Chapter Summary: NICO [sent 12:22am]

No, it's fine. But I'm just curious: are you usually this sophisticated over text with your friends?

WILL [sent 12:22am]

I could ask the same about you. ;)

Author's Note: I'm so sorry. I've been dead from school and left deprived of sleep by doing things like procrastination on finals & midterms + taking too many shifts for a seasonal retail job. To top that off, my computer hard drive decided to die one day. TL;DR: I've had very little time to write.

The chapter summary is misleading on the tones of the chapter.

Percico undertones, depending on how you see it.

I WISH I COULD SAY WHAT I'M FEELING

He waits until midnight to send his first message to Will, a part of him hoping that he's still awake to read it and the other part of him wanting him to be asleep and unable to respond. Lying on his side in his bed, he carefully types the words.

NICO [sent at 12:00am]

It's Nico.

He stares at it for a second, the bright screen illuminating his face and the darkened room. Then he turns the screen off and drops it unceremoniously on his bed with a soft thump before rolling the other way so that his back is facing the phone. There is no point in playing his own version of Waiting for Godot.

Just when his eyes are sinking to a close, a loud chirp buzzes through the room, filing up the empty space with life. He turns around quickly, grabbing the phone and turning the ringer off before shutting off the screen in time for it to be out of sight when the door opens.

"Nico?" Hazel's voice drifts into the room. "Did I hear something?"

"It's nothing. I just knocked over something," Nico lies easily under his covers, but his palms are sweaty around his phone. It's not unusual that Hazel is up at midnight – she almost always is. But she must be keeping herself alert and attentive to Nico's needs these past few days. He feels a little bad about it, and apologizes silently for being such a burden.

Hazel hesitates at the doorway, but she says a soft, "Okay, sleep tight," before she shuts the door quietly and allows the darkness to seep in. He waits for a few seconds with only his steady breathing to keep him company before he turns on the screen of his phone and reads the message undoubtedly from Will.

WILL [sent at 12:02am]

Hey what's up?

Nico wants to laugh at how formal they sound over the phone. He quickly types out the next message.

NICO [sent at 12:05am]

Currently giving up on my attempts at sleeping. Thought I'd text you.

WILL [sent at 12:07am]

Well, glad that I'm still awake. TBH I didn't think you were gonna text me.

NICO [sent at 12:07am]

Why not?

WILL [sent at 12:07am]

Maybe because of the fiasco at school today.

NICO [sent at 12:08am]

I think that disaster is EXACTLY why I would text you.

WILL [sent at 12:09am]

Yeah I guess so. Sorry about the thing with your friend.

NICO [sent at 12:12am]

Her name's Reyna. Don't be sorry about it. It was her who brought the whole issue up. Besides, I sound be the one apologizing to you anyway. I guess I'm kind of a train wreck.

He regrets the words the moment he hits the enter key and he wonders why he's so thoughtless in real life and through text messages where he has the time to think about his words. He wishes he could stop playing victim for once and stop subliminally sending 'pity me; I'm precious' undertones. Minutes pass by without response, and he's about to give up, turn off his phone and give in to sleepless night until the screen of his phone lights up with a text from Will.

WILL [sent at 12:20am]

You're not a train wreck and you don't need to apologize for anything. We all need outlets for our anger and I was Reyna's. I just hope my interference didn't ruin your friendship with her. And I know that I've only seemingly randomly appeared in your life and that I shouldn't suddenly be priority over everyone else. I guess I've been acting like I should be the center of your world even though I'm not just because of some sense of responsibility and guilt that I feel over what happened. I don't want you to feel like you have to make room for me even though that's exactly what I did at school today. Or yesterday, now. I've thought about it, and I'm sorry about coveting you into letting me into your life even though you were reluctant in the first place.

NICO [sent at 12:21am]

That's a lot to take in.

WILL [sent at 12:21am]

Sorry, I didn't mean to blow up on you like that.

NICO [sent 12:22am]

No, it's fine. But I'm just curious: are you usually this sophisticated over text with your friends?

WILL [sent 12:22am]

I could ask the same about you. ;)

WILL [sent at 12:22am]

Oh god, I just made things awkward did I? Ignore the emoticon – it's a bad habit.

NICO [sent at 12:24am]

Ok.

WILL [sent at 12:27am]

I was just wondering…

Do you want to meet me early at school tomorrow?

More like today, haha.

Around an hour before class starts, maybe?

NICO [sent at 12:28am]

For what?

WILL [sent at 12:30am]

Do you just want to study for exams together? We have a few classes tomorrow. Only if you want to, of course.

NICO [sent at 12:31am]

I'll see.

WILL [sent at 12:34am]

Well, I'll be at the bleachers if you want to be there. See you maybe?

NICO [sent at 12:35am]

Maybe.

Despite his own noncommittal final replies, Nico stares at the black screen of his phone and waits for a reply as time slowly ticks to one in the morning. Then he turns his phone back on and reads through the messages, slowly reading each line in Will's lengthiest message. His eyes are captured every time by the wink emoticon a few messages down.

Nico's not quite sure about what Will means by 'bad habit'. He could only think of one way to interpret it: Will constantly flirted (or attempted to flirt) with people through text and Nico was just another number on the list. The thought makes something uncomfortable stir in the chest and then he wonders why exactly he feels that way when whatever Will thinks of him shouldn't matter at all.

It's dangerous, he thinks, for Will to get under his skin so easily. He doesn't quite understand the effect that the other boy has on him, but it's nothing that will end well.

As long as you don't develop feelings for him, he thought bitterly to himself. We don't want another Reyna in the making to happen, do we?

Nico turns off his phone and shoves it back on his night stand before throwing his covers over himself. There is no point in thinking about things like this. He needs to find a way to safely distance him own feelings from Will and find a way to forgive what Reyna's done. The more he thinks about it, the more he can see that the two are connected, and he realizes the root of the problem is William Solace himself.

A cynical laugh bubbles up from his throat. His life is becoming a soap opera: unhinged and dramatic. Nico wonders when people will start to ignore the nuisance he's becoming.

It's half an hour before school starts and Nico can make out a figure sitting on the school bleachers facing an empty school field. He walks over, his footsteps slow and small. Before he can change his mind, Nico calls out his name. "Will!"

Not surprisingly, the human shaped figure turns around and it is indeed Will Solace. Nico is close enough at this point to see surprise on his face, lighting up his features like a glass in the sunlight. His heart quickens its' pace, once, twice, before Nico breathes in and forces himself walk in a steady pace so his heartbeat can match it.

By the time Nico has climbed up the bleachers to where Will is sitting, the other boy is smiling happily at him. He blinks, a little startled by Will's brightness. He did come half an hour late after all, half hoping that he had already left and half hoping that he was still there.

"I didn't think you were going to come," Will says, moving over to make room for Nico even though there's an unlimited amount of seats on the otherwise empty bleacher.

"I ran into some complications," he says, which is half-true. He had spent most of his time pacing his room and wondering whether he should come. It was stupid, really, but Nico couldn't help it. There was something about Will that made him nervous in a way that he didn't want to admit was similar to how he used to feel around Percy Jackson.

But it couldn't be possible, because he had only just met Will, he reminds himself.

True to his word, Will is only interested in talking about preparation for the upcoming exams that they share. Normally, Nico would have been bored to death by this, but he's been straying from that area for a while now. Strangely enough, he begins to feel less ostracized the more he discusses academics with Will and more like himself. Not a single word about what happened that Friday night comes up, and for a moment, he can forget that it ever existed.

It all comes to an end too soon by a startling crash of reality. Nico's body is turned towards Will so he doesn't even notice it when some of Will's friends are behind him. One of them clears their throat loudly in the middle of what Nico was saying. He flinches and turns around to see a girl standing too close to him, hands with sharp painted nails placed on her hips.

His entire body revolts but he forces himself to stop himself before he can bolt away. His heartbeat ricochets against his ribcage in a completely different way from how he felt around Will earlier.

"By the sounds of it, you two sure are prepared for that English exam," the girl says with a smile but he can hear the sarcasm in her tone. "Do you mind if I steal Will away from you?" He can tell by her voice that she's trying to be ironic: telling Nico that Will only belongs to their group and will never swoop down to his no matter what it looks like.

"We were just done," Nico lies even though they all know it's not true. He gets up from his seat and hoists his backpack over his shoulder before stepping down from the bleachers without even a backwards glance. Though he's trying to keep his dignity, his head is bent down and he doesn't make eye contact with any of them.

"See you in class," he hears Will say, and Nico thinks that he can detect a questioning tone in his voice.

"Yeah," Nico says, and involuntarily turns around to get a glance at him. It's then that he notices the girl standing in the corner, one arm crossed on her chest and the other hanging loosely by her side.

Her hair is curled to perfection, makeup subtle but beautifully highlighting her East Asiatic features, and her eyes are fixated on him.

Reyna's voice rings in his head. Drew Tanaka.

He turns and speed walks down the rest of the steps and toward the school without looking back, only hearing the frantic pounding of his own panicked heartbeat in his ears.

He's not sure how he makes it to his first class unscathed. His morning with Will is completely forgotten and he forgoes his new seat at the back where he talked with Will yesterday in favour of his original seat beside Percy.

He's already there, talking to his girlfriend Annabeth in soft tones. She scowls at something he's saying but it soon turns into a laugh as she punches him in the arm.

Any feelings he's had for Percy is surprisingly dead, or as dead as it can be in the timespan of a few days. When he looks at them, he doesn't feel the stinging pain of jealousy that he's always felt. Something ticks inside of him, but when he turns away, the feelings of unease dissipates, and he vaguely wonders how much of that is Will's doing and how much of it is that unfortunate night's doing.

He doesn't want to think about that night. Drew's hitch-pitched voice still rings in his ear, and the strange smelling liquid feels like its' about to make its' appearance on his desk right now even though most of it is already gone from his system.

Nico's about to dissolve into a series of flashbacks until Percy's voice drags him out of it, an unexpected saviour.

"Hey, Nico, are you okay?"

He starts out of his thoughts, turning to focus on Percy's worried sea-green eyes. He feels the remainder of his feelings by the sudden flush he feels. "Yeah, I'm fine," he says, wanting to look away from him but still wanting to stare back until Percy looks away. He does the latter, but Percy's gaze doesn't waver or break.

"If you're not feeling well, you should go to the nurse," he says. Nico is about to say that he's never been to the nurse's office until Percy suggests the next thing. "I can take you there." He can see Annabeth nodding from beside Percy, and he feels like they think he's their younger sibling rather than a contender for any sort of romantic affection from Percy. Nico is about to turn down the offer until he sees Will walking into the classroom.

"Yeah, that'll be good. Okay," Nico says, getting up from his seat so quickly that he bumps his knees against the desk.

Percy quickly tells the teacher where they're headed before he begins to lead Nico out of the classroom. When Nico grabs his bag off the chair, his eyes are immediately drawn to the back corner where Will is sitting and he finds that the other boy is staring at him. They both look away the second their eyes meet, and Nico hurriedly turns around and follows Percy.

Once they are in the safety of the hallway, Percy asks the question he's been subconsciously asking himself:

"So do you like William Solace or something?"

He doesn't like the way people call him 'William' instead of just 'Will'. It makes him sound too…sophisticated, too far away from him, too unattainable.

"Where did you get that from?" Nico asks, and then he wonders if Percy has ever noticed that Nico's had a crush on him for years. He can only think of one word for that: awkward.

Percy shrugs, looking at him curiously. "I guess I've just been hearing things." He pauses. "Not that I'm homophobic or anything: I think it's totally fine if you like him. So I just thought I'd ask you about it."

"Was this the whole point of your suggestion for me to go to the nurse's office?" Nico asks flatly, affection for Percy becoming mitigated by his own quick conclusion jumping.

Percy's eyebrows scrunch together. "What? No! Of course not! I was concerned for you as a classmate, and I just thought to ask you. Sorry if it was uncomfortable." He scratches the back of his neck, offering him a cheeky grin.

Nico's frown smooths out at his words, finding himself unable to stay angry at him. "It's okay. I don't know how I feel about Will. We've only just met, really." Saying the words out loud makes him aware of just how tentative things are between them. "I don't know," he says again, looking down at the tiled floor.

"I think it's cute," Percy says without thinking, and Nico's head jerks up so he can see the surprisingly thoughtful expression on Percy's face.

"We're the same age, Percy. You are not allowed to think that we are cute. It's a social law," Nico deadpans.

Percy gives him a small smile and shrugs. "Hey, I'm just giving you an outsider's point of view." His smile neutrals to a frown though as he says the next words. "I'm just not so sure about William, though."

His words make Nico pause for a second. "What do you mean?"

"Doesn't he always seem like he's only looking for means to an end? The events he hosts, the actions he makes, the people he surrounds himself with – don't get me started. Octavian as a friend? Really? Is Octavian really William's friend or is he just using him in attempts to tie himself to Ivy League graduates – which both of Octavian's parents are? But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Don't take me word for word on it. It's just what I've seen." He offers Nico a hesitant smile, but those words have opened up an entire can of worms.

"Oh," Nico says slowly, trying to pretend like that information is not new to him, but he can already hear Reyna's warnings about Will wanting to shut Nico up for the horrendous event that happened at his residence under his watch in case it interfered with any sort of record that would affect his future. Will was clearly there when he stopped things from dissolving into something worse – so he's not sure why Drew Tanaka is still in his group of friends if he's seen her there. Nico clearly remembers Will telling him that he wants to find the people who orchestrated the event and charge them. But Drew is still there, and Will has not said a single word.

He's not sure how he feels about this: budding friendship that quickly ended in flames. He's not even sure if it was even friendship. But Will must have known that and targeted his weakest points; he must have seen Nico pining after Percy every single day, trying to get the other boy to just see him as a possible romantic interest and not just some unnoticeable male student.

The whole thing was planned from the start, if Percy is right about Will only being out for himself and using people as he wished. His friends were playing around and it went too far, and now Will is dealing with the collateral damage by playing friendly with Nico, hoping that Nico is stupid and hopeful enough to develop any kind of feelings that will prevent him from taking action against Will.

It sounds ridiculous, but then again, Will honestly trying to be his friend also sounds ridiculous. He doesn't even know Will as a person, so how can he even trust anything that the other boy claims to be? He can hear Reyna's words in his head. Has it ever occur to you that he could be brainwashing you? He wishes that he hadn't had that stupid fight with Reyna – about Will.

He also wishes that the pieces didn't click together so quickly, but they do – dear god, they do and he can't find a single thing that contradicts this.

"Nico, are you all right?" Percy asks him, snapping him out of his negative spiral. The thought still remains, and every step feels heavier than the last and he just wants to lie down and sleep.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nico says, lying again.

Percy's not completely oblivious, and he can tell that Nico's been thinking about what he said. "Don't take my word for it," he says again. "Maybe Will's into you." He smiles at Nico, but Nico can barely even process it now that he's had a taste of his internal denunciations against William Solace.

"Maybe," Nico says again and he's reminded of his text conversations at twelve in the morning with Will. Before he has more time to continue the tirade, Percy takes a turn down the hallway and they're at the nurse's office.

"Here we are," Percy says. "Don't let the exam stress get to you." Nico nods even though that's far from his mind. With a quick wave, Percy turns around and heads back to the classroom.

Nico heads through the open door of the office, and ends up getting put in one of the beds by an overly sympathetic nurse who thinks he's going through a mental breakdown from school stress. He sighs, staring up at the white tiled ceiling and wonders how his life dissolved into such a mess over the span of a few days.

He closes his eyes, the brightness he felt in the morning he spent with Will dissipating into a heavy weight on his chest.

Author's Notes: I am very grateful for reviews :)

On the other hand, please bring up any concerns you have with how I'm handling the situation on whether it is appropriate or triggering without warning etc.