A/N: Hey all, back with another chapter, I added dates and times to the story because I think it helps the flow but otherwise, they're completely unimportant.

This chapter contains some vivid descriptions of self harm. I sincerely urge you not to read if this will upset you.

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

Will's P.O.V

June 21 22:15

In the last week, Will's recovery had gone really well. He had his NG pulled, was off TPN and only relied on an IV for supplemental hydration.

Physio had been going better than expected, his incision was healed and he had gained back most of his strength from before the beating and surgery. His course of antibiotics had finished a few days earlier and he was generally feeling much better.

Will was laying in his bed, watching another episode of 19 kids and counting when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," He said.

Shonda walked in, holding his chart. She walked over to his bed and stood next to him.

"I have some great news," Shonda said, with her radiant smile.

Will turned over so he was facing her.

"Yes?" He said.

"You're getting discharged tomorrow!" Shonda said with pure glee.

"Really?" Will asked half shocked.

She pulled him into a hug and they stayed that way for a brief moment.

Shonda began to tell him about the plan for the next day. Will was pretty clear on what was going to happen, but he was so lost in his own thoughts.

Where am I going to go? I can't just sleep on the street again. God what have I done.

"Hey Will," she said as she put her hand on his shoulder, "this is good news, no?"

Will rushed to pull himself together.

"Yeah, yeah, no it's great news," Will said trying his best to smile convincingly.

"Well, you best get some sleep, I'll come get you in the morning so you can pack up," Shonda said as she walked out and down the hall.

And he was once again left alone. He didn't mind. He was tired but he knew that there would be no sleeping that night. He had many things he needed to workout, of course not actual things, just things in his head.

He turned off the TV and turned onto his side. He pulled the blanket up to his neck and tried to go to sleep. He couldn't but he mulled thousands of things over in his head.

It didn't feel like it but, hours had passed. Eventually, Shonda came in to take his vitals. He pretended to be asleep, to forgo the awkward conversation of why he's awake. He knew his heart rate would give him away. Yet, it was a gamble as to whether or not she would say anything.

Shonda walked over to his bed and checked his IV pump and his monitors. Will could hear the scribbling of her pen on his chart. She paused for a moment, obviously contemplating whether or not she would talk to him. Shonda eventually came to the decision that she wouldn't and walked out of his room, her quiet steps retreating down the hall.

Though his head was far from calm, he eventually fell asleep.

June 22 5:46

"Will," Shonda said in her usual happy ways, "it's time to get up sweetums."

Will turned over to her and groaned. He rubbed his eyes and brushed his hair off of his face. She turned on the light, blinding him and came to flush his IV. She capped his PICC and let him get dressed into his normal clothes. They had been cleaned, for which he was very thankful.

He stepped into the bathroom, his bare feet hitting the cool tile. He washed his face and brushed his teeth, throwing out his toothbrush and toothpaste when he was done. Will Then made his bed and sat on it. While the intention was for him to be discharged at around 9 am, the doctors could come at any time. He also needed to have his PICC pulled so he had to be ready for that too.

He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, making sure that the volume was reasonably low. After about an hour, his breakfast came around. It was a beautiful array of fruit and a small portion of oatmeal.

Will didn't plan on eating the oatmeal, but he finished his fruit and the juice. He stacked all of the dishes and scraped the rind and oatmeal into the garbage next to him. Will washed his hands and went back to his comfortable nook in his bed.

Roughly an hour later, while he was still engrossed in the TLC marathon, Shonda and a second nurse, Kaity, came to pull his PICC. He had to remove his shirt, which was very awkward both because they could see all his scars and he was very scrawny. They began to scrub his skin, which stung and burnt and lastly, pulled the line. It was very uncomfortable but Will tried his absolute hardest to focus on his show.

A few moments later, his site had a bandage and they told him he could get redressed. He pulled his shirt and hoodie back on and sat in his bed. They did his post removal assessment and then let him be.

He was once again alone. The hospital room was so boring, so plain. The walls were beige and uninviting, Will hated beige, he found it so disgusting of a colour. He sat on the hard mattress and waited. Doctors were never on time. He couldn't blame them, they were involved in so much and had many things to do. Though he knew it wasn't the doctor's fault, he couldn't help but be annoyed whenever he needed a procedure or an assessment.

Eventually, much too long after, the doctors did finally come and he was discharged. Before piling into his wheelchair, he went and hugged and said goodbye to most of the nurses on the floor. They were all happy to see him leave and wished him well. He sat in the wheelchair and Shonda took him to the main floor, in the admissions office. He signed a couple of forms and gave Shonda one last hug.

"I'm gonna miss you," Will said with his head in her hair.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Shonda said as she rubbed his back, "but please do not come back."

Will laughed and let her go. As he began to walk away, he turned and waved at her once more. He'd have a long way to go.

Kayla's P.O.V

June 22 7:13

Kayla's shift had just started. It was raining outside, not so much that you could hear it but enough that you couldn't go outside without a jacket. It was a brisk morning, so she kept her sleeves all the way down and her fleece zipped up.

The morning shift was usually a quiet one, few people ever had to come to the infirmary since the more physical activities were usually in the afternoon. As such, she had her MP3 player in her pocket and a single earbud in her ear. She was listening to her rap playlist.

The only person who was there in the morning was Luca. Luca was 13, son of Aphrodite. He had cystic fibrosis so every morning, he had to come do his vest. Kayla would be expecting him at 7:15, as he always came on time for that.

And exactly as predicted, he walked in at precisely 7:15 am.

"Hey Kayla," he said in-between coughs, "how're you?"

"I'm great," she said smiling, "hope you're ready for your treatment."

"Yeah," he coughed, "I really am."

"I can see that," she said and they both laughed.

It seems impossible that Luca would be able to go to summer camp and have CF. But, his parents were very supportive and that helped a lot. Kayla had already set up his vest with it's tubing and plugged it in. Everything was laid out on the bed in the corner of the infirmary. Kayla really liked Luca, he was unlike the majority of Aphrodite's children in the way that he wasn't obnoxiously dramatic.

He fastened the vest onto his thin torso and turned the machine on. He sat there on the bed while the vest shook him violently to loosen the mucus in his airways.

"I'll be back in 30," Kayla said over the noise, "holler if you need anything."

Luca nodded at her in-between coughs and she set the timer on her watch.

Eventually, after some cleaning and organization, Luca's time was up. She came to see him. He sounded much better and she hadn't heard him cough in a few minutes. He unfastened his vest and folded it up.

"It's okay, Luca," Kayla said motioning to the machine, "I got all this."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go have a nice day," Kayla said gently.

"Thanks Kayla," he said as he walked by and high fived her.

That's another reason she liked Luca, he was willing to take responsibility and do things for people other than himself.

In a few short minutes, Kayla had all of the cords, machine, and vest folded nicely to store in Luca's cabinet. When she was finished with that, she returned to her cleaning.

The remainder of the morning was mostly calm, there was one person who came in because of a reaction to a bee sting and one person who sprained their wrist. It was easy treatment for both.

With nothing much to do with herself, she sat down at the counter to read a book. She was reading a book that Nico had given her. It's about a post-mortal society and how there are people hired to kill in the name of population control. She usually didn't like to read books about death but this one was so interesting.

It would be time for a shift change when Austin came running in out of breath.

"Kayla!" he said, hunched over, his hands on his knees.

Her head snapped up from her book and she got up from the table.

"Austin, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said while gasping for air, "well not really. There was a fist fight in the cabin and someone burnt someone else's clothes, I can't do my shift this afternoon for a while."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine I can do things here, just go deal with that."

"You're the best Kayla!" He screamed as he sprinted out of the infirmary.

Kayla didn't mind doing a double shift, it's not like her work is paid anyways. Since Will was gone, Austin had stepped up to be the head counselor of the cabin. Kayla was good with kids, at least in the medical setting but the younger campers were usually starting fights everywhere. She was extremely thankful that she didn't have to be the head counselor for the cabin.

She sat back down at the counter and continued reading her book.

Percy's P.O.V

June 22 13:14

Percy and Annabeth were sitting in the forest, they were just talking, but they were also sharing a box of cookies. Annabeth wanted to talk about the contemporary implications of genetic modification. However, Percy wanted to talk about a one footed goose he saw.

They were having one of their classic conversations, Annabeth was talking about what she wanted to and Percy listened and mentioned random things.

Usually they would sit on the beach or in the treehouse but, seeing as the weather had calmed down since that morning and the forest was extremely lush. Moreover, the summer campers (most of whom were younger) had just arrived. It was hard for the two of them to find any privacy.

Annabeth literally would not shut up so, he leaned in, caressed her cheek and kissed her. She dropped her hands and reached to his waist. They were having a moment, a moment of pure bliss.

Yet, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Percy turned and couldn't believe his eyes. Just twenty feet in front of him was the man, the myth, the legend, Will Solace himself. He looked pale, perhaps he was shocked, or more likely he was sick. Will also looked dead tired, he looked exhausted, his eyes sunken and his shoulders drooping.

Percy quickly stood and closed the distance between them. He wiped his hands off on his pants out of habit before stepping closer to him.

"Hey Will," Percy said trying his best not to be too awkward.

"Hey Percy," Will said, looking down.

"How've you been?"

"I'm alright," Will said with a small smile, "how're you?"

"I'm good."

"Well, I should probably get to the infirmary," Will said sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah of course, I'll walk you," Percy said giving Will a reassuring smile.

Percy and Will set off towards the infirmary, and Percy gave Annabeth a smile before he turned around and the walked off.

Will had been gone for almost a month and a half. Percy was so curious as to what happened to him, yet at the same time he knew it wasn't his place to ask. Percy was scared and excited at the same time as to how Kayla would react.

Kayla's P.O.V

June 22 13:18

Kayla was dealing with her first injury of the afternoon. There was a camper who had fallen off of the rock climbing wall and broken her arm.
Kayla had braced her arm, set up an IV of Ofirmev and saline. Lastly, she gave her a small square of ambrosia and left her to sleep. She drew the curtain around her and walked over to the counter.

She opened her chart and began to write down vitals.

"Hey, Knowles," echoed from behind her.

"Don't tell me you're injured, Jackson," She said as she turned around.

Her mood changed three times within a second. She was shocked and then she was angry and then she was just happy. She walked over to Will and hugged him, laying her head on his chest and breathing in his scent.

"Will," She said while stepping away, "why don't you go and make yourself comfortable in the back room?"

Will nodded and walked back to the private room.

"Thank you Percy," she said while smiling at him.

"You're welcome Kayla, I'll see you later."

She nodded and he turned and walked out of the door. Jennifer was helping her in the infirmary that afternoon so she figured she would do her due diligence and warn her of her absence.

After she found her, she headed back to the private room. She opened the white door and shut it carefully behind her. She sat beside Will on the bed and just sat in silence.

He began to cry, softly at first but eventually, he was full on sobbing. Kayla grabbed his hand and interlaced her fingers with her's. She pulled his head into her chest and just held him as she cried. Kayla had seen Will cry but only a very few select times. Then, she did something else she dared never do, she cried with him.

A dozen minutes later, he pulled away and dried his face.

"I'm sorry Kayla," Will said as tears continued to stream down his face, "I-I'm so sorry."

She pulled him into a hug, just wanting to comfort him.

"It's okay," she said as she stroked his hair and rubbed his back.

"I-I umm...I," Will said between sobs.

"It's okay, take your time," she said sweetly.

A moment later, when he had gained control of his breathing, he tried to speak again.

"I ran away, and I was downtown for a couple days," his tears fell, "and some teens jumped me. I was really hurt and they, um, they left me for dead."

Kayla had no idea what to say and she just hugged him, held him dear to her. He needed to be held no doubt.

"And I spent the rest of the time I've been gone in the hospital, I had a splenectomy and two revisions of the incision. It was so bad Kayla, I was so scared."

"I know Will, it's okay. You're safe now."

They stayed like that, holding each other tight for at least the next several moments.

When Will finally let go, and so did Kayla, she spoke again.

"Can I get you anything? Some water?"

"Some water would be great thank you," He said, drying his face with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Okay, I'll be right back," Kayla said, drying her own face, "make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks Kayla."

She walked out of the room and steadied herself on the counter. Her heart was racing. He was back, he was really back. He had almost died, and she hadn't been there to save him. She felt terrible. She felt terrible for herself and for Will. But this was not the time nor the place. So, she steeled herself and went to get Will a glass and some water.

When she came back into the room, she saw Will in the exact same spot, unsurprisingly. Moreover, her brain barely registered that he was back and was again shocked by his presence.

She sat down on the bed beside him and handed him the glass of water.

"Try and get some sleep, and we can talk more later, I love you," she said with a feigned smile.

"I will. I love you too," Will said.

"I'll be right outside if you need anything,"

Will nodded. Kayla stood and left the room. She was hurting, she was hurting so bad but no one could see it.

Jennifer then called her over to help with a wound closure. Without a second thought, she grabbed a suture kit, gloves and washed her hands.

Will's P.O.V

June 22 22:26

He had made a mistake, he really made a mistake.

Kayla let him sleep in the infirmary that night so he could take some time for himself before the whole camp saw and ogled at him. She had come a few hours earlier to let him know that her shift had ended but that Austin would be there in case he needed anything.

He had made Kayla so sad. He cursed himself for having done this. For having run away in the first place. But more so for having come back. He could have stayed away. He could have become a distant memory, just a previous camper.

But no, he cursed himself for being so selfish and stood up from his bed. He began looking for any blades. Any he could find. There were some in the cupboards, that he knew, but they had recently re-organized the infirmary. He tried his best to be quiet but he needed to find it and he needed to find it now.

When he finally found the blade, he grasped the gleaning silver metal in between his forefingers. He walked into the bathroom, shut and locked the door and pulled the waistband of his pants and boxers down to reveal his protruding hip bone and pale skin. He was freaking out, he was shaking. He looked at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath to calm himself.

When the blade hit his skin, causing it to tear apart, he was dead calm. He kept on going. Enough pressure to see the layer of fat under his skin but not enough for muscle. When he was done with that hip, he moved onto the next.

Will could barely see, his vision so focused on what he was doing, he was just in autopilot. It didn't hurt anymore, but he needed it to.

He put the blade down, leaving a bloody handprint on the counter, and began to pull off his shirt and hoodie. He reached for the blade, leaving more of his blood on the counter and he raised the blade to his ribs. As he began to slice them, he held his breath.

After he had completed both his hips and both sides of his ribs, he put the blade down and began to dress his wounds. The best he could do was toilet paper, so that's what he did. He carefully folded the toilet paper and tucked it into his waistband, pulling his pants back to his waist. He then took more toilet paper and simply hoped it would adhere to his ribs. But it didn't matter much since he was wearing a black shirt anyway.

Will turned on the faucet to wash the blood off of his hands, the water running red for a moment. And he then wiped the counter. Looking at himself in the mirror, he was numb. Yet he felt everything all at once. He felt sick to his stomach looking at himself. He was disgusting, a waste of space, he thought.

He walked out of the bathroom and towards the window. The curtains were drawn so he moved them and made his way out of the window. As he did, he felt his skin tearing at his hips and on his ribs. It stung and it burnt but it didn't bother him. It was his punishment and he deserved to feel every second of it.

He stepped out into the cool night's air and set out.

Nico's P.O.V

June 22 22:03

Nico had gone swimming in the lake with his friends from the Demeter cabin and some of the Apollo and Hephaestus kids had joined them. Since they had gone swimming in the afternoon, they hadn't had the opportunity to shower and change before dinner or the campfire.

As a result, they all showed up to dinner soaking wet much to the dismay of their cabin mates and eventually dried by the time campfire rolled around.

All around he had had a good day, he got to swim, sing and make smores. He was having the authentic summer camp experience. He was planning on running with Percy in the morning, so, he would have to be ready and well rested for that.

He peeled off his swimsuit and let it soak in the sink as he ran the shower. In a short moment, he jumped into the shower and began to wash and scrub all the lake water out of his hair and off of his skin.

When he was done in the shower, he wrapped himself in his towel, rung out and hung his swimsuit over the shower rod. He drained the sink and then started to brush his teeth and wash his face. He then went to put some clothes on. He pulled his usual sweatpants on and a T-shirt along with it. He turned off the lights and then climbed into his bed.

Nico began to journal by lamp-light. He wrote about his day, and how he felt he was finally starting to belong. He had plenty of friends and his life was really coming together. Having finished his entry, he closed the book, snapping the elastic around it, and stored it in his nightstand drawer.

Just as Nico was abou to turn off his lamp, he heard a quiet knock at the door. Nico assumed that it was Percy coming to tell him something he'd forgotten to at dinner. He stood, brushing his hair out of his face and reached for the door handle. He turned the door handle and swung the heavy wooden door open.

But standing infront of him was not the black-haired, sea-green-eyed son of Poseidon. It was the beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, radiant Son of Apollo. Nico was shocked. It had been weeks since anyone had even heard from Will, let alone seen him.

"Nico I-" Will began.

He didn't have the chance to finish because Nico pulled Will's face to his and locked him in a long, passionate kiss.

A/n: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review if you did and I promise I will update it soon! xx