecil." Will grinned. "Just wait here, okay? I'll be back soon. You have dinner plans?"

"Not really, but I could go for a burger." Cecil paused for a moment, a smirk growing on his face. "Or some blue M&M's."

Will sighed. "For the seventeen billionth time, they don't have blue M&M's backstage!"

"Alright, alright! Go, I'll see you in a bit. And you're paying for the food."

The cool air in the hallway to the dressing room was more than welcome after standing underneath the stage lights for a solid ninety minutes.

Nico plucked a towel off a nearby pile and dabbed at his face as he leaned against the wall, letting the cold seep into his skin.

"Hey Nico!" Percy grinned as he joined him in the hallway, with Jason coming up right behind him, rolling his eyes. "Look at this!" Percy said with one of the most annoying smiles he'd ever seen, holding up- "Someone threw a thong at me!"

"Ew! Get that away from me!" Nico shook his head and stifled a laugh, despite his annoyance. Only Percy would go around, showing it off to everyone. He toweled off his hair, hearing Jason mumble something, before he pulled the towel off his head, smiling when he saw Will coming up from the other end of the hallway.

"Just because I won't sleep with them anymore doesn't mean I can't be flattered when people throw underwear at me, Jason." Percy bit out, and Nico decided to make himself scarce. He did not want to get roped into that conversation, and with Will here, he had more important things to focus on.

He quickly raked a hand through his hair to at least try to flatten it after his rough toweling when Will laughed and gestured at his own hair, mimicking an explosion.

"Hey," Will said when he came closer, bringing his arms up to pull Nico into a hug.

"Hey yourself." Nico smiled but pressed his fingertips to Will's chest, keeping him at a distance. "Don't, I'm all gross and sweaty and if you hug me now you'll stink all night." And even though we're shielded from the fans, anyone could walk in. He pressed a quick kiss to Will's cheek. "Just let me grab a shower first." He looked around, over Will's shoulder to see Percy and Jason still squabbling with each other. The coast was clear. He leaned in a little, a cocky smirk on his face when he whispered "Unless you… Maybe want to join me?"

He let out a quiet giggle when Will sputtered and his face turned a bright shade of red. "I-I-I uh…" His voice was impossibly higher when he squeaked out "Here?!"

"The doors do lock, you know," Nico said, unable to keep the chuckle out of his voice. "Relax, Will. I was kidding." He grinned and nodded his head to their dressing room door. "Mostly."

Will cleared his throat, fidgeting with the strap of his bag. "I uh…" He pointed over his shoulder. "Cecil's out there and…"

Nico glanced over to Will as he started walking. "I told you, nothing you're not comfortable with. We have-" The smile fell off his face briefly as he opened the door. "We have all the time in the world." He grabbed for Will's hand and squeezed it, pulling him into the dressing room and into a brief kiss. "Besides, you're staying over tonight, yeah?" He bit down on his lip. "I could go for one of those awesome massages you gave me last week."

Before Will had even had a chance to answer, an all too familiar voice rang out through the room. "I did not need to hear that."

Both he and Will whipped their heads around with wide eyes. He blushed deeply when he saw who'd said it, quickly taking a step away from Will and straightening his shirt. "R-Reyna. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know…" she said, a sweet smile on her face, but her eyes told a different story. "Interrupting things, apparently. It would seem congratulations are in order, Nico."

"I, uh…" He nodded. "Yeah." He took a deep breath, mentally psyching himself up before he lifted his chin defiantly and gestured to Will. "This is Will. My- My boyfriend."

Reyna's sharklike smile grew bigger, and with it, Nico's willpower crumbled. He wanted to bolt out of the room and hide behind Jason. "So I've heard."

Wait. What? Reyna knew? Oh, god. They'd been together for a week and already they'd screwed up. It was going to be all over the newspapers tomorrow and his life would be a living hell. More importantly, so would Will's. Shit. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not while they were only barely together, not before they'd had a chance to really build their relationship. He wasn't kidding himself; he knew it was only a matter of time before they'd be forced to go public, but now?

He felt the cold, clammy feeling of panic weasel its way out of the pit of his stomach, and it must have shown, because the next thing he knew, Will had grabbed his hand and was brushing his thumb over his knuckles and Reyna was furrowing her brows in- was that concern?

"Percy told me, Nico," Reyna said, taking a few steps closer, her heels clicking on the concrete floor. "Take it easy. I'm not here on business." She extended a hand towards Will, who let go of Nico's hand to shake it. "It's nice to meet you, Will."

"Likewise," Nico heard Will say as he felt the panic slowly recede. He was going to strangle Percy, but he suspected he was going to have to take a number and get in line. He wet his lips, filing his plans for revenge in the back of his mind for later, and smiled at Will. "Reyna's our manager and publicist. I think I told you about her."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Good things, I hope."

Nico was quick to nod, forcing a smile. "You know I wouldn't badmouth you. I leave that to Percy."

"Speaking of," Reyna said, looking up. "Where is our resident idiot, anyway? I have to talk to him before I leave."

Nico shrugged. "He's either in the hallway or he's gone out to meet the fans. I don't know." He wrinkled his nose. "You mind if I take a shower now? I can smell myself."

Reyna nodded, already on her way out of the dressing room. "You do that. I'll see you next week. It was good meeting you, Will." She smiled, and it sent cold shivers down Nico's spine. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other. Happy new year."

Will smiled awkwardly and said goodbye, then turned to Nico. "I'd love to take you up on that shower offer but uh…" He looked over his shoulder and whispered. "I'm kind of intimidated right now." He half-smiled, half-grimaced. "And I promised to have another drink with Cecil. I'll see you later, yeah? Just text me when you're back at the hotel."

Nico leaned in and pressed his lips to Will's, smiling warmly when he pulled back. "Yeah. I can't wait."

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy said, frowning when he got Annabeth's voicemail. She must have already left, or maybe she just didn't want to talk to him right now. "I hope you're okay," he said, smiling wryly. "I'm sorry I can't be there tonight. I know I wanted to be, but you were right. You have your own life, your own friends, and that's a good thing." He chuckled bitterly. "And Reyna came by the venue earlier to remind me again that I'm supposed to stay at the hotel tonight. But have fun with your friends, okay?"

He picked at his sheets and sighed. "I just called to tell you that I love you, and that I'm going to be a better person next year. I know you don't like promises, so I'm not going to promise. I'm going to show you, just you wait." For some reason the words came easier when he didn't have to look her in the eyes and see the hurt inside her. "You remember the last new year's we spent together, back when we were kids? I was thinking about it earlier, how much fun we had, with the fake champagne and your dad taking us to see the ball being dropped at Times Square." He smiled, melancholy making his stomach twist into knots.

"I miss that," he admitted quietly, after a few seconds of silence. "I miss when we were good and you would smile all day." He huffed out a small laugh. "The most gorgeous thing I'd seen, even back then. I felt like such a loser next to you, with the crooked teeth and the pimples." He closed his eyes and smiled. "I thought you were the most annoying girl in the world, and you thought I was the dumbest kid, but you remember how we eventually warmed up to each other, right? When that Clarisse girl told me to meet me after school so she could beat me up, you kissed me on the cheek for good luck, and I never forgot that." He took a deep breath, letting the air out slowly. "I just hope I find a way to fix this. I can't lose you again."

He stood up and checked his hair in the mirror. "Anyway, I just called to wish you a happy new year, and I'll see you soon, okay? I love you."

He hung up and fixed a smile on his face. It was getting close to midnight, and he should at least try to have some fun with the guys.

"How much time left?"

Will checked his phone. "About fifteen minutes. Are you sure you don't want to go back inside? It's freezing."

Nico smiled, looking out over the city. "I'm fine. I want to catch the fireworks." He glanced over to Will. "And kiss the daylights out of you at midnight."

Will would have blushed if the wind wasn't biting at his cheeks. He wrapped his coat tighter around himself and burrowed deeper into his scarf. "What a way to start the new year."

"Hrm?"

He shrugged, sticking his hands, stiff from the cold, deep into his pockets. "I never thought I'd be here, you know?" He wrapped an arm around Nico and pulled him close. "On the rooftop of a fancy hotel, which costs more for a single night than the monthly rent of my entire apartment, eating fancy food…" He grinned when Nico looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Looking at the fireworks with my amazing boyfriend who I never thought I'd end up being with. It's kind of surreal."

Nico wrapped an arm around his waist and rested his head on Will's shoulder. "Yeah. Me neither. But I'm glad it happened."

"Aww, aren't you two cute?"

Will looked over his shoulder and saw Percy carrying four champagne flutes, which he set down on the table. "I hope you two aren't planning to stay out here all night." He pointed over his shoulder. "Jason's setting up the game as we speak."

"The game?" Will asked.

"Monopoly." Nico grinned, and when Will raised an eyebrow, he shrugged. "Okay, so we're nerds who like to play board games. It gets… Well, you'll see. If you want to play, that is."

"Oh, you're on." Will laughed. "It's been a while since I've played, but I hope you're all ready to get your asses kicked."

"We'll see about that," Jason said, walking outside with a giant bottle of champagne under his arm. He held it up and grinned. "Present from Reyna."

"Awesome!" Percy pumped his fist in the air. "C'mon, man, open it up!"

"Are they always like this?" Will whispered to Nico who was watching Jason and Percy struggle over who got to open the bottle. "They were arguing earlier, too."

Nico nodded. "Pretty much. They both think they're better at everything than the other." He grinned and walked over to the table where Jason had just put the bottle down in favor of trying to tackle Percy into the snow. "Two dogs fighting over a bone and all that." He grinned and quickly opened the bottle with effortless ease, nodding to the flutes still standing on the table.

Together, they made quick work of pouring the champagne and handing the glasses to Jason and Percy after they'd joined them again, red-faced and panting.

"Anyone got any new year's resolutions?" Jason asked, holding Percy's arm down when he tried to take a drink.

"Getting my shit in order, I guess," Percy said. "I'm done disappointing people. I'm going to be a whole new person."

"I don't really do resolutions," Will said. "But I'll make an exception." He smiled and tightened his hold on Nico. "I'm going to get into Columbia, and-" he glanced at Nico, "- and I'm going to be happy."

Nico sighed. "I say this every year, but I'm going to try to quit smoking." He smiled. "And try not to let things get to me as much." He smiled up at Will, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "Being happy is a big one too, of course."

"For me," Jason started. "I'm going to graduate and be the best person, the best friend I can be." He raised his glass with a smile. "To us!"

They tapped their glasses together and turned to the balcony railing. "Less than a minute left," Percy said, pocketing his phone. "You guys wanna do a countdown?"

"Don't be cheesy," Nico said. "We'll know."

Sure enough, half a minute later, cheers erupted throughout the city, and fireworks lit up the sky. Will didn't even get the chance to sip his champagne before Nico cupped his face, laughing when Will let out a squeak from the cold of Nico's hands seeping into his skin, and pulled him down into a kiss.

"Happy New Year, Will," Nico whispered when he took a step back and downed his champagne in one go before being jumped by Percy, who hugged him so tightly he lifted Nico off his feet.

A hand came down on Will's shoulder, and he turned around to face Jason. "Best wishes, man." He hadn't expected it, but Jason wrapped his arms around him and patted his back. "Take care of him, yeah?" Jason's voice was soft; it clearly wasn't meant for Nico to hear.

He smiled and nodded, finally returning the hug. "I will. Happy new year, Jason."

Jason had only barely let go before Percy all but jumped in his arms, laughing loudly. "Welcome to the family, man. Here's to hoping it'll be a good year for all of us."

Will couldn't help but agree with that.

When Will blinked his eyes open the next morning, he immediately closed them again. The lazy sunlight streaming in through the windows immediately made his head throb, and he pulled the blanket over his head, letting out a discontented groan.

From his side came a quiet whimper. "Too loud," Nico whispered. "Turn off the lights."

Will smacked his lips, wrinkling his nose at the aftertaste of alcohol and cigarette smoke in his mouth, only to be immediately shushed by Nico, who buried his face deeper into his pillow with a quiet grunt.

Last night had been fun. As Percy had put it, they'd 'partied like rockstars', but the first thing that came to Will's mind was that he'd never ever want to be one if the rockstar life included hangovers such as these.

He couldn't help but smile sleepily when he remembered just how competitive the game of Monopoly had gotten, with Jason and Percy sabotaging each other at every turn, trying to get the other drunk enough to forget who owned what, and even Nico, who'd kept distracting him with kisses and teasing touches under the table that set his skin on fire and had made him forget that they were even playing a game, much less whose turn it was. All he'd wanted was to kiss the cocky smirk off Nico's face. Talk about playing dirty.

He remembered going outside when Nico had gone for a cigarette, making faces at him in veiled disgust, and forgetting all about that when Nico had tackled him into the snow, only to straddle him and kiss him silly, purring low in his throat when he'd whispered filthy promises into Will's ear that would have made the snow melt around them from how hot they'd made him feel. He remembered laughing together about the weird-looking snow angel they'd made whilst making out, until Jason and Percy had called them inside to finish the game.

They'd howled along with the music in the background, drank beer after beer after beer, and ate about a month's worth of fancy snacks that Will couldn't name even if he tried, but they were delicious nonetheless. He remembered linking arms with Nico when they'd taken shots, chasing the alcohol down each other's mouths with their tongues until Percy had pulled the two apart, telling them to 'get a room, preferably on another floor'.

All the wicked promises that had been on Nico's tongue all night had been forgotten by the time they'd finally gone to bed in the early hours of the morning. They'd shared filthy kisses as they'd undressed each other, only to immediately fall asleep as soon as they'd hit the mattress.

There was one thing Will knew for sure, though, he was never drinking again.

He slowly scooted closer to Nico and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer against his chest despite Nico's weak whimpers of protest. He really needed to brush his teeth and take a shower before drowning himself in coffee and painkillers, but he'd settle for sleeping for a few hours more - especially if it meant having Nico in his arms for a little while longer, no matter how grumpy he was.

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