A/N: Hey! Hope you didn't miss me too much. I'm going to try and be more consistent on these updates and get most if not all of part one (this story will have at least two parts but maybe three) of this story done in the next few months.

There's not much explicit in this chapter excluding coarse language and descriptions of hospitals. For people whom this may offend, I invite you not to read.

All rights go to Rick Riordan except for the plot. Enjoy :)

Will's P.O.V

"Good Morning," Shonda said in her usual cheery voice.

Will groaned. He was only allowed to sleep on his back, which sucked since he hated sleeping on his back.

"Good morning," Will said.

Each morning, they had the same routine, Shonda or another nurse when she wasn't working would come, wake him up at 8am for his sponge bath and labs. When that was done, his surgeon would come and see him for a consult on his incision. Then he would have some light physio to rehabilitate his abdominal muscles. His day wasn't terribly interesting but it wasn't empty.

His incision was having a hard time healing, since he has little muscle mass and even less fat. It had partially opened once already, which was an uncomfortable experience to say the least. Usually, people would be discharged after only a few days succeeding a splenectomy. However, as much as he hated admitting it, he was homeless. He had no ID on him, no emergency contact and no possessions. So, they had kept him admitted for the past two weeks and probably a couple days more.

He had been NPO for about a week after his original surgery and for a couple days after his incision revision. He was still on TPN, they were in the process of weaning him off of it. Because of his TPN, he had daily blood draws which made him look like a weak heroin addict. It was very strange and somewhat bothersome. When Will had come, though he had come by ambulance, they had to remove his bracelets before surgery. Though to the majority of the population, it wouldn't even have been an issue, it revealed the hundreds of scars on Will's wrists. He knew that they probably didn't care, if they even had noticed, but he still felt so self conscious about it. As soon as he could muster the strength, he pulled all of his bracelets back on. It was a sense of sense of security he needed.

Will had mega issues with anxiety, he always had. He was so afraid that someone was going to say something about his cuts and scars. His anxiety led him to do incredibly strange things, he spent extra time in the bathroom in the odd chance that someone would think something was up with him. He couldn't eat in front of any of the nurses, it just made him shake with anxiety. He knew they were preparing for discharge, as they were cutting down his IVs. Will was still having a hard time consuming enough water, so he still got a liter of saline over the day, well the nine hours he wasn't on his TPN. He had been on IV antibiotics though they were switching him over to oral antibiotics. The greatest development was that his pain was well controlled on oral tylenol and the tiniest dose of dilaudid to help him sleep.

Shonda helped him to the bathroom where there was a bucket of water and a cloth.

"Do you need any help?" Shonda asked.

"No, I'm okay thank you," Will replied.

And with that, she closed the door with a smile. Will peeled off his gown with great difficulty, though his pain was alright at ease, he was incredibly sore when he had to lift things or undress himself. He grabbed the cloth from the water and began to wipe down all of his skin, paying special attention to his PICC line and incision. When he was done, he bent his head over the sink and washed his hair with the awfully drying hospital soap. They had provided him a towel and with that, he dried himself off, and put his gown back on.

When he walked back into his room and sat on his bed, he laid his head onto his pillow. He was tired. Though he had been awake for all of a half hour, he was exhausted. Will was always tired nowadays.

Almost as soon as he had closed his eyes, Shonda came into the room to take his vitals and chart. She was very nice and understanding of his want to be aware of everything, she always told him all his numbers. Though he had a cuff that automatically took his blood pressure every half hour, it was protocol that a nurse also took it manually every four hours.

"110/90" Shonda said as she undid the cuff.

Another perk of being on TPN was that Will had to have his blood sugars taken a few times a day to see how he was fairing. The good news was that Shonda was always really gentle with the lancets. Will's fingers were really hard to get blood from, and the other nurses, particularly Daphne, always used brute force to get his blood. But, Shonda was always gentle with him and usually got his blood without an issue.

She loaded the pen and wiped off his finger. After a small click, she squeezed his finger. Then, she took the metre and tested.

"7.1" she said smiling and closing his hand with the alcohol swab on his finger, "excellent!"

Will smiled, though he didn't feel it.

"What are our goals today, William," Shonda said as she gestured to his whiteboard.

"Don't call me that," he said smugly.

"Okay, Willy."

Will laughed and rolled his eyes.

"That's somehow….worse," Will chuckled, "I have to make ten laps around the floor and try to eat two full meals."

"Excellent," Shonda said, "well I have rounds but I'll be back for physio in a half hour."

"Okay," Will said with a slight tone of disappointment.

He hated having to do physio. It was supposed to help his pain but it barely did, it just made him tired. Moreover, he had to do these ridiculous exercises, it was basically sit ups of every variety but he was only allowed to do about three and was only able to do about half extension or flexion.

Will closed his eyes and tried to rest. He knew he wouldn't.

Before he knew it, Shonda and the physiotherapist were in his room. He rolled his eyes. The physio's name was Claire though he always called her Dr. Edgemont. He wasn't sure why but it just made him so uncomfortable to call a doctor by their first name.

"Good morning Will!" Claire said in her usual cheery voice.

"Hello Doctor Edgemont," Will said, trying his hardest to emulate her enthusiasm.

Shonda gave him a look, and he looked at her, trying his best not to know what she was talking about. Shonda had had to talk to him about his attitude multiple times, and while she was disappointed, she wasn't mad. Strangely enough, Shonda saw something in Will. He wasn't sure what it was but he definitely knew that she did see something in him.

Will was embarrassed, he had to use the trapeze to sit up, and even that was trying for him. Standing up was almost impossible, Claire and Shonda had to help him stand. Actually standing was fine but the action of moving between positions was awful. He hated looking weak. And it wasn't that Shonda and Claire were female, though Will was bi, he just hated looking weak and vulnerable in general.

His whole life, people had berated him for crying. When he was a kid, he was always more sensitive than the other kids. His mom used to always comfort him and protect him. Until she became the biggest bully in his life.

They did his physio exercises and the rest of the morning passed uneventfully, he was able to rest in his bed. Just as most of his patients had whenever they had to visit the infirmary, he spent most of his day asleep. Physio had really worn him out, so much so that Claire and Shonda practically had to lift him back into bed.

He had finally began to fall asleep when Shonda shook him awake.

"Will," She said calmly and sweetly, "it's time for lunch."

She reached to the side of the bed and moved it so he was sitting up. Infront of him was a tray with many different hospital containers. He had a sandwich on a plate in the middle, ham and cheese with lettuce. There was also a small serving of what looked to be mashed potatoes. Otherwise, he had a jello cup and an apple juice. While it was quite the spread, Will didn't have to eat all of it. He only had to eat ¾ of what was on his plate to be deemed "satisfactory" on oral consumption.

He still had an NG, though this one was a smaller one, and he received over night feeds though it was always dependent on how much he had managed to eat. He was doing really well and had only needed between an hour and two of feeds a night. He would be getting the tube pulled soon, for which he was extremely thankful.

To be quite honest, he struggled through his meal. It wasn't pain or nausea or anything medical, Will had just lost his appetite. He had gained weight because of the TPN, which he only knew because it was checked daily.

When will was finally done choking down his meal, he finished half the pitcher of water and turned the TV on. Oddly enough, Will's favourite channel was TLC. The atrocities and drama on the shows were just mesmerizing to him. He was currently into 19 kids and counting but an episode wasn't airing so he'd have to stick to a rerun of toddlers and tiaras. Which while entertaining, wasn't 19 kids and counting.

Will reclined his bed slightly and settled in to the bed to watch his show. The day was practically over, Shonda would eventually come for night meds, TPN and feeds and then he would go to sleep. He pulled the shitty blanket up to his neck and settled himself.

Nico's P.O.V

He had to stop, he couldn't breathe. He stopped and put his hands on his knees, sweat dripping down his forehead into his eyes. They stung and burned, his throat cold and dry.

"Jesus," he said between laboured breaths, "how the fuck do you do this every day?"

"It's about practice and attitude," Percy said with a smirk.

He only said it because he knew it would have Nico all riled up.

"Oh fuck off," Nico said, still bent over with his hands on his knees.

"Come on just another kilometer to camp," Percy said as he jogged off.

Seeing that they were past the barrier, Nico had no choice but to jog after him. He was trying out new things, which he admittedly never did too well with. He was a man of habit. It was early summer. So the trees had fully blossomed, their bright green leaves colouring the skyline. There was also quite a few european crabapple trees, which had beautiful pink flowers for about two weeks of the year.

Nico appreciated nature, he had a knack for growing things, as he learned in his endeavours with the Demeter cabin. Perhaps he would get some plants for his cabin. There was white fluffy pollen in the air, which Nico had recently found out he was allergic to. He enjoyed being outside but if he missed his allergy pill, he would basically be non-functional anywhere outside of his Cabin.

He had also recently found out he was mildly anemic. It was uncommon to be anemic and a male, let alone a white male. People usually commented how pale he was and how little energy he had, which he always attributed to being european or the son of Hades. Now, he had to take an iron supplement everyday.

Percy, being the absolute angel he is, had bought Nico a weekly pill organizer. Which while the organizer was useful since he usually forgot to take them, made him feel like a grandma.

He was trying to start exercising, to help his sleep. He was always somewhat of a night owl, he usually stayed up into the early hours of the morning, but he also woke up early in the morning. Subsequently, he usually got around 4 hours of sleep. Which while it was enough to sustain him, he still didn't feel the best. Nico was trying really hard to focus on himself and get his habits and health in order. He clearly hadn't been doing that for quite a while. He had very little muscle mass, and he got tired easily when doing any amount of physical activity.

He had told Percy this, as he always found it useful to have someone else to hold him accountable. He was a motivated person but if he was being honest, he found it hard to stick to things like exercising and dieting.

Though, he was beginning to think of his confidence in Percy as a mistake. Percy was extremely active, and looked like he always had been. He had a chiseled chest, strong arms and a triangular figure. Nico was quite the opposite. He could be described as a spaghetti noodle, true to his heritage.

Nico sincerely appreciated that Percy was willing to work out with him and hold him accountable but damn did Percy do hard and fast. Nico was quite honestly, struggling to keep up. And though Percy never said anything about it, Nico had a feeling he had some thoughts.

Usually, campers weren't allowed or were very seldom allowed to pass the barrier, for pure reasons of safety, monsters coming to eat them and all. But Percy and Chiron had forged a long relationship, one that was very strong too. As a result, Percy was allowed to leave camp to go on his daily runs.

It really just seemed excessive to Nico. Percy was already toned, fit. And Nico understood that you needed to exercise regularly to maintain muscle tone and fitness but running ten miles a day seemed the slightest bit excessive. In addition to his lengthy runs, he did full body strengthening workouts. Which also seemed excessive to Nico. Percy was one of those people who ate quite possibly 7 000 calories a day but seemed to stay in the exact same shape.

Nico was lucky in the way that he had a very steady weight. He found it hard to gain or lose weight, not that he ever really tried but no matter what his life looked like, he always looked the same.

When they finally crossed the threshold, Nico stopped and breathed in the deepest possible breath. He was so exhausted. His legs felt heavy and dead. But, to absolutely no one's surprise, Percy was still rearing to go. They stretched and then walked back to their cabins.

They were both extremely lucky. Though they had the unfortunate burden of being unwanted children and ones that shouldn't even exist, they did get an entire cabin and bathroom to themselves. The rest of the cabins had many campers, and in that way, they had to all share one bathroom. One shower between twenty five teenagers was certainly not enough. But, Percy and Nico could take as long as they wanted, and put anything anywhere.

Nico opened the door to his pristine cabin, everything sitting just as he had left it. He walked past his bed and into the bathroom. Shutting the door behind him and turning of the fan, he grabbed his towel and hung it on the hook adjacent to the shower. He reached his hand past the curtain and turned the water on, until it was slightly lukewarm. He peeled off his clothes, which smelled absolutely atrocious, and got in. He lathered his hair and body and then conditioned his hair. Nico preferred to keep his showers short, global warming and all.

In a matter of minutes, he stepped out of the shower, combed his hair, washed his face and went to get dressed. He chose a black pullover and a pair of grey wash jeans. He pulled a pair of plain black vans over his skeleton socks. To be honest, he didn't really like the whole idea of him having to be really grunge and emo because he was the son of Hades. He preferred to just be like everyone else, though Percy had got him some skeleton socks as a joke. Just like the crocs, Nico had no idea where they came from. He was beginning to think that either Percy left the camp for more than just physical activity or that he was a kleptomaniac. Either way, Nico wasn't going to ask.

He walked out of his cabin into the cool morning. Oh how different the cold air felt on his skin when he wasn't running. Nico felt good, he had some energy, and he felt refreshed. They hadn't gotten anything to eat before their run since both Nico and Percy were terrified of Nico being a total greenie. So, with a pit in his stomach, he walked over to the dining pavilion. There were few people there, since it was a camp full of teenagers, they usually didn't wake up exactly at the conch blowing. A bunch of people didn't even wake up until lunch, and while this was a plan, it didn't exactly work out for most because they usually ended up missing morning activities. Nico walked through the rows of tables to his and Percy's in the middle of the pavilion. Nico looked up just before he sat down and made eye contact with Kayla. She looked sad. She was very reserved, she didn't really open up to people, she didn't like people to be able to see all parts of herself. But this was different, she was actually sad. Nico gave her a gentle smile, which she acknowledged but couldn't bring herself to smile back at him.

He sat down and dreamed up his food. A bagel and lox. It was Nico's favourite breakfast, he had an everything bagel with cream cheese, red onion, capers and smoked salmon. It was so delicious and while it's odour was a little strong, it was still delicious. He picked up his bagel and brought it to his mouth.

"Dude what the fuck?" Percy asked, motioning to his bagel.

Nico sighed and put his bagel down.

"Well wouldn't you like to know fishy boy," Nico said with a smirk.

"Ha ha ha," Percy said sneering at him, "ok but seriously what is it?"

"You're aware that the Italians and the jews have a close relationship?"

"Well yes," Percy said, "but what does that have to do with you eating fish on bread?"

"Ok so first of all, it's called lox and it's a jewish meal, and since the jews and italians were newcomers in America at the same time, they formed a good relationship."

"Ok, and you know that because…?" Percy asked with a strange look on his face.

"Yeah," Nico said pensively, "I'm not actually sure but I read it somewhere."

"Cool," Percy said, "can I try a bite though?"

Nico rolled his eyes, Percy always wanted a bite of what you we're eating. Yet while Nico feigned annoyance, he really didn't mind sharing with Percy, infact, he liked it.

"Yes you freak," Nico said as he passed the bagel to Percy.

Percy smelled it and controlled his facial expressions surprisingly well. He raised the bagel to his mouth and took a reasonably sized bite. The bagel crunched between his teeth and seeds began to fall across his plate. At first he was unsure but as he continued to chew, his expression changed to glee.

"Wow," Percy said with his mouth half full, "this is fucking delicious."

"I know," Nico said with a small smile, "that's why it's a fan favourite. Here, you can have half if you want."

"Are you sure," Percy asked with a childlike expression, "I dont want to take it away from you."

"Yeah," Nico said, "No I'm perfectly happy to share, I'll just have another one tomorrow."

And without any further instruction, Percy began to devour his bagel, more or less savouring every bite.

Percy and Nico passed the rest of their breakfast mostly in silence, but the good kind of silence, the pleasant one not the awkward one.

The rest of the day passed mostly uneventfully, they went rock climbing before lunch, ate and then Percy did some strength training and working out. But, as one would expect, Nico sat on a bench and read a book instead of lifting weights with Percy. He was reading a book about a port-mortal world where people where hired to kill people in the name of population control. But as all utopias did, this utopia came to an end. The world was basically crumbling around them, which Nico felt he could empathize with.

At dinner, Nico sat with his friends from the demeter cabin. They played Uno which, needless to say, became very chaotic very quickly. Nico and Percy had adopted the tradition (with the permission of Chiron of course) to sit with different cabins at dinner every night. Nico usually sat with the Demeter kids but sometimes sat with the Athena or Hephaestus cabin.

He got something different from each group. It was fun to play card games and talk about gardening projects with the Demeter cabin. He enjoyed having intellectual discourse with the Athena cabin and the Hephaestus cabin usually had some project on the go that Nico loved to read through with them. It was really a win win scenario. Though, he didn't only stick to those three cabins. Nico made it his goal to have sat at every table before the fall.

He had a chicken pot pie for dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans, a truly delicious meal. When their round of uno finally concluded, about an hour after dinner, Nico decided it would be time to turn into his cabin.

He bid farewell to the Demeter kids who were rounding themselves up for yet another round of uno, which Nico was amazed by. And he then went to find Percy. He'd ask him if he wanted to run tomorrow, and what time to meet him at.

He walked across the dining pavilion and the field in the dimming light. A cool breeze brushed past his skin making him shiver. Nico wished he could stay the rest of the night and do some activities or go to campfire. But he was honestly exhausted from the day.

He walked through the forest and found Annabeth and Percy at the beach, exactly where he thought they would be. Nico stepped out of the forest and onto the sand at the beach. He walked slowly over to the couple and sat down beside Percy. Annabeth leaned forward and looked at him with a smile.

"Hey death boy," Annabeth said cheekily.

"Hey," Nico said, "Wise Girl."

Her expression changed from glee to shock. She turned to Percy and shoved him hard.

"You told him about that!" She said in disbelief.

Nico began to laugh as Percy turned him with a look of feigned betrayal on his face.

"Dude!" Percy said as he laughed along with Nico.

Percy had once taken to calling Annabeth "wise girl" since she always called him seaweed brain. He felt it was a fair comparison but Annabeth had a very converging opinion.

The trio sat that way for a few minutes, Nico and Annabeth catching up on things. While they got along really well, they seldom spent time with eachother. Nico promised himself that he would make sure to make plans with her.

After they resolved that they would run at 6 am the next morning, Nico stood up from the sand and headed back to his cabin. There was something so mesmerizing about twilight to him, it was simply hypnotizing.

He walked through the forest, across the lawn and over to his cabin. He waved at Hestia and gave her a smile just before stepping into his Cabin. Locking the door behind him, he pulled his shoes off and headed straight to the bathroom. He washed his face, brushed his teeth and then changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Just as he was setting his alarm and taking his pills, Nico saw it. A mustard yellow hoodie. He stood up and pulled it on, inhaling his scent. It was Will's hoodies. The one Will had given him all that time ago. Nico honestly didn't know if he'd ever see Will again. There was a distinct possibility that he just never planned on coming back and that he was states away by now or that gods forbid something had happened to him.

Nico quelled his racing thoughts as he pulled back the covers and settled himself underneath them. Taking one last deep breath of Will's scent, he closed his eyes and slept.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's mostly filler but it will get more interesting in the next few.

Thanks for reading xx