Thanks for the reviews everyone :) Here's the next chapter (I don't own the characters!)

Nico's phone screamed shrilly in the silence, causing him and Will to leap away in fright. Will's face began turning a bright red and Nico's probably wasn't any better, as he fumbled around in his pocket.

"Hello?" Nico squeaked into the phone. He flushed darker and cleared his throat.

"NICO DI ANGELO WHERE ARE YOU?"

Nico screwed up his face and held the phone away from his ear, sure that Hazel had made him partially deaf. "I went on a walk," he admitted, glancing over at Will. The other boy had his gaze fixated on the ground, tips of his ears still bright red, but mirth played on the edges of his smile as he listened to Nico's sister's rage.

"And you didn't think for a second that I might get a little worried that you DISAPPEARED WITHOUT LETTING ANYONE KNOW WHERE YOU WERE GOING?"

Nico grunted, "Sorry, but…"

"Gods Nico! What if something happened to you?" Hazel's voice trailed off, the unspoken words heavy in the air. What if you had died?

The guilt gnawed at Nico. "Sorry," he said again pathetically, "I wasn't thinking." Hazel sighed.

"Where are you? I'll come and get you."

"It's fine," Will called. Nico started and wordlessly handed his cellphone over. Will took it, careful to avoid physical contact and put it up to his ear. "Hey Hazel."

"Will," Hazel still sounded upset, but amusement crept into her tone. "Are you with Nico?"

"Accidentally," Will laughed, "He kind of fell into me."

"IS HE HURT?"

Will winced, holding the phone away. Nico looked smugly at him. Rubbing his ringing ear, Will said, "No! I'll just bring him back over, are you still at the pool?" Hazel affirmed it, and Will hung up, handing the phone back to Nico. As his hand brushed Nico's, the other boy jerked away. Will turned to the ground and began collecting his books, hiding his blush. Did he seriously almost kiss Nico?

I wonder if his lips feel as soft as they look Will thought wistfully as he shoved everything into his backpack, sneaking a side glance at Nico. The Italian had his eyes averted as he handed Will his pencils and paper.

As Nico and Will traipsed back to the pool, Nico couldn't help letting his thoughts swing wildly. What had just happened? Were they about to kiss? Wasn't Will a player...who dated girls? Didn't he hate Will?

Nico was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice that Will had asked him a question. "Huh... yeah."

"Dude," Will said seriously, "I just asked you if you would be my slave for the rest of eternity."

Nico blinked, then registered what Will said. "No, you didn't!" He protested.

Laughing, Will punched him lightly in the arm. "Come on, slave, I'm not that boring!"

"From your point of view maybe," Nico snorted. "And I'm not your slave."

"Then you can be my Death Boy."

Flushing hotly, and hoping Will wouldn't be able to see it in the dappled sunlight, Nico retorted with a weak, "Okay Mr. Sunshine."

Will flashed Nico a grin that made him weak at the knees. Will opened his mouth, then frowned and shook his head. Nico was about to ask him what was up, when they entered the clearing. Everyone turned at their entrance. Hazel's worried look giving way to anger and relief as she hurried up to Nico.

"OW!" Nico complained as she punched him in the arm, hard, "That's going to leave a bruise."

She pulled him into a hug, "Good. Think of it as a reminder to never scare me like that again."

Nico relaxed into her hug as another wave of remorse passed through him. Although, he wondered idly if she would have been as worried if he wasn't "terminally ill." Releasing him, Hazel thanked Will for bringing Nico back.

"Anytime," Will chirped. He blushed as Hazel gave him a knowing look. "Well, I'd best be off. See you in school!"

It was almost painful for Nico to tear his gaze away from Will's retreating form, as he was embraced by the forest. "Wow. Will sure looked different today." Piper mused.

Nico thought about Will's casual, carefree look. How simple and effortless it was, unlike his usual perfectly tailored outfits. It made Will look more real, more genuine.

Nico didn't want to admit how attractive Will had looked today, but as he was laying in his bed at home, staring up at the ceiling, he couldn't get the almost-kiss out of his head. You're acting like a school girl, he chastised himself. The headlights from the cars outside cast mottled shadows on his walls, as he tried in vain to fall asleep.

All Nico could think about was Will. Stupid Will and his stupid caring and how he would always do the stupidest things to get Nico to laugh. His stupid sparkling sky eyes and perfect smile. Nico rolled over and glared at the wall, which was a mistake, seeing the picture frame of four leaf clovers hanging there, which Will had hung up himself. Nico's lip twitched as the changing lights illuminated a significant dent in the wall. He remembered how horrified Will had been when he accidentally put it there.

"Oh my gods. I'm sorry, Nico," Will moaned, "I swear I didn't mean to."

Nico looked quizzically at the dent. "I don't even understand how you managed to make a dent in the wall with a picture frame."

"Talent?" Will managed.

Nico had to turn his face into the pillow to stop a laugh from escaping him. He remembered how awkward Will had been around his parents as well, or more specifically, his dad.

"Your dad is an undertaker? I didn't know that position still existed!"

Nico rolled his eyes, "It's called a funeral director."

The dinner had been going well, Maria was enthusiastic to hear about Will's medical ambitions and Will was as charming as ever. His mannerisms didn't seem to impress Nico's dad at all though.

"So Mr. Solace, I would like to know your intentions for befriending my children."

While Nico and Hazel turned horrified and embarrassed looks on their dad, Will joked, "So if I ever screw up on a surgery or something, you can hide the body for me, right?" When the horrified and embarrassed looks found a new target, Will wilted slightly. "Haha, I'm just kidding, I think your job as an undertaker...I mean funeral director is pretty cool. The position must really suit you, eh, not that I'm implying that you look all doom and gloom or anything. I mean, dead people can't talk back at you, so you don't have to deal with insubordination and bad, but perfectly well meaning, jokes and unnecessary rambling, and oh my gosh how about you kill me now. I trust that you'll organize a nice burial place for me. Or maybe not, just throw my body into a river and tell my family that I love them."

And with that, Will's forward thunked onto the table with such force that the dishes rattled.

Nico and Hazel began to giggle at the completely lost look on their dad's face, as Will tried to bury his head into solid oak.

Nico looked back up at the ceiling, frustrated with his inability to sleep. He reached for his phone on his bedside table, with the intention of watching some mindless TV show to fall asleep to, then hastily retracted his hand, realizing the screensaver would probably not help his situation.

Will snatched the phone from Nico's hand. "Hey!" The shorter boy snapped, "What do you want?" They were both sitting in the library, waiting for Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Lou Ellen and Cecil to come join them for a study session.

"I'm bored, and you being on your phone instead of talking to me is not helping things."

"But my Mythomagic game," Nico complained.

Will cocked an eyebrow and pressed his hand over his heart, "Are you saying Mythomagic is more important to you than me?"

"A lot of things are," Nico muttered, earning a wounded glance from Will. The blonde boy sighed and looked at Nico's phone.

"Well, I think you need a constant reminder about the more vital things in life." With that, Will shoved his face beside Nico's and held Nico's phone up, snapping a photo.

"What!" Nico shouted, turning red and lurching away, only to realize what Will was doing and he scrambled back towards Will, "Give that back!"

Laughing, Will leaned over the side of his chair, using his shoulder to prevent Nico from getting the phone back as he fiddled with it.

"Voila, now I'll always be on your mind." Will tossed the phone back to Nico, who pulled away and hurried unlocked his phone. Where his Mythomagic background used to be, there was now a crude photo of him and Will. Will's mouth was wide open in a ridiculous smile and Nico had a combination of a smirk, surprise and mortification etched on his face.

"Gods, I look terrible," Nico said, wincing at the half smile on his face.

Will leaned over, breath caressing Nico's cheek. "You look fine. I'm the more embarrassing-looking one there."

"I'm going to change it back," Nico smirked, "I don't need a heart-attack from your ugly face every time I open my phone." Will shrugged.

"I guess I'll have to find other ways to keep myself on your mind."

Nico never changed his phone screensaver.

"I guess you don't need any help staying on my mind," Nico murmured in the darkness. His eyes suddenly flickered open and he cursed loudly, jerking up in bed. Bracing himself on either side, he stared in horror at the picture frame on the wall.

Shit. I'm in love with Will Solace.

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