Will studied with Chiron and Sally about the anatomy of the ghoul body and trained with Thanatos when it came to fighting. It took a month before he could say he had muscles, but that month was nothing more than that when it came to Thanatos's training. Will was far from ever being as powerful as Thanatos or Nico. He might not ever get there. But he could protect them in his own way.

He learned more about styx, about where they came from and why they were different between ghouls. The hereditary side of it. Why he could bet one of Nico's parents had the same set of fiery wings he did.

Then he thought about Nico's parents, where they were, where any of his family was. Why he was all alone, left in Chiron's care. What his story was.

But Nico was always closed off and always tried to be the tough guy. He didn't complain but anyone could see his eyesight wasn't the same. His fear made him check Hazel throughout the night but he never said a word about it.

But Will watched. He listened to the silence. He knew Nico better than he ever thought he could.

A month. It took a month for him to realize he didn't need to even think about what was his place. Nico had two bedrooms. Nico had a big bed. Hazel has her own room. The factors all came together with some unspoken agreement that they would rest together.

He knew his presence helped Nico sleep. He knew his presence helped Hazel feel better. He knew that Nico's home was slowly becoming his own.

Will brought one bag of clothes over, then two, then some of his father's old books and pictures of his mother. Nico didn't say anything about the acts. He only nodded towards closets or bookshelves where he wanted it stored, didn't say anything when he found Will's toothbrush laying next to his own. When Will finally got ahold of himself and sold the furniture and the house, Nico didn't ask where he got the money from.

But Cecil did. Cecil asked a lot of questions Will didn't know how to answer.

College had once been his whole life, and it wasn't too long ago. But his everyday, human, privileged life was changed the minute he became a ghoul, and then again when he finally accepted it. When he watched Bryce die. When he was attacked by Clarisse, by Dakota, and then Athena... College was suddenly something completely different. It was hard to sit in a classroom after fighting to the death. It was hard to sit there peacefully and not expect to get attacked by a god or ghoul.

But he couldn't tell Cecil that. He wanted to, but he'd never risk his best friend's life. Not after what Nico had promised to do all that time ago.

So he was left going to school, pretending to be someone he wasn't, having to deal with that pain every day. He used to have privilege. Human-privilege, you could call it. Something he hadn't even known existed until it was taken away from him.

Because he changed. His life changed. It changed when he became a ghoul and then changed again when he accepted it. It changed when he met Nico, met Chiron, met Hazel, when he was attacked by Clarisse and Dakota and Athena. When he watched Marie die. When Nico finally killed Athena.

Being a ghoul changed him. He saw the world differently. He feared the world differently. His species was hunted, killed, cast out. If he was found out, he'd be dead. If anyone got a tad bit suspicious, he'd be dead.

It made sitting in a classroom hard. It made acting peaceful hard. He didn't think he had PTSD, but something about sitting in a peaceful setting after going through battles didn't sit right in his stomach. He expected everyone to have a weapon. He expected attacks left and right.

Because ghouls and humans had attacked him. And during school, he was surrounded by the humans, the ones that hated his species the most.

Ghoul on ghoul crime was one thing. It was like human on human, it happened, but he didn't fear all ghouls. But human on ghoul crime was like a genocide, like the Holocaust, like you couldn't trust any of them and the moment you're found out, you're dead.

And he wanted to live. Fuck, did he want to live. So he went to school and sat in those classrooms and ate with Cecil. He pushed his real self down deep inside him and felt the pain of being undone by society.

.

.

.

"So, are you going to get with Nico yet or am I going to have to do it for you?" Cecil asked as they exited the building. "You're over there all the time."

"We're friends," Will defended. "I mean...if we...but he hasn't done anything, made no moves, nothing. He's not interested."

"Come on, you don't know that for sure-"

"And he's only seventeen," Will continued. "It's illegal."

Cecil rolled his eyes as he unchained his bike. "Okay, but you like him?"

Will thought of Nico's dark eyes, his beautiful wings, how much he cared about Hazel and how he wasn't afraid to put his life on the line. How he had a friendship with a human. How sad his face was.

"I love him."

"No you don't," Cecil packed the chains up before pulling the bike from the rack. "You have a crush, Will. You don't love him. Not yet, anyway."

"How would you know?"

Cecil gave him a look that voiced all his opinions. "Will, you haven't even kissed him."

"So?"

"You haven't known him for long at all."

"So?"

Cecil shook his head. "You'll know when you actually fall in love. For now, you have a crush. Accept it."

Will felt the blood rush to his face. "If...if this is just a crush... Cecil, you don't understand. That boy is just...perfect."

"Have you seen him get a haircut?" Cecil asked.

Will frowned. "Um...no. But what does that have to do-"

"If he gets a haircut and you still like him, it's not just a crush." Cecil hopped on the bike and flipped him off. "Later, Solace."

Will sighed. "Later, Cecil."

Only when the school started to get suspicious did Nico finally go back. Rachel met him at his locker, her red hair tied up in one of the messiest buns he had ever seen, her eyes green but every bit as angry as a ghoul's.

"Where have you been?" she demanded.

He still couldn't see right. He didn't tell her that.

"Sick, I texted you." Muscle memory got his lock to open but he didn't concentrate on the combination or the books he pulled from his locker. His head was still pounding. Maybe he should've listened to Will and gotten some sleep.

"Sick, my ass."

Nico sighed. "Rach-"

"You weren't sick, you motherfucker-"

"I'm adopting a little girl!"

Rachel's jaw dropped in a way that would have been funny if he didn't feel like he had a hangover.

"What the hell have you been up to?" she asked.

Nico leaned his head against the lockers. "Long story."

"You live with your uncle and the owner of that coffee shop," Rachel said. "Where are you even going to keep her."

"I have more than one bedroom," Nico defended. "And I work. And I'll have help."

"Your uncle?"

Nico nodded. "And Will. And the coffee shop owner. And the Stolls."

"Okay, but who's the girl?" she asked.

"Remember Hazel?"

"Hazel Levesque?" Rachel nodded. "Your uncle's friend's daughter, right?"

"Yeah." Nico took a second to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Her parents were killed by ghouls. I'm not letting her go to an orphanage. As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm adopting her."

"Damn..." Rachel shook her head. "Poor girl. How's she doing?"

Nico shrugged. "Good, I guess, all things considered. She misses them like crazy, though. But Will's really been helping. They get along well."

Rachel smirked. "Oh, really?"

Nico frowned. "What's that look for?"

"Is it like a father-daughter relationship?" she asked.

Nico groaned. "Will and I are not dating! We're just friends!"

He didn't care that heads looked over. Rachel didn't seem to care, either.

"Just friends..." she repeated. "You call raising a little girl together 'just friends'?"

"We're not raising Hazel together!" he hissed.

"You just said he's helping you!"

"He is, but-"

"You don't see me staying at your house helping you raise a child," Rachel said. "That's not just friendship. And you haven't even known him as long as you've known me."

Nico felt his face darken and his mouth open and close a couple times as he tried to think of what to say. But he had never been good at denying a crush to Rachel.

"He...he doesn't like guys like me," Nico finally admitted.

Rachel squealed before pulling him into a hug, making his brain feel like Jell-O. "You do like him! I knew it! I knew it!" She pulled away. "Nico di Angelo, we are getting you that boy."

Nico's cheeks burned red. "Rachel, he's in college."

"You're a senior."

"A young one!"

She rolled her eyes before shutting his locker. "Come on, get to class. We'll start the plan after school."

"Rachel-"

"Don't even try to stop me."