Nico's POV
"Soooo. What's on your mind?" I look up to see my annoyingly handsome boyfriend staring at me.
"Nothing, really," I reply.
"Sure, you're probably just daydreaming about me," he says, extending his hand across the table to hold mine.
"No, I'm wondering why in the world you would chose vanilla ice cream even though they have way better flavors." This morning, Will had barged into my room, shook me awake, and told me to get dressed because we had a movie to catch at noon, and he didn't want me to sleep through it. To be completely honest, I don't even know what the movie was about, I was too concentrated on the fact that Will was holding my hand during the entire film, and I couldn't stop staring at our intertwined hands. After the movie, we ate a late lunch at McDonald's, and then we decided to get some ice cream, to conclude our third official date. We snuck out of camp all three times.
"Vanilla may seem plain to you, but it has a way better flavor than any of the other options."
"No. It doesn't. Chocolate is superior to vanilla, and every other flavor for that matter." So far, our relationship has been kept a secret from camp. Of course, only Annabeth knows. I was going try to keep it from her too, but that was impossible, because both her and Percy just so happened to walk in the infirmary, not five seconds after we pulled away from our second kiss. Annabeth, somehow, took one look at us, and figured out what had happened. I made her swear on the River Styx not to tell a single soul, not until I was ready to come out to the rest of my friends. Percy, on the other hand, looked confused. He glared at me, as if to say I told you already to make a move on him. He clearly didn't understand.
"Whatever Death Boy, think what you want," he replies.
After our ice cream, I take his hand and we shadow travel back to woods at camp. Will objects to this mode of transportation, but I convince him that this would be faster. And that, thanks to him, I was back to full health. After all, I hadn't shadow-traveled since the war.
"Alright, I guess I'll see you later then," I say, letting go of Will's hand.
Will crosses his arms and looks at me.
"What?" I ask.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" he says.
"Huh?" I begin to ask, when I feel a something come crashing down on my face. Will is kissing me. My face is on fire when he pulls away.
"We're dating now, in case you forgot. So, I'm gonna be expecting a lot more of this," he says. He gives me a kiss on the cheek, winks, then turns around and heads back towards camp.
I watch him walk away, and all I can think is how the hell did I ever get so lucky. Even though Will would probably be against it, I shadow-travel back to my cabin.
I arrive, but I notice a bag on the floor. I look up and see that someone is in my cabin. Someone with dark, curly hair.
"Hazel?" I ask.
She jumps and turns around. "Jeez Nico. Why do you have to sneak up on me like that?"
She walks over and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"What are doing here?"
She smiles and replies, "Oh, well me and Frank and a few other kids from Camp Jupiter decided to visit for the weekend. Just for fun. And it's always nice to see my older brother. After all, it's already been more than three weeks already, hasn't it?"
Three weeks. Damn. That means that I've been in a secret relationship for nearly three weeks. Is that too long to be kept a secret? A conch shell sounds in the background.
I smile back and say, "Always nice to see you sis. We can catch up during dinner."
We head over to the dining pavilion. The rest of the seven, excluding Leo, are all sitting at the Poseidon table, laughing and eating. Chiron and Mr. D probably let it slide because of the Romans. Hazel pulls me by the arm over to where the seven are sitting. Everyone says hi, except for Frank, who greets me with a rib-crushing hug.
I sit down and take a sip of coke. I look around at their faces. These people are my closest friends, not counting Reyna, yet only three of them know I'm gay, and only one knows about my current relationship. Out of everyone, they would accept me the most, but why am I so freaking scared. I've already been forced to admit what I was before with Cupid, so why is this different?
Their conversation carries on, and all I can think about is different possible ways to come out to my friends.
"Yo, Nico!" a cheerful voice snaps me out of my daze. I look behind me and see the son of Apollo striding towards me. The conversation at the Poseidon table dies down.
"Hey Will. What's up?" I panic for a few seconds, scared he might kiss me or something in front of my friends, but we did make a compromise in our relationship. He can't tell anyone yet, and I get to, I mean I have to go on a date with him whenever he wants. I clearly got the better side of that deal.
"Nothing much. My cabin is going against yours today in capture the flag, and I just wanna let you know that you guys are totally gonna lose," Will says.
"Yeah right," I say at the same time Hazel says, "You wish!"
"Just watch your back di Angelo. Also, eat something. You haven't had anything all day besides a few drinks from your soda. We've talked about this before, starving yourself is bad, remember?"
"I had lunch, remember?"
"Burger and fries isn't enough. Just eat a slice of pizza or something, doctor's orders."
He leaves and I let out an annoyed sigh. I pick up a slice of pizza and take a bite.
I don't realize how quiet it gets until I hear Jason say, "Wait a minute. You always skip breakfast, but you weren't here for lunch either."
Shoot. No, I wasn't here. I was on my date with Will. Ok. Ok. I need to find a way out of this.
"What do you mean I wasn't here? I ate."
"But like, I didn't see you," Jason says.
"Or maybe you didn't notice me."
"But you always eat with me."
Shoot. Jason is making this so hard. What do I do. I look to Annabeth, hoping she can see my desperation. Apparently, she does.
"Oh, I invited Nico to sit with me at my table," Annabeth says. She sends a quick glance my way and smiles. "You looked too busy talking to Piper."
"Wow, Jason. Way to make other people feel like a third wheel," Percy says.
"Shut up, Jackson."
Just then, Chiron announces that its time for capture the flag. We all take our sides, and the game begins. I make my run to the other side. Unfortunately, my run is super slow, so it's more like a light jog than a run. Fortunately, though, nobody notices me. In no time, I can see the flag.
Now I break into a run. I'm still a far away from the flag, but whatever. Suddenly, I feel two arms wrap around my waist, and the weight from my attacker topples both of us over, with the person who tackled me on top. I turn my body so I can see who's on top of me. A freckled face with wide blue eyes smiles down at me. My face grows hot.
"Hey, Death Boy," Will Solace says.
"Don't call me Death Boy. And get off of me, I have a flag to get."
"You know, I could let go of you, but then your team would win. And if I were to let you go, then I wouldn't be able to do this."
He leans down, and presses his lips against mine. The kiss is short, and I feel disappointed.
"Here, I'll let you go now." He starts to get off of me, and as I look at him for a few seconds, I'm unable to control my actions. I cup his face and bring his it to mine. I press our lips together again. Neither of us pulls away. Soon, we're just making out. I forget about the flag and after what feels like three minutes, I hear someone cough above us.
We both look up to see Hazel, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed. "Am I interrupting something here?"
My face, already pink, turns red. I notice Will's blush as well.
"H-hey Hazel. I can explain everything," I say.
"You'd better. But first, I have a game to win." She sprints off towards the flag. I rise and help Will to his feet. We're both still blushing.
"Did she know about us?" Will asks.
"No, but she does now. I'll talk to her after the game is over." As if on cue, I hear cheering behind us. Hazel is hoisted up on Frank's shoulders, with the flag in her hand. We won.
"I'll see you later," I tell Will.
After the campfire, I go to my cabin, to await Hazel. She arrives a few minutes after I get there.
She closes the door and crosses her arms. "So, is there anything you'd like to share? Anything new going on in your life?"
"Look Hazel, I was gonna tell you, but…" my voice trails off.
She smiles and sits down next to me. "Look, its okay. I'm just hurt that you didn't even tell your own sister about being in a relationship. Like, I can give you relationship advice and stuff."
I laugh and reply, "Sorry sis, but since when do you have good relationship advice?"
"Rude." She laughs and punches my arm playfully.
We sit together for a few minutes, but we eventually turn in for the night. Morning comes quick, since I was blessed with a dreamless night. I roll out of bed, onto the floor. I get dressed and head out the door. The sunlight hits me, hard. I'm guessing it's around noon, not morning. I groan, and head over for lunch.
"Hey, Nico! Let me walk with you." I turn and see Will Solace jogging over. "It's about time you woke up."
"Whatever Solace." We continue walking.
After a while, he asks, "Did you, um, talk to Hazel?"
"Yeah, it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. But, um, talking to her made me decide, that, um, I'm okay if people know about us now," I say, looking at him.
A smile starts to spread on his face, until he's grinning from ear to ear.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but don't make a big deal about it," I say as we reach the dining pavilion. Campers are already there, eating
"Neeks, you already know that I'm going to make a big deal about it."
I groan. Hazel waves to me from the Hades table this time, where the others are already in conversation. I look at Will. He grabs my hand and we head over to the Hades table. As we walk, he makes a big show of swinging our intertwined hands. I hear the overall conversation in the pavilion die down. My other hand tries to cover my deep blush, and the huge smile forming on my face.