Warnings: mentions of self-harm. Please do not read if this theme upsets you.

Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan. I own nothing, but the plot.

Themes of self-harm, anxiety, and depression are expressed within this story. TRIGGER WARNING! Please do NOT read if these themes upset you. TRIGGER WARNING!

Criticism is appreciated, but please no hate. Please review and leave me suggestions! Enjoy!

Will's POV:

A faint beeping noise aroused him from his sleep. As the noise became louder, he noticed other things. There was an IV in his arm. He was in a hospital bed. Why was he in the infirmary? Oh. He remembered that he had drained himself healing Nico. Nico! His eyes flew open. He turned to see if Nico was sitting next to him, but the chair was vacant. Will felt a twinge of disappointment that he wasn't there, but also an immense amount of worry.

He had just wanted to heal Nico at the time he had passed out and was unsure of his boyfriend's mental state. Will needed to find him before he did anything drastic. He sat up, pulling out the IV. He put his feet on the floor and stood. The infirmary was empty except for him. He made his way to the infirmary door, but before he reached it, Kayla walked out of the bathroom.

"He lives. You know that you keep scaring the crap out of me when you drain yourself, right?" She said, crossing her arms.

Will felt sheepish for a second. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Why did Nico need you to heal him anyway?" Kayla asked.

"Because he had ravaged his thighs and arms," Will said harshly. He then tried to calm himself. He wasn't mad at Kayla; he was mad that Nico had started to hurt himself again. "He's been cutting again."

"I knew it," Kayla said under her breath. Will furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "He was avoiding the subject when I tried to talk to him. We- we might have had a little confrontation."

Will raised his eyebrows. "I thought I asked you to look out for Nico, not confront him!"

"I was worried about you," she said. "I just lashed out at him."

"That's not what he needs right now, Kayla," Will said.

"I don't know what he needs. He's been avoiding me," Kayla admitted.

Will laughed bitterly. "Well, what did you expect? It's Nico, that's what he does. Which is why I asked you to keep an eye on him."

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to keep track of him all the time," she said feebly.

"I know, I know," Will placated. "But- Kayla, he's just gotten so bad. His wrists and thighs were worse than I had seen them in a while. He's been skipping his sleeping draughts, so he is exhausted. And I have no idea when the last time he ate was."

Kayla looked horrified. "I didn't- I didn't realize it had gotten so bad. I'm sorry, I guess I couldn't handle it."

"How did no one else notice? How did you not notice?" His voice raised into a yell. He took a breath and lowered his volume before speaking again. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about him," he admitted. "I don't know how to help him. He won't talk to me. And even when he does, I just feel so out of my depth and I don't know how to help him!" He started pacing around the infirmary, getting worked up. "He needs help, serious help, that I shouldn't have expected you to provide; I can't even provide it. I might- I might have to go to Chiron or someone else because this is beyond me. Something is seriously wrong, and I don't know if I can help him…"

"Giving up on me?" A voice from the shadows uttered. Both Kayla and Will jumped, as Nico slinked into the infirmary.

Will felt like he got caught red-handed. "How much of that did you-"

"Enough," Nico cut him off. "Enough to know that none of this was Kayla's fault."

"I wasn't…" Will defended.

"And enough to know that you have given up on me." Nico continued. "Maybe now you will understand why I cut myself."

"I have not!" Will asserted. "I have not and will not give up on you."

Nico acted as if he hadn't heard Will's words. "It's okay; everyone does. I'm surprised you lasted this long."

Will felt frustrated. "That's not fair, Nico. You are taking what I said out of context."

"Okay, right. You were saying that my problems were beyond your abilities. That you might have to involve other people in my mental health issues." Nico spat.

"Nico, as much as you hate to hear it, you need help. Better help than me!"

"Oh, so you are just going to spill all my secrets then? Get me locked up in an insane asylum?" Nico accused.

"What?" Will was dumbfounded. "No one is talking about that… for gods' sake, Nico. You have depression and anxiety. While struggling with those is okay, cutting yourself is not the way to deal with them. You have to accept help in dealing with them. That's why I asked Kayla to look after you!"

As he spoke, he noticed Kayla slip out of the infirmary, not wanting to be in the middle of a huge fight between the boys.

"You asked her to babysit me. I don't need your protection, William. I'm a big boy and can take care of myself."

"Really? Could have fooled me." Will snipped.

"I dealt with my shit way before you came along and I'm still here. I handled Tartarus alone and I'm still here. Believe it or not, I can take care of myself."

Will tried to keep his cool. "I know you can handle these things on your own, but what I am saying is that you don't have to. I am here to help you."

"Oh, yeah?" Nico questioned. "Then where was your help when I got beat up?"

"Nico, I was at school, you can't blame me for that. And I am trying to help you now! Tell me who hurt you and we can take care of him together." Will pleaded.

"I can fight my own battles. This is not your fight and not your issue." Nico asserted.

"The moment someone hurts you or something happens to you, it becomes my issue. You are my boyfriend; everything that hurts you, hurts me too. I am committed to you and I want to help you. That's what the definition of a boyfriend is-"

"Then I'm breaking up with you!" The words rang out in the empty infirmary. It took Will a minute to process and respond to what Nico had just said. Breaking up with me?

"Excuse me?" He whispered, not daring to believe that those were the words that had just exited Nico's mouth.

"You heard me; I'm breaking up with you." Will couldn't believe his ears. This had to be some sort of joke, right?

"No, no, don't play with me, Nico. This is just some self-deprecating ploy to try and distance yourself from me. You are just trying to isolate yourself. That's not going to happen."

"It's not a ploy; it's not a joke or a trick. I am breaking up with you!"

Will shook his head. "I don't believe you. You are trying to push me away and it isn't going to work."

"Fine, don't believe me, but it's true. I don't want to be with you anymore. I don't need you."

Nico's words stabbed Will like tiny swords. If this was a joke, Nico was going too far. "No. This is coming out of nowhere. You were saying that you loved me last night. That doesn't just change overnight."

"Well, it did. I'm better off without you." Nico stated.

Will moved towards Nico. "Stop it, you are lying. I know you are." He grabbed Nico's hand. "Look at me."

"Let go of me!" Nico demanded. Nico tried to pull away, but Will wasn't letting go.

"Not until you look me in the eyes and tell me that you are breaking up with me. So that I know you aren't lying," Will said, grasping Nico's arms more tightly. "Look at me."

"You are hurting me!" Nico gasped.

Will looked down and saw that he was pressing down on Nico's wrists. Which were wrapped in bandages. He removed his hands to see blood seeping through the white bandage. "You didn't."

"Get. Off!" Nico pulled away, cradling his arms against his chest.

"Why?" He simply asked, not retaking Nico's hands for fear of sending him into a panic attack.

"None of your business."

"Nico…"

"It's not. I broke up with you." Nico said.

"Well considering the state of your arms, I am not going to believe your claim that your breaking-up with me isn't self-depreciation." Will simply stated. Although Nico cutting himself was terrible, it showed that Nico wasn't thinking clearly. Hopefully, he didn't want to break up with Will. "Why did you cut yourself?"

"Because I'm not powerful!" Nico yelled. "I used to be powerful and strong and then- then my world went to absolute shit! I fell into Tartarus; I almost killed myself shadow-traveling. I have a fraction of the power that I used to have."

Will felt his heart drop. Nico was an extremely powerful demigod, but his mental health issues blocked him from seeing that reality. "You are powerful, Nico. But even if you weren't, it's not all about being powerful."

His words were for naught because Nico was on a self-depreciating roll. "And I have been training and training, but I'm not getting any results! I am not getting more powerful at all! I'm being held back."

"By what?" Will questioned.

"By you," Nico accused. "You won't let me use my powers. You are holding me back!"

The words stung. "I'm trying to protect you. I'm trying to make sure you don't kill yourself."

"Our relationship is holding me back from becoming more powerful!" Nico spat.

"You care…" Will's voice cracked. "You care more about being powerful than being in a relationship with me?"

Nico's eyes looked conflicted. "Yes- no… I don't know! I just feel like you are overprotecting me! Your overprotection might lead to my death."

"What are you talking about?" Will asked desperately.

"If I am not powerful enough, I might not be able to stop the next monster who tries to kill me. I might not survive if I fall into Tartarus again." Fear lined Nico's words.

Will rushed to reassure him. "You aren't going to end up back in there, Nico."

"How do you know?" Tears threatened his eyes. "I am back there every night! Who's to say that I won't get sucked down into that hell-hole again?"

"You wouldn't be there every night if you took your sleeping draughts."

"I shouldn't have to take sleeping draughts!" Nico screamed. "I should be stronger than that! I should be better!"

"There is no time by which you 'should be' better, Nico…" Will tried to explain.

"Shut up, Solace!" Nico screamed. Will fell silent. "I- I just want to be alone for right now."

"That's the last thing you should be right now." Will pointed out.

"I don't care. I just need to be alone right now- I need some space." Nico looked into Will's eyes. Tears threatened the son of Hades' eyes. "Please, I just need to be alone."

Nico's eyes were begging. "How am I supposed to know that you won't be dead when I wake up tomorrow?"

"I won't. I won't cut myself," Nico promised. "And I won't be completely alone tonight. Hazel will be there."

Will was unsure. "I don't know."

"Will," Nico begged. "I just- I need time and space to think."

"Are we breaking up?" Will questioned.

Nico didn't answer the question. "I just need some time to think, please."

Will relented. "Please just take care of yourself. I don't want to wake up to your dead body tomorrow."

"You won't," Nico promised again.

Will nodded. "I love you."

Nico left the infirmary without saying anything. He managed to make it until Nico was out of earshot before he collapsed on the floor sobbing. He had almost lost his boyfriend. He didn't know how long he stayed there before Kayla came him, asking what had happened. Through his tears, he explained the basics. Little did he know that across the camp, in Cabin 13, a certain son of Hades was under his covers, sobbing silently, with no one to comfort him.