Holy Schist Nico you freak, Nico thought to himself, what'd you have to go and do that for. I should just open up the ground and let it swallow me. That would be less disturbing than falling asleep in Will freaking Solace's lap.

Nico tried to calm down, lest he draw even more attention to himself. He slowed his breathing down and attempted to control the flush spreading through his cheeks. He had tried to turn away from Will when he first awoke before it became too obvious, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Will had seen the blush creep up his cheeks.

Nico was, to put it simply, mortified. He had unintentionally jeopardised one of the few friendships he hadn't yet tarnished. He had let Will see him vulnerable, exposed, asleep. He should have been more careful.

He had to do something. Should he apologize to Will? Or would that come across as weird? In Will's eyes, there might not have been anything wrong with what had happened. Of course, Nico was embarrassed, but Will had no reason to be. Hang on a second, Nico thought, What reason do I have to feel embarrassed? I mean sure I'm... what I am, but that has nothing to do with Will.

Nico still found it hard to label his feelings like that. His... problem, as he viewed it, was nothing really to hide in the 21st century. There was the odd homophobic person out there, but Nico wasn't worried about that. He could deal with anyone who crossed him, battling monsters of the supernatural and mortal kind. No, him facing his sexuality had nothing to do with the expectations of others, and everything to do with him.

Being open about who he was would have been unthinkable in the 1940s. He knew times had changed, but it was still difficult for him to face that part of his identity, and to share it with others. Even people he now considered his friends, or as close to friends as someone like him, could get. The main reason for this was if he acknowledged - if he admitted - that he was gay, he would be expected to act on it. If he had to guess, Nico expected the conversation would go something like this:

By the way, I'm gay

That's cool. Who do you have a crush on?

Of course, he had already sort of told Percy, and by default Annabeth, but he felt obliged to do that. After all, it was Percy he'd had a crush on. But he didn't feel that way anymore. Percy was someone he idolised, sure, but could never imagine a relationship with him. He wasn't Nico's type. He much preferred someone like...

Nico's thoughts were interrupted, as he felt Will's hand brush against his. Immediately, the blush he had been trying to fight down flared again, and his attention scattered in a million different directions. Oh, my Gods! Did he mean to do that? Is he trying to make a move? Am I reading too far into this? What do I do? WHY DO I EVEN CARE? Do you think he likes me? For the love of Zeus, what do I do?

Holy Schist, Nico thought, for the second time that night. I much prefer someone like Will. The realisation that he was crushing on Will hit him like Styx water. By shifting his perspective, Nico suddenly understood why he had been acting so strange since returning to camp with the Athena Parthenos.

Will Solace had been one of the first people he'd seen upon arrival, sneaking up on the Roman Onagers. He had called Will stupid and impulsive when he truly thought him to be brave for volunteering for such a dangerous mission. During that confrontation, Will had grabbed his hand and sent what felt like an electric current down Nico's spine. He assumed at that time, that it was just a reaction from touching another person so intimately, which he had rarely done prior to then, or perhaps the result of Will's light and healing powers mixing with Nico's powers of darkness and destruction. He hadn't thought to consider the fact that maybe when he saw Will, his heart had done backflips. That made him angry. He had lashed out.

Now, post-war, Nico had tried to rebuild his somewhat friendship with Will, despite his imprisoning Nico in the infirmary. Nico didn't know why saving that friendship had mattered to him, until now.

Screw it, he thought, and without hesitation, Nico slipped his hand into Wills'. Like before, it sent a shockwave through his nerves. His heartbeat quicked, and he waited for Wills's hand to be snatched away. To his utter bewilderment, Will's hand did not remove itself from his. Their fingers intertwined, and Will gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Nico resisted the urge to look over at Will, for his face was burning, and he wasn't sure he could address his sudden forwardness without becoming a red, rambling mess.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, as Nico's head interrogated his heart. Why Will?

When he thought it was safe, Nico sneaked a look over at Will. The son of Apollo was looking straight ahead, so confidently, as the light from the evening sky illuminated his face, highlighting the harsher lines of his figure. He looked so etherial, so unreal, Nico could scarcely believe it was the dorky doctor he'd come to know walking beside him, hand in hand.

There was something about this night in particular that had made Will seem even more surreal. Earlier, as the dying moments of his sleep had faded, Nico had looked up at Will and been at a loss for words. Whereas now it was silver light that reflected on his face, it had been gold light from the fire that bathed Will when Nico woke. The light of the moon gave Will an imperial, unearthly appearance, but the soft, warmer glow of the flames had made him look truly god-like.

Will had inherited many of his father's traits; his athletic build, piercing blue eyes, and shaggy blonde hair. He was the wilder looking version of Jason Grace. But next to Jason, or even Apollo, Will looked far more god-like in Nico's eyes.

He recalled a conversation he had heard, from what seemed like an eternity ago. A conversation between Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace, about Apollo, before Nico had arrived at camp for the first time.

"He's hot," Thalia had said

"He's the sun god," Percy had replied, in his humorous, dorky way.

"That's not what I meant," Thalia had muttered in response.

Nico hadn't understood that brief exchange back then, but after seeing Will like that, like a living incarnation of Apollo, Nico couldn't deny it. Will was hot.

But it wasn't just that. Sure Apollo was gorgeous, in an immortal, surfer, god-ish kind of way. And Percy had been cute in a dorky, skater guy, childhood idol sort of sense. But Will was so much better than both of them. Because Will was real. He was here. He was holding Nico's hand. And Nico, against every dark and ghostly bone in his body, loved that.

He loved this contact, however small, and insignificant. He had pushed everyone away. He hated interacting with others because they didn't act or think or feel like he did. But this? This innocent, affectionate gesture? It meant more to Nico than anything else in the world, at that time.

It was why he truly loved Will. Not because he held his hand, or let him fall asleep in his lap, although, Nico certainly wasn't complaining. It was the fact that Will fought for him, for his attention. He forced Nico to spend three days in the infirmary because he cared so Gods damn much. It was Will's persistence, care and his utter selflessness that Nico loved so much.

No one had ever treated Nico like that before - shown that level of care. Everyone just kind of acknowledged his presence and went about their lives. Even Percy just kind of accepted the way Nico had changed after Bianca's death and moved his attention to the next global threat that came his way, the noble idiot.

But Will truly cared for Nico, he knew it. Even if it wasn't that way. Even if Nico desperately wanted, more than anything for it to be that way...

A/N So, a little bit fluff, more next chapter. If you just care about the plot, by all means, ignore the rest of this note it isn't very important.

Okay if you're still reading, quick story-time. I have this '3 am Journal' thing that my friend gave, and I leave it by my bed in case inspiration hits me or something. It's been buried under a mound of books pretty much since I got it. Anyway, I wake up one morning and it's been moved to the top of the pile. Obviously I'm very confused so I open it and five pages worth of plot and dialogue are written down for this story - and I don't remember writing any of it, though it is definitely my handwriting. So, if you've enjoyed the story, you have her to thank because otherwise, we wouldn't have a plot.