AN: I don't know if and/or how people in the US celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, so if they don't, just imagine they'd do and there'd be a feast. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I own neither PJO nor HoO, only the OCs and the plot. PJO and HoO belong to Rick Riordan.

Month IV, Day IV

"I love you, Nico" Will breathed against my lips. I was still dazed. We had kissed. We were still kissing. I was finally allowed to run my fingers through Will's hair and pull him closer. I had done that a lot since yesterday. We had fallen asleep after crying and kissing for what felt like hours, and the next day, I didn't mind that I woke up next to Will. I smiled at my smiling boyfriend, and my insides filled with warmth at the sound of that word. Boyfriend. Will Solace. Will is my boyfriend.

And was there anything better than waking up next to your boyfriend, wrapped in several blankets, and kiss while the first rays of sunlight shine through the window, as if Apollo himself had decided to make this kisses as cliché as possible? Well, I can assure you, there is nothing better. That is, nothing better I had experienced so far.

I remembered the conversation I had had with Will after he woke up. He had admitted that I had first caught his eye after Manhattan, and that he had felt very similar to me during the last few months, doubting that I'd ever like him back.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Nico, I was glad to have you as a friend, I didn't dare push my luck and ask you out. I was totally sure that that'd be the end of our friendship. I mean look at you: Handsome, brave, one of the most powerful demigods alive. You traveled around the world, you fought Kronos and Gaea, you're the twice savior of Olympus. You're a hero. I'm sure half the camp would love to go out with you. And me? I'm a medic. I can't even hold a sword, let alone a bow. My only abilities are healing and making music. I'm a nobody. If we wouldn't have met on Half-Blood Hill, you would have never noticed me."

"That's so not true, Will. You're not a nobody. You save people's life—"

"Don't give me the 'medics are important'-talk, Nico, my siblings have done that several times. It doesn't change anything.I'm useless when it comes to fighting."

And he lectured me about low self-esteem. He was one to talk. And though the thought that I might have really not noticed him if we hadn't met during the battle gnawed on me, I did my best to ignore it. I had noticed him, and he had noticed me. We had suffered for four months, oblivious of each other's feelings, but now we were together. That's that. It wouldn't do any good if I kept questioning our relationship. Heck, was it even a relationship, after, like, nine hours of dating? It was, I decided, as our lips met once more.

We kept making out until the rest of our friends barged into the cabin. All of them froze, and though my face was most likely beet red and my heart was in my mouth, I kept kissing Will. Everybody else made out in public, so why shouldn't we? Will was overwhelmed at first, but then he kept kissing back. Piper burst into laughter, Jason frowned at Will, Percy rambled something about my type (was I ever going to hear the end of this?), and Annabeth whacked him upside the head to shut him up. That was, by the way, not how I had imagined my coming-out, but given that none of them freaked out, I had to admit that Jason had been right about the whole 'nobody's going to judge you'-matter. I should tell him that some time.

Later that day, while I was training in the arena, I saw a horde of giggling girls watching me from afar. After what looked like a heated discussion, one of them approached me and looked at me shyly. Laura, I remembered, a daughter of Hebe. She had come to Camp Half-Blood after Percy had made the gods promise to claim all their children.

"Uh, hi, Nico. I, um, wondered if you have plans for the feast on Saint Nicholas Day?" she asked hopefully. Oh, right, there'd be a feast. I hated to disappoint her, but I sent her the most friendly smile I could. "Sorry, but I already have plans. I'm going there with my boyfriend.", emphasis on the last word. After these words, her mouth formed a perfect 'O', and she ran towards her friends to let the world know that Nico di Angelo had a boyfriend. So that was my public coming-out, huh? The news would spread within hours, within seconds if the Aphrodite cabin was involved. Hopefully, Will would be okay with going to the feast with me.

Turned out, he was totally okay with that. I found out that I could still dance. And Will could, too.