A/N: Next chapter is here, because I really need to start working on this story more XD Another Will POV this time, and hopefully Nico's gotten himself together a little since last time :p A huge thank you goes out to all of you who continue to review/PM with me about the story, because I love talking to you guys, and hearing your opinions on the story. Keep being awesome, and enjoy the chapter ;)

As always, le textin' guide;

Italics = Will

Underlined = Lou

Bold, underlined, and italics = You'll seeeee ;) (And ik this was Apollo in a previous chapter, but I ran out of things, so this is improvisation, and will likely be used again in the future XD)

14

Will

Will woke with the sun on his face, and he gave a contented, half-asleep smile, yawning as he opened his eyes and stretched, basking in the warm sunlight. He sat up and took a deep breath in, releasing it in a long, happy sigh and swinging his legs over the bed, the floor cool against his bare feet. Today was going to be a good day. He just knew it.

Going through his usual morning routine, he washed his face with cool water and pulled his shirt back on, which he had discarded sometime during the night. He grabbed his phone from the floor—he'd fallen asleep with it, and it had been knocked off the bed by his sleep throes—and checked it for any new texts. He hoped (although he was embarrassed to admit this) for a text from Nico, but wasn't expecting much since he'd entirely ignored him yesterday.

His (albeit small) hopes were crushed when he saw no text from the Italian, but he quickly brushed it off. Nothing could affect him today. This was going to be a good day, by the gods, this was going to be a good day. He did have a text from Lou, and, surprisingly, from an unknown number. Curiosity getting the better of him, he swiped right on the unknown number's text, bringing up the screen.

10:14 PM - Hey, Will, this is Nico's sister, Bianca. I just wanted to let you know—and don't tell Nico that I did this—that he's not mad at you because I know you're probably freaking out right now. He's just figuring some things out, but he'll probably text you sometime tomorrow, or the next day at the latest. Just wanted to let you know so you're not ripping your hair out or something.

Will heaved a sigh of relief, collapsing back on the bed with a smile. For some reason, hearing that Nico wasn't mad at him made him feel better, even though he knew he hadn't really done anything that warranted the silent treatment. Although, he had to wonder what Nico was "figuring out," as Bianca had said. He hoped nothing bad had happened. But no, Bianca would have told him if that was the case, so Nico must've been fine.

Shrugging, Will held his finger over her number and added it to his contacts, figuring it couldn't hurt to save it for future use. Maybe she'd be the messenger, so to speak, if anything like this ever happened again (which Will hoped was not the case, but hey, it was always a possibility.)

Now satisfied on the Nico front, Will flipped over to Lou's text and quickly skimmed over it.

7:27 AM - Hey, Will, I just opened L & L for Uncle Lucas 'cause he had to take a sick day. Wanna come over and help man the extra register? He said we could have anything from the pastry shelf for freeeee~ ;)

This day keeps getting better and better. Grinning, Will typed out a quick response.

8:40 AM - Of course! Save me 2 vanilla bean scones and I'll be over in 20 :D

As soon as the text was sent, Will clicked off his phone, pulled on a pair of jeans, and raced down the stairs. He scrawled a hasty note on a piece of scratch paper telling his dad where he was going and left it on the kitchen table where he could easily find it. Tugging on his yellow Converses, he unlocked the door, stuck his house key in his back pocket, and ran out the door to meet his best friend.

"Will, babe, you're here!" Lou called from behind the counter as soon as he walked in. "Grab an apron and get back here!" She was ringing up a customer, wearing Lemon & Lime's aforementioned apron—which was pastel pink, inscribed with their logo in fancy white cursive letters—over her gray Aerosmith t-shirt, and had her short, unruly brown hair messily pinned back with two red barrettes.

"Okay!" Will called back with a smile, grabbing an apron from the hook beside the pastry case and ducking behind the counter. He manned the empty register—L & L had two, one on each end of the glass cases—and quickly started ringing people up as they split between his register and Lou's.

It was a Saturday, one of the café's busiest days, so the place was fairly packed, both Lou and Will juggling more than ten customers each. By the time they had taken care of them all, the two flopped down on a couch Lou's uncle kept in the back for precisely this purpose, and leaned on each other, exhausted. There were only a few people scattered about the place now, the "rush hour" seemingly over, leaving just a couple stragglers sitting calmly at tables, sipping coffee and snacking on pastries.

"Gosh, that was crazy," Will said, shaking his head. "I didn't realize this place was that popular."

"Well, if we love it so much, others probably do, too," Lou pointed out, flashing him a smile. "C'mon," she said, pushing herself to her feet and dusting off her hands and pulling off her apron. "Let's get some pastries. I'd say we've earned them."

A few minutes later, after the last few customers had wandered off, Lou flipped the sign on the door to read "Closed" and opened up the pastry case, grabbing the two vanilla bean scones she'd promised Will, along with a rose-shaped cake-pop for herself, and they settled at a cozy corner table close to one of the vents, the cool air blowing on their heads and offering much-needed respite from the heat.

Will had made them some hot chocolate, and he sipped his with a content sigh. "Remind me to hug your uncle when I see him. Gods, his pastries—I don't know how he does it." He took another bite of scone and gave a blissful sigh, scrunching his forehead up in happiness. "So good."

His best friend laughed and playfully punched his shoulder. "Yeah, I will. But"—her tone turned serious—"we need to talk, Will. After last night, how are you feeling?"

Holding a hand to the back of his neck, Will gave a sheepish laugh and shrugged. "Oh, right, last night... Yeah, I'm fine, Lou. Talking to you really helped, and helped me realize a few things..." He trailed off, blushing slightly. He'd stayed up late the previous night thinking about what Lou had said to him. You don't get to choose who you fall in love with, Will. In fact, you're lucky if you fall in love at all, so if you do find someone, you should feel lucky. Very lucky. Just remember that.

It had kept him awake for a long while, as he tossed and turned in his bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. But it had also, in a way, helped him to sort out the thoughts running through his mind, and build a clearer image of his feelings and what he wanted. He'd come to several conclusions, in fact. 1.) He was still holding some remorse from his mother leaving him, but it was okay; he would be fine. 2.) Lou was possibly the best person in the entire universe. And 3.) He was (unfortunately) madly in love with Nico, who wasn't even talking to him at the moment...

That thought put a slight damper on Will's mood, and he slumped in his chair slightly, frowning. Meanwhile, Lou was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, an expectant look on her face. "And what were those things...?" she finally prompted, seemingly unable to resist asking any longer.

Glancing up at her, Will's frown deepened and he breathed a long sigh through his nose. "Well... first off, you were right. I am..." He swallowed, still having difficulty owning up to it out loud. "I am... in l-love... with Nico." He faltered on the word 'love' and felt himself flushing red. Gods, he really was acting like a 12-year-old with a crush. But Lou seemingly didn't care, cheering and giving him a wide grin. "Finally, the oblivious boy stops being oblivious!"

Will rolled his eyes, feeling a smile creeping back onto his face. "Yeah, I guess so. But... he still isn't talking to me. Although, his sister did send me a text."

Lou raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise on her face. "Really? Show me."

Dutifully, Will pulled out his phone and handed it over, showing her the text Bianca had sent him the previous night. Her eyes scanned it, reading it over several times as she mouthed the words to herself. Finally, she looked up at him with a flabbergasted expression. "What is he 'sorting out', do you think?"

Will slumped in his chair with a relieved sigh, glad she seemed to be thinking the same things he had. "I don't know. But that text is from last night, saying he'd text me 'tomorrow', which is today, and he still hasn't." He frowned slightly. "Although, she did say it could be tomorrow, too. Or maybe he'll just text me later today?" He ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Honestly?" Lou shrugged, setting his phone on the table in between them. "No idea. But you shouldn't worry about it, Will. Yes, I wanted you to realize your crush, but I don't want you to be in emotional turmoil over it! Really, just hang out with me today, and if di Angelo texts you, you go get yo' man, and if not, we'll wait and see. Right?"

Chuckling at Lou's phrasing, Will nodded, giving her a grateful smile. "Right. You're right. Thanks, Lou."

"'Course, babe," she said, squeezing his hand. After that, her expression turned playful again, and she waggled her eyebrows at him. "Hey, what say you we go prank the Stolls? Haven't done it in a while, and they're the only ones that prove to be challenging opponents." She grinned devilishly. "It's no fun if the victim doesn't fight back."

Will rolled his eyes slightly. "Lou, no. Remember what happened last time? We had glitter stuck everywhere for months afterward." He shuddered, hugging himself at the awful memory. "I don't want to pick glitter out of my eyelashes again, Lou!"

His friend laughed, her green eyes shining with humor. "Yeah, fair enough. But we gotta do something to get your mind off our little Angel Boy." She pursed her lips in thought. "Hmmm... how about we go to the arcade and play laser tag? Without those two freaks blondie and pool boy, it'll be way more fun."

Will laughed at Jason and Percy's impromptu nicknames and nodded. "Sure, Lou. I haven't beaten my high score yet, anyway. I should probably do a couple practice rounds to get back in shape for the tournament in July. After all, Valdez barely beat me last time!" He was speaking of Leo Valdez, the other unofficial laser tag god, who had beaten him in the last LLT the previous year.

The LLT (short for the Legendary Laser Tournament) was an annual event hosted by Critical Hit Arcade and took place every year on July 16th. Anyone could enter, and it was available to all ages. Each team had to consist of two or more players, but when someone was shot, they were out of the game for good, so it usually came down to the two best players—almost always Leo and Will.

Lou nodded sagely, understanding Will's meaning right away. (She too partook in the LLT, as Will's second in command.) "Right. I mean, you wouldn't have lost if you hadn't tripped, so technically it wasn't even a fair win on Valdez's part."

"Exactly!" Will exclaimed, hitting the table with a fist and shaking his head. "But this year I'm going to mop the floor with him. I'll take him out first, and hopefully get to face someone new this year."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Lou mused. Finishing her cake-pop, she brushed the crumbs off her shirt and stood, flashing Will a wide grin. "Let's go kick some laser tag ass."

A/N: No translations for this chapter, and no Nico yet, but don't worry. Next time is a Nico POV, so you'll get to see what's up with him ;) Anyway, as you guys can now see, Will is obsessed with laser tag XD As first I was going to have it be an occasional splurge, but I decided it would be fun if he was addicted to it, since it adds onto his character a bit. I also had some more Will/Lou BrOTP, because Lou = bae ❤

Anyway, please let me know what you thought of the chapter because I love hearing your guys' opinions on the story :D Remember to follow, favorite, and review for more content from me, and stay tuned for the next chapter ;)