Part 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot and OC's.

There was an angelic, soft voice that seemed to vibrate Nico as it spoke, and then there was a gruff, raspy voice that was very distant. It took him a few minutes to catch on to the conversation.

"Your father was my daughter's doctor," said the raspier voice. It was his father's, Nico realized. That only made him want to disappear more. Nico was very aware of the position he was in suddenly, his face on Will's stomach, leg hitched up over Will's. "He did as much as he could. Bought her enough time to visit Italy again."

Will moved, most likely nodding. Nico wanted to scowl. Was Will seriously conversing with his father? Nico didn't converse with his father!

"I wish more could have been done. Nico was very close to her, wasn't he?" Will said in a soft whisper.

"I believe so. It's affected him greatly," Hades confirmed. Nico felt anger rising in him. "I don't know how to talk to him anymore."

Will shrugged. "He's quiet, but I think he's just lonely, mostly."

"He's been out of his room more since you came along," Hades said. Nico wanted to question how he would know that. Hades was never home. "I'm glad he found someone else to love again."

Will sort of tensed. "Oh, he doesn't - we're just friends!"

For the first time in Nico's life, Hades laughed. "Friends who cuddle? Sure, kid. All I know is that he hardly even let Bianca hug him, let alone...this."

"What? Why?" Will asked, concern leaking from his soul.

Hades didn't answer. Maybe he shrugged. "He's hard to connect with."

Will scoffed, and Nico shifted, tightening his grip around Will. This conversation was lasting too long and going in too deep about himself. Couldn't they have talked about anything else? Will's hand ran through Nico's hair. It felt too much like a massage.

"Nice meeting you, Will. You're welcome here anytime. I'm afraid I have work now," Hades stood with a groan. "Let Nico know I left, will you?"

Nico wanted to point out that he easily would have assumed that. Instead, he shifted and tried to disappear more to keep the frown from alerting either of them that he'd been awake.

"Sure thing," Will said. A minute later, he shook Nico's head. "You can stop pretending now. He's gone."

"You two are shit faces," Nico hissed, slapping his stomach lightly as he pushed himself up.

"I wouldn't have to ask behind your back if you'd open up a bit," Will snorted. "He's nice."

"He is not," Nico rubbed his jaw and scooted back into Will's arms. There was something soothing about resting against him. "I haven't had that long a conversation with him since Bianca."

Will pursed his lips. "I'm sorry," he said. "It sounds like he doesn't know how to speak to you."

"Simple. Start out with hello," Nico huffed. "Or start by being home more than a few hours a day."

Will stayed silent, probably unsure how to react to Nico's dark side. He didn't blame him. It wasn't fun to talk about, so Nico turned around. "Do you ever think about coming out?"

Will's hands wound around and rested firmly on his ass, slipping underneath his boxers in the process. "All the time. But it's just a thought. If we came out...everyone would be so vocal and rude and ignorant."

"Your brother came out," Nico said. "How?"

Will snorted. "He just took it with pride. Laughed at the jokes. Didn't care what anyone said. I don't know. It's not for me, I know that."

"It's not?" Nico asked, unsure how he couldn't even just try to imagine coming out in the open. He'd been wanting to for years now. His friends knew and didn't care. Now his dad knew and didn't care. There wasn't much stopping him from doing so anymore. His friends would stand by him, and he thought Will would. That's all he needed. "What if I came out?"

Will blinked. "You're ready to?"

He shrugged. "I'm tired of hiding. My friends don't care. You don't care...fuck everyone else."

Will smiled brightly. "Fuck everyone else." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to his. "That's amazing, Neeks. You're amazing."

"So...you wouldn't stop hanging out with me if I came out? People might start to wonder if you are too."

Will bit his lip. "I might let my fear of coming out hide who I am, but I'd never let it affect who I love. You overtake the fear for me. My dark prince."

Nico felt his throat closing up. He frowned, trying to stop himself from piecing the words together. "You love me?"

Will's eyes went wide. "Shit! I didn't mean it literally! It's like...I could!" He groaned, falling back and closing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. I just - I think I'm falling for you. It's not a big deal, I guess."

Once Nico could breathe again, he pressed his lips gently to Will's. "I am too, Will."

. . .

"So you're sure it's okay for him to play? It seems so early," Nico asked anxiously when Apollo came in for dinner one night. Since Nico spent half his time at their house or stole Will to come to his house the other half of the time, he often repaid the whole family by cooking for them. Pasta was easy to make in abundance, which was good considering the amount of teenage boys in the house.

"Oh my gods, shut him up," Lee groaned, nearly letting his face fall directly into his spaghetti and sauce.

"It's just very soon!"

Will reached over and patted his knee in reassurance. Apollo grabbed a plate and shrugged. "It's been a month. I think he's more than safe."

Will looked pointedly at Nico, who continued to stare at his food. "Wow, even my dad, the doctor, isn't enough for you?"

Nico shrugged.

"You know we'll lose without him, right? Neither of our shots have been on in days," Michael chuckled. Nico huffed indignantly, looking Will over as if he'd already been injured.

"And we thought Michael was protective," Lee snickered.

"He's something to be protective over!" Nico slammed his hands on the table as he stood. Will burst into laughter and wrapped his hands around Nico's waist, pulling him onto his lap.

"Isn't he adorable?" Will breathed. With marinara sauce on his lips, he pressed theirs together and grinned. Nico sputtered, slapping Will until he let go of him.

Apollo and Will's brothers were still laughing. "I will murder all of you."

"Gods, he is sort of cute when he's pissy!" Lee cackled, falling out of his seat at Nico's fuming expression.

"Fuck all of you," Nico felt the urge to throw his spaghetti at them, but then Will wrapped his hands around his waist and pulled him to his side.

"Aw, we just love seeing you scowl, baby," Will said cheekily. Nico rolled his eyes, but the blush on his cheeks gave away the effect Will had on him. "Dad, you coming tonight?"

"Of course! Nico, gonna sit with me or all your new 'buddies?'" Apollo asked with obvious displeasure, eyes trailing away from everyone, especially Nico.

"They're not 'buddies.' It's just a bunch of girls who want a gay best friend. They're all fucking nuts." Nico shook his head.

"Paolo isn't a girl," Will mumbled as he filled his mouth with foot. Nico looked at him with annoyance.

"We've been over how annoying Paolo is," Nico repeated with an eye roll.

"Doesn't change his looks or how much you notice them," Will hissed pointedly. Nico wanted to say something back, but it was too dirty for his family to hear. Still, the idea of that made him blush. "Ah! You're thinking about him! I knew it."

"Gods, Will," Nico rolled his eyes and stood on his knee to whisper into his ear. "We both know how much I love your body. Still have the bite marks on your hip?"

Will failed to fight off a gleeful smile. "Whatever. Don't be late to my game."

Later, Nico wished he'd been late to his game.

He walked in the gym with Apollo, Percy, Annabeth, and Piper. Once Nico came out, his friends made it their mission not to leave him alone for long on school property. Either dumb headed idiots would stare and snicker or girls would flock him for fashion advise, which was absurd because he wore the same couple outfits every week! He desperately missed the days where he could disappear in a crowd.

However, when they walked in, Nico and Piper both looked toward the team warming up. Before Nico could find Piper, she'd grabbed his shoulder and was pushing him toward the bleachers. "Hey, what are you -?"

He stopped talking. Craning his neck, he finally saw Will, but he wasn't alone. He was sitting on a sideline seat beside a pretty little cheerleader. She had her hands running along his bicep, and her hair flipping toward him as she obnoxiously spoke swiftly. Will looked up and met eyes with Nico, trying to convey how trapped he felt. It didn't make him feel any better. All it did was make him want to vomit.

"Come on, Nico. She's just -,"

"What? Just flirting? With my boyfriend? When I can't even do that too?" Nico shook off her hand on his shoulder. He shot Will a murderous look at the girl leaned forward with her hand high on his thigh and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Stabbing pain shot through his chest. He wanted that. He wanted to kiss him good luck. He wanted to touch him when he sat next to him. He wanted to do all of that. It wasn't fair. He wanted to be official so girls like that wouldn't go for Will.

He stormed up the bleachers, glaring in Will's direction the entire time. Finally, he finished tying his shoes and got onto the court. Nico still couldn't erase that image from his mind. It wasn't fair, not even in the slightest.

"Oooh, did my son mess up?" Apollo leaned over and grinned. Nico didn't answer, deciding to rather lean forward and focus on not murdering Will. Or the girl.

The game started out badly. Nobody could make a shot. By the second quarter, they were down by ten. Nico swore the other team were made of mechanical bulls or something because they were laying them out. Again, Nico was worried for Will, but also not that much. He felt like he deserved a knock or two.

By the third quarter, they were down by fifteen. Nico wasn't horribly concerned. The petty part in him felt like Will almost deserved this loss. Still, it was to make it to the state tournament. Nico supposed he could root for him.

Between the third and fourth quarter, the cheerleaders did a routine, and afterwards, a few ran to the boys and sort of cheered them on. The same girl ran to Will and jumped on his back, cheering from there and then giving him a kiss on the cheek, very close to his mouth. Nico flinched, taking a breath to steady himself. Will tried to catch his eye, but Nico knew if he did there was a chance he might explode.

Without another word, Nico left. Piper tried to follow him, but he shoved her off.

It was so stupid. Maybe Will was embarrassed by him. Or maybe he wasn't as interested as he said, but if that were the case why was he the one to first bring up the idea of falling for each other? It was getting on his nerves. All of this could have been avoided if he'd just come out. Sure, Nico understood his qualms, but Will had friends and family for support. And he single handedly watch two different people come out with more or less no problem.

"Nico!" Will suddenly grabbed onto his arm. Startled, Nico turned around with a cold stare.

"What?" He seethed.

Will looked around worriedly, which only fueled Nico's anger. "Come here," Will mumbled, pulling him back into the janitor's closet. "Look, I'm sorry. She won't go away."

Nico laughed coldly, loathing how Will towered over him. "No shit! You're hot and you're straight and you're single! Why would she go away?"

Will groaned. "Neeks..."

"Don't go there," Nico hissed. He turned around and rubbed at his temples. "I love you, Will, but I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Woah, Nico, I'm sorry, okay? But it was just some girl. I don't even like girls!"

Nico turned, looking sadly at him, jaw clenched. "You're smart. You know it's deeper than that."

Will ran a hand through his hair. "So what? You want me to come out? An ultimatum? Forcing me out of the closet, seriously?"

Nico winced. He didn't want to do that, not ever. It was a personal moment that was up entirely to Will. "No, Will. I just - I want to be able to kiss you, and hold your hand, and be like Piper and Jason. I want everyone to know you're mine...and to stay away."

Will bit his lip as the buzzard went off. He was torn, clearly. "I know, I do too, but...I'm scared, Nico. It's not easy and-,"

"I know," Nico sighed, eyes filling with moisture. He couldn't look away from his feet, even as Will grabbed his hand. "I'd never want to force you to come out, so I'll just make it easy on you. I'm done."

"Nico, don't do this," Will pleaded. "Just give me some more time."

Nico shook his head. "Go win your game, Will. I'll be watching."

"Nico, please!"

He sounded like he was going to cry, and Nico knew that feeling. So he left before he could get overwhelmed.

"Nico, what happened?" Piper asked. "We just saw Will take off! Are you okay?"

He couldn't speak. If he spoke, he'd vomit. Or cry. Either one was not preferable. He felt like drowning his head in water.

"Gods, Will looks pissed," Annabeth noted. She glanced at Nico. "Is he okay?"

Nico glared down at the court, willing the game to end as fast as possible so he could hide in his room. There were too many questions going on. His heart felt like it had been split in two, and the worst part was that he did it to himself.

After a firm yelling from his coach, Will got placed in the game. They were down by almost twenty at this point. Nico barely saw a reason to stay. He supposed it was for more time to look at Will. Gods, he'd miss that angelic face. He already missed the smile he normally wore. And he'd really miss kissing those lips.

Will came on to the court with a fire in his eyes. He caught Nico's eye with rage, and then he focused on the game. It was like a whole new person. He was everywhere. He didn't miss a single shot. Even when these guys double his size tried to block him out, Will found a way around them. He even knocked a few to the ground.

Nico watched with unsettling sadness as Will transformed into an all star angry athlete and won the game. Nico walked out before the buzzard went off again. He couldn't stand watching Will celebrate, not after they just split up.

. . .

Two weeks was a long time.

Nico hadn't realized that in the two months he and Will had spent together that he'd gotten so used to spending time with him. He didn't know what he did before Will. Luckily, he was sad enough to sit and draw his life away. His friends tried to help out, and his father and took him or to dinner every once in a while.

Still, he had to sit in English and see Will every day. It was pure torture.

One day after class, Will stopped him in the hall. "Hey," he said, smiling hopefully. Nico looked at his shoes, feeling his throat clog.

"Hey."

"How are you?" Will asked. "Because you look like shit. A good shit, of course, but shit in and of itself."

Nico peered curiously at Will. "Thanks."

"Listen, I was hoping you'd be my partner for this poetry assignment. I know you had Drew and Lacy both ask you, but...old times?"

Drew and Lacy, despite being obsessed with all things fashion, were word goddesses. They could write poetry in seconds and it was far better than something about food like some people would do. Nico was tempted to agree to either, but they only asked him because he was gay.

"Old times. Back when we were both in the closet." Nico shouldered his bag. He felt the crushing weight of not being enough surround him. "I'll pass."

"Neeks," Will gulped. "Come on."

"Move on, Will," Nico walked past, bumping into his shoulder in the process. "It's pathetic."

Nico ended up doing his project alone. It was hell, but his pride was struggling to find any ground at this point. He couldn't help but look back on his time with Will and feel stupid. He couldn't describe why, but he did.

So his poem was pretty dark. And the whole class was too scared to clap. He was pretty sure he heard Silena breathe a sigh of relief, and he didn't blame her. He wouldn't have wanted to work with him either.

"William Solace."

Nico expected Will to have paired up with somebody. His team was preparing for the state tournament, which Nico was half sure tomorrow. But then Will walked up alone.

The moment their eyes met, Nico felt like bolting.

He gave no title, only started speaking.

"I came to you when you knew me not,

Without soul to stop

Your eyes held mine

As your lips called me Sunshine

But I was stupid and afraid

So our hearts I both slayed

Darkness and dormancy

It's all surrounded me

My love - a sight for sore eyes

my fear for you? it does rise

forgiveness is unattainable

and my actions will never be explainable

so take care, angel of dark

and wait for another to share your spark"

Nico furiously wiped at his eyes, hiding his head in his arms. He was not crying. He swore it. There was only a hint of wetness. Nobody made a sound. They were too stunned at Will's words. Hardly anyone went up there with such openness or pain. And that's what Will had – pure pain. It hurt Nico to hear it.

Finally, a few people clapped half-heartedly, and Will met eyes with Nico, who had to look away to keep from truly crying. The blonde cleared his throat and walked back to his seat, constantly shooting Nico pleading glances. For the rest of class, Nico felt like he couldn't breathe. Originally, he wanted to run far away at the sound of the bell, but then he noticed that Will was taking extra long to pack up.

Nico walked to his desk and slammed his hand on it. "'Wait for another to share your spark?' What the fuck is that, Will?"

He sniffed and looked away from Nico's angered gaze. "It's not about you."

"That's a load of bullshit."

"So what if it is?" Will huffed, still not looking at him.

Nico blinked, unsure as to why he even went up to him in the first place. "Well – what was even the point of that? You think you writing a poem about me is going to change anything?"

Finally, his eyes settled on Nico with true sadness. The blue was now dimmed, as if someone had stolen the light right out from him. "There is no point, Nico. I couldn't think about anything else to write about, okay?" Nico faltered, unprepared for that. "It's not like yours was much less transparent. There's such a simple way to solve our pain, you know."

Nico gritted his teeth, eyes flashing with anger. He waited until Will stared him in the eyes, a defiant look meeting hopeful. "Don't push me back into the shadows, Will. I had enough trouble getting out of them in the first place, something you should know well."

Nico shoved past Will and disappeared, praying not to have to encounter Will again. Every time they spoke, it only hurt him more. He'd never felt so strongly for someone before. It wasn't fair. He just wasn't enough.

. . .

It was the basketball team's final game at the state tournament. Originally, Nico planned to spend his Friday night with a video game. However, he got an unexpected visitor.

"If you stopped switching guns, you'd kill more people." Nico jumped at the sound of Hades' voice. Hades made his way leisurely between Nico and the television. With a heavy sigh, Nico paused his game.

"What do you want, Dad?"

Hades pretended to think about it for a moment. "Well, I'd love to see you out of your room for more than just school." Nico rolled his eyes. "When that Will kid was around, you two were always out doing something."

'Yeah, he always forced me to get half an hour of 'exercise' a day,' Nico wanted to retort, but that thought made him sad, so he just shrugged.

"Where is he now?"

"Stuck in the closet somewhere," Nico murmured, fiddling with his controller pointlessly.

"I think the finals are tonight," Hades said. "Don't you want to go?"

"No," Nico snorted.

"Well, I'd like to go," Hades announced, as if they solved all debate. However, the only result he got was Nico staring up at him as if he'd just bitten off his own finger.

"You want to go to a high school basketball game? Why?"

Hades shrugged. "Politics," he waved a hand. "Hurry now. I loathe arriving late."

Hades exited without another word. Nico looked after him with an open mouth, unsure where the sudden 'interest' in high school basketball came from. Neither of them had ever been a sports person, not once, not ever. However, when Nico got in the car with the same ripped jeans and white shirt with a leather jacket, Hades pushed the car into park, his hand poking out of an old school sweatshirt Nico didn't even know he had.

They arrived at the game just in time to see the end of the warmups. Nico's eyes instantly found the blonde headed beauty. He was going in for a layup, but when he saw Nico, the ball fell out of his hands. With a blush, Nico hurriedly found the first seats he saw, which was in the fourth row, to his dismay.

Will would be sitting only four rows down from him on the sidelines. It made Nico's stomach twist. Soon, Annabeth and Percy found him. And after Jason and Piper stopped making out on the sideline, Piper joined them. Their student section was on column over from them, screaming loud and proud.

Before the game started, Will came to the bench early. He pretended to be tying his shoes, but every few seconds, he looked up at Nico. For whatever reason, Nico lifted his lips upward in half smile.

It seemed to relieve Will. He stopped bouncing his 'untied' foot and let it drop back to the floor, and just when it seemed he'd say something, the coach blew the whistle.

"You two don't act broken up," Hades' formal voice said, making Nico straighten in his seat and scoff.

"Well, we are," Nico huffed, feeling the weight settle in his stomach again.

The game began without haste. It the closest game he'd ever seen, and even though that was only a grand total of three, he thought that was saying something. Nobody was ever up by more than five if that. Nico begrudgingly admitted the game was a bit exciting.

Still, at every pause in the game, Will's eyes found Nico, and it wasn't like Nico was never not watching Will. The whole game sort of blurred into one big battle for Will's eyes.

Maybe it was all in his head, but Nico liked to think Will was playing so well for Nico. He hadn't missed a single shot in the fourth quarter, and after each one, he glanced at Nico, who made sure to smirk with pride.

However, as the minutes dwindled down, Nico wasn't the only one noticing how well Will played. Most of the student section had begun chanting his name. it was like he was the only player out there. The others were lucky to step around their man, let alone score on him.

The minutes turned into seconds, and it was all on Will. With the team down by one point, he stole the ball. Seven seconds left. He made a dead out sprint for the basket with two players trailing him, but it was like he'd been given a burst of speed. Clearly, he was aware of the clock. With one second left, he jumped in the air and shot, the ball leaving his hands as the buzzard went off. Almost instantly, the two boys ran into him, sending Will's legs out from under him so that he landed with a thud on his back. Nico gasped, standing up to watch. He prayed he didn't hit his head. If he hit his head…

Will winced, but he stood up on his own accord without too much spinning. Not many people paid him attention, Nico realized with annoyance, because the ball had went in. The half-bloods won.

His teammates yanked Will towards the growing crowd of students celebrating on the court with them, but Will shook them off, eyes locking onto Nico's smiling face. He couldn't help it; Will wasn't hurt, and he just basically single-handedly won the state tournaments.

Will made a 'come hither' motion with his finger. Eyes growing wide, Nico shook his head. Will laughed, walking toward them with purpose. "Go, Nico," Piper suddenly said, and with a final shove, she sent him tumbling down the steps…right into Will's arms.

Nico scrambled away, blushing, hoping he hadn't just blown it for Will. He scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact. "Uh, great game. You did amazing out there."

Will beamed, pulling him away from the steps as people left in hordes. Now, they were near the crowd of students, familiar faces passing by each second. "Can I get a real celebration, Neeks?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, like what? 'Wow, Will, you were so hot and brave and I can't believe it you're, like, a star! I ca-,'"

His words were cut off when Will grabbed Nico around his waist and pulled him flush against his chest. "That's what I'm talking about," he muttered with a smug grin seconds before bending down and kissing Nico's lips.

Stunned, in absolute awe, Nico didn't move. They were out in public – among the very people Will was worried about seeing exactly this. "Will," Nico hissed. "Did you hit your head again?"

He chuckled, kissing each cheek as he spoke, "No. I'm just tired of hiding."

By now, people had noticed. Of course, they were staring, but not in disgust. They stared with a juicy look in their eyes as they did watching any couple make out, so Nico intended on giving them exactly what they wanted.

"Well, in that case…" Nico muttered slyly as he jumped up and wrapped his legs around Will's waist. "Congratulations, baby." He bent down and slammed their lips together, both kissing in excited, elated emotions. Will laughed into the kiss, hands placed firmly against his butt as he spun around giddily a bit before letting Nico fall back to the ground. Their tongues slid along each other, making Nico's pulse race.

"I can't believe we just did that," Will breathed, licking his lips in afterthought. His hands were pressed on the small of Nico's back, still holding them together tightly, as if he might drown on his own.

"I love you," Nico grinned. "In a totally uncaring way, of course."

Will beamed. "Absolutely."

Then, one of his teammates came and shook Will's shoulders excitedly. "Dude! We just won states!"

"Team picture!"

"Let's gooo, Solace, get your ugly gay ass over here!" They said it with such adoration, Will smiled. He looked down at Nico and kissed his lips once.

"Wait for me after?"

Nico scoffed, "Always."

A/N: wellll this was a long one to end it! I hope you liked it! I sort of liked this ending. I've had many short stories to go on for far to long, but this didn't. However, idk about it overall, but who cares it's just fun and cute.

Please leave me your thoughts on this, and if you want more from me I have a tonnnnn of short solangelo stories and two long ones.

Enjoy yourself :)