Oh look! A new chapter has arrived… after 3, excruciating months? I am so sorry for not updating sooner! School work's been heavy the past few weeks, so I've been a bit preoccupied. Anyway, here's a sort-of Christmas special? As always, follow/favorite/comment if you liked the story!

"Stop it."

"Huh? What?"

Nico turned and smirked, challenging him as he looked at Will. "Stop following me."

"Wh-whaat? I wasn't following you!"

"Solace, you're the only other person in this aisle." Nico said quite bluntly.

"So? I came here to look for… swimming goggles?" Will picked a plastic container with a bright orange pair inside, nearly knocking off a whole shelf of swimming toys in the clumsy process.

Nico just sighed. "Look, if you're going to make a lie, at least make it sound convincing. It's still winter time, and you picked up goggles meant for a toddler."

"Well, what if I… um, what if…" Nico raised his eyebrow at Will. "Oh! I know! What if I was actually buying swimming goggles for, uh, I don't know, some kid I know who likes to swim in indoor pools?"

"Hm. That's terribly far-fetched, don't you think?" He asked.

"At least I tried!" Will said triumphantly.

"'Do or do not. There is no try.'" At this point, Nico turned back around and walked the next aisle knowing Will would follow.

"Hey! Now don't go quoting Star Wars to me!"

"Why not? It's a free country."

Will shrugged. "Fair enough."

In actuality though, Nico had known Will had been following him ever since he entered the store. Will's height and blond hair didn't help his cause at all, nor did his loud, heavy footsteps help either. It was a good thing he was cute, Nico reasoned.

"Anyway," Will gestured to his left with his shoulder, "what are you doing in the in the sports aisle? I didn't take you as a very athletic person." Nico scrunched his eyebrows. "I mean, you are a very athletic person. I know. You've told me before. I just didn't take you as the sporty type, that's all."

Nico snorted. "Ha. No, I'm sorry. I only walked around for no reason to see how long you were going to keep stalking me. Which, by the way, what were you going to do with that?"

"Oh, I was planning on scaring you. But we can all see how that turned out." Nico gave a cheeky smile. Will continued, "Why? Am I not allowed to stalk my boyfriend?" he said, slinging an arm around Nico's shoulders.

Both their faces turned very red.

Will's face however expressed pure joy, with a proud and exuberant smile that stretched across his face. Nico's face was all the more red. Although he gave a small smile, Will could see Nico's eyes showed much delight and satisfaction.

A lot had happened since the Halloween party. Both would say that their lives had taken quite a positive turn. Will's presence at the party had in fact resulted in Nico having a very eventful night. Well not that eventful.

It just so happened the the two (including all of their friends at the impromptu Halloween party) were high off of the crazy amounts of sugar from all the candy they consumed. Their highly energized minds decided to watch a couple of horror movies, which was obviously a terrible idea from the start.

However, all throughout the movies that they watched, whenever something scary happened, Nico would stay stoic as ever while Will would go to Nico for comfort.

All their friends agreed the two were adorable.

Long story short, Will and Nico had heard their friends discussing this fact,

(Jason: "Oh my gosh did you see the way his head rested on Will's arm at the end? That was so sweet!"

Percy: "Bro, have you even been paying attention to how Will looks at Nico? I mean, relationship goals, bro."

Jason: "Bro, I know."

Percy: "Bro."

Annabeth:

Piper:

Nico: "So what's this with me and Will?"

Percy: "NICO! I'M INNOCENT PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

Jason: "Oh uh hey, N-N-Nico.")

and after an eternity of bickering, some chasing, and a calming and very honest conversation with Will, Nico had declared that yes, a relationship between the two would be possible.

Time skip a few weeks later, their friendship had grown enormously (although it was mostly Will trying to, for lack of a better word, seduce Nico) more outside than inside school so that Nico was invited to the Solace's large Thanksgiving celebration.

During winter break, Will tried his best to entertain Nico during the short, cold days after learning about the story of Bianca, Nico's beloved, older sister who had died sometime in December. They weren't an official couple yet, but the two cuddled together quite often on Nico's couch as they watched various documentaries of Will's choice.

They couldn't spend Christmas together, but they did spend the day after Christmas rolling in the snow and watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens for what happened to be the fifth time they had watched it together, the big nerds. (Note: That doesn't even account for how many times they watched it without each other.)

It wasn't until the end of Christmas break that the two got together. The whole 'kiss at midnight' thing on New Year's day certainly surprised Nico. He still blushes at the thought of it every time he thinks of the moment Will had suddenly closed the gap between them and - well, he should save that memory for later. Both of them, although they never admitted it to each other, relished that kiss (and really every kiss after that until the end of eternity) because that was the first time they had been kissed properly on the mouth by someone they loved. It was all very refreshing.

Now, nearing the end of January, neither boy has told anyone, though Will was pretty sure that at least Hazel, Piper, Annabeth, and Reyna had figured it out by now if he was going by their sly suggestions and suggestive gestures.

All in all, they were very happy.

"Ha. You just like saying that." Nico said, as they walked toward the fruits and vegetables.

"Saying what? Pray tell, my good man." Will replied jokingly.

"You know, declaring that I'm - that we're- you know, boyfriends." Nico had surveyed the area just in case there had been someone listening to their conversation. He picked up a tomato and lightly pressed it to see if it was firm enough. "Can you pass me a plastic bag?"

While Will walked over to tear off a bag he said,"Why shouldn't I be? You make me happy, and the thought of us together makes me happy. I want to shout it from the rooftops!"

"I do to, Will, but we're keeping it a secret, remember? Thanks." Nico put the tomatoes in his basket and walked on to observe the other vegetables. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the celery.

Will came back with a bag of red fruits. "You should get some apples. I bought some yesterday, and they were really sweet."

"You just want to say 'An apple a day, keeps the doctor away' don't you." Nico said, put he put the apples with the tomatoes anyway.

"Yep!" Will grinned. His expression changed from joyful to thoughtful when he said, "When are we planning on telling people though? What's the point of keeping it a secret?"

"What's the point of keeping what a secret?"

They turned in surprise.

"Jason! What are you doing here?" Nico exclaimed in horror.

"NOTHING." Will cried out. "Absolutely nothing of your concern." He added sweetly.

Jason eyed the two boys suspiciously. "I'm not buying it."

Will and Nico gave each other a look and had a brief conversation using facial expressions. Suddenly, Will decided to say, "Nico got a new cat."

Jason looked surprised, as if he was expecting some other news. "Another one? I thought you and Hazel said Bastet was enough trouble!"

Nico glared at Will while Will just shrugged sheepishly. "...Yeah, I just wanted some new company." He said slowly.

Jason laughed. "At this rate, Neeks, you'll be an old, cat lady by the time you get to college!"

"Haha! Yeah." Nico's laugh was painfully fake and sarcastic.

Jason, with a concerned expression on his face, just said, "Ok then. Fancy seeing you two here. I better get going or else I'm going to be late for my date! See ya around! Oh, and Nico!" Nico's head perked up. "You better send me a picture of this cat! Oh, wait, I forgot, Hazel invited Piper and I for dinner next week, right? We'll just see each other then. I've got to go, guys. Bye!"

"Bye!" Nico and Will waved back to Jason. As soon as he was out of sight, Nico pulled Will down to his height and said "You better be paying for this cat."

Will gulped. "Sure thing."

"Oh, and Will?" He looked into Nico's eyes. "I realized there isn't any reason for keeping it a secret. I just kinda felt scared. I think we're ready. Oh. And, you better be paying for some cat food, too."

Thank you all so, so much! I'm overjoyed whenever one of y'all favorites and follows my story! Your comments are all so amazing! I also realized that over 100 of y'all actually read this story that I've created and written and I think that's amazing.

I'm so sorry for the long wait. I hope this chapter was worth it! Tell me your thoughts! Would you rather see a new chapter on a story only to find out it's an author's note declaring they're going to put their story on hiatus? Or would you prefer waiting months for the story continue? Also, while you're doing that, you should leave a comment on how you think the story's going!

I'm not completely sure if I should continue this. I'm also super unsure of what I should write next. I feel kinda conflicted. PM me if you have any ideas! I find it very difficult to write this because 1.) I'm not in a relationship, so I can't write from experience. 2.) I'm not gay. and 3.) School is killing me. Plz help.

~Phantomosolace