A/N: I started writing this fic in my sophomore year of high school…and now I'm about to finish graduate school … and this fic is still not complete. Wild. Anyway! Please keep in mind that I haven't really read anything post-BoO…I did a little idle googling to figure out where the campers would canonically be at this point in the timeline but all the new books made my head spin so we're winging it.

Disclaimer: still nope.

Q is for Question

Hazel Levesque had dealt with many things, but her brother's boyfriend showing up alone and unannounced on her doorstep was about to be the final straw.

Will and Nico had been together for some time now - she'd stopped keeping track after the five year mark - and they'd made several trips to New Rome in between their NYU studies and their responsibilities around Camp Half-Blood. She regarded herself as having a friendly enough relationship with Will Solace after seeing him so much over the years, but she couldn't recall ever spending an extended period of time alone with him. And now Will had turned up outside her New Rome apartment without Nico and asked Hazel if they could speak privately without Nico knowing and the whole thing was so awful for her peace of mind Hazel almost wished to be thirteen and dealing with the prophecy again.

Maybe that was a bit drastic, but facing Gaia again felt more doable than getting involved in her brother's relationship. That being said, she was too polite to tell Will that directly, so she nodded and stepped aside to let him in.

"Frank's not home, is he?" Will asked, eyes darting around.

"No, but whatever you have to say to me, you can trust Frank and Nico with as well," Hazel told him pointedly.

"Oh, I know." Will rubbed his hands together nervously. "I am sorry to show up randomly and be so cryptic, it's just that I want this to be a surprise for Nico."

"What's the surprise?"

Will hesitated. "I want to ask Nico to marry me."

Hazel gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, all nerves forgotten. "Will! That's amazing."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" Hazel flung her arms around him.

Will hugged her back hesitantly. "Do you think he'll say yes? And do you think Hades will be okay with it?"

"Is that why you're here? You need help planning the proposal?"

"Something like that," Will admitted, smiling sheepishly. "Plus…I could use your expertise with precious stones. I want our engagement rings to be special, you know? If that's alright."

"Will!" Hazel hugged him again, even tighter. "I'm so happy you thought of me. We have so much work to do to make this special. What's your budget?"

"I mean, I'm a broke med school student, so…"

"Got it! Give me a few minutes to pack a bag and leave Frank a note, I'm going to come to New York with you and make this happen."

"Wait, what?"

Leo turned over the emerald carefully in his hands before placing it back in the pile of precious gems before him. Hazel and Will watched him expectantly, which was only adding to the heat and pressure he already felt being back in Cabin Nine. When Hazel had called him up and demanded he make an appearance at Camp Half-Blood, he hadn't expected this mission.

"This is a lot of good material," Leo said finally, impressed as always by Hazel's ability. "But, uh, I'm not really an artist? I can make the rings, but you'd have to tell me what you want very precisely."

"No, we don't want you to make the rings," Hazel wrinkled her nose.

Will looked confused. "We don't?"

"No! He's just here to help you through the process."

"He is?"

"I am?" Leo echoed incredulously. "Look, Solace, you're the best healer I know, but I'm not sure

that means you should be getting up close and personal with a forge."

"Speaking from experience, healing third degree burns on my own skin is not fun." Will turned to Hazel. "Why can't he just make the design I came up with?"

"You said you wanted it to be special," Hazel huffed. "What's more special than making the rings yourself?"

"Hazel, I also want the rings to look good."

"Picky, picky," Leo chided sarcastically as Hazel crossed her arms and made a face. "Look, I bet I can think of a compromise here. Do you have the design drawn out?"

Will produced a folded over piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to Leo. "That's my only copy."

"Relax, man, I'm not a teenager anymore. The fire's under much better control these days." Leo wiggled his fingers playfully as he glanced over the drawing. Will had helpfully labeled particular materials and stones for the rings. It was a simple enough design that Leo had to admit suited the couple perfectly. "How about this?" He tapped the centerpiece stone. "Instead of making this a stone that Hazel dug up, you could make it one with some sentimental value, and you can help me set it at the end."

"Sentimental value?" Hazel frowned. "Everything Nico had before Camp Half-Blood vanished decades ago, and I can't recall him collecting precious stones in the meantime."

A smile tugged at the corner of Will's mouth.. "I think I might have an idea."

When Mrs. O'Leary appeared in his throne room with only Will Solace in tow, Hades' immediate thought was that something had happened to Nico.

Naturally, his next move was to trap Solace in a shadow cage and demand answers.

"Nico is fine, I swear!" Will yelped as a tendril of shadow inched towards his foot. "I just wanted to speak to you alone."

Mrs. O'Leary barked in agreement. Hades raised an eyebrow at the hellhound before releasing the son of Apollo.

"What do you need to speak to me about that my son cannot hear?" Hades liked Will much more than he would openly admit to, being appreciative of how happy he seemed to make Nico. Still, a healthy dose of fearing your boyfriend's dad never hurt anyone.

Will got to his feet and dusted off his shirt. "Well, I've been… um… courting your son for a while now, as you know."

"Seven years, four months, and thirteen days. Quite a courtship."

"Something like that, yeah. That's the thing, actually. We're both out of college now, and I honestly can't picture the rest of my life without Nico." Will cleared his throat. "If it's fine with you, I'm planning to ask him to marry me."

Hades was elated, but he didn't permit his facial expression to change. "I appreciate your coming here, son of Apollo. My son has good judgment. If he wishes to marry you, it's not my place to stand in his way."

Will grinned, shoulders sagging with relief. Hades was struck by how much the boy his son loved had grown into a man in a mere seven years - broader shoulders, a more angular face, but the same bright eyes and smile shining through it all. He and Nico would be gone in the blink of an eye, he mused sadly, but maybe this marriage would make them happy before the end.

"That's great to hear. I was actually hoping to ask you for something else before proposing, though."

"Marriage proposals are not my strong suit, as Persephone likes to remind me," Hades said drily. "I'd suggest asking your father, but I don't believe he has a much better track record."

Will quickly turned his snort of laughter into a cough. "Nothing like that. I've been trying to make him a good engagement ring, and a friend of mine suggested I look for a precious stone that might have sentimental value to Nico."

"I'm not particularly familiar with my son's taste in jewelry."

"It's my understanding that his taste is no jewelry," Will said, repressing a nervous smile. "But I was wondering if you would happen to have anything that belonged to his mother."

Hades was stunned into silence.

Maria's jewelry.

Ages ago, when he still had hope for her life with him, when he was prepared to build her an Underworld palace of her own….he'd attempted to gift her so many jewels. She had rejected them all, insisting that she couldn't be bought into moving to the Underworld, and had only accepted one near the end: a necklace he'd uncharacteristically fashioned himself, featuring an emerald - her favorite precious stone - that he'd saved from a di Angelo family heirloom ring that had always been too large for her fingers.

After her death, he'd taken that necklace and put it aside for Bianca when she came of age.

Of course, she never did, and a dead hero did not have much need for jewelry.

A living hero might, though.

"Sir?" Will's voice cut through his train of thought, and Hades realized the young man had curled his hands into fists so tight they were shaking slightly. "I'm sorry to have asked-"

"Don't be sorry," Hades waved him off. "I was simply remembering something. But to answer your question, I do have one thing. Let me find it."

He concentrated on summoning the necklace from the recesses of his palace, hoping Persephone hadn't sabotaged it over the decades. In an instant, the necklace zipped past his head and presented itself before Will.

"There. That was hers." What a remarkable job he was doing keeping his voice steady. "The emerald is preserved from a Di Angelo family heirloom. I'm certain she would have liked for one of her children to have it."

Will unclenched his hands and gently took hold of the necklace. Curiosity about its origins was written all over his face, but instead of questioning Hades, he simply thanked him before clambering back onto Mrs. O'Leary and disappearing.

Hades made sure they were gone before turning on his heel and calling out. "Persephone! Nico is getting engaged! We must plan for an Underworld wedding."

It had been centuries since they'd had one of those. He smiled.

Nico had always respected the rule about not moving when the cat is in your lap, but this was getting a little bit ridiculous. Ginny had leapt on him three hours ago, the movie he had been watching was long finished, and yet the ginger menace refused to release him from the imprisonment of ear scritches. His hopes that the cat would mellow out with age were looking worse with each passing day, seeing as five years of cohabitation appeared to have only reaffirmed the cat's resolve to win their war.

"Ginny, for Hades' sake, I have to pee."

Her ear twitched, but no other muscle moved.

Before Nico could take any other drastic measures against the cat, his phone chirped. Relief flooded his body when he saw Will calling. His boyfriend had been so flighty these days - medical school must have been wearing him on extra hard lately.

"Hey, you," Nico held the phone to his ear. "When are you coming home?"

"I was actually thinking, do you want to eat out tonight?"
It had been a while since they'd treated themselves. "It'll be tough to break the news to Ginny, but sure. Do you have anywhere in mind?"

"I could do whatever, just don't feel like cooking. What do you feel like?"

Nico hummed as he moved to scratch under Ginny's chin. "Nothing heavy. I'm kind of in the mood for sandwiches and a walk around the park, honestly. Maybe a bit of gelato if our bank accounts can handle it."

Will laughed, and Nico marveled at how his heart still leapt at that sound after seven years. "That sounds great. You want to meet at the usual spot in twenty?"

"Make it thirty. I've got to negotiate with the cat to get permission to leave the apartment."

"Ah, good luck. See you soon."

After Nico had successfully pried the cat off his leg, changed out of his claw-marked pants, run a comb through his hair, and thrown on a customary light jacket for the New York autumn, he was ready for dinner. He was a bit hungrier (and stiffer) than he'd realized after sitting on that couch for three hours - maybe he could do a sit down dinner after all. He'd ask Will when he saw him.

It was a gorgeous evening though, so he'd hate to give up his walk in the park. The sun was inching towards the horizon, slowly painting the sky lovely shades of pink and gold. One of the campers had explained to him that it was called the golden hour when the sky looked like that, and it was supposedly beautiful for photos. Nico had never been the type for photos, but he could see the appeal of the aptly-named hour.

"Nico!" Will waved at him from outside their favorite sandwich place. He was wearing gray dress pants and a white button down, highlighting his summer tan that hadn't faded away yet. Nico wondered if he'd had an event today that he hadn't mentioned - it was rare for Will to dress up for class, given how hectic his schedule was.

"Hi, handsome," Nico greeted his boyfriend with a quick kiss. "Nice outfit. Big day at school?"

"Ah, something like that. I'll tell you about it later, but right now, I'm starving. Do you know what you want?"

Nico had mastered the art of using his Italian to extract discounts from the Italian shop owners, and soon he and Will were on their way to the nearby park with sandwiches and two free cookies in hand. The sun was sinking lower, and Nico couldn't help noticing Will kept checking his watch. "Are you gonna be late to meet your affair partner?" he teased.

Will glanced up at his boyfriend, blinking rapidly. "Oh, haha. Sorry, um, I have an assignment due and wanted to make sure I'd have time for it when we get home."

"Why'd you ask me to do dinner outside if you have work due tonight?"

"What, I'm not allowed a break?" Will proceeded to shove an unusually large chunk of sandwich into his mouth before grabbing onto Nico's free hand a bit aggressively.

Nico shook his head before drawing Will's hand to his mouth and pressing a firm kiss to it. "You've gotten so weird since starting med school, Solace."

Will made a disgruntled sound around his mouthful of sandwich that sounded a bit like 'You're the weird one.' Nico chuckled and took a bite of his own dinner, allowing himself to admire the sky once more. It was a school night, which meant most of the families with children that frequented the park were at home getting ready for the next day, and the young adults like Will and Nico had the run of the place. As they walked on, the paved path they were on began shrinking, and they soon reached the dirt trail that wove through the trees at the very center of the park.

"Are you gonna finish your sandwich?" Nico asked as he tossed his wrapper into a nearby trash can. Will hadn't taken many bites since that first big one, but he still handed it over to Nico, muttering something about not being hungry while gazing off into the trees. Nico eyed him as he disposed of it. "Are you sure you're good, babe? Do you want to go back home and work on that assignment that's due?"

"What?" Will turned back to Nico, blinking rapidly once again. "Oh, that? I'm good. I like being here."

"Really? Because your hand is getting pretty sweaty." Nico squeezed for emphasis. "Maybe you're getting sick? You're not the best at self-diagnosis, you know."

"No doctor is," Will said defensively. "I'm fine, Sunshine." He released Nico's hand and pulled him in for a kiss. Nico obliged, reaching up to cup Will's face. Half the reason he and Will enjoyed this particular area of the park was that it was quite secluded. When they kissed like this, it almost reminded him of being back at camp and sneaking off into the woods for alone time.

"Your temperature seems normal," Nico conceded when they pulled apart, "but your heart is racing."

"You always make my heart race, Di Angelo." Will grinned at him playfully, and suddenly Nico was fourteen and unsure and nursing a humongous crush again. He hoped Will's smile never stopped making him feel that way.

"We're, um, we're losing the light," he managed.

Will glanced up. "Hm, guess we are." He tilted his head back towards the trees. "Do you want to go look at our tree before we leave?"

"Sure, it's been a while." Nico stepped off the path with Will and walked into the wooded area, enjoying the way the fading light cut through the branches and played through Will's golden hair. He'd never considered himself artistic, but something about Will's hair in the sunlight made him appreciate the importance of color and shading.

"It's still here," Will said softly when they arrived, reaching out to touch the trunk gently.

Back when they'd first moved to the area at the start of college, they'd found the park and immediately decided this cluster of trees at the center would be their go-to date spot outside of the apartment. Will had insisted they do the cheesy thing and carve their initials into a tree, to mark the area as theirs. Nico had rolled his eyes and chosen one at random before obediently scratching his initials into the trunk next to Will's. Will had wanted to circle the letters with a heart, but Nico had insisted that that was too far and threatened to sleep on the couch if he added it.

He'd scratched in a tiny heart underneath their initials afterwards, but Nico had never scolded him about it. It was a sweet sentiment, even if it was a bit corny, and they liked coming back here every now and then and seeing that their tree was still safe after years of living together. It was almost symbolic of their relationship at this point, although Nico hoped the tree never actually developed a connection to them. He'd had enough tangles with magical trees for his lifetime.

"So much has happened since then," Will spoke again, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah," Nico traced the 'N' on the tree, recalling the storm of emotions that had almost always been churning in him back then. His father was right - he really had been an exceptionally moody teenager. "But most of it's been good."

"Definitely."

"Except your organic chemistry class."

Will laughed. "You're not gonna let that one go, huh?"

Nico shrugged before leaning into Will's side, enjoying the warmth of his body. A slight autumn breeze drifted through the air, and Nico took in the opportunity to breathe in Will's scent. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to fall asleep without that scent next to him again.

"You know," Will shifted slightly as he spoke, "when I think of how much has happened in the past few years…I always think that my life would look a lot different without you in it."

"Well, yeah. You wouldn't have a skeleton best friend in the Underworld."

"That, and so much more." Will placed a hand on Nico's shoulder and turned so they were facing each other. "Without you, I think I would be…less of what I am now. Like a watered down version of myself."

"That's ridiculous." Nico couldn't believe the things Will said sometimes.

Will smiled at him fondly. "It's how I feel, though. Loving you made me want to be the best version of myself. And I don't think I could have become that without you loving me back. You…you complete me, in ways that I didn't think any one person could, until I fell for you."

Nico's cheeks were flaming. His heart was in his throat. All these years, and Will could still make him blush with a few flowery lines. Who said he hadn't inherited his dad's gift for poetry? "You complete me too," he managed, not knowing what else to say. "You're everything I didn't know I needed."

"I'm glad to hear that," Will lowered himself onto one knee, and Nico's eyes widened. "Because I want to ask you a question, so neither of us ever have to be incomplete again." His hand came out of his pocket holding a ring with an emerald centerpiece. "Nico di Angelo, will you marry me?"

Nico closed his eyes and willed himself not to cry as he responded. "Yes."

He felt Will take his hand and slide the ring on before standing and wrapping his arms around him. Now he let himself cry because Will was crying too, and he drew back from the embrace to kiss his tear-streaked cheeks, then his forehead, then his jaw, and then his mouth, trying to channel all the love and joy he felt into each kiss. It would never work, but now he had a lifetime to try.

"I love you," he whispered shakily, resting his forehead against Will's.

"Love you too, Sunshine."

"You guys are adorable!" Hazel burst out from the woods with a camera. Nico yelped as she bounded towards them and hugged them both as tightly as she could. "Will, I have like 100 photos and I got such a good recording of your speech. Do you want any others?"

"Hazel's here?"

"Hazel helped me plan a lot of this. And Leo, and your dad technically, and Persephone except all her ideas were centered around public humiliation, and Percy tried to get involved but I told him to stuff it since his own proposal was a disaster…"

Nico gave Will a look of unbridled horror. "How exactly did you go about planning this?"

Will let out a heavy sigh as Hazel laughed and released them. "Darling, you have no idea what I put myself through for you."

A/N: It's done. They're engaged. Will I write a wedding chapter? No clue, but it would be nice if it could happen.

Throughout my life, the one constant is that I will never update my fics consistently, but I will never fully abandon them either. The curse of fanfic! Please review though, I need it for serotonin.

~Bobbi