Will took his time walking back to Percy's house. The town was dead, everyone at work or school, the sun shown and his shoes scraped against the pavement. In the midst of his war-torn mind, he could have sworn he heard those old church bells ringing.

Everything made sense. There weren't anymore secrets. That fuzzy veil over Frostford that had tricked him at first had finally been lifted.

Nico wasn't in love with him. He was in love with Percy. And he wasn't sure if he could get him out of it.

He kept walking. His shirt stuck to his back.

Would it be right to try to stop it? To try and take away love? It was painful, it would never be returned, it was only making Nico's life worse. But it was still the purest thing about life.

But Percy could never return it. He'd try, he'd be guilty until the grave, but he'd never be able to love Nico like Nico loved him.

Love was supposed to be good. It wasn't supposed to hurt so much.

"Will, what are you doing out of school?"

Will looked up at the shock out of his inner monologue and saw he had arrived at Percy's house. Sally was sitting on the porch, coffee beside her, her laptop open and on a blank document.

"I..." he looked down. "It's complicated."

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

He shook his head.

She frowned. "Know you can always come to me with a problem, Will."

"I know. I just...need to lay in my room for awhile."

She raised an eyebrow but didn't object, instead moving her items so he could pass. Once he was in the house and out of her sight, he ran up the steps and to his room. The door was closed and the bathroom light was on, everything was normal, but it would be the first time he would be alone in a bedroom with a boy. And he knew it was a pretty shitty thing to be scared of, especially since him and Nico had already been intimate, but he couldn't help but freeze momentarily in that bathroom light, staring at the wood of the door.

Hesitation. A few seconds of it. Then he opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind him.

Nico was laying on his mattress, naked besides his boxers, fast asleep. His clothes were sitting beside the bed, and with them his phone, hairpin, and cigarettes were tucked into his boots. His key chain was still around his neck. His hair was in its normal braids.

Beautiful. Just the sight of him stopped all worry Will had on his way over.

Nico was beautiful, he was safe, and he was asleep in his bed.

Maybe Will should have thought before he acted. But before he knew it he was climbing in bed beside him, stripping down to his own boxers to escape the heat, his arms wrapping around Nico's torso and pulling him close, falling asleep to his breaths.

.

.

.

.

Will jumped awake at the sound of the door opening. Through his haze of sleep, he sat up and blinked at the situation before him. He smelled cigarette smoke. And Sally Jackson was standing in front of him saying something.

He blinked again and rubbed his eyes. "What?"

Sally gave him a look. "Awake now?"

He shrugged before yawning. "What's going on?"

She gestured to the window. Will followed her gaze and blinked at the sunlight, his mind not really figuring out what was wrong. Nico di Angelo was there, sitting on the window sill, one foot hanging out and the other hanging into the room, a cigarette in his mouth.

What...

Oh.

"Nico!" Will hissed. "You're smoking in the house."

Nico took the cigarette out of his mouth. "I opened the window."

"She obviously still smelled it, Nico."

"She knew I was here! Someone had to let me in."

Will looked back to Sally. "You let him in?"

She gave him an amused smile. "I did. But I didn't know you two were..." She gestured to their clothes on the ground and the blanket wrapped around Nico. "But good for you, Nico honey. You needed something good in life."

Nico blushed and looked back outside. "Thank you, Miss Sally. Just...please don't tell anyone. Not even Percy. Especially Percy."

There it was. The way he said Percy's name. Will wanted to be sick.

How the fuck hadn't he noticed it before. How the fuck-

"Nico..." Sally walked over to the dark-haired boy and kissed the top of his head. "Remember what I just said. It's good to see you and Will together. You deserve to be happy."

And holy shit. She knew.

Nico just took another drag of the cigarette.

"I'm doing my best to keep him happy," Will assured her. "I love him. And even if he can't fully love me back, it's good to be together."

Nico stared over at him.

Will gave him a soft smile, or one he hoped didn't look too painful.

"Well, let me know if you two need anything," Sally said. "Estelle and Tyson should be home from school soon, so I'll be making them a snack if you want to join. Just let me know."

When she was gone and the door was closed, Nico put his cigarette out against his arm and turned to face Will. "What was that about?"

Will just stared at him. "We need to talk. I was going to when I got here but you just looked so beautiful and I was stressed and I needed a nap. I fell asleep. But we need to talk."

"Will, I-"

"Percy was crying at school today."

Nico's jaw tensed. "Who hurt him? I'll beat the shit out of them-"

"Come sit by me," Will ordered. "And close the window. You don't want anyone overhearing this."

Nico slammed the window shut and sat on the mattress beside him, his arms crossed. Now that Sally was gone he abandoned the blanket he had been covering with, letting it fall to the floor halfway through his walk over.

"He was crying because he thinks you hate him," Will explained. "Everyone said what they always said and stopped him from following you. Said you weren't friends. I was talking to him in the bathroom and he was crying because he thinks you hate him."

Nico shook his head. "No, no, no. I don't hate him. I... I don't hate him, Will. I...I've got to go find him. I can't believe I caused him to cry. Percy Jackson, crying. I haven't seen him cry since...well, since Gabe was still alive."

"You need to talk to him," Will said. "Explain."

"I can't explain. Will, I can't." Nico ran his fingers through his hair. "He can't know that I...that I..."

"That you love him," Will finished in a whisper.

Nico snapped his head up and stared at him, stared at him for some time before swallowing.

"Nico?" Will asked. "Are you breathing?"

"You know."

"I know."

"How...how do you...how..."

Will moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe. It's okay. Just breathe. You love Percy Jackson."

Nico covered his face with the blankets, his body tense, looking like he was about to take the flight instinct all the way.

"Nico, I figured it out...it's not that big of a deal. I still love you."

"Not that big of a deal?" Nico tore the blankets away and glared at him, a tear escaping his dark eyes. "Not that big of a deal? I love Percy Jackson! A straight boy! Your cousin! How can you be okay with that?!"

"Because you like me, too, right?"

"I love you, Will, but that's not the point. I love him. I...ithurts, Will. I love him."

"But you do love me."

Nico nodded. "Yeah...I do..."

"And you won't cheat on me."

"Never."

"Then I'm not going to leave you. I'm just going to try and help you get over him."

Nico turned away. "Will..that's impossible."

"But it's also impossible for you to get with him," Will whispered. "So you need to let it heal. You haven't even tried. Hell, he doesn't even know."

"He can't know I'm gay."

"I'm pretty sure he's figured that out, Nico," Will said. "He's not stupid."

Nico shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no. He can't know. I... I've been so careful to make sure he never knows. I found out I was gay when I was ten, Will. I fell in love with Percy Jackson when I was ten. And I've been so careful..."

"He's not homophobic, Nico," Will said. "He accepts me. So why can't he know? What's the big deal?"

Nico put a hand to his chest and took in more sharp breaths. Will could just imagine how it felt to have your whole world just crumble around you.

"Keep breathing," Will instructed. "It's just us. No one is listening."

"He knows I'm gay?"

Will nodded. "I really think so."

"Oh, god," Nico groaned. "I can't do this."

"Nico, he'll accept you," Will insisted. "He'll accept you. He doesn't have anything against gays."

"But my father does!"

That explained it all. Will knew Nico didn't have a good relationship with his father, thought it was probably pretty toxic when it came down to it. Hell, the man left his son to raise his daughter, take her to school,feed her. If he really was as homophobic as Nico said, who knew what that knowledge could lead to.

"Okay," Will whispered. "I understand why you wouldn't want your father to find out. But how does telling Percy have to do with that?"

"He picks up on body language," Nico whimpered. The sound broke Will's heart. "That's why I didn't want anyone to know. He'll find out just by watching people. He's smart as hell. And Percy...no offense to Percy but dad'll be able to tell."

Will pulled him onto the bed and held him close. "That's all I wanted to know. I just...I just wanted to know what was going on in your head. And now I know, and I can help you."

Nico wiped his eyes. "How? What can we even do? I can't stop loving him, Will. I can't. Trust me, I've tried."

"I know, but you can love him and move on with your life. But you have to accept it in a way your father won't realize."

"And how are we going to do that?" Nico asked.

"We're going to talk to Percy. Together."