Will POV:

"Nico, stop listening to Madonna and open up!" I hollered, hoping my depressed boyfriend could hear me through the door to Cabin 13.

"It's not Madonna!" He shot back. I knew he was embarrassed.

"I can hear it…" I held back a chuckle, "just open up."

The door finally swung open, and not to mention, right at my face. I crossed my arms. Nico looked a mess. There were dark bags under his eyes, which were hiding behind his messy bangs. I could tell he hadn't slept in days, or maybe he had… it was hard to tell. He had the same pale complexion and bitter smile, looking up at me like I was crazy to disturb his gay music session.

"What do you want?" He asked impatiently.

"You said I could stay over, like, an hour ago."

"I forgot. I actually don't think it's a good idea."

"Well, why?"

"Because I'm going to bed right now."

"It's seven o'clock, genius," I reminded him.

"I'm tired," he argued, trying to shut the door. I blocked him and stepped in. The room was just as much of a mess as he was. His sheets were all over the place, and there was trash everywhere, piling up in the corners of Nico's solo cabin.

"Wow, that's… really healthy," I mumbled sarcastically.

"Just… don't criticize me, you demanded to come in." Nico stepped over a heap of garbage and comic books, hopping into his bed.

I waited by the door, closing it, "gonna sleep?"

"Well, I am, gonna join me?" he asked shyly.

I walked over and cuddled up next to him. I kissed his forehead gently, pushing his hair out of the way, "you definitely need some sleep."

"Mmm… yeah…" Nico murmured, standing up, "but I'm going to take this off first." He yanked his hoodie off and threw it to who knows where. I watched as the hoodie flew over to Asia.

"So that's how your room gets so untidy…" I observed, "you can't imagine how insane the other Apollo campers would get if it became this messy."

"Good thing I have no family and I'm lonely, destined to die alone with nothing but my own thoughts," Nico joked.

"When did I become your thoughts?" I teased.

"Shut up…" Nico climbed back onto the bed.

"Okay, good night now." I gave him another kiss as he settled in again.

"Uh– it's kinda hard for me to sleep when it's still loud outside… Can we talk for a bit?" Nico suggested.

"Sure," I said skeptically.

I stared into his dark eyes, and he averted my gaze. I knew he had something weighing on his chest. I wrapped my arms around him affectionately, "I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"For you to tell me what's going on."

As the words left my mouth, I could notice his features darken. He looked kind of sad, and I regretted whichever part made him unhappy. Nico turned away from me, "I'm scared to sleep."

"That's… odd. But, why?"

"These nightmares," he said immediately, his voice sharp and anxious, "I just get these awful nightmares. I don't want to have another one."

"I know," I whispered softly, rubbing his arm, "but you have to sleep. Nothing in these nightmares is real. It's all just a collection of bad memories wrapped into one, but it's not happening. None of it will ever happen again, and I'll make sure of that, okay?"

"...okay." He turned his face into the pillow, "I feel really tired anyways."