Love, Dreams, Impending End of the World and other minor problems

by mel-chan1003

Nico still can't believe it. Of all the people in the world, he's dating none other than Percy Jackson. It's a dream come true. But of course, things can't always be rosy. The long awaited sequel to the Advent Calendar. Will turn into Jason/Nico/Percy/Will, but will stay Percico for a long time. M/M (M/M/M/M lol); don't like don't read. Rated M for a reason! You've been warned!

35. Chapter 35: Kyle

A/N: Hey Cupcakes :)

As promised, the next chapter.

(I am so sorry. Though I DID warn you.)

On another note, I have tendinitis and am not allowed to use my writing hand whatsoever. Not that I even CAN use it anymore by now. FML :D

Thank you all for sticking to this story for so very long, and thanks to everybody who liked/followed - and who left me a lovely comment!
I know I keep repeating myself, but you guys have no idea how much you make my day when I get the notification in my email :)

Also, special thanks to my amazing beta-reader(s) ;)

I'd say I hope you enjoy the chapter, but it's full of pain and misery, only a sadist could 'enjoy' it.
Trigger warnings below.
PLEASE don't read this if you think/know it might trigger you. If you wish to know what happens in a very indirect and watered down way, shoot me a message/comment and I'll try sum it up as well as I can.

Wish you guys all the best,
-Tári

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Trigger warning(s)!

- Attempted rape/assault
- Talk about past/abuse/rape
- Implied child abuse/pedophilia
- Shock/Anxiety/Panic/Utmost Dread
- Fighting/Attempted murder
- Pain
- Very bad misunderstandings
- Arguments
- Nightmares about past/abuse/ex-boyfriend
- Panicked/Crazed/Delirious behavior
- Graphic!

Please don't read this if you know/think it might trigger you!

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Chapter 35: Kyle

This was such a weird day.

Percy pondered that as he took another bite of his blue cake he was permitted to eat by his doctor (a certain, absent-minded looking Will Solace), thinking back to their morning, and what had happened so far.

Seriously, such a weird day.

Will's nightmare last night had taken nobody by surprise except Will himself ('Oh, I forgot I had these...sorry, guys.' – Seriously, what the hell, Will?), and other than that, the night had passed fairly peaceful…after Will had taken a two-hour long shower, making all three of them think he had passed out in the bathroom or something.

Or, well, they would have thought that, if Will hadn't kept chanting a very loving 'Fuck you, Percy, turn my heat back up you fucking -insert random swearwords here at will-!' whenever Percy had tweaked with the water a bit to see whether he was actually still alive.

Seriously, though, what had he been doing in there?

Alright, in a way, Percy preferred not to know (that was a lie).

Still, other than that, it had been a normal night, and a normal morning, with them getting up, and Nico sprawled over him, and Will sitting in bed looking nervous and eager and anxious, all at the same time…ah, wait, that was another thing that hadn't been quite that normal.

But Will had waved him off the moment he had asked whether something was wrong, instead glancing sideways at a still-sleeping Jason with an odd expression.

Percy had no idea what that had been about, but whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't turn into anything like that day when Jason had outright ignored Will for reasons Percy still didn't know.

True, he had been meaning to ask about that.

Anyways.

Even with all that, the day had so far been pretty uneventful.

Will had taken another shower for inexplicable reasons, Nico and Percy had taken theirs together and regretted not having a soundproof room anymore, Jason had been super quick as usual with his shower and already sorted through his things to bring them back to his cabin later by the time Percy had managed to button up his pants.

They had met a few people on the way to the dining pavilion, exchanged pleasantries, the whole Apollo cabin had come to snatch Will away 'for another five minutes' which had then turned into thirty minutes of Percy, Nico and Jason sitting there and watching Will trying to escape his siblings' clutches…

(Apparently, Will had been 'too vague' with his details last night, and a few of his siblings hadn't been there, so he pretty much had to tell them everything all over again, which was absolutely adorable to watch.)

…In other words, it had been a quite fun, but still uneventful morning.

After that, they had returned to Nico's cabin and sorted through their luggage and laundry, finding out none of Nico's gifts had gotten damaged at any point during their travels (thank the gods…and Leo's craftsmanship/teaching skills).

Their paths had parted for a short while as Jason had taken his things back to his cabin, then helped Will with his things (which Percy had offered to do first!), but they had all gotten back together right after, and had originally wanted to help Will out in the infirmary.

But upon getting there, Kayla had given Will a super quick run-down with tons of terms Percy had never heard before, before basically kicking them all back out again, telling them to 'do their thing' and let her enjoy the peace of the moment.

Apparently, it really was a quiet time in the infirmary right now.

Which was great, of course.

That meant Will could hang out with them all day long, like before.

Percy had kind of feared things would suddenly change from one day to the next, with Will being out of order the entire time, and them having to fight to get the blonde's attention.

(Probably quite literally, too, since the only way into the infirmary to get Will's attention was to have an actual wound as an excuse.)

So they had left again, and gone back to Nico's cabin to sort through the DVDs and games from the Underworld.

It might sound boring, but it hadn't been.

Though it hadn't been all that exciting or anything, either.

Again, nothing very…eventful.

And Percy wasn't sure why this was bothering him so much, why this was such a big deal to him.

Somehow, it felt…strange.

The day felt strange.

There was something in the air he didn't like.

The way it was neither warm nor cold, and the wind was there for one moment, and gone the next, as if the weather wasn't sure what to do, either.

What to prepare for.

What was this?

It felt weird.

Like the quiet before the storm.

And Percy didn't like it.

A part of him kept fighting the urge to grab his guys and lock them up in Nico's cabin, wait for it all to pass.

Another part of him wanted to finally find out what this wrongness was and face it and punch it in the face.

And the rest of him was basically thinking he was going nuts and that being in the Underworld for so long must have made him unusually paranoid or something.

Oh well, at least he had cake.

Maybe that was all there was to today.

Cake.

Brownies for Nico and Jason, blue cake for him.

And Will…Will wasn't eating, still looking nervous.

Maybe Will felt the wrongness of the day, too.

Or maybe he would do something stupid that would bring upon the apocalypse.

Percy's nosebleed had done that before, after all.

Wow, that was one horrible thought.

Percy shook his head and pushed that far out of his mind, instead holding out a forkful of cake to Will, nudging his arm with his other hand to make him look around at him.

There he was, sitting next to him for once, and he didn't even look his way.

When Jason sat next to him, it seemed as if he was always looking at him.

Was Percy jealous?

…Yeah, a tiny bit, yeah.

Still, he had every right to be.

Those two weren't boyfriends yet, so Percy, as a friend, demanded the same treatment as the one Jason, as a friend, was getting.

Yep.

Will turned his head faintly, though his eyes were still on a spot far away, and when he opened his mouth automatically, Percy blinked and fed him the cake.

Will…actually took it.

He stared off into space, seeming completely lost in thought as he chewed, and Percy looked around at the guys, to check whether they had just seen that, too.

They were both watching, Nico with his eyebrows raised, Jason with a small frown, though his lips were twitching.

Will put his arms on the table with a sigh, still staring off into space, and Percy tried the same thing again, nudging his arm before holding out another forkful of cake.

The blonde let him feed him again, this time even turning more towards the fork.

Aww, how cute!

Percy grinned, then looked at the guys in what he knew was a way too elated and triumphant way, but Nico merely smiled back at him and concentrated back on his actual lunch, while Jason acted as if he was clapping, but without sound.

Dork.

Percy beamed at him.

Then he beamed back at Will, who had his chin on his hand now, a pout and a frown on his face, as if he was contemplating something, but was stuck.

Percy nudged his arm again, and funnily enough, Will automatically turned his head slightly and opened his mouth, as if expecting more cake.

Not one to disappoint, Percy fed him another forkful.

"Like the cake?" He asked hopefully, and Will hummed distractedly in reply, reminding him a bit of how Annabeth used to be whenever she was lost in her work.

In that case…

"Anything I can help you with?" He tried tentatively.

While Percy might not be all that smart, he was told to be good at brainstorming sometimes.

Plus, this was a perfectly fine question, even for Will's standards.

Sure, he hated to need 'help', but he had yet to react badly to a genuine offer for help when it didn't make him seem weak or incapable.

Will hummed again.

"No, no, I'm just…thinking…" He replied after a moment, then let Percy feed him some more cake.

Hey, maybe he could make him eat the whole rest of his piece.

Why hadn't he had this idea before, he could have tried to make him eat an entire piece.

After that small breakfast, and the basically non-existent lunch, that would have certainly been a great accomplishment, at least in Percy's book.

"About what, sun-bug?" He asked casually, and noticed Nico and Jason now watching with utmost interest.

Ha.

Finally something Percy had been able to do that they had so far failed at!

Ha!

Not that Percy was gloating or anything.

…Okay, maybe a tiny bit.

"Hmm, no." Will replied absent-mindedly, and Percy sighed.

Aww, apparently this was as far as he could go.

Damn Will and his secrets.

It probably didn't even have to do with anything like that whatsoever, but still.

"Alright, I respect that." He stated quietly, and Will's lips twitched for a moment, before he actually turned to look at him, an unusually soft and warm expression on his face.

"Thanks, Percy."

…

Yes, this day was definitely…strange.

Very strange.

And it still felt like there was a blow coming.

A blow that wasn't Will, and definitely not as pleasant as the rush of warmth and fluttery something inside him right now as he smiled back at Will automatically, feeding him another piece of cake.

And Will looked at it and still ate it, before turning away again, resuming his staring off into space.

But that was okay.

Everything was okay.

Percy felt giddy and happy and euphoric, looking towards his guys, who were grinning back at him, Jason doing his little 'clap' again, though he looked a lot more at ease now than a moment ago, while Nico shot Jason an exasperated look before joining in, his cheeks flushing slightly.

Aww.

Yeah, okay, maybe Percy had really just imagined it all.

Maybe this really just was a day like any other, just that he had been blessed with these three wonderful dorks.

He looked back at Will, studying his profile.

And Will would be fine, too.

If that something he was thinking about started bothering him, he could always come to them, and he should know that by now.

Shaking his head at himself, he ate a piece of his cake thoughtfully, before offering some more to Will, who let him do so without complaint.

Yeah, everything was good.

Percy should stop being so paranoid, seriously.

...

Will wasn't sure what to do.

No, that wasn't it.

He knew what he wanted to do, but he wasn't sure how to do it.

First of all, though, he had to convince the guys to move a bit faster as they left Leo's and made their way back to Camp.

There were training lessons to give, after all.

Well, Percy and Nico had to give training lessons.

As expected, Nico had offered to help Percy out permanently with the sword-training, and Percy had obviously been all for it.

At this rate though, they'd both be late to their very first lessons, and Will wasn't going to have any of that.

Plus, that would give him a chance to be 'alone' with Jason – at least alone enough to initiate a conversation about…yeah, he still wasn't too sure about that part.

He had thought about it last night after his nightmare (which had, hands down, taken him by utter surprise, since this demanded all his attention), in the shower, then in bed when the others had fallen asleep again, then in the next shower he had taken (thanks to being too beside himself with thoughts and fears and doubts), then at breakfast,…

He was still thinking about it now.

One would think once he went and actually made the decision 'Yes, I'll tell Jason', everything would be simple and easy, but…it wasn't.

If anything, keeping quiet about it and acting as if the thought had never crossed his mind sounded a hell lot easier by the minute.

But Will was at least going to try.

Something really small.

Maybe a remark at the side.

A nudge into the right direction, something that hinted at something, but without shoving it all into Jason's face out of nowhere.

Something small.

But what was small?

Nothing Will could think of was particularly small, since all the 'small' stuff was connected to the nasty stuff.

And thinking like this hurt his brain.

It felt as if he was thinking of himself as a toddler and didn't dare look at the things the way they were.

But…well…he had tried that, too, during his first shower, and it had resulted in him crouching in the shower with his hands over his mouth trying to keep himself from crying with all his might.

So, yeah, he was going to call it whatever the hell he wanted, even inside his own head.

Will sighed loudly, tugging on Nico's and Jason's sleeves to get them to pick up their pace, so they could finally get out of the forest and back to the actual Camp grounds.

Seriously though, if he couldn't even address the matter in his head without breaking down, how was he supposed to have a serious and civilized and mature conversation with Jason about any part of this?

Maybe he really shouldn't…no, he had made up his mind.

He wanted to date Jason.

To date Jason, he had to admit at least to something, though.

Of course, Jason wouldn't push, but Will knew he connected that to trust.

It wasn't as if Will didn't trust Jason.

It was just that he couldn't gauge how Jason was going to take it, and he didn't want him to know in the first place, he didn't want anybody to know, and…okay, that did sound a bit as if he didn't trust Jason, even to himself.

He did trust Jason.

He just didn't want him to know.

Gods, this was going to be so difficult…

"In such a hurry to see us in action?" Percy joked behind him, and Will scowled at him over his shoulder.

That guy should rather be happy he hadn't gotten a concussion earlier, when he had been so distracted in trying to ask Will something he still had no idea what it had been, before one of Leo's wrenches had suddenly come flying and whacked him right across the back of the head.

It was Percy's own fault, of course, since Leo had told them not to stand in that particular spot and to watch out, but Will had of course instantly tended to him without teasing (much).

But it was just going to be a small bump, probably not even that, really.

(It had still distracted Will from the matter at hand, though, which he hadn't appreciated one bit.)

"Maybe I'm just hoping the fighting will shut you up, Perce."

"Rude!" Percy exclaimed, though he grinned, so all was well.

Will smiled back at him, then glanced towards Jason and was right back to worrying.

How was he to even address this?

'Jason, I have to talk to you.'

Way too ominous, Jason might think he did something wrong and worry too much.

'Jason, I was thinking…I want us to date.'

Too direct, and also kind of rushed, as if Will hadn't given the matter any serious thought.

'Would you like to go out with me?'

They had already established that Jason, in fact, would like to go out with him, so why would he even ask that again?

In the end, Jason would think he hadn't taken him seriously.

'I'd like to tell you my ex-boyfriend was an abusive asshole that has done more damage than I originally thought, but I'd still like to try and go out with you, if that's okay?'

Yeah…how about no.

Way too…informative.

It sounded as if he wanted pity or something.

He didn't want any pity.

He just wanted Jason to understand and to let the matter drop and tell Will he was going to date him, anyways.

He hoped Jason would date him anyways.

What if he said no?

Or what if he said yes, but then realized just how broken Will actually was, and changed his mind again?

What if he thought Will had lied to him if he found out it was much more than just a small remark at the side?

Should Will say more, then?

But what could he tell?

Again, he didn't want Jason to know!

Anything!

Ever!

In his life!

This was as far as Will was willing to go.

As far as Will was able to go.

He didn't want to talk about all that.

He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to remember it, didn't want it to have happened in the first place.

But he wanted to date Jason.

And it was his own fault things had come to this point where Jason knew something was wrong, putting Will into this situation where he had to spill.

Of course he knew Jason would drop it if he asked him to, would date him and let him live with his secrets for as long as he wanted to, but…

But Jason knew.

He knew something was wrong, and he'd probably never forget it, and Will had read and heard of enough stories of people turning bitter over time, of people feeling their partners didn't truly trust them, of people hurting over their partners being stubborn and secretive.

Will didn't want to do that to Jason.

Jason was right in saying a relationship was best built on trust and communication.

He was right in saying he wanted that for them, too.

And Will wanted to give him that.

Will wanted to give him everything.

So if that meant he had to at least let him know a bit – not all, but a tiny bit of it – then he'd do that.

He'd do it.

He had sworn to himself he'd do it.

He'd at the very least try.

Will nodded stubbornly to himself.

If Sally had been able to make the decision to have a few weeks of bliss with the god of the sea, even while knowing of the dangers she'd put herself and her child in, then Will could confide a part of his fucked up past to Jason and see whether Jason was willing to date him, anyways…or not.

He could do it.

He would do it.

Yes.

They left the forest and made their way towards the sword-fighting area, but were distracted by campers rushing past, all into the same direction.

Either they were running away from something, or towards something.

Since they came from various directions and all met at a certain spot near the bottom of the hill, Will was pretty sure it was the latter.

What…?

What was it now?

A hurt camper?

Oh no, please not.

He had just gotten a free day from Kayla, and he wanted to use it to ask Jason out, there was no way he was dealing with any bullshit right now!

"Hey, what's going on?" Percy asked a Hermes boy as he rushed by, but the kid just shrugged.

"Something about a visitor or something." He said vaguely, then the girl that had run in front of him came back to pull him with her.

"Hurry up!"

A visitor?

If he had said a newcomer, or one of the search parties for newcomers, sure, but…a visitor?

The last visitor Will could remember had been Quintus.

Was this going to be another crazy teacher that unleashed monsters onto the kids and gave Will another headache, along with a freshly filled infirmary?

It better not be.

Will exchanged a look with his guys.

He didn't want to know.

He didn't want to go.

Couldn't they ignore whatever visitor that might be and just get on with their day?

Percy looked apprehensive, too, looking up at the sky as if it held answers Will couldn't see.

Nico and Jason however were already moving towards the commotion.

Ugh.

Fine.

Percy looked at him once more, but when Will started reluctantly following the other two, he followed suite as well with a small sigh.

Weird of Percy not to rush forward to find out more.

Then again, after two wars, Will was pretty sure he wouldn't be very curious about anything that could be serious, either.

…Yeah, right.

As if a visitor was a very serious business.

It was probably just a lost mailman that had finally made it past the Camp border, because one of his ancestors had had demigod blood or something.

Wouldn't that be something?

Oh well, whoever it was, it was probably-…

As they got closer, a few people shifted, and Will glimpsed a flash of dark blonde between the heads of a few kids.

Something in him clenched painfully, and he slowed down, now falling behind Percy, too.

No, it must have been a trick of the light.

Or anything.

There was no reason…

Will's heart started hammering in his chest, and that ominous feeling that had been lurking inside him for a while now started welling up inside him all over again, filling him with dread and making his hands and feet tingle, his blood pounding through him.

No, it was nothing.

It was nothing, he was imagining things again.

He was…

Another flash of blonde.

A flash of a smile.

An arm with scars that reminded Will of darkened rooms and harsh touches and pain, pain, pain.

No.

No, it wasn't…

It couldn't be…

Nico tapped a girl on the shoulder, and she stepped to the side, and Will's world ended.

It just ended.

He was standing, having come to a stop at some point apparently, and he wasn't breathing, and the world had stopped moving.

No.

NO!

"K-Kyle?" His voice was feeble, a mere whisper in the breeze, but it held all the disbelief Will felt right now.

In the middle of the commotion, next to Chiron, stood his worst nightmare.

"Will? Hey, you okay?" Percy asked, apparently having come back once he noticed Will wasn't with him anymore.

But Will wasn't looking at him.

His eyes were glued to the tall man with dark blonde hair and cold, dark eyes that had once allured Will.

"Will?" Percy repeated, but Will tried to make him shut up, tried to shush him without words, without moving, just by thinking 'NO!' over and over again.

He couldn't use words, he couldn't move, he couldn't think of anything.

No, no, no.

Why?

It couldn't be.

It had to be a mistake, a mistake!

It was just…just coincidence.

It couldn't be him.

It couldn't be, it couldn't be, it couldn't be.

It had to be somebody else, somebody else, somebody else.

Will felt sick, his body trembling, his head in disarray.

A hand touched his arm, and he flinched back with a small cry.

"Will?"

"I…I have to…I forgot something in the infirmary!" He excused himself, stumbling backwards and trying to think, to think!

And then, right then, he turned towards him, his eyes settling on Will as if he was a predator, and Will was the prey.

Will didn't think.

He did the first and only thing that came to mind: Turn around and run.

Run.

...

He crashed through the door of the infirmary, breathing heavily and the tears pricking at his eyes.

No, no, no, no, no.

It couldn't be.

He couldn't be back.

Kyle couldn't be back.

It wasn't possible.

Not now.

Not ever.

He had left.

He had left, he had left, he had left.

Kyle had left!

Left after the war against Kronos, after the big battle in Manhattan!

He had left, and he hadn't returned!

He couldn't be back now!

He couldn't be!

Will choked back a sob, rushing through the hallway towards any room at all, knowing they'd all be free, anyways.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he slid down to the ground, curling into himself.

It wasn't true.

It wasn't true, it wasn't true, it wasn't true.

He had imagined it.

He had dreamed it.

That was it, this was a dream.

Nothing but a dream.

A horrible dream.

The nightmare!

Yes, this was the nightmare.

He just had to wait until he woke up.

He'd wake up and forget, the way he always did, and everything would be okay…

Will tried to control his breathing, but the moment he tried to let out a perfectly controlled breath, panic decided to smack him in the face again and he wheezed instead, dry sobbing into his sleeves.

No, it couldn't be!

It was a dream!

A dream, a dream, a nightmare, a dream!

Will started rocking back and forth on his heels, his arms tightly wrapped around himself.

It was nothing.

It was fake.

Everything was fake.

He'd wake up.

He'd wake up, wake up, wake up.

Will felt himself dry-heave, but luckily didn't puke, and he forced himself off the ground, forcing his limbs into motion.

Motion was good.

He wasn't allowed to stiffen up.

He had to stay mobile.

He had to run.

…No, he didn't have to run.

There was nowhere to run.

...There was nothing to run from.

Will thought he heard a door creak.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

He made a small, stricken sound, everything inside him screaming 'RUN!', but he remained, frozen in fear.

He couldn't be back.

Why would he be back?

He had no reason to be back.

If he had made it in the mortal world so far, he'd make it there now, he didn't have to come back.

What if he had come for Will?

He had let him go back then, what if he wanted him back?

Will's breathing hitched and he stumbled backwards, away from the door, towards the window, but it didn't open.

It never opened.

This was the window an Ares kid had once broken, and they had had it replaced with a thicker glass, but made a mistake when building, and it didn't open.

He had chosen the only room with faulty window.

There was no way out.

No way out.

No way out.

No, no, no, no, no.

Footsteps.

Will heard footsteps.

It could just as well be his heart pounding in his head and ears, but his eyes snapped around to the door.

He had come back.

He had come back, and he had seen Will.

He had seen him.

He knew he was there.

He would take him.

And Will was right here, defenseless and stupid and stuck.

Like a rabbit in a trap.

He was the rabbit.

The rabbit, the rabbit, the prey, the rabbit.

No, this was the infirmary.

He was safe in the infirmary.

Kyle had hated the infirmary.

He hadn't liked Will going here.

Had said it was a place full of healing, he didn't like it.

Will was safe here.

…No.

Will was only safe here when there were people healing.

The infirmary was empty.

No!

No, Kyle didn't know that.

Kyle didn't know anything.

Kyle couldn't be here.

Kyle couldn't be alive.

No, no, no, no, no.

Footsteps.

They were louder than before.

Nearer.

Will made a feeble sound and rushed to the cupboard, ripping open the first compartment and scattering the contents all over the floor.

No scissors.

No knife.

He needed a knife.

Scissors.

A needle.

Anything.

Will found nothing, ripping open the next one.

Nothing.

No!

No, no, no, no.

Will heard the steps coming closer and whimpered, rushing to the window again and pulling with all his mind, but it didn't budge, so he ran back to the cupboard, ripping the last two drawers out and whining at the noise, tears crashing down his cheeks like waterfalls.

A weapon.

Please.

Anything.

Anything!

The footsteps stopped, and he knew they were right there, right in front of the door.

Will hadn't even locked it.

No.

No, no, no, no, no!

Will stopped breathing, hoping whoever was there would continue on their path.

Please…

The door opened, and he looked into the eyes of his doom.

The predator.

The monster.

"Hello there, William. Long time no see."

Will was an idiot.

Will was the prey.

Will was dead.

...

Jason frowned to himself, making his way to the infirmary.

It didn't make sense.

Why would Will need anything in the infirmary?

He had told them plenty enough times he had finished everything he had needed to do, and Kayla had made it obvious the infirmary was, frankly said, empty.

Or going to be empty by noon, since that's when she'd kick out the last two patients.

But it was afternoon.

What could Will possibly need in there?

Well, Percy had said he had looked sick.

What if he had caught something, after all?

What if he was getting medication from here?

Still, it didn't make sense.

Will could have just told them he wasn't feeling well.

He had seemed so distracted all day long already, though…

Maybe he really wasn't feeling well.

Or maybe he was thinking he might catch something and had contemplated whether or not to get his sibling's help for it.

Would any of his siblings be in the infirmary when it was empty?

Maybe?

Then again, right now, everybody was probably too busy chattering about their new 'visitor'.

Seriously, Jason didn't know what to think about that guy, either.

He was definitely quite a bit older than them, and even taller than Jason, but other than the fact that he had a strange, but powerful aura around him, he hadn't made much of an impression on Jason.

Nico's reaction had been a bit odd, with him frowning at the guy as if he was contemplating whether this was friend or foe, but when he had caught Jason looking, he had merely shrugged, and the two had turned around to originally continue with their original plan of going to the sword fighting area.

Just that, instead of Percy and Will right behind them, Percy had run to them looking stunned and confused, while Will…had been gone.

It was so…unlike Will.

To suddenly disappear like that.

Next to that one time in Elysium, of course.

But that didn't count, Will had been confronted with seeing his dead best friend out of nowhere, after all.

Still…it was weird.

Then again, it was also unusual for Jason to let Will out of his sight like that.

Seriously, all this time he had made sure to stay close to Will, to show him he'd always be there for him, to protect him should the need arise.

And right when he wasn't looking for one minute, Will just disappeared?

Seriously, something was wrong.

Jason just knew it.

He stopped in front of the door to the infirmary, finding it open the slightest bit.

…Strange.

Will always closed his doors properly.

Always.

Jason pushed the door open slowly, entering the infirmary quietly and trying to listen for any sounds.

Maybe he wasn't here, after all?

He was about to call out, to ask whether there was anybody there, but…then he didn't.

Had he just…had there just been a sound?

It was faint, but he could have sworn…

There.

There it was again.

Jason's alarm bells rang, but he brushed it off.

They were in Camp, there would be no attacks in here.

Plus, this was the infirmary.

Jason perked up when he heard the noise again.

Was that…a whimper?

No, it was too quiet for that…and why would anybody whimper, anyways?

Maybe there was a camper in here, after all?

Maybe they were sick.

Or maybe Will was being sick.

Maybe he hadn't taken well to Percy's blue cake.

No, he doubted it.

But something was definitely off.

Jason felt his insides churning, and he forced his hand away from the sword at his side, instead making his way down the hallway slowly.

This was an infirmary, he shouldn't pull out his weapon in here.

He moved past the rooms, all the doors pushed all the way open except for one, where the door was just ajar the smallest bit.

As expected, there was nobody in the other rooms, the beds freshly made and the windows open to let in a fresh breeze.

He stopped in front of the ajar door.

Will…?

Should he…announce himself?

Will always preferred knowing when somebody was close by.

Jason wasn't sure why, but he blamed it on the same thing that made Will so scared of people behind him.

Which he also didn't know the reason for.

Once more, Jason opened his mouth, but found the words stuck in his throat when he heard a voice that wasn't Will's.

"Now, now. Is that how you greet me, William? Is that how you greet old friends?"

…What.

Jason's skin pricked, and his alarm bells were all going off at once, though he found himself rooted to the spot.

Who was this?

Jason didn't recognize the voice.

And what did they mean, 'greet old friends'?

And who the fuck dared to call his Will 'William'?

Will made a small sound, and Jason realized with a jolt it was a whimper.

Will's whimper.

Will did not whimper.

What the fuck was going on?!

"I…I…I…am not…you're not…this…you…no…" He heard Will stutter, his voice wispy and frail and interrupted by sobs, laced with what Jason could only read as fear.

He moved one hand to his sword, placing the other flat against the door, pushing it open ever so faintly to look inside, to check what exactly was going on.

A part of him wanted to rush in and destroy, but he pushed that down for now.

It wouldn't do anybody any good if he-…

He stopped thinking when he saw the new guy from earlier.

He stopped thinking when he saw the new guy from earlier, who was pinning his Will against the wall by holding both hands above his head, while his other hand was on Will's chin, lifting it up so he could look at him.

He stopped thinking when he saw the terrorized look on Will's face, the tears running down his cheeks, his bottom lip trembling, same as his entire body seemed to be.

He stopped thinking, when he saw and heard the new guy laugh – a short, cruel laugh, laced with glee, rather than joy.

"What? Cat got your tongue? Aw, how sweet you still are. Just like I remember you. Only that I remember you greeting me differently. Didn't we decide you look best on your knees, William?" The stranger purred, though it sounded nothing like a cat.

It sounded predatory, dangerous, bad.

Jason was rooted to the spot, trying to process what he was seeing, what he was hearing, what he was witnessing, trying to piece it all together, but he wasn't even fully comprehending the first half of his statement, much less the rest.

Will whimpered again, the sound tearing something inside Jason, making him want to break free and rush forward and tear into the guy, tear him away from Will, protect Will.

"I…no! No! I…Kyle, no! Please!"

Kyle? Was that his name?

Jason didn't care, too hung up on the rest of Will's cry.

Will had said please.

Will hated saying please.

Kyle laughed.

"Aw, you know I hate it when you beg. What have I told you? Begging is for the weak. The only time you're allowed to beg, is when I'm-…"

"No! I…I have…I have a boyfriend!" Will interrupted, sounding frantic, sounding scared, sounding as if he was begging for his life.

Kyle now had his finger on Will's lips, rather than his chin.

"Oh yeah? And what's his name, pray tell? I'd love to meet this…boyfriend…of yours." He said sweetly, and Will looked as if he was about to reply, but then Kyle added a 'You know what I've told you, after all. Nothing comes between me and what I want.', and Will's mouth suddenly snapped shut again, his face paling even further as his eyes seemed to be devoid of any emotion but utmost fear.

"That's right. You don't have anybody. You're mine, you forgot? Mine." Kyle's voice was sickly sweet, making Jason's skin crawl, but it was nothing to the way Will started shaking.

"N-No…" He whimpered, but Kyle merely smiled – and moved.

And the next moment, Jason's world was turned upside down, as Kyle leaned forward and pushed his lips onto Will's.

Kissing him.

The stranger.

Kissing his Will.

No.

No.

Will made a despairing sound, and suddenly, something snapped into place inside Jason.

Suddenly, it made sense.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

It couldn't be!

Kyle pulled back suddenly as if bitten, blood dripping from his lip, cursing loudly before snatching Will by the neck.

"You'll regret that, you little bitch!"

Jason was moving.

He was moving, his vision turning red when he saw Kyle pulling his arm back.

He let out a low growl when Kyle's fist connected with Will's cheek, making him cry out in pain as he flew off to the side, hitting the ground and instantly curling into himself as if to protect him from further punches.

As if he knew there would be more punches.

Kyle didn't see him coming.

Kyle only knew he was being attacked when Jason's fist buried itself in his face.

Kyle only knew he was being attacked when Jason caught him by the front of his shirt with his other hand as he was toppling back, punching him again and sending him into the ground, just as Kyle had done with Will.

His Will.

His Will!

Jason snarled, all sense and reason forgotten as he pursued his prey, who was pushing himself up and moving as if to defend himself.

Jason didn't let him.

He moved his arm, punching him in the jaw and sending him stumbling backwards, a deep scowl on his face, but Jason wasn't intimidated, already moving to land another blow.

But then, Kyle showed he could fight back, trying to land a blow on Jason with a hiss, his leg trying to trip Jason, but Jason tore him down with him, and suddenly, they were a bundle of flying fists and growls and hisses.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear thunder, and flashes of white, but he paid it no mind.

Will was hurt.

This guy had hurt his Will.

This guy had hurt his Will!

Will was whimpering, still curled up into a ball, and Jason wanted to comfort, wanted to hold, wanted to heal, but the moment he allowed himself to look towards him, Kyle used his chance and smacked him straight in the jaw with his knee, making Jason momentarily think he had snapped something in his neck, black and white spots appearing in his vision, the pain numbing his other senses for a moment.

Then Kyle was on top of him, trying to choke him, and Jason snarled, scratching at his wrists and pulling them off him again with utmost effort, punching his jaw with a very poorly formed fist that made his knuckles crack and ache, but he ignored it, instead shoving Kyle backwards and trying to get the upper hand again.

There was another flash of white at the window, and Kyle momentarily glanced towards it as they both stumbled to their feet.

Jason used his chance to lunge forward with a growl, shoving Kyle backwards and straight out of the room, making him hit the wall in the hallway before Jason was at his throat.

Kill.

He had hurt Will.

Jason was going to hurt him.

Make him pay.

Hurt him.

Kill him.

Kyle looked him into the eyes, dark eyes searching his, and Jason saw no fear, just analyzation.

Before he could make sense of that though, Kyle shoved his knee into Jason's gut, and Jason winced and lost his grip on him, giving Kyle the chance to kick him into the side to send him into the ground, though he tried to catch his balance again, stumbling forward several times, Kyle following right behind him for the next blow.

They both snarled at each other like animals, Jason turning around to catch Kyle's attack and try to force him back, but Kyle was stronger than expected, and they both stumbled further backwards, towards the still open front door.

Jason struck Kyle's face, and Kyle tried to grab him by his hair to pull him down, making him eternally glad they had gotten their haircuts yesterday.

Though Kyle still managed to shove him into the wall next to the doorway rather painfully, his knee shoving into Jason's gut several times, making him dry-heave and choke, feeling as if he was momentarily about to black out.

"Kyle, no!" Will yelled behind them, and Jason tried to spot him, but his vision was too blurry.

Kyle looked around, too, and Jason decided that, if he couldn't see Will, he might as well make use of this moment.

He shoved him backwards, making use of the shift in Kyle's balance due to his turned head and kicking him right in the side, sending him crashing into the open door.

Kyle gasped, then they were at each other again, snarling and growling and hissing and spitting, trying to get to any patch of skin they could get to.

Kyle was out to kill.

Jason could feel it in his movements, the way he didn't care where he hit Jason, as long as it was painful.

Kyle thrived on the pain.

Jason could see it in his sneer, the way he seemed to gloat more and more the more times he struck Jason.

Jason was on the ground again, and Will cried out, but this time, he didn't have to worry.

Jason had his knees up, pushing them up against Kyle and hoisting him right up and over his head, sending him outside and down the front steps of the infirmary.

Then he rolled over and threw himself out the door and at him all over again as Kyle sputtered and tried to push himself up, his shoulder seeming dislocated.

Good.

Let him hurt.

"You must be the boyfriend." Kyle spat as they rolled in the mud, and Jason only growled in reply.

Kyle was talking.

Which meant he was running out of power or ideas, trying to trick Jason with his words.

He had to be stronger.

Had to not listen.

"It's to be expected. You look quite like me, after all."

Jason snarled, and they could hear the sky roar in agreement with Jason, lightning bolts turning everything white around them as they struck random trees and cabins, causing mass panic.

Jason didn't care.

"But tell me, does he still feel so nice and tight? He used to feel so good around me. Especially when I made him beg for it."

Jason tried not to listen.

Jason also felt sick.

Jason also wanted to rip him to pieces.

He rolled them over, his hands rushing to Kyle's throat instantly.

Kill.

Kyle sneered up at him, his eyes dark and dangerous.

"You know you'll never be able to replace me, no matter how hard you try. He needs me. He loves me. Whenever you'll touch him, he'll think of me. Of my touch. You're nothing in comparison."

Jason's grip tightened, squeezing Kyle's throat until he could feel him being unable to breathe.

Kill.

Murder.

Destroy.

Kyle's sneer died.

Jason was going to make all of him die.

"Jason! What the fuck is going on?!" He heard Nico's voice cut through his haze, but he merely snarled, irritated beyond reason when the Italian pulled him backwards off Kyle.

NO!

"Let me go!"

"Jason, you're destroying the Camp! What's happened? Stop it! No, what, no!" Nico yelled as Jason ripped himself free and lunged at Kyle again, who had the audacity to laugh upon seeing Nico pulling him away.

"He hurt Will! He raped him!" He yelled at Nico when the Italian tried to pry him off Kyle again, and he vaguely noticed there were people collecting around him, kids gasping, others calling something to others.

Nico froze, and Jason ripped free once more, throwing himself at Kyle again with a war cry, but he had been expecting him, laughing gleefully as he countered his attack, and they were all over again.

He would destroy him.

Kill.

Kill.

Kill.

"Enough!"

...

Will was standing in the doorway of the infirmary, staring at the scene in front of him unseeing.

Jason.

Kyle.

Jason was there.

Kyle was back.

Jason had found him.

Kyle had come for him.

Jason had saved him.

Kyle had claimed Will was his.

Jason was fighting Kyle.

Kyle was going to kill Jason.

Will was shaking, trying to move, trying to yell, trying to act, trying to help Jason somehow.

He had to help him.

Kyle was strong, strong, strong.

Will had never seen him lose a fight.

Kyle was hurting Jason, hurting him.

Will wanted to move, wanted to run to Jason, wanted to stop the pain, wanted to heal Jason's.

Kyle was back.

Kyle was there.

Will couldn't move.

Couldn't run.

Couldn't stop it.

Couldn't heal.

He saw people coming from everywhere, because of the storm, because of the fight, because of Will, Will didn't know.

Will didn't care.

Kyle was back.

He was back, he was back, he was back.

Will wasn't safe.

He was never safe.

Never.

And nowhere.

His eyes focused on two running figures, identifying them as Nico and Percy as they rushed forward and through the group in what seemed like slow motion, Nico making straight for Jason, while Percy stopped, looking confused and bewildered, before his eyes roamed the crowd.

Then, he spotted Will, and made straight for him, making Will reach out automatically, a small whine escaping his lips.

Percy didn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close, catching Will as his legs gave way, and Percy lowered them to the ground, his hold on Will tight, secure.

"Will! Will, what happened? Will, what's wrong? Oh gods, sun-bug, your cheek…" Percy exclaimed, his loud voice making Will wince, though he merely clutched Percy harder, unable to let go.

"Percy! Percy, he's back! He's back…" He sobbed, and Percy tried to calm him, tried to soothe him, but Will's mind turned blank again, fear taking over as his breathing spiraled out of control.

"Babe, babe no, no, Will, look at me, look at me and breathe. Breathe! In and out, slowly, come on, it's okay, I've got you, I've got you, sun-bug…" Percy tried frantically, first trying to pull back, but then resorting to moving his head sideways at an awkward angle when Will was unable to let him go.

Will forced himself to follow his directions, forced his eyes down to Percy's lips, more reading the words than hearing them, his pulse pounding in his ears too loud, muffling all the noise around him.

Percy started nodding, giving him a small, reassuring smile, before his eyes moved away from him, towards the commotion, and Will felt the dread tug on him again, his fingernails digging into Percy's skin.

"Jason! You have to help Jason! Kyle is strong, Percy!" He warned him, searching Percy's gaze instantly once he looked back down at him, trying to find out what was happening around them.

Was Jason okay?

Was he even still alive?

Oh gods, what if he…because of Will…

"Shh, calm down, Nico is helping Jason, it's all good, I've got you, babe…" Percy rushed to reassure him instantly, gently rocking him back and forth as Will held onto him as if his life depended on it.

"Nothing's good! Kyle is back, Percy! He's back, he's back, he's…he's…" He squeezed his eyes shut.

"The new guy? Will, what does it matter? What happened? What did he do?" Percy asked, not understanding.

Will clenched his jaw, trying to keep himself from speaking.

It didn't work.

"He's my ex-boyfriend…" He sobbed pathetically, the same moment Jason yelled something behind them, and there was a jolt going through Percy, though his hold on Will didn't waver.

"Will…?"

There was uncertainty in his voice.

Fear.

Will shook his head wildly, trying to keep his mouth shut, trying to keep the words in that threatened to tumble from his lips.

No, no, not now, not here, not anywhere!

"He's my ex, Percy. We dated. I…I…it was like you and Luke. He was older, he was mature, he was strong. I…I admired him. Looked up to him. I liked him. And he took notice of me, Percy! He saw me, even though I was just a small kid, useless at everything, unloved and unclaimed, and all by myself. He saw me, Percy, and he said I'm cute, that he hasn't seen someone as pretty as me around…" He started babbling, started sobbing, while still wildly shaking his head, trying to make himself stop, trying to make himself shut the fuck up.

"Will, stop, you don't have to tell me this…" Percy started, his voice sounding strained as he started moving, trying to get up and pull Will along with him, but Will's legs didn't work properly, and his grip on Percy's front made it difficult for either of them to move, but he couldn't unclench his fingers.

Shock, he numbly thought to himself, but discarded it, his mouth already opening to ramble on.

"I felt flattered, Percy. He seemed so honest, and I never heard anybody talking to me like that. I fell for him. I fell for him hard. And he knew it. I thought he didn't, I thought I hid it well, but he knew, he told me he knew, he told me I was obvious about it, he told me he knew from the first moment on, he told me I was so pathetic, he said…he…I…Percy it hurt so much…"

Why was he talking?

There was no sense in him talking.

Not about this.

Not now.

Not ever.

Not to Percy.

Not to anybody.

"Will, breathe. I'll get us to Nico's cabin, okay?" Percy said briskly, and Will automatically took a deep breath, but all that did was make him dizzy as he nodded, allowing Percy to pull him onto his feet.

He started stumbling into the vague direction of the cabins, and Percy cursed behind him, making him want to curl into a ball and beg for forgiveness.

But Percy didn't hit him.

Instead, his hands moved to his sides, unbelievably gentle and timid as they steadied him and moved him into the right direction, letting him try his walking/stumbling for a few more steps before he said 'Careful' and swooped Will up in one fluid motion.

Will still let out a startled cry, only soothed when he felt Percy's wrist pressing against his bare skin at his arm where Percy was holding him, feeling the rush of familiar values.

It didn't matter what he was feeling.

All that mattered was that he could instantly identify it as Percy.

"And he was so nice, Percy. He was there for me, he sat with me at the Camp Fires, he was so happy for me when I was finally claimed as an Apollo kid. He didn't mind that I was bad at everything. I thought he didn't mind. He acted like he didn't mind. It was all an act. It was all a game to him. He toyed with me, just to see whether I'd take the bite, he told me. He bound me and he told me, and I felt so stupid, I'm so stupid, I should have seen it, I should have known, but I didn't…"

Percy said nothing, so Will went on rambling, unable to stop himself.

He told Percy of how Will had been so confused at first, because he had only liked girls up to that point, that he hadn't understood his own feelings for the longest time, that it had taken him overhearing some other kids talking about sexualities to figure out he was bi.

…And he told Percy of how upset Kyle had gotten when Will had mentioned it three months into their 'dating' that he had liked others, other than Kyle; how he had avoided Will for days on end until Will had come running, begging for forgiveness, telling him it had all been nothing, that he had only ever felt so strongly for Kyle, that those other people had been nothing to him.

Told Percy of how nice and kind Kyle had been, how he had comforted Will when he had cried, how he had told him to ignore the people talking badly about him.

…And he told Percy of how unforgiving Kyle had been when Will had upset him, like when he had hesitated with introducing himself in front of a few of Kyle's friends, back when Kyle had finally allowed them to be 'official'; he told him how much it had hurt to have Kyle being so disappointed, hear him say he had expected better, that he had thought he had meant something to Will, making Will cry and insist he did, over and over again, until Kyle had finally 'believed' him.

He told Percy how Kyle had told him to stop crying and be strong, because only the strong survived, and he could see it inside Will he was strong, he was a fighter.

…And how Kyle had pushed him against the wall, telling him he was a nothing, that he was weak, that he was just going to cry again, and how bored Kyle was of seeing Will cry - he even told Percy how badly he had tried not to cry, but he hadn't wanted anything to happen yet, that he hadn't been ready yet, that he had been a virgin, that he had had no idea about anything, that he had been scared – and how Kyle had ignored him, rather getting upset with him all over again until he finally drew out a forced 'Yes' out of Will.

He told Percy of how sure of himself he had felt in the beginning, how he had thought Kyle had to be the best person in the world.

…And how the mere thought of Kyle had started scaring him to the point he had made up a game with Leah that allowed him to hide for a few hours, to get out of Kyle's line of sight, because Kyle saw everything – he saw everything, heard everything, knew everything, and he had always, always found Will.

He told Percy how Kyle had started leaving hints he might like him back, how Will had hoped so badly there could be more, but that at the same time, he had been so scared to be brushed off, because Kyle had been so much older, and Will had been so young…

Percy's head snapped towards him, and Will automatically snapped his mouth shut.

There was a storm raging in Percy's usually so gentle and peaceful eyes.

It scared him and soothed him at the same time, though he couldn't explain either emotion.

"How old were you?"

The question was harsh, making Will wince, and Percy's expression instantly softened, trying to show him he wasn't going to attack him.

Will knew he shouldn't reply to that question.

Kyle had forbidden him to tell anybody they were dating in the beginning.

Only when he had gotten older had Kyle allowed their relationship to be known.

Will hadn't questioned it.

Hadn't questioned anything.

Will had been so, so stupid.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered, but Percy shook his head, placing a gentle peck to the top of his head as he took a right, hurrying up the steps to a cabin that wasn't Nico's.

It was Percy's.

"It's okay, sun-bug. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted. Do you want to continue?"

Will shook his head no, then opened his mouth and continued on the story as if he had never stopped, everything just pouring out of him as he laid in Percy's arms with his hands drawn to his own chest, trusting Percy to hold him up entirely.

Percy adjusted his hold on him and pulled something out of his pocket as Will told him of how Kyle had started being more obvious, but still never saying it out loud he was interested, and how Will had hoped and dreaded each and every night, until Kyle had finally kissed him for the first time, behind the small storage room with all the weapons and armor.

…And he told him of how Kyle had forced him onto his knees at a later point in their relationship, telling him everybody did this, and that, if Will loved him, he'd try it at the very least – and how he had then told him he'd be a natural at it, for sure, and how that had made Will agree to it all, had made him want to do a good job, had made him want to please Kyle, to show him his trust had been well placed, and to show him he really loved him.

Percy didn't interrupt again, though his mouth was a thin line.

He didn't want to know this.

Of course he didn't want to know this.

Will didn't want him to know, either.

Will couldn't stop it.

"Don't listen, Percy. Please don't listen. Don't judge me. Don't pity me. I don't want you to know. I didn't want you to know. I didn't want any of you to know." He sobbed in a surprisingly sane moment after he finished listing off how amazing he had felt after their first kiss, and how that had been his first real kiss, and how he had just been so happy for once.

The first time he had been really happy since the death of his mother, who had died when monsters had tracked a demigod team in the area and stumbled over Will.

…And he told him how his first blowjob had been a fiasco, and how Kyle had punished him with a deep sigh and a shake of his head, telling him in a sad and broken tone he should have expected as much, before leaving him to himself on the floor and making him feel as if he had ruined everything.

Percy pushed the door open with his foot and got him inside safely, turning the lights on with his elbow and kicking the door shut again, making straight for the bed.

Will didn't want to, but it happened automatically.

He convulsed and cried out, thrashing in Percy's arms and making him stop dead in the middle of the room, realization washing over his face as he lowered them both to the ground hurriedly, to prevent Will getting hurt should he jump out of his arms somehow.

"Will! Will, I won't hurt you. I won't…I would never…" He exclaimed, his voice cracking, and Will could feel his pain at the unspoken accusation.

He shook his head wildly, whimpering and reaching out to clutch him again, to pull him closer, whining against his throat.

"I know…I know, Percy. I know…I'm sorry. I can't…I just can't…"

Percy put his arms around him tightly, so tight it almost hurt, but Will let him, curling up against his chest and allowing Percy to wrap his arms and legs around him, as if he was wrapping all of himself around Will.

He liked that thought.

"Ok. I got you, Will. I got you…"

Will soaked up all the warmth and comfort he could manage, letting out a long, rattling breath.

"I'm sorry…I know you don't want to hear-…"

"Let it out, Will. I'm here for you, always and forever, you know that. And I'll listen. I won't say anything about it if you don't want me to, but I'll listen. Do you trust me?" Percy said softly, and Will squeezed his eyes shut, before giving a small nod.

"Please don't tell the guys…" He whispered, and Percy was quiet for a long moment.

Too long.

"Please…" He forced himself to say, and Percy moved his head to the side of Will's neck slowly, breathing against his skin.

"They won't judge you, Will…"

"Please!" Will begged, self-contempt flashing through him, and Percy winced.

"Okay. I won't tell them. I promise." He agreed, albeit reluctantly, and the tension left Will, together with a relieved breath.

Then, he shook his head and started whispering, telling Percy in a shaky voice how Kyle had started changing slowly, how he started seeming more bored than anything, how he started telling Will to be at certain places at certain times, but then hadn't shown up, himself – just to react upset when Will had asked him about it or gone looking for him, telling him either he hadn't said anything like that at all and that Will must have misunderstood, or that he had been right there, but Will hadn't been.

…And he told him of how he had done his research on everything he could find, anything that had anything to do with sex, with kissing, with anything of the like, fearing he'd fail again; told him of how he had practiced with his pillow, had practiced by himself in the bathroom, had practiced blowjobs on random fruit he could find that didn't immediately raise suspicion. He also told Percy of how the next time he had managed to get Kyle to forgive him, he had tried it again, to blow him, and how that had worked a lot better, but that Kyle had immediately shoved him off and pushed him down, hands at his throat, asking him whether he was cheating on him, and how long it had taken for Will to explain it all to him, to make him understand.

And how Kyle had laughed afterwards.

"It's…not so simple. You think you can tell who's the abuser, and who's the abused, but when you're there, you just…you don't know. I hurt him, so he was right to be upset, and I was wrong to have hurt him, so I had to ask for forgiveness and make it right." He whispered, as if he seriously thought he could explain the terrors he had felt, the guilt, the despair, the urge to make it right again.

To make Kyle forgive him.

Be kind to him again.

Love him again.

Percy looked like he had a different opinion, but he didn't interrupt Will, only holding him safely tucked into his chest and stroking over his back.

"He didn't always hurt me. In the beginning, he never hurt me. He was kind, Percy. And when he kissed me for the first time, he was gentle and soft. He said we had to go out in secret first, because he was worried people would bother me if they knew I was the guy he finally settled for. He was popular, after all. It made sense. He was…with a few girls a few times while we were secretly dating, but back then, he told me it was all just for show, so I believed him. It took over two years for him to allow us to 'officially' date, and now, I know that was only because one of his friends saw us making out in the forest once. You remember Ethan? He saw us, and he wasn't happy, and Kyle wasn't happy, and he avoided me for a whole week, telling me it was my fault for being so loud. I was…I was always too loud…"

It felt horrible, saying all that out loud.

But the more he talked, the more he realized that, as soon as it was out, and as soon as he saw Percy's expression and touch unwavering, he was feeling…better.

Not lighter, not like a weight was lifting off him, but just…warmer, more assured, more certain of himself, more certain that he was right, that he hadn't been the one abusing Kyle, but that Kyle had been abusing him.

It was stupid, of course, but…he had doubted himself for so long, and saying it out loud now, and seeing Percy hear it and not look at him in either scorn or pity…it helped.

Will remembered Elysium for a moment, how this should have happened back then, this realization, and the way it all became easier for Will to cope with.

But it hadn't.

Instead, the memories had crashed over him, taken over him, getting out of control and causing him to panic, to break down, with nobody holding him, because, in his panicked state, he hadn't been able to register his brothers properly.

Only Mrs. O'Leary had helped, curling around him after breaking through the too small bathroom door and growling at the others to get away, before offering the only comfort Will had been able to feel.

He was still not proud about how he had clutched her and sobbed like a baby, nor how glad he had been when she had started licking over his face affectionately, getting him back down from his delusional, crazed state and even managing to make him smile slightly, which had shown his brothers and Leah that he was slowly coming to his senses again.

Will rubbed his face against Percy's sweater, knowing full well that was disgusting, but he couldn't help it.

The fact that he realized a moment later he had just told Percy all that about Elysium, too, didn't make him feel any better, either.

But Percy didn't comment on either, instead swaying him back and forth gently, his strokes even and soothing.

"He was still nice when we started going out, as some time passed. It all…it was just small things, unnoticeable at the time. Things he wanted me to do, stuff he wanted me to bring somehow, such things. But he was still nice, he was still there for me, he let me talk and he listened, and he never raised his voice or threatened me in any way. He was just…disappointed…when I did something wrong. Or didn't manage to get something. And I felt bad for it. But anybody would be like that, right? He would be disappointed, and then he would stop talking to me, and if I didn't try to immediately fix it somehow, because I was a stubborn idiot and thought I was right, he'd drop hints he wanted to end it. He'd say things like that he wasn't sure why we were even seeing each other, and how I obviously didn't love him as much as he loved me, or that I didn't love him at all. He'd say I'd be better off with somebody my own age, and I of course argued all those points and tried to make him see I wanted him to stay. Needed him to stay. And I tried so hard to change, to be more mature for him, to be better for him, so he'd be happy with me."

He explained, feeling the shame coursing through him, and felt Percy pressing his lips to the top of his head, whispering something that sounded a lot like 'You're way too good for him, sun-bug. That rotten asshole hasn't deserved you a single moment of his fucked up life.', but he wasn't sure, and when he looked up at Percy, he found Percy gazing back at him with a gentle, encouraging expression.

So he continued.

He told Percy everything.

The good stuff and the bad, the innocent and the impure.

He knew he was oversharing.

He knew he was telling Percy things he hadn't even told his brothers, and would have definitely never confided into anybody.

But it all flooded out of him, as if he was a bathtub, and somebody had pulled out the plug.

He told Percy how Kyle had started getting more and more impatient with Will, because Will hadn't learned fast enough, hadn't changed enough, because Will had no virtues he could brag to his friends about.

Will was just Will, after all.

(That statement had made Percy tense and fight with himself to remain silent, but Will had a hunch he'd hear something about that sooner or later.)

He told him of how Kyle had started becoming more demanding, always pushing Will to his very limits and beyond, especially when it came to sex.

…And Will was more than ashamed of himself, but he also told Percy about most of his sexual encounters, how Kyle had made sure he had enjoyed it, but also how he had acted as if it was Will's own fault when he hadn't.

Especially when Will started saying 'No', rather than 'Yes', and Kyle would do it, anyways.

Will started shivering, the cold from the ground and the cold cabin seeping through his clothes, cooling his already chilled body down even further.

Percy noticed, and tried to keep him warm for a little while longer, then he asked Will whether it was okay for him to get the blanket.

Will didn't want him to leave.

Even if the blanket was only three steps away, he was scared Percy wouldn't come back.

Will gave Percy a long look, feeling a lot more in control of himself now than when they had entered the cabin.

Percy was right, he wouldn't hurt him.

There was nothing to fear.

Will nodded, but as Percy made to get up, Will tried to get up with him.

"Will?"

"Your…your bed is probably more comfortable than the ground…" Will explained hesitantly, fearing for a moment it would come across wrong, that Percy might think he was trying to insinuate anything, but Percy's expression instantly cleared, and he gave a small nod, taking him by the hand and taking him to his bed slowly, his eyes fixed on Will to check for any sign he changed his mind.

Will didn't, instead explaining to Percy they had rarely used a bed, since Kyle had been unclaimed and thus in the overfilled Hermes cabin, and Will of course had had plenty of half-siblings, himself.

It was just the way a bed was always connected with sleep and sex in some way that had freaked Will out the first moment Percy had moved towards it, right after entering this cabin instead of Nico's, contradictive to his words, and with Will telling him about being sexually assaulted, basically admitting he was easy prey.

Percy flinched at that.

"You're not prey, Will. I'm sorry I didn't take you to Nico's cabin. I wanted to, but I wanted you inside and safe first and foremost, and mine was closer. If I had known that would bother you, I'd have taken you to Nico's cabin, of course."

Will shook his head, waiting for Percy to get in first, though he then realized Percy was waiting for him to make the first move, probably wanting to keep him safe between the wall and himself.

The rational part inside Will knew Percy would never hurt him and would never take advantage of Will, especially not here, and not now.

The still delusional and irrational part of him still freaked out, making up all sorts of horrendous scenarios that could happen if he let Percy trap him.

He swallowed, forcing himself to move, and Percy held up the blanket as he slid under it.

Then he jumped back up.

"Clothes! I can't…your bed will get…" He exclaimed breathlessly, frantically tugging on his jacket and beginning to hyperventilate again as he realized he was still wearing his shoes, but Percy was right there in an instant, stopping him and cupping his face, trying to soothe him with gentle 'Shh'-s, and 'It's okay'-s.

"Just lay down. Nobody cares about the bed, Will. It's just a bed. I can clean it. You're more important than that. It's okay. I'll get in with my clothes, too. See? Everything is good. Calm down. Breathe."

Will forced himself to take a deep breath, then mimicked Percy's slow inhaling and exhaling, feeling himself relaxing ever so faintly again as he laid pack down, while Percy was right there next to him, rolled to his side so he could look at Will properly.

"Do you want me to lay on top of the blanket, instead?" Percy offered when Will tried to measure how close he was, but he shook his head.

"Percy, we've been sharing a bed the past months, I can do this."

"You weren't suddenly confronted with-…" Percy abruptly broke off, his eyes widening with realization.

Will pursed his lips, rolling onto his back and looking up at the ceiling, waiting for the blow.

"You don't like people behind you." Percy breathed, and Will closed his eyes, his lips trembling.

"As I said, the longer we dated, the more frustrated he got. I wasn't enough, Percy. No matter what I did, I wasn't enough, and he kept wanting more. It got to the point where he made it a game to…to follow me when I thought I was alone, jumping me at the most random times, in the most random places, and demanding I do things like suck him off or let him fuck me. Other times, he'd simply shove me against the first flat surface he found and take me without even saying a single word, other than to threaten me to keep quiet or he'd blame it all on me if we were found." He replied, though he knew that was too much, too graphic, too much detail, too much Percy didn't need to know, Percy would never want to know, Percy should never know.

Will felt his eyes pricking with fresh tears.

Well, good thing he had never had a chance with Percy in the first place.

If he had had, he'd have lost that now, after all, and that would have felt a lot worse than never having had a chance at all.

Percy was absolutely silent next to him, and Will forced himself to look around at him, just to find him trying to hide part of his face behind his hand, tears running down his cheeks.

Will made a startled sound, instantly moving to wipe them away, whispering apologies and trying to find a way to comfort Percy, but Percy clasped his wrists, stroking gently over his pulse point with his thumbs as he looked up at Will with a small, weak smile and a shake of his head.

"I'm okay, sun-bug. Don't mind me. Just let me comfort you, okay? Can I be there for you, for once? Instead of you always being there for us?" He asked softly, and Will opened his mouth to argue, to tell him he had already been there for Will countless times, but the urgency and the silent plea in Percy's gaze made him halt.

Then he nodded his head, stroking over Percy's cheeks once more before moving closer, imitating how they usually slept, though it was a lot more awkward and weird with all the clothes, and them both wearing their shoes, and Will not wanting quite that much proximity right now.

"I'm sorry we put you through that, love." Percy whispered into his hair, but Will immediately shook his head.

"You put me through nothing. And there's nothing to apologize for. I did what I did because I wanted to, don't you even doubt that for one second." He said, his voice firm and determined, letting Percy know he was dead serious.

Percy was quiet for another long moment, then he nodded slowly, and his hands started working themselves around Will awkwardly, trying to stroke his back again, the same way he had done earlier.

"Do you…do you want to keep going?" Percy asked hesitantly, and Will hesitated.

The rational part of him said no.

Percy knew way too much already, anyways.

But another part of him was hoping to really just…get it all out.

His mouth didn't open and let it all flood out of him anymore, though.

He had no excuses.

This was him, Will Solace, and while he was still confused and hurt and raw, there was also a sick sense of peace and wonderful detachment from the world coursing through him right now, letting him think more or less sensibly again.

"I wouldn't want to-…" Will started, though he wasn't sure what to say.

'Be a bother'?

'Push even more onto you'?

'Force you to put up with all of my shit'?

"You're not. Just let it all out, Will. Talk about anything and everything you want or need to. I'm here. And if you think of something in a week that you want to add, you can come back, drag me off by my ears during practice, or wake me up in the middle of the night. Seriously, Will, I know I've told you countless times now, but I'm serious when I say I'll be there for you." Percy cut in, and Will started drawing patterns onto his arms, closing his eyes to listen to the sound of his voice, allowing it to soothe his worries, at least for now.

"Thank you, Percy."

He knew that didn't nearly convey his gratitude, or anything else he was currently feeling, but it was all Will could think of to say, and Percy resumed the stroking of his back.

Will thought of what he had told Percy so far, then hesitantly started again, though now he tried to pay attention to how much he said, and cut back on the details.

He also tried telling him everything in a more sorted manner, from beginning to end, rather than the jumbled mess he had thrown at him before.

But like before, Percy kept embracing him and running his hands up and down his back gently, not interrupting, even when Will told him of how Kyle had started actually beating him.

Which had started when Will had begun trying to be more out-going and social towards others, putting on a smile the way his mother had taught him, and trying to make friends past Leah.

He had managed to find friends much easier then, not to mention connect to his siblings for real (especially with him getting good at healing and all), but it had come at the price of Kyle beginning to get paranoid, thinking he was trying to cheat on him, was talking about him to others, was 'giving away what they had' – which had probably just been Kyle fearing he'd get found out.

He had started trying to isolate Will again, telling him to be wary of people, that they had talked bad about him behind his back, but Kyle had never been able to take Leah from him, and when she had encouraged Will to keep going, to show people how 'awesome' he was, he had taken all his courage and confidence from that and kept it up, telling Kyle he'd try, anyways.

Which had made Kyle threaten him, questioning him every time he got him alone, teasing and taunting him, making fun of him for thinking others could like him, and convincing him Kyle was the only one who truly cared for him.

Will had been so torn about what to believe back then, too.

But Leah had told him to keep going, and so he had, and Kyle had started being harsher with him during sex, 'forgetting' the lube, forcing him to do practically impossible things just to then punish him by either ignoring or taunting him…or hitting him, no matter where, no matter how hard, any part of him, he hadn't been very picky.

That was also when he had started finding pleasure in hurting Will for real.

Will broke off there, closing his eyes and banning the pictures from his mind, deciding for himself that some things were best left in the dark, for Percy's sake and for his own.

Percy didn't ask.

He merely kept stroking him softly, his fingers sometimes starting to trace patterns when Will started struggling for words, which helped soothe him considerably.

He told him about how Kyle had started actually punching him in the face, and how Will had then needed some sort of solution, because up until then, he had been able to hide his injuries, but if his face was swollen, of course people would ask about it, and Will had never been a very good liar.

So, instead of letting everybody see and telling them the truth and getting out of the hell he had put himself into, Will had started experimenting with creams and lotions and hymns to Apollo, lastly creating creams that would help speed up the healing process, as well as heal the scars he had acquired from the past ordeals.

Of course, that had made Kyle be even more careless than before, and the whole thing reached its peak when a certain Nico di Angelo had shown up.

Which made Percy freeze up all over again.

"I was there…I was right…right there…" He heard him breathe in disbelief, and Will's heart ached.

"You had enough worries as it was, Percy. Nobody can expect you to save everybody." Will replied softly, but Percy was shaking his head.

"I should have at the very least noticed, Will. I saw you countless times. I even saw him walking around sometimes. I…I didn't even know you two were dating. I didn't know anything…but I should have. I should have paid more attention…"

Will poked his side gently.

"Then he'd have killed you, and you could have never fulfilled the prophecy, Percy. He didn't let anybody tell him what to do or not do. You hear me? Nobody could tell him what to do. And seriously, barely anybody really knew. We were 'officially' dating, but that only really meant his friends and my siblings knew, since he never wanted to really…be affectionate or anything around others. I doubt a lot of kids here know we dated, so you're not alone. Anyways, after I saw Nico, I of course promptly found myself head over heels in love with him, and from that point onwards, I started fighting back, so, in a way, you did help me greatly, you know? You got Nico to Camp when I needed him to be there the most. Any time before then, I'd have probably still been too blinded to as much as glance at Nico, and any time after then, I'd have probably been dead. But then, I started fighting back, started reading up on the topic, started yelling 'No', instead of just saying it, and started trying to be around people as much as I could. It's why I was always near the lake. Everybody was always at the lake. Always near water. So I was always near water, too." He explained, and Percy shook his head softly, tugging him closer and stroking over his back again, while Will continued talking.

He told him of the setback he had had when Nico had disappeared again without even knowing of his existence, but how he had then decided to keep fighting Kyle in any way he knew, anyways, now thriving to get out of the relationship.

Of course, surprise-surprise, Kyle hadn't wanted to let him go by then, anymore.

But then, the Battle of Manhattan had happened.

His talk with Michael had happened.

Percy was tracing patterns onto Will's back and arms as he told Percy of how he had played with the thought of telling people, of how he had read other victims had done that and found help, but how he hadn't wanted to endanger anybody, since Kyle had made it obvious he always got what he wanted.

So he hadn't been able to tell Leah, or any of his other closer friends or siblings, but had thought of telling Michael, since he had held at least some power as the head of the cabin.

He told Percy of the talk, of him running away like a coward, of hiding from Kyle as well as the rest of the world, of the battle, of losing Leah, of finding out he had lost Michael, too…

And then, he told him of how Kyle had found him right after the battle, but when Will had straightened his back and decided he'd be like Nico just this once, facing whatever was to come and telling Kyle he had had enough…Kyle had merely smiled at him and declared he had been about to leave, anyways.

Percy stopped drawing on Will's back, but Will didn't tell him of how Kyle had told him he was Will's everything, and that he knew full well Will would never forget him, and that he should always know he would be his, and his alone, forever.

He didn't, because that meant admitting out loud he still belonged to him, and that Kyle had been right in claiming him today.

No.

No, it wasn't right.

Will didn't belong to anybody.

He shook his head to himself, whimpering softly, and Percy instantly started stroking over his back again, so Will urged himself to continue, telling him instead of how Kyle hadn't even consulted Chiron or anything, and had simply left.

Left, while everybody else had been busy mourning their losses, and Percy and the others had been in Mount Olympus, getting their rewards for the won war.

Left and disappeared without a trace into the mortal word.

Just like that.

"He never showed up again, and wasn't seen by any of the teams that had gone out to look for demigods in general. I thought he might have died, and used the time to recover and get over it, hoping to get to know Nico in the meantime – which of course hadn't worked out, because he had already disappeared again, but, well, that's just my luck. I…I seriously thought…I thought I was over it, Percy. It wasn't until…until I suddenly met Leah, and Michael, and Lee, that I really remembered it all again and…and then there was that thing with Jason…"

Percy flinched, and Will cringed, snapping his mouth shut.

Then, Percy took a long, deep breath.

"Did…did Jason…" Percy started, the strain audible in his voice, and Will almost had a heart attack.

"No! Percy, what the fuck?!" Will exclaimed, unnaturally loudly after the rest of their conversation had taken place in a hushed, choked tone so far.

"I didn't mean that! I meant…did he…do something wrong? Something that…well…triggered you? Is that why you're not…you know…dating…?" Percy explained, though his voice was still strained.

Will allowed his shoulders to relax again.

"No. I mean…no. He didn't. There was just…I…Percy, I can't really…"

He couldn't tell Percy.

That was Jason's and his moment, something private.

Something wonderful and beautiful, and Will wanted to keep it to himself, and didn't want Jason to think it was anything bad, that it was something that had to be said at the end of…all of this.

That night with Jason had been something beautiful, it didn't deserve to be said along with these horrors.

"You don't have to tell me, Will. I mean, I have a pretty good idea what happened, but I absolutely wouldn't mind leaving it at that idea, only. If you do want to talk, though…I'll listen."

Percy was a great person, had Will mentioned?

Sadly, all Will could do about it was cry, because he was now thinking of Jason, and of what he had almost had, and of what he now would never have.

But he wasn't about to cry about all that to Percy.

Instead, he quietly sobbed into his sweater and let Percy hold him.

"Shh, it's okay, sun-bug. I got you."

Why was it that those simple words seemed so reassuring?

Will wanted to give it all back somehow, to show Percy how much his words meant to Will, wanted to tell him he was more grateful than words could convey, wanted to tell him he loved him, wanted to apologize for pushing all of this onto him without even asking first.

Instead, he whispered a weak 'How are you not tired of me already?', which sounded pathetic and self-pitying.

"Never. I'll never get tired of you, Will." Percy replied determinedly, and Will could feel the honesty in him.

"I'm seriously nothing but a crybaby." He pointed out, because it was true, and Percy should know it, too.

"Then I'll be your shoulder to cry on, each and every time." Percy countered unfazed, and Will couldn't help but laugh weakly.

"You should say that to your boyfriend, not somebody like me, you know?" He whispered back, and Percy stayed quiet for a long moment.

"You know what I don't understand?" He then asked, instead of answering, but Will wasn't surprised.

"Hmm?" He hummed instead, already bracing himself for something like 'Why didn't you tell anybody like Chiron or Mr. D?' or 'How could you not realize what he was doing was wrong?'.

"How could you be who you are, with all the shit you've gone through? I mean, don't get me wrong, you're wonderful, but…how do you do it? You smile so brightly, you laugh so freely, you make sexual puns and drop the most insinuating statements I've ever heard in my entire life – and I've been in more colleges than I can count, mind you –…and you've gone through all of that." Percy muttered quietly, and Will propped himself up on one arm, studying his face quietly.

"You know, I could ask you the same question, Percy. You're the biggest dork I've ever met, but you've literally went through hell, not to mention two wars. How do you do it?" He then replied, but Percy instantly shook his head.

"That's different. I had friends, I had people helping me at every turn. You did most of that by yourself…like Nico did. You both had to make do on your own, yet I don't see you broody and closed-off and wary of the world like how Nico used to be."

Will let himself fall back down, curling into Percy's chest again.

"I don't know. My mother always told me to smile. She said: 'William, if you just smile, you'll see the world already looks a hundred times better…and also, it will make you look more friendly and trustworthy, and you'll get friends easier and make people more likely to help you. It's science.'."

Percy snorted into his hair, and Will let out an exaggerated 'Eww!'.

"She really said that?"

Yep.

"Sure did. Do you know the song 'Smile'? I don't know whether it's actually called that, but it's basically a song about how you should smile at whatever life throws your way, because there's no sense in crying…? That's the song she sang for me a couple of times, when she wasn't coming home too late from work. I remembered it yesterday, while singing to Chuck."

Percy shook his head, stroking through his hair now, before wiping his hand on his pillow case, and Will decided he would have to take a very thorough shower at some point in the future.

"Surely explains a few things. Still, it's important to let it all out sometimes, you know?" Percy said wisely, and Will smiled up at him with a cheeky smile.

"Like letting all the contents of your nose run free inside my hair?"

Percy poked his nose affectionately.

"No. Not like that. That's all at once and very messy. Leaves you feeling a lot better and gets all the shit out, but we're aiming for a slower, smoother, and more permanent approach, okay? Like the occasional talk, and plenty of honesty." He suggested pointedly, and Will sighed loudly, burying his face back at Percy's chest as he tried to enjoy the surreal feeling of the moment.

Somehow, right now, nothing else mattered, other than Percy and himself, in this bed.

Everything was out in the open, and Percy had accepted it, and he was still close, he was still acting like a dork, he was still seeing Will as Will.

"Thank you, Percy." He whispered quietly, and Percy kissed the top of his head again.

He did that way too much.

"Anytime. Do you feel a little better now?"

"Plenty." Will replied instantly, and concentrated on Percy's heartbeat as he could faintly hear it, even with their clothes in the way.

He closed his eyes, focusing on the steady beat of it.

"Good." Percy said softly, and resumed his stroking, and Will hummed quietly, blocking out the noises coming from outside.

It didn't matter.

Not right now.

Later, he'd have to deal with Kyle being back, with Jason knowing, with Nico figuring it out, with whatever else the future had in store for him.

But right now, all that was far away, and thus all that mattered was the here and now.

Percy and him.

In Percy's cabin.

He was safe.

Will closed his eyes again, allowing himself to slowly drift off in the peace and quiet around them, starting to rest, as if his body was trying to make up for the lack of rest last night/this morning.

It didn't matter.

He trusted Percy.

All was well.

For now.

...

Jason was fuming.

He wanted to pace, wanted to pull out his sword, wanted to run it through the man opposite him on that fucking sofa, looking as if he owned the place.

He wanted to tear into him with his teeth and rip him to shreds like how the wolves had threatened foes back when he had been with Lupa and her pack.

What wouldn't he do for fangs right about now…

Nico put his hand on his shoulder, but Jason knew it was only to hold him back, not to soothe.

While Nico looked a lot more in control of himself, his eyes were darker and more murderous than Jason had ever seen them, so he had not a trace of doubt he felt about this the same way Jason did.

His fingers dug into his own thighs, but he didn't care, trying to murder Kyle just by staring him down.

But Kyle sadly didn't curl up into a ball and die.

He also didn't get struck by lightning, even though the storm was still raging on outside.

It was the main reason Chiron had ordered them inside in the first place.

Why was he protecting Kyle?

Didn't he understand?

Didn't he understand, didn't he see, what Kyle was?

What he had done?

Why were they here?

Why did they have to 'talk'?

What was the point of talking?

This was nothing to be solved by words.

This was only solvable by a fist in Kyle's already heavily bruised face.

By a second dislocated – no, better, broken – arm.

By a sword to his gut, making his rotten intestines fall out.

Gods, Jason should have used his freaking sword.

He had no idea why he hadn't, anyways.

It had been right there, but the thought hadn't even occurred to him.

Kyle gazed back at him, looking smug and in control, as if he had nothing to fear whatsoever.

He even sneered when Chiron turned his hide to them as he kept pacing back and forth next to them, his tail swishing, showing how angry and agitated he already was, but Jason didn't give a shit.

He growled at Kyle, and Nico's grip on his shoulder tightened as he felt Jason's muscles tensing, readying themselves to hoist him through the room right back at Kyle.

Chiron whirled around.

"Jason Grace! Stop it! You two have caused enough harm to each other, let it rest."

Kyle made an innocent face, shrugging as if he had no idea what Jason's problem was.

Snake.

Fucking snake.

Fake snake.

Dead snake.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, Chiron! I told you, I was just talking to William, when he suddenly barged in and started beating me up! Of course I was going to defend myself…" Kyle lamented, and Jason bared his teeth.

Chiron's eyes snapped to him, and Jason forced himself to lean back against the stupid sofa they had been forced to sit on.

"He wasn't 'talking' to Will, he was fucking pinning him to the wall, trying to…to…force himself onto him!" He spat, trying to be calm, but calmness was something he currently didn't possess.

Who needed calmness?

Who needed reason?

Will was hurt.

"I was not! Chiron, seriously, you might want to reconsider letting people like that stay here at Camp. I was just having a nice chat with Will, and suddenly Jason here came running in like a jealous boyfriend, beating me and even pushing Will away when he tried to come to my aid! I'm sure that his cheek will bruise, too…poor boy…" Kyle said with a heavy sigh, looking down with a sad shake of his head, and Jason jumped up.

"YOU PUNCHED HIM, YOU FUCKING-…"

"Jason! Sit. Back. Down!" Chiron interrupted him, and Jason snarled at him, though he let Nico tug him back down onto the sofa.

"See? He's lying. He just claimed I was 'trying to force myself onto Will', and now I'm supposed to have 'punched' him? That's a bit of a contradiction, don't you think?" Kyle went on smoothly, and Jason had to clench his jaw so tight he thought he might break his teeth or something, thunder and lightning erupting behind them at the window.

"It is. However, Jason has proven to be a very honest, and genuine person, Kyle. He has never yet shown aggressive behavior towards anybody, and has thus given me no reason to distrust him nor his words. He may have perceived things differently from how they were, but I don't doubt you weren't entirely innocent for what has transpired." Chiron replied curtly, his tail swishing in annoyance.

Jason knew his words meant he believed him to at least some extent, but he still wanted to argue the point of 'having perceived things differently'.

He knew what he had seen.

It made him sick just thinking about it.

It made him sick realizing he had just stood there like an idiot, instead of helping Will right away, of protecting him from that punch, from that kiss, from that man.

No, he was no man.

He was a monster.

"He even told me he has raped Will before." Jason snapped, and Nico next to him stiffened again, while Kyle threw him a bored look.

Chiron's jaw clenched.

"Did you say that, Kyle?" He then asked patiently, and Jason wanted to howl in frustration and agony.

What the fuck?!

Will was suffering and all Chiron was doing was asking Kyle some dip-shit question he'd lie to, anyways?!

"Of course not! I have merely told him to lay off me, Chiron, sir. He must have overheard me speaking with Will, talking with him about our past together. Maybe he took it the wrong way when Will said he loved me."

"He doesn't love you." Jason snarled, and Kyle looked at Chiron with a telling look.

"See what I mean?"

Chiron shot Jason a stern look.

Then he took a deep breath.

"Kyle, please tell us what happened out of your point of view. From the moment you've left your assigned spot in front of the Big House."

The way he added the last part showed Jason Kyle was at the very least in trouble for that.

Kyle didn't seem perturbed in the slightest though, instead nodding soberly and leaning forward, gesturing faintly with his hands as he talked.

"Well, I was waiting as you told me to, but, you see, when I saw Will, after all this time, I was just so happy to see him again, I just couldn't wait to talk to him. He had seen me when you were talking to me, and he gave me that…that cute sign we sort of made to each other, to show he wanted me to meet him asap. I really did want to wait for you, and finish up everything before going to him, but I just…" Kyle sighed dramatically. "…I just couldn't resist. It had been so long, and I just couldn't wait to talk to him again, to catch up, to see how he was doing. We used to be so close, after all."

Jason bared his teeth again, though he didn't interrupt.

'Cute sign we made to each other'?

Did he mean Will running away in terror?

Nico's hand found his thigh, squeezing hard, and Jason forced himself to look neutral.

"Go on." Chiron said, seeming unimpressed by Kyle's words and actions, though he also didn't look very disbelieving.

Kyle shook his head a moment longer with a reminiscent look on his face that made Jason think he hadn't bruised it nearly enough as he should have.

Sure, his eyes would be swelling shut in the next some hours, and there was blood running down his temples that was sadly not enough to kill him, but maybe a concussion would.

Jason still hoped he had broken his nose.

It looked broken, but Kyle didn't really seem very perturbed by it, so maybe it wasn't.

Or maybe he was used to broken noses.

The rest of his face, mostly his jaw, was already turning satisfying shades of purple and green.

Not nearly enough, but at least something.

"Well, I am not proud, but I ran off to the infirmary, since it was close by, anyways, and I just so badly had to see him again. As expected, he was at the room in the back, where we tended to meet a lot before. I was so happy he'd remembered. I came in, and he immediately hugged me and told me he's so glad I'm back, and that he missed me. Of course, I hugged him back, glad to meet him again after such a long time…"

Jason was going to be sick.

He didn't doubt for a single moment that Kyle was lying, especially because 'he hugged me and told me he's so glad I'm back and that he missed me' definitely contradicted the panicked and petrified Will pleading for Kyle to let him go, to leave him alone, that he couldn't possibly be back.

Still, the thought of this man ever touching his Will, of this man having been here before, of having forced himself onto Will before…

It was sickening.

It was disgusting.

It was despicable.

Jason forced down the bile rising in his throat.

"After what felt like forever, we finally let go of each other, and then we started talking. I don't really know what to say. He looked so stunning, smiling at me like that, I thought I was falling in love with him all over again…"

"Pedophile." Jason huffed under his breath, and Chiron shot him a reprimanding look.

Jason didn't care.

Kyle looked at him sadly.

"It's so sad when demigods judge other demigods like this. We all have such limited time, and you are upset about age differences?"

If it was a giant-ass age gap, and the younger person was a minor barely even in puberty, then, yes, Jason was going to fucking get upset about it.

Especially when his Will was involved.

…Hopefully he was okay.

Nico had told him Percy was with Will when Jason had started panicking, making for the infirmary instead of following Chiron, and Jason trusted Percy to keep him safe, but that didn't mean he wasn't worrying.

Jason gave Kyle a look of open contempt, and Chiron cleared his throat.

"Jason, no interruptions. Please continue, Kyle."

Fucking Chiron and his fucking righteousness.

Jason wanted blood.

Kyle's blood.

"Well, there's not much more to tell. We chatted, and I asked him how things are going for him relationship-wise. You know? I just…wanted to know whether I could, like, ask him out on a date sometime. As I told you, I don't intend to stay here very long, but I was hoping to see whether we'd match." Kyle tried to explain, gesturing as if struggling for the right words, his face conflicted and desperate to make his feelings understood.

Shut up, Kyle.

Kyle looked at him through his swelling eyes, and his lips curled into a small, malicious smile.

"Well, he told me about this one guy who kept making moves on him, but he wasn't quite sure he was ready for that, yet. He still liked me, and he hadn't been able to get over me. He said: 'Kyle, I think I still love you. I haven't been able to forget you, and I've tried to be with this other guy, but he's just…it's not the same, Kyle.'."

Liar!

Jason struggled against Nico's hold as he wanted to throw himself across that dumb living room table and at Kyle.

Better yet, throw the living room table at Kyle.

He tried to kick it, but Chiron put his hoof on it.

Fuck.

"Jason! This is the last warning."

Or what?

What could Chiron possible do?

Kick him out?

He'd take Will and Percy and Nico and put them in Camp Jupiter, far away from this.

"And that's it. After that, Jason here came rushing in with an angry growl and threw himself at me, punching me in the face before I could even look around properly. I hit the cupboard and all the contents spilled out, so I tried to pick them up, confused as to what was going on, when he threw himself at me and started repeatedly punching me. Then Will came rushing forward, telling Jason to stop, pleading with him to let go of me."

Lies.
Lies!
Lies!

"But he didn't. When Will tried to grab him by the arm, he shoved him away, his fist connecting with the side of his face and making Will cry out. Of course I wasn't going to let that happen. Of course I'd help Will. Of course I'd defend myself. Wouldn't you have defended yourself in my position?" Kyle asked Chiron rather breathlessly, sounding agitated and bemused, and Jason wished he had punched all his teeth out when he had had the chance.

Lies.

He sprouted nothing but lies.

"Please continue." Chiron said tiredly, and Jason wanted to rattle the old centaur.

He knew he was beside himself.

He knew he wasn't being rational or sensible or whatever.

But this was about Will.

His Will.

His wonderful, wonderful Will, who had looked more terrorized than Jason had ever seen him.

So this was his great secret, huh?

An abusive, lying rapist ex-boyfriend.

So many things made sense, so many things suddenly seemed like such blatant, obvious indicators, it was almost comical that Jason hadn't guessed it before.

How had he not?

Seriously, it had all indicated just this.

The way Will had started acting, his reluctance in starting a relationship, even his bragging and exaggerated sexual innuendo at every turn had indicated just that.

Jason wanted to bang his head on the table.

How had he not seen this?

How had he not guessed this?

He had even asked Will who had hurt him, how had he not connected the dots?

The way Will had suddenly seemed so odd after Silena had mentioned his ex, the way he had suddenly seemed so odd after Clarisse had mentioned his ex, the way he had never mentioned anybody or told them about any of his boyfriends.

He should have seen it.

He should have seen it, should have hugged Will and reassured him and comforted him.

Kyle started explaining how Jason had kept punching and kicking him, and how he had tried to reason with him to stop it, but how Jason hadn't listened, but Jason wasn't listening.

Instead, he remembered with a jolt how Will had stood in their room in New Rome, yelling at Jason that he 'hadn't wanted that to happen' and that he 'had fought it, he really had', and his heart sank even further when he realized Will had thought he had figured it out, and that he had avoided him because of that.

Oh, Freckles…

Then, even worse thoughts occurred to him, and he found himself freezing.

This was Will's secret, the thing he hadn't wanted him to know, the thing that had kept him from dating Jason.

Did that mean…

Did Will think he'd…

No, it couldn't be.

Will knew Jason would never hurt him, would never push him to do any-…

Jason felt his blood turn to ice.

Their night in the pillow corner.

Oh gods.

Oh gods, Will had thought he had asked him for that blowjob, that he had used his no-questions-asked wish for that.

Will, who might have been too scared of Jason getting upset to say no.

No.

No, it couldn't be.

Will had assured him right after that he hadn't forced him to anything, that it had been his own decision…

What if Will had just said that, though?

What if Jason had forced him into it, same as he had forced him to consider baby steps, same as he had been trying to force Will into a relationship with him?

No, it couldn't be true.

Jason wasn't…he wasn't…he couldn't be like…

He looked up at Kyle, who was sneering at him as if he knew exactly what he was thinking about.

But all Jason could think of was that this might very well be a mirror.

"Jason, please describe what happened out of your point of view, from the moment Will has left your group. From what I've gathered, he was with you before leaving to meet Kyle?"

Jason was still staring at Kyle, trying to see himself in him, piecing all the pieces together, everything he had ever said and done to Will, compared to what Kyle had let drop so far.

Nico's hand squeezed his thigh, and he looked sideways at him with a lost, desperate look.

'Please tell me it's not true.', he pleaded mutely with Nico, and Nico's gaze softened, his squeeze turning into a gentle caress.

Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Later.

He'd think of this later.

Now, he had to tell Chiron what really happened.

And he had to get him to get rid of Kyle.

"He didn't leave to meet Kyle. The four of us were on our way to the sword-fighting area, so Nico and Percy could start their lesson. Will and I were going to watch. But on the way there, we noticed there was a commotion, so we went to check. When we saw Kyle, Percy said Will suddenly went very pale and said he had forgotten something in the infirmary, before running away as if he was being hunted down. Confused, I decided to go and check whether everything was alright, since he had been…acting sickly all day already, and I didn't want him passing out anywhere on his own. I told Percy and Nico to go ahead to their sword-fighting lessons, then went to the infirmary, thinking he might be getting some medication, or that he might be consulting one of his siblings."

Nico kept stroking over his thigh as Jason felt his voice beginning to shake.

"The infirmary seemed empty when I got there. I wanted to call out, but then heard a whimper, so I thought Will might be in pain and went to check. When I stopped in front of the only room that wasn't open and empty, I wanted to announce my presence again, because Will doesn't like being surprised. But then I heard Kyle talking, telling Will…telling him that this was no way to greet him, and that he…that he 'looked best on his knees'…" He repeated Kyle's words, bitter on his tongue as he now realized the meaning behind them, the reference making him sick all over again.

Nico's fingers dug into his skin, and he could see his arm trembling.

Jason was trembling, too.

Out of anger and contempt.

Kyle made a disbelieving, indignant sound, but didn't interrupt, and Jason knew he was trying to win himself favors with Chiron, as well as trying to rile Jason up again to make him yell and shout.

So he took a deep breath and tried to continue as calmly as he could.

"Will said no, and asked Kyle to stop. At this point, I pushed the door open, just to see Kyle pressing Will against the wall, his hands tightly held up above his head with one hand, while Kyle's other hand was at Will's chin, forcing him to look at him. Will was…he was crying, sobbing, pleading with Kyle to let him go and to stop it, telling him he had a boyfriend."

Kyle huffed, as if he was amused by this story Jason was coming up with.

Nico's fingers dug into Jason's leg further, bruising him, but Jason didn't care.

He knew his face looked a lot like Kyle's, and his whole body ached already as it was, one bruise more or less didn't matter to him.

What mattered was that Will must have been hurting a thousand times worse.

"Kyle asked about that boyfriend, saying he wanted to meet him and that Will very well knew nobody got in the way of what he wanted. He also claimed Will was his, and then he…he kissed Will. Will said no, but he still did it, forcing his lips on him. Will bit him almost instantly, and Kyle had to pull back." As he said it, Jason regretted beating up Kyle's face quite this much, since else he'd have had the perfect proof.

"At this point, I was already rushing forward to help Will, but I didn't get to Kyle before his fist slammed into Will's face, making him crash into the ground and curl into a ball, as if expecting more attacks, indicating this was a recurring experience for him. I punched Kyle in the face, then pulled him back before he could fall backwards to punch him again. From then on, I threw punches until he started punching back, and this went on until we ended up outside. There, Kyle started trying to taunt me with words, asking me whether…whether…"

He couldn't say it.

Nico's knuckles were white as he clawed Jason's thigh, and Jason looked at him for help.

But Nico didn't know what Kyle had said.

He hadn't heard.

Only Jason had heard.

Only Jason could tell.

He took a deep breath.

This was to get Kyle away, to get Chiron to understand, to get him to take action.

"He asked me whether Will was still 'as tight as he used to be', and how he had…how he had felt so…so good around Kyle back in the day…especially when he made him beg…" He recounted, the words forever engrained in his mind, the mere thought of saying them out loud making him want to retch and rinse his mouth out with soap.

His Will.

His poor, poor Will.

Jason didn't even want to know what he must have gone through.

And Jason had tried to force him to tell him.

Had tried to force him to date him.

Jason swallowed the bile, looking down at his lap again as he felt something wet trickle down his cheek.

A tear.

Great, he was crying.

Jason didn't care.

"He told me that Will loved him, and that Will needed him, and that he'd think of Kyle every time I'd touch Will. At this point, I tried to choke him, until Nico pulled me off him. I tore myself free and threw myself back at him. Then you came, and that's all." He summed up bitterly, and looked up at Chiron, realizing the centaur suddenly looked a century or two older.

Jason hoped it was a sign he believed him and would get rid of Kyle.

"Oh please, that's absolute nonsense. Plus, why would I do any of that? Chiron, please, you can't seriously even consider that. He's jealous and upset because Will doesn't want him. I mean, just look at him, he's basically admitted trying to kill me." Kyle retorted with a loud huff, and Jason's head snapped to him with a snarl.

"You raped him! You hurt him!"

"Why would I do that? I've only just come to Camp, why would I go and hurt Will?" Kyle asked, and Jason growled.

Sadly, he knew it was a legitimate question.

There was no reason for Kyle to pop up and hurt Will, mere minutes after his arrival.

"And I didn't rape him. Please, we were just chatting…"

"You raped him in the past. You're his ex-boyfriend. The guy who made him scared to trust. The guy who made him scared of people behind him. The guy who made him so scared of being pushed down. The guy who told him crying was a weakness, the one who played with his fears, the one who-…"

Kyle laughed.

He. Laughed.

Nico's posture changed, but Jason paid it no mind, staring at Kyle in disbelief.

"Oh please. Do you even know what you're saying? Because all I'm hearing is: 'Blablabla, Will doesn't want to trust me, blabla, Will is scared of me being behind him, blablablabla, he won't let me push him down, blablabla he won't cry for me when I want him to, and he seems so scared of me, blablablablabla'…are you sure you're even trying to make this about me? Because it sounds an awful lot as if you're just trying to justify your own actions, Jason Grace."

Jason flinched back, and Nico moved forwards.

The next moment, Kyle's laughter died as Nico had one hand at his throat, with one knee on the table, the other leg still firmly on the ground, his other hand at the hilt of his sword.

"You will not speak to Jason like this. You will not speak about Will like this. I will not let you." Nico hissed, his voice dark and dangerous, an aura of darkness and power around him that made Kyle's eyes widen.

"Nico! Let go of him this instance." Chiron ordered sharply, stomping his hoof on the ground, but Nico remained in his position, staring Kyle down.

Jason knew his grip on him wasn't choking Kyle yet, that he could still breathe.

Yet Kyle looked more struck than when Jason had tried to strangle him to death.

"Who are you?" Kyle asked, when Nico finally let go of him and settled back on the sofa.

"Your death." Nico replied darkly, and Chiron sighed gravely.

"Kyle, this is Nico di Angelo, son of-…"

"He has no business knowing my heritage." Nico snapped, and Chiron's tail swished dangerously, though he fell silent, anyways.

"Secrecy? And there I thought I was a guest at this Camp." Kyle replied sweetly, and Jason bared his teeth again.

"Pretty low, coming from somebody who hasn't told us their godly parent, and has tried to rape a camper the first five minutes they are at Camp."

Kyle merely sneered at him for a moment.

Then he turned to Chiron.

"I've explained to you I don't know who my godly parent is. After the war and losing my closest friends, I've decided to turn my back to Camp, and thus have never been claimed here. I thought I saw something once, when looking in the mirror, but I was alone at the time, and didn't see it right. Might have been my godly parent, might have just been dirt." He said with a grave shake of his head, but Jason didn't believe a single word of it.

Kyle was a liar, after all.

Everything he had said so far was a lie.

Why would anything else he said be any different?

Jason wished they had Reyna's dogs.

Then Chiron would know instantly just what a fucking liar this asshole was.

"Claimed or not, those are grave accusations that I can't ignore." Chiron said with a small shake of his head, and Jason looked up hopefully.

Did this mean…?

"Then ask William, himself!" Kyle exclaimed.

"His name is 'Will'." Both Nico and Jason hissed, then realized what Kyle had just said.

They shared a confused look.

Will would undoubtedly tell Chiron exactly what Jason had just said.

What…?

Then again, Jason couldn't tell how Will was feeling right now, nor whether he'd be in any state to talk, at all.

"That would be my next move, yes. However, before that happens, I will have to make sure you won't be at each other's throats the moment you leave this room." Chiron said, and especially looked at Jason as he spoke.

Jason looked down, trying to compose himself enough to seem obedient.

"Kyle, you will be staying in the Hermes cabin, same as before. The kids there will give you a bed for the night. You are to make your way straight there, and I will appoint a person to stay by your side at all times. This is for your own safety, as well as the safety of the campers. No matter whether the accusations are valid or not, you two have caused quite the trouble, and I will not take the risk of more."

Jason scowled at the thought of Kyle having any protection whatsoever, but then he realized that meant he couldn't sneak anywhere or do anything bad, so he quickly calmed again.

"Jason, you are to make your way straight to the cabin you'll be staying at, and I entrust Nico here to keep you in line. He seems to be the only one who can. Neither of you are to leave the cabin until tomorrow, when I have talked to Will. Alone."

Jason hesitated, thinking over Chiron's phrasing.

He had said 'the cabin you'll be staying at', which indicated he knew of them generally staying over at Nico's cabin, but the way he said the rest indicated he didn't want Jason talking to Will until then.

He had to talk to Will.

If he didn't talk to Will, he'd combust.

Plus, Will needed all the comfort and reassurance he could get…if he even let them touch him.

Oh gods, what if he didn't?

What if he didn't even want to see Jason?

What if he was-…no, there was no point in pondering that now.

"How do I know Jason won't manipulate Will into saying something dishonest?" Kyle asked, and Jason snarled in fury at the accusation, but Nico's hand shot to his shoulder, keeping him in place.

Chiron was quiet for a long moment, and Jason realized he was watching him.

He knew.

He knew they always spent their days and nights together.

He knew they were close.

He knew that, if Jason's words were true, Will would need him to be there.

But he also knew that, if Kyle's words were right, which Jason knew Chiron had to consider, then it would do more harm than good to let Jason near Will.

Jason could practically hear his thoughts, could feel them, bitter on his tongue, his insides pure acid all over again.

"You are both forbidden from speaking to him directly. Now, it is late already, so let's be on our way. Jason, I'll be expecting the storm to let up soon."

Over his dead body.

This storm would rage on for as long as Kyle got to get away with his crimes.

"Come on, Jason. Let's go." Nico said quietly next to him, and Jason realized he was still sitting on the sofa, glowering at the dark blonde across him, who had already gotten up to move towards the door.

Kyle looked back at him, his lips twitching into a small, cruel smile.

Nico put his hand on Jason's shoulder, and Jason forced himself to get up without lunging himself at Kyle.

Tomorrow.

Everything would be okay.

Will would tell Chiron tomorrow what had happened, and everything would be okay.

They'd kick Kyle out.

Maybe a monster would pop up out of nowhere and swallow him whole.

Or maybe Jason could get a few lightning bolts to strike him 'accidentally'.

But he'd be gone.

And Will would be safe.

Everything would be okay…

And Jason wouldn't get to talk to Will.

No, he had to talk to him.

Had to be there for him.

Had to apologize.

Had to explain.

Had to apologize even more.

Jason thought of their night in the pillow corner.

…Maybe it was better if they didn't talk.

But he had to see him…

"You're foolish if you think he will choose you, Jason Grace." Kyle said quietly as they met again at the door, and Jason glanced behind him at Chiron, but the centaur was busy rubbing his temples with a loud sigh, telling Nico to keep an eye on Jason.

"William is mine. He will always choose me."

Jason snarled, and Chiron's eyes snapped to them again.

"Jason. Last warning."

Why was it he kept getting warnings, and Kyle didn't?

Nico studied his face, then looked towards Kyle again, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

His patience was wearing thin.

Jason could feel it.

Jason looked towards Kyle, and found him studying Nico with an odd look, as if still trying to place him.

He'd find out soon enough Nico was the son of Hades.

One of the kids in the Hermes cabin was bound to tell him, after all.

He wondered faintly whether Kyle knew who Jason was.

Which made him wonder whether he knew of the Roman demigods.

But then, his thoughts drifted back to Kyle's words.

Will would tell Chiron what happened, right?

Will wouldn't lie.

Will hated lying.

But Will might be scared…

No, everything would be okay.

Nico and Percy would have to be there for him until Jason was permitted to be with him, but Will would be okay.

They parted ways, and Nico and Jason watched Kyle leave with Chiron, who had apparently changed his mind about letting Kyle make his way there by himself.

Good.

At least something.

Though it gave Kyle the chance to charm the centaur.

No, Chiron wouldn't be moved by that…right?

Nico started moving, tugging Jason after him.

"Come on, let's get back to the guys."

Jason blinked.

"Chiron said I-…"

"First of all, I don't give a flying fuck, and second of all, he said you're not allowed to talk to him, he didn't say you weren't allowed to see him. He needs you now, Jason." Nico snapped at him, and Jason could feel the tension and anger radiating from him.

Jason looked down, letting Nico drag him along towards his cabin.

Would Will really want to see him?

Had he ever wanted to see him? After their night in the pillow corner?

Had everything from then on onwards just been Jason forcing him?

But Will had said that he…that he wanted to date Jason.

That he liked him.

Jason wasn't allowed to doubt that.

Kyle would want him to doubt that.

Jason wasn't allowed to let it get to him.

He wasn't.

Jason closed his eyes, trying to push down the hurt, the pain, the doubts, the anger.

Nico was right, Will needed them.

As they ran through the Camp, past countless kids muttering or pointing, all Jason saw was his Will, curled into a ball, whimpering and expecting to be hit, to be hurt.

All he could hear were his cries and his pleas.

And all he could think was that they should have never left the Underworld.

...

There were no words when they came in, but Will could hear the door opening, could hear the soft sighs of relief, could hear the footsteps hurrying over to the bed.

He tensed for a moment, feeling his heartbeat picking up as he recalled other footsteps, but then Percy's hold on him tightened, showing he was safe, he was protected.

And then, there were hands on him.

A small hand, clammy and shaking, brushing his hair away from his face, though that wasn't necessary anymore with his new haircut.

A bigger, cool hand, touching his shoulder, his arm, disappearing and moving to his face, fingers gently stroking over his cheek, right above where the bruise was forming.

Will leaned into the touches, a small whine escaping his lips.

Both hands withdrew, making him worry he'd scared them off.

He shifted again, but Percy started stroking up and down his back softly, and he could hear movement, rustling, items dropping to the floor.

Then the bed creaked as Jason and Nico climbed into it, slipping under the blanket from behind him, coming closer, closer, closer.

Will clawed Percy's chest, feeling the panic washing over him, even though he was 'resting'.

Nico's chest – his clothed chest – made contact with Will's back, one arm pushing under the pillow and his head, the other arm moving over his side gently, stroking over it – and Will could feel it, could feel Nico, could feel his values, instantly relaxing, instantly falling back into the embrace, into Nico, a relieved sigh escaping his lips.

Jason's hand came next, settling timidly on his arm, and Will wished he'd touch him for real.

But it was okay.

At least Jason was here.

At least he was here, and he was safe, and he was here, and he touched Will at all.

Will turned his face towards the pillow, new tears running down his cheek, practically scorching his skin.

Or maybe that was just because of the bruise.

It didn't matter.

It was okay.

They were here.

That was all that mattered.

...

Nico felt movement, thrashing, but he didn't wake up until a hand smacked him in the face, making him cry out and sit bolt upright, his eyes snapping open.

"What the-…"

"NO! No, no, stop it, no, Kyle, no, please!" Will cried frantically, thrashing and shoving and kicking, and Nico could feel his heart breaking.

Oh no…

He heard shifting behind him, indicating Jason was waking as well, but he didn't look around.

"No! Not again! You said you wouldn't…no…no…why…" Will started sobbing uncontrollably, his whole body convulsing and shivers running down his back as he clutched Percy's shirt, who moved his hand up and down Will's arm, stroking and soothing gently, his eyes full of pain and concern.

"Shh, it's okay, Will. I've got you. We've got you. We'll protect you. It's nothing but a dream." He whispered softly, and Nico's heart clenched painfully as he heard Will gasping and whimpering against Percy's chest.

He laid back down slowly, glancing behind him at Jason, who had his jaw clenched and looked ready to take on the world.

Nico would help him.

Their eyes met, then they both turned towards Will again, whose sobbing slowly subsided, though the shivers kept running down his back, and he kept trembling.

But at least he wasn't thrashing anymore.

Nico failed to truly see anything positive in that.

Moving his arms back around Will, he pressed his lips to the side of his neck, feeling him turning his head ever so faintly.

"Nico…"

How Will knew, he had no idea.

"It's me, sole mio. Everything is okay, we're here."

Will gave a small nod, then he stilled again, and Percy and Nico exchanged a long, sad look.

Jason came closer behind him, and Nico looked around at him again, too.

Then the three settled back down, closing their eyes, their hands on Will.

There was nothing they could do, other than hope he'd sleep better, and that the night would be over soon.

.

"NO!" Will screeched, and Nico jolted upright again, instinctively reaching out as he felt somebody thrusting against his chest, shoving themselves away from Nico.

But his hands grabbed air.

There was a surprised whelp, then a loud crash, and Nico hurried to look over the side, Jason jolting up behind him.

"What the-…" Both he and Jason started, but then screaming drowned out whatever else they might have wanted to say.

Terrified screaming.

Will's screaming.

"Will! Will, it's me! Will, Calm down! Breathe! Wake up! Will! Will!" Percy yelled frantically, struggling under Will, who was thrashing and fighting in his sleep, trying to get away from Percy, away from everything, screaming bloody murder.

Nico rushed forward, trying to help somehow.

Will managed to push himself off Percy with a rather nasty kick into his gut, and Percy rolled to the side, gasping and groaning, looking as if he was going to be sick.

Nico was at Will's other side in a heartbeat, stopping him from smacking his head against the bedside table as he thrashed around uncontrollably, yelling something about Kyle, about pain, so much pain, pleading for it to stop, for help to come, for them to come.

Nico's heart ached as he leaned over Will's head carefully, whispering to him, trying to get him to wake up, to realize everything was okay, that they were there, that he was safe.

Jason suddenly grabbed hold of Will's jacket with a curse, realizing first that Will had his arm stuck in one sleeve at a bad angle, and instantly freeing him off the fabric by tearing it open and struggling it off him.

Will could have broken his arm in that…and Nico hadn't even noticed.

Suddenly, Will's eyes snapped open, and Nico flinched back at the utter, unmasked terror in his gaze.

A loud gasp, a strangled cry, then Will reared back, away from Jason, away from Nico, away from Percy, who was just sitting up again, trying to catch him before he could get to harm.

Away from them.

"Will, it's-…" Jason started, but Will howled in horror, his gaze shooting around unseeing, going right through them as if they didn't exist.

"NO! No, don't! DON'T!" He screamed, scratching at his arms, and Nico instinctively reached out to stop it.

Bad decision.

Will flinched back hard at the touch, then he turned and apparently tried to bolt, too quick for Jason to catch him.

The next thing they knew, Will was in the small space between the cupboard and the bed, trying to curl into himself, his arms over his head as if to protect himself from incoming blows.

Then, as Jason tried to get closer, he wailed and threw himself under the bed, hitting his head, leg and hand in the process, though he didn't even seem to notice, curling himself into a ball and whimpering, calling for them over and over again.

Nico felt his eyes burning and tried to call out to him, tried to get to him somehow, and looked around at Percy helplessly, who was right next to him, flat on the ground, looking at the outline of their terrified Will.

Will thrashed again, and Nico worried he'd seriously hurt himself.

"We have to get him out of there before-…Jason?!" Percy asked with a startled gasp, and Nico's head snapped around, just to find Jason stomping towards the door, only managing to catch a glimpse of his face.

Jason looked livid.

Dangerous.

Murderous.

Before Nico could even open his mouth to ask, though, the door was already thrown open, then slammed shut, and he felt his boyfriend moving, rushing after the blonde.

"Jason! Jason, wait! Don't do anything stupid!" He heard him yell, but then Will let out a choked sob, and all of Nico's attention turned to the blonde again, shivering and trembling, blue, fearful eyes staring right through him.

It was scary.

Too scary.

Nico was the Ghost King, he had seen plenty of scary things, had heard of them, had witnessed them in dreams and visions and whatever else.

He should be immune to 'scary'.

But this…this was different.

"Va tutto bene, sole mio." (Everything is okay, my sun.)

He whispered quietly, stretching a bit further so his fingers could brush against Will's wrist.

Will flinched, drawing his arms closer to his body, though Nico thought he could see him perk up the tiniest bit.

"Sono qui, starai meglio." (I'm here, you're going to be okay.)

He tried softly, and Will let out a small whimper, moving slightly, but he wasn't rushing away.

It seemed almost as if he was listening.

Of course, it could just be Nico's imagination, but he decided to be hopeful, anyways.

Licking his lips, he tried to reach out again, his fingertips making contact with the back of Will's hand.

"Ho te, sole mio. Sei al sicuro." (I've got you, my sun. You're safe.)

He spoke quietly, clearly, wondering whether Will could understand him.

Sure, he had learned Italian, and Nico knew he had understood before, but now, he was practically crazed out of his mind.

Nico was pretty sure he wouldn't understand a word of anything in any language in that sort of situation.

Will shivered, but stilled, his breathing still hard and fast, but not spiraling out of control like before.

His hand twitched slightly, but he didn't pull it away, letting Nico's fingertips stroke over it softly.

"È vero. Sei al sicuro. Ti proteggerò io. Ti proteggiamo noi." (That's right. You're safe. I'll protect you. We'll protect you.)

He heard noises behind him, Percy coming back, cursing and muttering something about Jason being crazy, but Nico paid him no mind, instead managing to wrap his hand slowly around Will's wrist, giving it a very gentle, very careful tug.

Will let out a feeble sound, but didn't fight him, his breathing slowly evening out, his eyes now half-closed, staring down at the ground as if he was concentrating, thinking, mulling over the words and making sense of them.

Or maybe he was merely too exhausted to scream anymore.

Percy settled down next to him, and Nico turned his head to him slightly, mutely asking what was going on.

"Jason ran off. I first thought he's out to kill…that guy, but it looked more like the Big House, so I think he's getting Chiron. The cleaning harpies…Nico, he sort of just…electrocuted them…Nico, they're dead. This is going to be bad, Nico…" Percy whispered, and Nico's heart sank, though he merely nodded, moving his other hand towards Will, trying to get him to accept that touch, too.

Nico kept whispering to him slowly, soothingly, telling him over and over again they were here, they wouldn't hurt him, everything was going to be okay, while Percy watched quietly, not daring to speak or ask what he was saying, nor daring to touch Will, just letting Nico do his thing.

Then, Nico tried his luck and whispered he was going to get him out from under there now.

He waited for a moment, but other than a small whimper, Will didn't react, and he drew a deep breath and pulled on his wrist slowly, moving his other hand to get a better hold of Will.

Percy was holding his breath as he watched, and Nico was, too, when Will started tensing slightly, though he allowed Nico to pull him out ever so slowly.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise behind them, and Will reared back with a scream, pulling Nico a good foot along with him under the bed, and Nico cursed in Italian.

"See? And then you're fucking telling me I'm 'perceiving things the wrong way'? Does this look like a fucking joke to you?!" Jason hissed, anger and pain lacing his words, and Nico could hear what sounded like a hoof passing the threshold of the doorway, indicating Chiron was with him, and at the very least taking a look.

"Shh! He almost had him out!" Percy hissed, moving away from Nico with a last, reassuring touch to his side, before rushing over to Jason, starting to explain to Chiron what had happened.

Nico took a deep breath, ignoring them as he focused back on Will, who looked like a lost kitten.

A lost kitten that had just faced hell and was expecting it all over again.

"Starai meglio, sole mio. Prometto che andrà tutto bene." (You're going to be okay, my sun. I promise everything will be okay.)

He let his fingers stroke over Will's wrists, drawing patterns gently as he spoke, but it took a lot longer for Will to calm down this time.

Maybe because there was still so much noise behind them.

Nico still decided to try his luck again, telling Will he'd pull him out, even though he was fairly certain Will still couldn't understand.

It didn't matter.

What mattered was that he let Nico pull him out slowly, carefully, his blonde only flinching back lightly when his eyes met the light.

Somebody must have turned on the light.

Nico whispered gentle reassurances to him all the while, and Will seemed glued to each and every word.

Maybe it was the sound of the language.

Maybe Will didn't understand the actual words, but the fact it wasn't English told him it wasn't Kyle.

Nico didn't know, and decided he didn't care.

As long as it helped Will, he'd gladly learn any language in the world.

He pulled him out gently, and drew him into his arms the moment his feet were far enough away from the bed frame to guarantee he wouldn't injure himself immediately, should he start thrashing again.

Will whined quietly, then his hands grabbed hold of Nico's shirt, and Nico's arms tightened around him, continuously whispering to him in Italian.

After some time, he wasn't even sure what he was telling him anymore.

He was just talking, swaying Will gently back and forth, similar to how he had done with Chuck the day before.

It was disturbing to think, that, just yesterday, all he had had to worry about was whether or not they'd manage to watch a baby satyr for a few hours.

He whispered that to Will, too.

The talking behind him stopped, and he glanced towards the door, while his fingers ran through Will's hair softly.

Chiron had his front legs bent and was looking in, his expression grim and concerned, while Percy and Jason looked over with matching worried, yet soft looks.

"Nico…?" Will whispered, the first time he didn't whimper or sob as he spoke, and Nico's gaze instantly hushed down to him.

"Si, sono io-…Yes, it's me. Are you awake now?" He started, then hurriedly switched to English.

Will was still for a moment, then he shook his head.

Nico smiled softly, stroking through his hair.

"Where's Jason and Percy?" Will asked after a moment, and Nico glanced over towards the door, where both boys were turning to send Chiron a meaningful look, as if Will had just confirmed something they had been saying.

Nico decided he didn't want to know.

It would probably just make him angry all over again, and Will needed comfort right now, not him livid about things he couldn't control.

"They're here, sunshine. Everything is okay." He replied quietly, and Will nodded ever so faintly in reply.

"Is Jason okay?" Will asked uncertainly, and Nico glanced at Jason, whose face looked…pretty damn horrible.

Those bruises looked nasty.

And it was a miracle he seemed to be able to see, really.

"He's fine. Handsome as usual." Nico lied, not wanting Will to go and attempt healing anybody anytime soon.

Jason took a little bow, and Percy's lips twitched, even with the seriousness of the situation.

Will chuckled faintly.

"He's always handsome, Nico."

Nico stroked through his hair again.

"Yeah, I know. Just how Percy is always gorgeous?"

Will let out a small huff.

"Exactly. 's not fair…" Will mumbled, then his voice trailed off into something indistinguishable, and his breathing evened out.

Nico relaxed with a sigh.

He had fallen back asleep.

Hopefully, this time, he'd sleep till morning, and with no more interruptions.

Nico noted worriedly how this had been the second nightmare, and yet neither had seemed like the actual nightly nightmare.

But he could merely hope that wouldn't happen on top of everything else.

Maybe he should ask his dad to do another one of those protective spells he had put on their room in the Underworld.

Sure, Will had to go through them sooner or later (apparently), but right now was seriously not the time…

He looked around at the guys again, and noticed they were just closing the door, moving back over towards him.

Apparently, the whole thing with Chiron was done.

Good.

Maybe now, the centaur would take action against Kyle right away.

Nico's stomach filled with what felt like acid, and he was glad the guys were there no moment later, distracting him again as they tried as a group to maneuver Will back into bed.

It wasn't easy, but manageable, and when they settled back into bed, Nico and Percy went between the edge of the bed and Will's front, while Jason covered his back.

This way, if he started thrashing again, they could hopefully react faster and keep him safe, as well as keep him from flying out of the bed again.

"What did he say?" He whispered into the silence, hoping for good news.

Because good news would be freaking awesome right about now.

"He still wants Will to talk to him. Though he seems a lot more…inclined…to believe my part of the story." Jason said quietly, and Nico felt the resentment burn through him again.

He thought of himself as a rather reasonable person.

He was aware it had to be difficult for Chiron to run a Camp full of mostly pubescent kids, especially if one considered the whole godly aspect in it, as well as the thing with monsters and lots of death.

He was aware that Chiron wanted to be fair, wanted to give everybody a fair chance and the possibility of redemption and whatnot, especially with their numbers already so limited.

But Chiron had let a rapist into Camp.

A person who was harming other campers, who had the audacity to act innocent, while knowing full well of his doings.

How could Chiron let that happen?!

How had Chiron let this happen before?!

This Kyle person had been in Camp for years before miraculously disappearing right after the battle against Kronos.

How many of those years had he hurt Will?

Had he hurt anybody else?

How had he gotten away with it for so long?

And his Will…

Nico's hold on his blonde tightened, trying to stomach the pain, the guilt, the anger.

Why hadn't he told them?

Why had he run away?

If he had grabbed them by the arm and dragged them with him, they would have come, they would have held him, they would have protected him from Kyle…today…

Nico's jaw clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut.

How many times had Will had to go through that?

Was this what had been bothering him all this time?

Was this what his brother had wanted to talk about with him?

Why hadn't he told them?

Nico didn't know what he'd have done, but there had to be something they could have done to help him.

Instead they had all just been there uselessly, even asking Will for-…

Nico's eyes flew open, suddenly feeling sick.

Oh gods.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods.

They had…they had…

Nico's eyes brimmed with tears again, and he felt Percy's hold on him tightening.

Turning his head, he found Percy looking at him with matching pain and guilt in his gaze.

"We…we…"

"I know, Angel, I know…" Percy whispered, and Jason shifted, running his undamaged hand through Will's hair with pursed lips.

Will moved slightly, his hands opening and closing around Nico's shirt, a small, rattled breath escaping his lips.

What had they done?

How could Will have just…

They had been so ignorant.

So horribly, horribly ignorant.

"Let's sleep for now, love. It will only make him worry if we're unrested and beyond ourselves in the morning. He's so scared we'll take it badly, let's not play into that fear, okay?" Percy asked softly, pressing a kiss to the back of his head.

Nico felt a tear running down his cheek.

"He bragged about it…" He whispered, thinking of the countless times Will had winked at them, claiming to be 'experienced'.

The countless times he had told them to come to him for advice.

The countless times they had talked about anything sexual, in general.

Then he thought of how he himself had asked Will to teach him how to deepthroat, how Percy had gotten Will to teach him for real.

Why?

Why had he never said anything…?

"He didn't want us to know, Nico." Percy replied, and Nico shook his head, another tear rolling down his cheek.

Why?

"He was scared, Nico. Still is. It's nothing you just talk about out of nowhere, and he feared we'd treat him differently."

Nico huffed weakly, sniveling quietly.

He wouldn't have treated Will any different!

Will was still Will!

All he'd have done is watch out they wouldn't say or do anything that-…

Oh…

Nico sobbed into Will's hair.

That wasn't the same!

Will was still his Will!

Being considerate of somebody and what happened to them in the past was not the same as treating them differently!

Percy stroked him gently, whispering against the back of his head for him to sleep, that they had to pull themselves together, that they had to show Will they'd be there for him no matter what, especially now.

Nico found he didn't care.

He didn't want to sleep, he didn't want to pull himself together, and he wanted to rattle some sense into Will and make him understand that they'd always be there for him, which he should already know, gods damn it!

Was he agitated?

Yes!

Was he going to sleep?

No!

Jason's hand moved to his face, stroking through his hair and sending him a mournful look.

"He'll blame himself if you guys don't sleep." He said quietly, and Nico made a face.

Why did Jason always have to be the voice of reason?

Did he need Nico to remind him that it had been Jason to beat Kyle to a pulp?

That it was Jason who had a beaten up face that would probably give Will a heart attack in the morning?

He was about to notify him of that, but then decided against it, not wanting to upset Jason.

Jason was already upset enough, after all.

As was Nico.

Though…somehow, it still didn't make sense.

Something wasn't right.

Nico had thought so the moment Kyle had shown up, had felt that unsettling feeling in his stomach, that sensation of wrongness.

Kyle was wrong.

Something about him was…off.

Nico couldn't pinpoint it, but the moment he had seen him, his alarm bells had gone off.

There was an odd aura around the guy.

Dark, like the shadows that used to surround Nico all the while.

But it wasn't shadows.

It was…something different.

And the worst was that it reminded Nico of something, he had felt that sensation before, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

He had decided then and there not to trust Kyle, and to take his words with caution, but had also brushed the matter off, thinking Chiron would know best.

Thinking back to it, Nico should have probably said something, gathered information, asked why Kyle had come back all of a sudden, where he had been up until now, and what he thought of doing now that he was here.

But he hadn't, because he had been stupid.

And then Will had been gone, and Jason had told them to go to the training area, and then the storm had suddenly started out of nowhere and he had just known something horrible must have happened.

Of course, seeing Jason trying to kill another person had turned out to be nothing he had ever expected to see, and far worse than 'horrible', but now he wished he hadn't tried to pull Jason away.

It was wrong, and it would have gotten Jason into even more trouble than he already was in, but a part of Nico absolutely agreed, that, knowing what he knew now, Kyle would have more than have deserved it.

And all of that still didn't explain the one big question.

Why?

Why had Kyle come back?

He couldn't have just shown up to check whether Will was still there and ready to be abused by him again.

That didn't make any sense.

And Nico didn't buy that bullshit of 'I just couldn't wait to see him again' for one minute, either.

But then why had he instantly pursued Will?

Why had he pursued him at all?

Why had he come back?

What were his intentions?

He was a bad person.

Nico could feel it.

When he had sneered at Jason after Nico had pulled him off, Nico had momentarily remembered Bryce, had remembered him threatening Reyna, the way he had tried to manipulate people around him to accommodate his wishes, to get what he wanted.

Nico had felt the tug in his gut, the urge to do the same he had done back then, to protect Jason, to protect everybody around them, but the lack of powers and the way too many kids around them had stopped him.

There were still too many questions unanswered, too.

It was obvious Kyle must have promised Chiron something, else the centaur would have undoubtedly kicked him out at the merest sign of him bringing trouble, especially with the dire times and the complications in Camp Jupiter right now.

Monsters might be laying low, but there was enough damage inside the Camps to give them enough to struggle with already.

But what did Kyle have to offer?

Information?

If so, on what?

He had left after the first war, and the gods only knew how he had survived all this time 'by himself', especially with the second war and the recreating monsters and all, but Nico still didn't see how anything he could tell them could possibly be of any use.

It would either be information they already had, or useless information they didn't need.

So why had Chiron let him stay?

Even if Jason had 'misinterpreted' something – which he hadn't, and Nico knew it – then the mere fact that Will hadn't been there to protect Kyle at any given point should have told Chiron there had to be at least something true to Jason's story, and that Kyle's nonsense was just that: nonsense.

Still…

Nico stroked through Will's hair softly, noticing Percy must have fallen asleep behind him.

Kyle's calmness disturbed him.

He had brought up asking Will, which should make it obvious Kyle had lied.

Why did he seem so certain he'd get away with it?

It didn't make any sense.

Especially because he was forbidden from speaking to Will beforehand – not that Nico would have let him close enough to try, anyways.

Still, there was no way Will would walk up to Chiron and say 'Yeah, Jason so overreacted, Kyle and I are best pals, so yeah, sorry about everything, bye-bye'.

First of all, he'd never lie like that.

Second of all, he'd never get Jason into trouble, and most definitely not for something Jason hadn't done.

And third of all, that would require him to actually walk up to Kyle and act like best buddies, and from what Nico had gathered so far, the mere thought of Kyle existing was freaking Will out to the point he wanted to run and hide.

Nico's stomach filled with acid again.

He wouldn't let Kyle close to his Will.

Nico might not have been able to be there for Will in the past, but he was here now, and he'd protect him until the very end.

Nico stroked through Will's hair, hearing him hum softly, the first hum Nico heard in what now felt like forever.

He saw Jason shift, not even pretending to be asleep, but Nico didn't say anything.

There was nothing he could say.

Only Will would be able to soothe Jason's pain.

He would also probably try and heal Jason's wounds first thing in the morning.

Nico realized they should have probably gotten one of the other healers to take a look at Jason before coming here.

…Jason wouldn't have let that happen.

Nico himself knew all that had been on his mind after finally getting out of the Big House had been to run and get to Will ASAP, only able to breathe again when he had seen Will sleeping in Percy's arms, and instantly rushing to join him.

To touch him.

Feel him.

To know he was there, he was with them, he was safe.

Nico closed his eyes, burying his face in Will's hair and ignoring the uncomfortable heat that was building around them.

He didn't care.

He needed this now.

Hopefully, Will would be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

Nico stroked over Will's arms, hearing him hum again ever so faintly.

Hopefully.

...

When Will woke up that morning, everything hurt.

He shifted, wincing when he lifted his head and brushed his bruised cheek against Nico's arm, and feeling his joints crack and muscles ache.

What had he done, run a marathon in his sleep?

He made a face, pulling a hand up to touch the puffy skin at his cheek, just to notice his knuckles were swollen as well.

Seriously, what had he-…

Oh.

Memories flooded Will's mind, of yesterday, of him, of falling asleep in Percy's arms after practically shoving his entire life story into his face, of nightmare after nightmare after nightmare, of waking up in Nico's arms on the floor, the Italian whispering sweet reassurances into his ears and cradling him like a baby.

Will groaned.

Oh no, what had he done?!

He was about to bury his head under the pillow and never come out again, when he froze, his mind snapping back to yesterday.

Jason!

Will wanted to turn around, knowing it had to be Jason behind him, because he could clearly see Percy's mop of dark, unruly hair poking out from behind Nico.

He knew it had to be Jason – but he still found himself hesitating, afraid of it not being Jason.

Afraid of Jason not being here.

Which was stupid, because he could feel it being Jason, too.

Could feel it was his arm around him, could feel it was his breath against the back of Will's neck.

Could feel his values, showing he was sleeping- and also showing he was in pain.

Will's bottom lip trembled.

Pain.

Kyle had hurt him.

Will had hurt him.

Taking a deep breath, Will forced himself to turn around slowly, just to gasp.

"No…"

His hands shot up, bruised knuckles be damned, his fingers instantly brushing the few hairs out of Jason's face that still fell into it, resisting the urge to touch the bruises all over Jason's face.

He looked horrible.

His eyes were swollen and purple, and the area around was varying shades of purple, black, green and pale blue, there was dried blood on his lips and his jaw looked even worse than his cheeks.

Will thought he was going to be sick.

This was all his fault.

Feeling hot and cold at the same time, his hands started trailing down Jason's face to his chest to the hem of his shirt, slipping under it and moving back up to press his palms flat against Jason's chest.

Closing his eyes, he shoved the disarray inside him aside to focus solely on Jason.

His lungs were undamaged.

There were more bruises along his arms, sides and legs, as well as scratch marks, but nothing infected.

His kidneys and heart were alright.

His stomach was upset but alright.

His hand was-…

Will's eyes shot open and he jumped up, snatching Jason's arm, the one he had placed above their pillow, where nobody would get to it.

That idiot!

Why hadn't he said anything?!

How had they just let him go in this condition?!

Had nobody taken a look at him?

Where were his siblings, why wasn't Jason in the infirmary, were they all trying to give Will a freaking heart attack?!

He took Jason's hand gingerly into his own, feeling for the broken bones in his fingers.

How had this idiot even been able to sleep at all?

What sort of sick pain tolerance did one have to have to just brush off three broken fingers?

Why did Percy and Nico let this happen?

Hadn't they looked at Jason at all?

Will forced himself to take a deep breath, placing the hand gingerly on the pillow, where he had had his head until now.

This was all his fault.

But he could fix it.

He could still fix it.

It was all okay.

He just had to go to the infirmary and-…

Will tensed, fear pooling in his stomach again.

Alright, he…he could…he still had…

Will searched for his medic pouch, but wasn't surprised when he couldn't feel it at his side.

Kyle had ripped it off.

When Will had pushed his hands into it to grab whatever he might find, Kyle had taken two big steps towards him and ripped it off, throwing it to the floor and snatching Will by the-…

Will's breath hitched in his throat, his body beginning to tremble again.

He had to think of something different.

Now.

His eyes hushed back to Jason.

Jason.

Jason was hurt.

Will had a job to do.

He was a healer, he was meant to heal, meant to help, meant to mend.

Will moved, still trembling, still breathing heavily, but he forced himself to focus solely on Jason.

He had to heal.

He had to fix this.

Will's hands moved up Jason's arm, trying to find the best spot.

If he had his creams with him, he could apply those first and sing some hymns to Apollo to speed up the healing of the creams.

Since he didn't, that meant he had to rely on hymns alone, and his dad wasn't the most helpful of late.

Plus, he was in the Poseidon cabin.

Maybe he could pray to Poseidon, instead.

Who knew, maybe he would have more mercy on him than his own dad ever had.

Will felt the resentment welling up inside him, but he pushed it down.

Now was not the time.

He was too old to still get angry at his father for never hearing his prayers.

His father had many children, after all.

One could not expect him to take care of any of them.

Apparently.

Will closed his eyes and took a deep breath, placing his palms back over Jason's heart.

Jason shifted slightly in his sleep, but didn't wake.

Will didn't want him to wake.

He had no idea what would happen when he woke up.

When he saw Will.

When he remembered what had happened.

When he remembered everything.

Will swallowed hard and tried to concentrate as he started humming softly, trying to reach out to Apollo.

It was wispy and feeble, but he could feel something, which he took as a good sign.

Humming a bit more, he waited until Jason's skin was as warm as Will's palms before beginning the first hymn.

At first, he inwardly winced at how loud his voice seemed in the quiet cabin, but the guys didn't stir, so he hoped they were in deep enough sleep to let him finish up first.

He wasn't even sure Jason would be okay with Will healing him.

What if he thought Will was-…no, then he wouldn't have come back with Nico.

Will had to believe in that.

He sang softly, repeating the hymn twice more before moving on, feeling Apollo's power flowing through Jason, slowly mending the bones in his hand, and speeding up the healing process in his face and body.

It would be okay.

He'd be okay.

Will could fix it.

There were no open wounds, so most likely no scars, but even so Will definitely wanted to rub him down with his healing cream, anyways.

Or have one of his siblings do it, if Jason preferred that.

His fingers would be okay, no lasting damage.

He'd be okay.

Will kept singing, though he felt the powers weakening, as if Apollo decided this was enough.

It wasn't.

There was still plenty of healing to be done!

Will cracked one eye open, checking Jason's face.

The bruises were only just lightening up, this couldn't be all his dad gave him!

Come on!

Frustrated, Will kept on going until the flow broke off with a small 'Zap!' that only Will could feel and hear.

Needless to say, Jason was still not completely healed up.

"Thanks a lot, dad." Will grumbled, checking Jason's hand first, relieved to find at least his bones had mended entirely.

At least something.

With a sigh, he let himself drop back onto the pillow, gazing at the blonde.

He could use his own power.

He knew he could do it.

But he also knew the guys might be upset if they woke up and he was already out-powered.

Then again, only Jason and Nico really knew he had his own power in the first place, and Nico might not even remember, and he could tell Jason he was just still…tired…

Yes, that was exactly what he should do, right after everything he had just put them through.

Deceive them and lie to them even more.

Could Will be any more despicable?

Will huffed to himself, but then his eyes hushed back over Jason's face.

He still looked pained.

Will knew it wasn't all just his physical injuries, but the medic inside him wanted to see Jason completely healed, anyways.

But…again, what if Jason didn't want him to?

Then again, who wouldn't want to wake up and find their injuries gone?

Jason wasn't the sort of guy who ran around sporting a black eye and bragging about it, after all.

He didn't want to show off in how many fights he had gotten.

Jason didn't even show off the scars he had gotten in battle.

If anything, Will sometimes felt as if he was trying to hide them.

Like Nico tended to do.

Only Percy really didn't seem to give a damn, but…well, that was Percy.

It didn't matter.

What mattered was that Jason was hurting, and wasn't it Will's job as a healer to fix that?

To heal him?

He might not be able to take his emotional pain from him, but he could at the very least take all the physical pain.

And, since he had the ability to do that, why not do it?

Will reasoned with himself for a while longer, then he came closer, cupping Jason's face gently.

Jason immediately shifted again, moving his face down and placing a soft kiss to Will's forehead, momentarily stunning him.

Then Jason's arms moved around him, tugging him closer – and disabling Will from doing any serious healing.

Jason!

Will wanted to be upset with him, but his heart was thumping too hard and loud in his chest for him to even fool himself.

He wiggled around a bit, not exactly trying to get Jason to loosen his hold or let go of him, but also kind of hoping he'd get a bit more freedom to move properly.

Jason sighed softly, running his hands up and down Will's back.

That…that felt pretty damn nice.

Couldn't Will just stay here for a little while longer?

(Forever…)

With a deep sigh, Will pushed himself upwards, his hands back to cupping Jason's face, feeling him beginning to wake ever so slowly.

Uh-oh.

Alright, he had to hurry.

Will closed his eyes, concentrating all over again, but this time on his own power, not Apollo's.

It was difficult.

Much more difficult than he'd have thought.

Jason started shifting more, his fingers trailing over Will's side softly, before his hand set right on the exposed skin at Will's hips, where his shirt had ridden up, and his opened pants (?) had slid down.

Will shivered at the contact, then suddenly felt the tug in his gut.

Oh.

Well, okay.

Focusing on Jason's face in his hands, he collected his powers, then let them flow through his fingers into Jason.

It felt…different from channeling it through his lips, and he could instantly tell this was a lot more exhausting, remembering Leah all over again.

Will took a rattling breath, focusing on the job at hand.

It was a lot more precise though.

He could feel his powers seep through his fingertips right into Jason's skin, spreading out and doing their magic, much better than he had felt it during the two times he had resorted to…'kissing'.

Jason hummed softly, and Will found himself smiling slightly, opening his eyes the smallest crack.

Jason's face was glowing.

Probably because Will's hands were glowing.

Will had a hunch the rest of him was glowing, too.

He had to work on that in the future.

No wonder he got worn out so quickly, if his powers just decided to flow out of him like that.

He looked up at Jason's face again, stroking his thumbs over his cheekbones, feeling and watching the bruises disappearing, and his skin regaining its natural color and texture again.

Good.

Will slowly let his powers fade out, panting heavily when the glow finally stopped, his vision slightly blurry.

But it was okay.

Jason was alright now.

At least physically.

Will kept his hands on his cheeks, his thumbs still stroking over them softly as he tried to get his eyes to focus again.

Then, he felt the relief flooding through him as he took in Jason's once more unmarred face.

Yes, this was much better.

Tired, exhausted, and giddily pleased with himself for the moment, Will leaned up and placed a gentle peck to Jason's jaw, then let himself drop back against his chest with a loud sigh.

Alright, he was done for.

Time to go back to sleep.

He felt Jason stirring, slowly waking up.

…Apparently, no more sleep for Will.

All of his earlier doubts and worries came rushing back, and he felt himself tensing.

How would Jason react when he woke up?

Will would contemplate acting asleep, but Jason was bound to notice he was all healed up, so he'd know Will was awake…or at the very least had been awake…

What if he left?

What if he just woke up, remembered everything, realized who he was holding…and pushed Will away, before rushing out of the cabin?

Will couldn't blame him if he did, of course, but…

Jason shifted, then let out a low hum, tugging Will closer, his nose moving to the side of Will's neck, close to his ear.

Swallowing hard, Will could feel his heart beating even faster in his chest, so loud Jason was bound to hear it, and thus another reason Will wouldn't be able to pretend being asleep.

Will squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm his breathing – but then he suddenly remembered him, remembered the way he had held Will pinned to the wall, remembered him grasping Will's wrists tightly with one hand, holding him in place.

Trapping him.

Jason's hold on him tightened, and Will let out a small gasp, his body tensing up involuntarily.

No, no, this wasn't him, this was Jason, everything was okay!

He knew everything was okay!

Jason's eyes snapped open, and he instantly let go of Will.

"Shit! I'm so sorry, I shouldn't…" Jason started, pushing away from Will and sitting up, and Will let out a small, desperate whimper, trying to reach out in time to stop him, to hold him back.

But his hands didn't cooperate, and by the time he managed to move them, Jason was already out of the bed.

Will sat up, feeling his heart aching as he watched Jason staring at him with nothing but pain and guilt in his gaze.

"Jason…"

Jason drew a sharp breath, then suddenly blinked, his hands flying up to his face.

Will struggled to get out of the bed, moving over Percy and Nico as carefully as he could, looking up at Jason with utter apprehension.

What was he going to say?

Would he be upset?

Did he even remember?

Will wasn't sure what to think, nor what to hope for, his heart in his throat, and his hands beginning to tremble with fear.

Not fear of Jason, but of how he might react.

He watched the realization washing over him, then the blonde looked at him, his expression…guarded.

Oh no, that couldn't possibly be good.

"You healed me?"

That didn't sound good.

That didn't sound good at all.

Will swallowed, then nodded slowly, looking down and noticing he wasn't wearing his shoes anymore.

He'd have to clean Percy's-…

"You shouldn't have healed me, Will." Jason said slowly, and Will's heart sank.

He should have waited.

Should have asked Jason.

He usually always asked permission to heal, unless it was a matter of life-or-death.

"I'm sorry. I thought I'd…since it's my fault, I…" He started, noticing his voice was shaking, though he couldn't help it.

His heart ached when Jason took a step away from him.

"It's not your fault. I was the one throwing the punches, not you." Jason said, still sounding so horribly guarded.

Will couldn't help but flinch at his words, anyways.

Jason had thrown the punches, not Will.

Will had just stood there and let Kyle do as he pleased.

Oh gods, he didn't even want to know how it must have looked to Jason.

Who knew what he had seen, how long he had been there.

But Will had tried to fight!

He had tried to…to find a weapon…to find anything to help him.

Of course, he had ended up being stupid and useless and throwing packs of band-aids at Kyle while trying to run away from the corner he had put himself in, only remembering his medic pouch with possible weapons when it was too late, but…but…

He had tried…

"I…I know…" He replied slowly, unable to think of anything else to say.

A part of him wanted to apologize, wanted to explain, wanted to fall to his knees and beg for Jason to understand.

Another part of him wanted to turn around and run.

He did neither, instead just standing there and staring at the ground.

Jason took a deep breath, and Will squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow.

Not physical, Jason would never hit him.

No, he was waiting for the-…

"So…that was your big secret, huh?"

There.

Will drew his shoulders up, as if it would protect him somehow.

It didn't, of course.

It probably only made him look even more pathetic.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered, his voice still shaking, and for a moment, he thought he could hear Jason moving towards him.

But then, he seemed to be stumbling backwards again, and Will had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop himself from something stupid like sobbing.

He was disgusted of him, wasn't he?

He knew, didn't he?

Jason took another deep breath.

"What are you sorry for? If I remember correctly, it's not you who's the lying, abusive asshole."

Will flinched, drawing into himself more and more.

Yes, Jason knew, alright.

Not that Will had really doubted it.

Of course Jason knew.

Will thought of what to reply, what to say, but all his mind came up with were more apologies.

But that would only upset Jason even more, wouldn't it?

So Will remained silent, unable to even as much as lift his head to look Jason in the eye.

Jason let out a pained sigh, tearing Will apart from the inside.

"If anything, it should be me apologizing, don't you think?" He said, and Will's hands balled into fists at his side, his body beginning to shake rather than tremble now.

No.

No, please not.

Jason was going to tell him there was no chance for a 'them' anymore, wasn't he?

He was going to tell him he had been wrong, that Will had been right, that it was too much.

This was too much.

Of course it was.

It was too much for Will, too.

Last night had shown that only all too well.

"I can't believe I didn't figure it out before." Jason muttered, and Will glanced up at him for a moment, seeing him rubbing at his face with his hand, looking grave, looking pained.

Will looked down again.

He wanted to say so many things.

'I'm sorry.'

'I tried to hide it well.'

'I didn't want you to know.'

'I wanted to tell you.'

'I love you.'

Will said nothing.

"I mean, there were enough signs. Gods, I was so blind." Jason continued with a grave sigh, and Will cringed inwardly.

"And it explains so many things, too."

Will tensed.

"I'm sorry…"

It slipped out.

He instantly regretted it.

"Stop saying that, Will. I get why you didn't tell me, I get it. I understand that it's not something you just mention at the side, I understand you were afraid. I know now why you were so adamant about…about us not working out…"

Will flinched hard, his breath hitching in his throat.

He had been right.

Jason had changed his mind.

Of course he had.

Will had known he would.

"…I mean, I get it. I hate it, but I get it…" Jason continued, running a hand through his hair as he talked, but Will started shaking his head rapidly.

"No…"

"And I…I know I fucked up, Will. I know that…that what we did was…was…"

No…

Jason couldn't…

Will felt the tears running down his face, his hands now clawing his thighs in an attempt to hold onto something.

"Don't…" He whispered feebly.

But Jason didn't seem to hear him.

"I know it was wrong, that I shouldn't have…I should have cleared up the misunderstanding right away. And I'm sorry. I know it won't fix anything, that this won't fix anything but…I'm sorry. I really am."

Will's heart broke, pain searing through him as his gaze snapped up to Jason, though he couldn't even see him clearly anymore, his tears blurring his vision.

"No! Jason, Jason please, I…I…we can…"

"Don't. Will, I'm sorry I was pushing you all this time. I didn't…I didn't mean to…I just…I just wanted you to…I thought…" Jason started struggling for words, moving two steps towards him, and Will wanted him to come closer, wanted him to hold him, wanted to hold him back.

Wanted another chance.

Just one.

Jason took a sharp breath, stopping again.

"You…you should have told me, Will. I know now you tried to stop me, but…you should have told me."

Will had wanted to!

Tears ran down his cheeks, and he rubbed at his face with his arms hastily, sobbing pathetically.

"I…I couldn't…I tried to…I wanted to…I didn't…I didn't know how you'd react!" He found himself bristling, unable to help himself.

He even felt himself stomping his foot on the ground.

This time, it was Jason flinching back.

"I've never talked about this with anybody before, Jason! And no, my dead brother doesn't fucking count! I couldn't just walk up to you and say 'Oh hey, Jason, sweetheart, by the way, I was raped', could I now? I didn't want you to know! I didn't want any of you to know! Do you have any idea how people react when they hear you were raped? Half of them will fucking laugh in your face, saying something like 'Guys can't get raped, they always want it' or 'You wanted it, just get over it', and the other half will pity you as if you're not a functioning person anymore! I didn't want you to know, and I didn't want to see how you'd react!" He yelled, and heard movement behind him, signaling he had just successfully woken Percy and Nico.

Good job, Will.

"Well, it would have been important to know that I was doing the same fucking thing to you, Will!" Jason snapped back, and Will winced.

There was a gasp behind him, but he ignored it.

"That's different!" He shot back but Jason snorted derisively.

"It's not, and you know it. I did the same fucking thing to you he did."

"No!"

"Then why are you scared of me?!" Jason snapped loudly, and Will took a step back.

It was automatic.

Instinctive.

It was the worst thing he'd ever done.

Jason was shaking, his expression full of pain, and Will stared back at him, opening and closing his mouth, no sound coming out.

"I'm not…" He whispered, but Jason just shook his head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked, his voice unbelievably soft.

Will shook his head.

"You should have stopped me, Will."

Why?

Why was this happening?

Why did Will have to be right?

Why did Jason have to leave him?

Why did Jason have to regret everything?

Why did Will always fuck up?

"I tried to…" He whispered, and Jason looked away, swallowing hard.

"I'm sorry." The blonde then said, his voice sounding hollow, broken.

Will took a step towards him, searching for something, anything, to say that would fix this, fix them, that would allow them to…to be okay again…

"I wanted to tell you! I really did, Jason! I…I really…I hoped we could…but I didn't know how you'd react! I didn't know what you'd do, Jason!"

He was bristling again, was yelling again, was looking down with the tears clouding his vision, flowing down his cheeks, his nose, crashing down around him like the rain he could hear outside.

Suddenly, there was movement, and two big, strong arms wrapped around him, Jason's arms, pressing him tightly against him.

"This, Will. This is what I'd have done." Jason whispered, his voice cracking, and there was something wet trickling into Will's neck, right where Jason's face was.

He gasped, too stunned to react for a moment, standing there uselessly and frozen.

But the moment he managed to move his arms, to get them to move around Jason, to hold him there, to keep him close forever…Jason was already pulling away.

And by the time Will opened his eyes, all he could see was the cabin door slamming shut as Jason stormed out.

Jason was gone.

Will stood there, staring at the door, the realization sinking in.

Will stood there, staring at the door, the tears running down his face like rivers.

Will stood there, staring at the door, the guys moving into his field of vision from left and right, gazing at him worriedly.

Will stood there, staring at the door, the guys talking to him, saying words he couldn't hear, the pounding in his ears too loud.

Will stood there, staring at the door, the realization sinking in.

Jason was gone.

Will had fucked up.

Jason was gone.

Will had lost him.

Jason was gone.

Will broke down, the guys barely catching him.

Jason was gone.

He was gone, gone, gone.

And it was all Will's fault.