Will sat behind Nico on that red motorcycle as they pulled into the school parking lot, cutting Percy's path to Jason's truck off. Percy was slumped over, still clearly upset from earlier, but it was obvious he still clearly intended to go with the friends that made him that way.

"Get on, Percy," Nico ordered, still saying his name that way. "Before I change my mind."

Percy looked between them and then at the bike. "How?"

Nico looked over his shoulder at Will. "Scooch up. I'm sitting on your lap and you're driving."

Will blushed at the idea of it. Nico sitting on his lap in any way reminded his hormonal body of that day in the lake. "Is that safe?"

"Probably not. Just do it."

Will did as he was told and was soon in charge of a motorcycle for the first time in his life. The last thing he expected when he woke up that morning was to be smashed between Percy and Nico, the wind hitting their faces, his body warm and tingly wherever it hit Nico's. The sun showed through the trees in the perfect places. The forest floor was bumpy beneath the wheels.

"Where am I going?!" Will called over the noise. Branches breaking. Leaves crackling. Fall would be settling in eventually.

Nico's hands came to a rest on his. "Give me the controls."

And that brought about a site that both terrified him and excited him. Nico di Angelo, sitting on his lap cross-legged, controlling a motorcycle that crashed through the woods at dangerous speeds, not following a path neither beaten nor new, just riding through the trees and over anything that got in the way.

Nico parked them in an area that looked familiar but different, or maybe that's how you'd always view the woods when it came down to it. Percy got off the motorcycle first, then Nico, and finally Will when his lap was free. He was cold without Nico's body pressed against his.

"Where are we?" Percy asked. "What are we even doing out here?"

"Talking." Nico turned to face him. "We have a walk, but once we get there, I want to talk to you. It'll be private there. And I... Until we get there, I just want you to know that I don't hate you."

"Are you just saying that because they told you what happened?" Percy asked.

Nico shook his head. "I'm...I'm going to explain, but we got a walk first."

Will pocketed the motorcycle's keys before going to Nico's side. He gripped that pale hand in his, felt too much relief when Nico gripped his hand back.

Percy didn't look surprised at the display between them. He acted like it was normal, and all assumptions that Percy knew about them were strengthened as they started their walk through the woods.

They eventually came upon that clearing Nico had made him promise to never tell anyone about. Percy's eyes widened at the sight of the nature, of the rawness before them, and Will was still in awe as well despite having seen it before. Besides Nico, it was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever or would ever see.

Nico sat on the edge again, too close to it for Will's liking, his feet dangling over and his eyes on the horizon. His hands were bloody again from picking at his nails.

"Percy, we have to talk to you."

"Can we away from the edge?" Percy asked. "You can still see it all back here."

Will sat beside the treeline and held a hand out to Nico. "He's right, come over here. We should be facing each other, anyways."

Nico rolled his eyes but crawled over to them, sitting beside Will. Percy sat across from them, his green eyes worried and his face as sad as it was earlier in the day.

"So, you don't hate me?" he asked.

Nico shook his head. "Percy, I could never hate you. I... God damn it, is this hard to say."

Percy looked to Will. "What? What is it?"

Will looked between them. "Honestly, I shouldn't even be here. This is between you two. But I'm here because I care about each of you and I want to make sure everything turns out alright. Nico, you just have to tell him. Remember how you felt when I told you he was crying in the bathroom."

Percy frowned. "Hey,"

Nico held his hand up. The blood sparkled in the sunlight in too romantic of a way for blood. "Okay, okay. Both of you be quiet so I can speak."

Will and Percy did as they were told and shut up. Will laid a hand on Nico's thigh.

"Percy, I..." Nico swallowed. "Know I wasn't going to ever tell you this. Ever. But hearing that you thought I hated you really got me. I...I can't stand to think that I cause you pain. Because I...Because I..."

Nico gripped onto Will's hand like a lifeline. His voice grew quiet.

"I can't say it," he whispered. "I can't say it."

The forest was silent around them. Will wanted to speak up, tell him it would all be okay, wanted to tell Percy himself, but he knew to go any farther in what he had already done would be going against Nico in the rawest form he could imagine.

So he sat in silence. And it was because of silence that the year ended as it did.

"I'm sorry that I brought you here," Nico continued on. "I really thought I was going to be able to tell you, Percy. But I can't. But I can promise you that I don't hate you, okay? You're my friend."

Percy smiled. "Friends?"

Nico nodded. "Friends."

"Then I don't need to know the rest," Percy said. "As long as you promise to tell me if I do something wrong. You will, won't you?"

Nico nodded again. "But you'll never be able to do something wrong to me."

Will looked away. There was something in Nico's eyes when he faced Percy and said that that hurt worse than anything Will had experienced before.

Percy held a hand out to Nico, gave him a smile that Will knew made Nico's body tingle. Nico shook that hand, got blood on Percy's fingers in a way that made Will jealous. He only ever got blood on Will's fingers.

Then he realized he was being jealous about blood.

They took Percy home but the ride wasn't nearly as pleasant as the way to the cliff. Will couldn't meet Nico's eyes, he couldn't meet Percy's, he couldn't be in the presence of both of them without that jealousy bubbling in the pit of his stomach. And guilt. So much guilt.

The seasons were changing, it was in the air. But the heat still bore down on his shoulders and caused him to fall asleep that night as naked as the day he was born, Nico by his side.

And when they were alone, everything was fine. That night, he couldn't be more peaceful with Nico as close as he could be. But thinking about his love for Percy and their newfound "friendship" always brought the jealousy back.

He wasn't supposed to be jealous. He was supposed to be loving, caring, understanding. But Nico always looked at Percy in a way that Will could only hope to be looked at in.

So he laid there that night, having woken from nightmares of Nico and Percy, brushing Nico's hair with his fingers and thanking God that he was the one holding him, not Percy. That he was the one dating him, laying with him, staying close to him. Because he loved Nico in a way he never could have imagined. A love so strong that if it were unrequited, if he was in Nico's position with his love for Percy, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to continue on living.

It seemed like hours before Nico woke. It was still dark out, the trees covering any bits of light from an upcoming sunrise, birds chirping to each other. That pale skin stretched over bones as Nico repositioned. His hair left Will's hand.

"I need a cigarette," Nico whispered as he detached himself from Will and crawled to the open window. "Can't sleep a whole night without one."

"I know." Will sat up and watched the lighter flicker to life, illuminating Nico's pale face. "You're addicted. Really addicted."

Nico shrugged, the illumination being replaced with the burning cigarette. His lighter was tossed to the floor.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Will asked. "You brought him all the way out there to tell him. Why didn't you?"

"I couldn't."

"But you had thought you'd be able to?" Will asked. "You had to have brought him out there for a reason, Nico."

Nico rested the cigarette on the window frame before turning to Will. "Because you were talking and when you talk you make it seem like everything's okay. And I believed you. I thought I'd tell him and everything would be okay and we'd all move on. But sitting there, looking at him... I knew that the moment I said it, he'd never treat me the same again. You'd never treat me the same again. You're already getting jealous, I can tell."

"Did you expect me not to be jealous that you love someone else? That you love him enough that even his name you say different? That you can't even fucking look at him without melting? I can tell, Nico. Because you feel about him how I feel about you. And yeah, that makes me jealous. Because I knew if you had a chance, you'd leave me for him in a heartbeat."

Nico shook his head. "No, I wouldn't."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

"Nico..."

"Will, I'm not lying," Nico snapped. "Stop being so hard on yourself. I love you, remember? I love you and I love being with you. You...you're the only thing I have left in Frostford besides Hazel. So...so please don't be jealous and don't worry. I'd never leave you for him. Or anyone else."

Will gave Nico a soft smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"It's weird," Will thought aloud. "We haven't known each other for long and I feel like I've loved you for a lifetime." He laid back on the bed and felt some relief kick in at Nico's words. "Maybe we were meant to be."

"I don't believe in that stuff," Nico dismissed.

"I know, but you can't believe in everything that truly exists. There's too much."

Nico rolled his eyes and took another drag of his cigarette like Will expected him to do.

"Are we okay, Nico?" Will asked. "We're okay, right?"

"You mean our relationship?"

A nod.

"Yeah, we're okay."

"Is your love for me different than your love for Percy?"

Another nod.

"How so?"

Nico let the cigarette hang from his mouth as he thought. "I love you in a relationship way. In a 'we could be boyfriends forever' way. The sex, the snuggling, just talking to you. Then Percy..."

He took the cigarette out and waved it. "Percy's different. He's love. Not in a boyfriend way. Not in...not in a way we're together. I wouldn't kiss or sleep with him. It's just..." His voice turned to a mumble. "Like soulmates."

"I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how else to describe it. Like the only way I can be happy with him is if it was just me and him, alone, by ourselves for eternity. And I don't fucking know why."

(Will saw his pain without feeling jealousy. He saw his pain and cursed the universe for giving it to him)

"We're going to make you happy," Will decided. "We're going to live like you were dying and we're going to make you happy."

"Like I was going to be dead by senior year?"

"Yeah, like you were going to be dead by senior year."