A/N: We've reached the twentieth chapter! I'm so excited! I have such great plot ideas for this, so I hope you guys stick with the story and continue to enjoy it ^-^ Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

Texting guide;

Bold and underlined = Jason

Bold = Nico

20

Nico

When he woke up, Nico had a headache that felt like a hammer pounding against his skull. He let out a low groan and held a hand to his head as he blinked his eyes open. He found himself staring up at his familiar black ceiling. Seeing it made his mind flash back to one that was navy blue and covered in stars. Will.

He jolted upright in bed, causing his head to spin. He winced and rested a palm against his cheek, but quickly jerked it away again as he felt the burning heat. "My skin is hot..." He raised his hand again to touch his cheek. "Do I have a fever?" His hand fell back to his side as he pushed himself back up against the headboard for support.

"Wasn't I... at Will's house?" Nico's brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to recall what had happened. I went over to talk to him, and when we were up in his room, I told him... I told him that I... His cheeks heated even more, and he covered them with his hands, staring down at the mattress with a mix of awe and embarrassment. "Did that really happen? Was it all a dream?"

He ran his hands through his hair nervously. He kind of didn't want it to be a dream...

"Thank you for coming to check in on him." The sudden sound of voices made Nico snap his head up, listening instinctively. "You're a kind person." That was his father's voice, Nico realized, but who was he talking to?

Someone laughed; a sound Nico recognized instantly. Will. "Aw, you don't have to say that, Mr. di Angelo, really. Anyone would do the same. Besides, I..." He paused, as if embarrassed. "I really care about him..."

"I can see that. And still, I am grateful," Hades responded, and Nico imagined him clapping Will on the shoulder with one of his wide, fatherly smiles. "And if Nico were awake, I'm sure he would be, too. Thank you for bringing him home, by the way."

Nico perked his ears up. This was information he wanted to know. "Oh, it was no trouble," Will said humbly. "And besides, I was freaking out so badly my dad was the one that really did all the work." He paused and they both laughed. "Does Nico get sick like this often? I mean, his fever was pretty high."

"Not usually," Hades replied, and Nico felt a pang in his chest hearing the worry in his father's voice. "He has been known to get high fevers whenever he's sick, though... Always scares me half to death."

A fever... Nico's brows furrowed as he started piecing things together. I went over to Will's house, and when he asked me to... I guess I fainted... He felt his face grow hotter just thinking about what had happened at Will's house. "Nico di Angelo, will you be my boyfriend?" A half-squeal, half-squeak came out of Nico, and he covered his face even though no one was there to see how embarrassed he was. Will... asked me out...

He almost fainted again, staring at the wall with a dazed expression. He almost didn't notice when Will entered the room. "Nico! You're awake!" He turned to see Will standing there with a wide, relieved smile. Since Hades wasn't directly behind him, Nico guessed he'd gone downstairs before he entered.

"Will, hey..." He felt woozy again, and held a hand to his head, shaking it to try and orientate himself again. Will was instantly beside him, and his touch as he placed a supporting hand on Nico's arm sent spikes of electricity up his arm, making him gasp. "Are you alright?" Will asked, blue eyes clouded with concern. "Hey, you need to take it easy." He rested a hand against Nico's forehead, his face far too close for comfort. "You still have a fever."

Nico, who was breathing shallowly and trying not to faint from Will's close proximity, barely managed to respond. "I— I do?" He was sure his face was about a million degrees right now. Gods, would Will ever move away? (Not that he wanted him to, but Nico feared he would overheat and pass out again if Will stayed this close.)

"Yes, you dork." Will rolled his eyes, but a fond smile remained on his face. Finally, he pulled his hand back, sitting down on the edge of Nico's bed, allowing him to cool down and breath again. "You really scared me. If I knew you were going to be that surprised by me asking you out, I would've done it a lot sooner." He said it jokingly, but his eyes held a hint of worry.

"I wasn't that surprised!" Nico protested with a huff. "I was just sick, that's all!"

Will laughed. "You're cute when you're in denial."

"Wha—" Nico glared at him with a heavy blush staining his cheeks. "H-hey, just because we're together now doesn't mean you can make fun of me!"

"Are we together?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow with an expression caught between hope and amusement.

"Well duh!" Nico exclaimed, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "You asked me, didn't you?"

Will was smiling again now. "I did, but you sort of fainted before you could give me a response, remember?"

"O-oh..." Nico faltered. "Right... Um, well..." He took a deep breath and met Will's eyes, becoming even more embarrassed. He rung the edge of his shirt between his fingers and it took him a full minute of ragged, nervous breathing and severe internal struggling to build up the courage to finally speak. "Yes."

"Yes?" Will was full on grinning, full of teeth (which were perfect, of course. Ugh).

Nico squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to the side, so embarrassed he thought his head would explode. "Yes," he repeated. "Yes, I'll be your... your b-boyfriend." Just saying the words made his head spin and face burn. He still felt like he was dreaming. Was Will—Will Solace, the boy who could make him smile without fail, the boy who he felt an attachment to from the beginning, the boy who had turned from his nothing into his everything—really sitting on his bed? Had he really asked Nico to be with him? It was too good to be true.

And yet, it was too real not to be true.

"So, does this mean..." Nico's eyes snapped up to watch him as he felt Will shift towards him on the bed. He was smiling, that same familiar smile, that still managed to send butterflies scattering in Nico's stomach. "...I can kiss you whenever I want to?" He pressed his forehead flush against Nico's, causing him to let out a small sound of surprise as his face heated up even further (if that was possible).

"But I— I'm sick," he protested weakly, but he could hear the desire in his own voice. He wanted Will to kiss him. He wanted Will. He wanted to touch him, to hold him, to be next to him, to hear his laugh, to see him smile that smile was just for him. He was spinning from all the new wants that were racing through his head.

Will's smile widened, and when he spoke, it was a whisper that sent shivers up Nico's spine. "I think I can handle being sick for a little while." And he closed the gap between them before Nico could speak, though he doubted words would've come out if he'd wanted to. Will was all he wanted right then, and that was just fine with him.

About an hour later, Will dragged Nico down the stairs to eat something. Nico was afraid his father would somehow be able to sense Will on him, and that he would know what had happened between them. But as he sat down—blushing heavily—at the kitchen table, all Hades did was look up from his iPad for a brief second and say, "Oh, Nico, glad you're feeling better. There's some hot soup on the stove for you if you want it."

He let out a shaky breath and nodded. "Yeah, um... G-Grazie, papà."

Will was the one who got up to get him the soup, and as he walked behind him, he brushed a finger along the small of Nico's back through the gap in his chair. He stiffened with a slight squeak—a sound he'd made a lot that day—and turned to glare at the blond as he ducked into the kitchen, grinning mischievously. When he turned back around, his dad was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Nico's blush deepened, but after a few minutes of saying nothing, Hades rolled his eyes and turned back to his iPad, while Nico resolved to kill Will later.

But—despite the subliminal urge to murder Will still lingering in the back of his mind—Nico found himself feeling almost... giddy. He couldn't stop himself from smiling, and every time he tried to stop, it just sprang right back up like a daisy. It was a bit disconcerting, to be honest. He wasn't known as the 'always happy and smiling' kind of person. He was known as the 'sits in the back scowling at everyone' kind of person. But he couldn't seem to hold back his emotions whenever Will was around.

He was still debating whether that was a bad or a good thing when Will returned carrying his soup. He set the steaming bowl down in front of Nico and forced a cool metal spoon into his hand. "Eat." He shot a sharp look at Nico as he sat back down next to him. "And I mean all of it."

"But—" Nico tried to protest, but Will silenced him with a glare. "Eat. All. Of. It."

Nico gulped. "Uh— Y-yeah, okay." He hurriedly started shoveling down the soup, staring into the bowl with a meek look, trying to pretend that he couldn't hear his dad snickering beside him. Who knew someone so sunshiney could be so scary? Though, it wasn't exactly a turn-off...

Nico blushed and started shoveling down his soup faster. What is happening to my brain?!

A few hours later, Will left, after kissing Nico goodbye—that was new, but dannatamente bene—when his dad was in the next room, before dashing out the door with a wink that left Nico standing in the doorway blushing and swooning like a proper southern lady. He immediately took retreat in his room, where he was still, curled up on his bed under a pile of blankets, internally squeeing like a five-year-old girl, a goofy smile on his face.

Gods, this was embarrassing. He hoped beyond hope that nobody ever saw him like this. He might have to murder them to keep the word from spreading. And if Jason found out before Nico could tell him— Without warning, his phone buzzed, and Nico picked it off the side table and turned it on. Speak of the devil.

1:23 PM - NICO DI ANGELO WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

Oh no. Nico felt a lump of dread form in his throat and swallowed forcefully in an attempt to clear it. It didn't work. That doesn't sound good... But instead of pleading guilty immediately, Nico played off the slim— sadly very slim—chance that it was not about Will and replied with a safe question mark.

1:24 PM - ?

1:25 PM - NICCCOOOOOO I'M SERIOUSLY GOING TO MURDERRR YOU!

1:26 PM - At least tell me what I did first!

1:26 PM - LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW!

1:27 PM - I don't...? And take a break on the caps, would you?

1:28 PM - NO I WILL NOT AND YES YOU DO! I'M COMING OVER TO YOUR HOUSE RIGHT FUCKING NOW SO I CAN YELL AT YOU DIRECTLY INSTEAD OF USING CAPSLOCK! YOU JUST WAIT, MISTER!

Nico's eyes widened. Oh no no no, Jason might actually want to murder me. He fumbled to type a response and attempt to disarm the bomb before it exploded in his face. And the only way to do that was—unfortunately—to confess everything.

1:29 PM - Wait wait wait, don't come over! I'm sorry I didn't tell you! It literally JUST happened, okay?! DON'T COME OVER AND KILL ME!

Jason didn't respond, and Nico collapsed back on the bed with a loud groan of despair. "Nooooo... Oh, gods, he's actually going to kill me for not telling him..." He buried his face in his hands, having a small intense freakout session until he realized something.

Springing up, Nico ran out into the hall, sliding dangerously across the wood flooring and using the momentum from hitting the wall to push himself towards the stairs, which he practically fell down, shouting along the way, "Papà, se Jason arriva, non lasciarlo in! Io ripeto; non farlo entrare!"

He reached the bottom of the stairs breathlessly and looked up to find Jason standing in the doorway, wearing his harshest I'm-about-to-literally-kill-you glare. Nico squealed and turned around so fast he almost fell again as he kicked and crawled his way back up the stairs, Jason hot on his heels. "THANKS A LOT, DAD!"

"Anytime!" Hades called up the stairs happily, right before Jason caught Nico by the back of his shirt and dragged him into his room. Oh, gods have mercy on my soul... Nico pleaded feebly as the door slammed shut behind them.

A/N: I went "Awwwwwww!" so many times while writing this, seriously. (There was also lots of squeeing.) So I hope you guys like it. They're officially official now, haha ;) As a sort of new thing, I'd like to ask you guys to post down in the review section what your favorite part/line from the chapter was. (Mine was Will touching Nico's back while getting him soup XD) And as always, if you enjoyed the content and want more, follow and favorite the story, and leave suggestions, comments, and corrections down in the review section.

Translations;

- G-Grazie, papà. - T-Thanks, Dad.

- dannatamente bene - damn good (XD)

- Papà, se Jason arriva, non lasciarlo in! Io ripeto; non farlo entrare! - Dad, if Jason comes, do not let him in! I repeat; do not let him in!