"Will!"

"Yes?"

"Will!"

"Yes?"

"Where are you?"

"Up here!" A cheery voice yelled from the trees.

Nico spun around, staring up through the branches. Squinting his eyes at the light, he made out Will's lanky figure perched on a branch.

"What in Hades name are you doing?!"

"Climbing!"

"Well, I gathered that. But why?"

Will began to scramble down the truck of the tree towards him. Nico's heart skipped a beat as he slipped, but he regained his footing almost immediately. Grinning widely, he climbed downwards until he could drop safely to the ground. "I wanted to see the sun."

"Okay..."

"It's beautiful in summer. And I like seeing my dad."

"You're not meant to look directly at the sun, you know that?"

"Don't be boring." Will wandered over and draped his arm around his shoulders.

"I think that was more sensible than boring, really."

"They're the same thing. Next you'll be telling me I shouldn't have shot that sonic arrow at Clarisse."

"No, that was funny. Shame you missed her."

"It only took a week to fill in the hole in the hill." Will smirked at him, clearly not sorry. He eyes glinted. "So, any reason you came to find me, or were you just desperate to see my beautiful face?" He jokes, and Nico's stomach twisted.

"Um, yeah. Kinda."

There's silence for a few seconds before he realised he was meant to continue.

"Will, it's the first of July."

"You know the date, congratulations."

"It's the Fourth of July in three days."

"You can also count. Gold star."

"Stop making this so difficult, for Gods sake." He whined and swatted at him halfheartedly, but Will spun away before he can make contact. "Will, it's the fireworks in three days."

"You keep making obvious statements like that."

"Fine." He took a long breath. "Will, will you go to the fireworks with me?"

"Oh." Suddenly Will's arms were around his neck, so he couldn't look anywhere but at his bright smile. "I thought you'd never ask."

"Is that a yes?"

"Slowpoke, of course it's a yes."

The fireworks this year were better than ever.

(Not that Nico had ever been to see them before. It was his first summer at camp. But still. They were beautiful.)

Made even better by Will's hand in his throughout.

They stayed sitting down by the lake for hours. Long after the final frames of light flashed across the sky, and the other campers snuck off to the 'secret' party in the Hermes Cabin (which Dionysius arranged).

He and Will leant against one another in the faint light of the moon, watching the naiads dart around in the lake, wound up by the excitement of the night. Beyond the faint sounds of the wind in the forest behind them, it was silent.

"Nico?"

"Yes?"

"You okay?"

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay." Will squeezed his hand. "I was just thinking, we've come a long way in a year."

"We have, haven't we?"

"Yep. This time last year, the whole world was falling apart."

"It was. And I was... not well."

He felt Will wince beside him, and felt a pang of guilt. It all felt so disconnected now. Like it had been some other son of Hades captured in Tartarus. Another demigod kept in a jar for bait. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No." Will shifted slightly so he could look at his face. "It's true. You shouldn't not mention it. I just don't like hearing about the boy I love being hurt."

"I... Wait." His eyes widened, shocked. "You've never said that before."

Will looked down, and even in the faint light the redness of his cheeks was obvious. "Said what?"

"That thing. The love thing."

"I haven't?"

"Somehow I think I'd remember if you had."

"Oh." His face flushed more. "I thought I had. I've thought about it enough."

"You have?"

"Yeah." He shifted away slightly, staring at the trees behind them. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mess things up or anything. Just forget I said-"

Nico flung his arms around him, stronger than he thought possible. And then, to his dismay, felt tears in his eyes.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" He muttered into Will's shirt.

"I'm sorry."

"Not about that. You're an idiot for apologising."

"I never wanted to mess things up." He whispered, so quietly Nico had to strain to hear.

"You haven't. I love you too, Will. Gods, I love you so much."

"Honestly?"

"Yes. I swear it. On the Styx. On anything. I love you, Will."

And then Will was crying too. And kissing him.

A stray firework exploded above them, illuminating the sky a thousand different colours.

Which made this pretty much the best night of Nico's life. Ever.