"This is my first work please leave a review and thank you for reading! Also the concept is kinda weird sorry.

Nico POV:

I felt my chest constrict. My eyes were playing tricks on me, blurring my field of vision. Hell, the gods were playing tricks on me. I blinked a couple times, relieved to recover my eyesight. I felt the back of my shirt was sticky with sweat, clinging to my pale skin.

I stared at the grass, my mind sprinting to find answers. Why... why was I so dazed? What had happened? Was anyone watching? Where was-

OH. OH NO.

"W-Will?" I asked breathlessly.

"Care to explain, Death Boy?" The reply bulleted towards me, and by his tone, I knew he'd been standing by me the whole time, watching as I nearly died.

I looked up at the blond-haired demigod, trying to look serious, "I don't remember anything." Just as the words escaped my mouth, something dawned on my me.

"You don't remember shadow traveling to the Met on accident and then wandering off for the next two hours before I finally found you?!"

"I don't think I would've asked if I did," I stuttered, regaining a steady breath. I leaned on Will for support, hoping the latter wasn't too mad to slap me away. But Will was sweet. Of course he didn't. He just sighed before quipping, "if you keep doing this, we're both going to die. Me from healing you."

"Why aren't we in the infirmary?" I questioned, feeling suspicious. He wasn't even in his cute little uniform or anything at all. It was just my boyfriend, his oversized Camp Half Blood T-shirt, and my twiggish little body, bent over a table. Will sighed, "they closed it because of- y-y'know what. Just, ugh, it makes me embarrassed thinking about it." A bright pink danced over his cheeks. I knew it was on mine too.

"I forgot about that mess," I said.

"Lucky."

"Well, anyways, I think I'll head back to my cabin and die a couple more times, if you don't mind," I said, quickly conjuring up a perfect excuse, "you can join, but I don't think Chiron will be very happy." I smirked, and then the grin quickly left my face as I realized how inappropriate that was. Will rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh, "slow down."

"I blushed and fidgeted with my hands, hoping my dark hair would shadow my emotions.

"You still owe me one more explanation," Will demanded.

"I can't offer much," I countered.

"What's wrong? You seem kind of distant lately, like your mind is wandering somewhere. And you've been acting tired too, I saw you raise a skeleton out of the shower yesterday-"

"It was an accident!" I blurted, my face burning.

"Okay, if you want." He crossed his arms.

Will POV:

I couldn't go to sleep. Not with Nico in the state he was in. Especially not with my guilt reminding me that it was all my fault. I was the one who lied to

him about us shadow traveling to the Met- but I didn't want him to know that our first kiss was such a disaster. That would be hellish.

"Will," someone said to me from the other side of the Apollo Cabin. I wasn't sure who it was, nor did I care, as long as they weren't Nico, "I saw your little goth friend hiding behind our cabin. Wanna check on him or is this like a normal thing...?"

"Nico," I cursed sternly, but my conscience ate me up, and I nodded, "yeah."

I felt anxious for some reason. My mind drifted back to that moment. Our lips had barely touched, but it had made me happier than I had been in a long time, despite what my usual smile said.

Nervously, I looped around the Cabin to see Nico, his back posted against the wall. He looked pale and unsure, but his face turned red the second he saw me. Mine did the same.

"Will, I'm about to humiliate you," he admitted, looking up at me.

"Um, are you alright? You look-" I began, but he cut me off.

"You're the most stupid person I know. This morning, we kissed." Butterflies brewed in my stomach. I could feel a rush of panic roll over me, but he didn't stop talking.

"You got mortified." He chuckled a little, and I stood there, straight-up dumbfounded (and decently tempted to flee). Nico continued, mercilessly of him, given how flustered I probably looked, "and- no, here's the hilarious part- after we kissed, you hit me on the head with a PAN, who knows where you even got one, and proceeded to tell me as I was recovering that I had shadow-traveled us to the Met and blamed all this shit on me."

He wasn't angry. He was stifling a laugh, like the cruel person he was. I was about ready to die.

"But it was cute," he added, realizing how scared I looked, "because I know you were just embarrassed." He smiled.

"Erghh... Nico..." I mumbled, coming a bit closer, "how come you didn't confront me right away?" I hoped it would take some light off my sweat-induced, awkward state.

"I had the pieces of the puzzle, but I didn't fully piece it together until I saw you," he responded. I was pretty sure he was lying.

"I feel so bad..." I muttered, burying my head in my hands, "Gods, I'm such a bad boyfriend."

The son of Hades opened his mouth to speak, but I intervened, "I-I can't believe I actually hurt you. Do you have a headache? Are you okay? Oh my gosh. I just- i-i-it... I honestly have no idea why I did that." I felt myself tugging on my hair as I spoke, ripping tufts out with each word. The guilt overrode me and I felt too uneasy to wait for Nico's words. I eliminated the taunting space between us and stepped forward, kissing him. I received a short, surprised breath from Nico as I pulled away.

He was speechless.

"Please don't stay silent... I'm seconds from running away from you," I groaned.

"Sorry, I was just waiting to see if you'd hit me on the head with another cooking instrument. Hmm, perhaps a rice-cooker for a change next time? Or maybe a spatula? You'd be crossing things off my bucket list," Nico teased.

"Shut up!" I yelled playfully, though my expression faded, "b-but seriously, are you okay?" I ran a hand through his messy hair.

"I'm fine. But I need one last explanation."

"Anything. I think I owe you."