It was the monthly Counselors' meeting day.

Every Cabin Counselor was gathered at the Ping Pong table at the Big House. Nico was the last to come into the room. He had been going around the camp looking for Will after he came back from school. He hadn't seen Will since the lunch break and none of his friends had seen him either. At school he thought that Will might be at the camp, but now he was proven wrong.

"Did anyone see Will?" he asked the room in general, stopping at the door.

"Isn't he supposed to be going on a supply run today?" Chiron asked Percy, lifting his head from the book he was reading, from his seat next to Seymour the leopard head.

"He was. But he was supposed to go with me after school. But I never saw him so I thought maybe he wanted to go after the meeting." Percy sounded calm enough but Nico could literally see the wheels turning in his head and Nico was beginning to worry himself. If Percy worried about somebody apart from Annabeth there was definitely something to worry about.

"Hey," Connor Stoll sat upright in his chair. "I saw him with that legacy of Venus, what's his name again? Mike or something. He said he was going out." Connor frowned. "So you didn't assign them to go together?" he asked Chiron.

"Obviously not. I assigned Percy to go with Will. Piper, is this child of Venus capable of defending himself?"

"I don't think so." Piper swallowed. Nico felt panic starting to set in. Annabeth patted Piper's hand encouragingly and waved Nico to the closest chair. Nico flopped down on the chair as Piper started talking again.

"He isn't a bad guy or anything. He has mild powers of Charm speaking and zero combat abilities. I don't really know him much to say anything else. And I have no idea how he even knows Will" Piper finished.

"What the hell is Will doing with him then?" Nico growled.

It was the undoing of emotions for Nico's friends. He didn't know how much

"Come on Nico! Don't tell me you are jealous of this guy." Travis teased, grinning toothily at Nico.

"Enough of this nonsense. I'm going to go look for him." Nico pushed his chair back and stood up. Jealousy was the last thing in his mind as he thought about possible scenarios Will can be in. It has been painfully obvious to Nico that Will was not capable of defending himself. But there was a little bit of jealousy too. He couldn't understand the reason Will went with a legacy of Venus of all the people. His insecurities were surfacing but for now he set them aside to focus on Will.

His mind was racing past various scenarios. He clearly remembered his step-mother's words clearly. They were supposed to look after Will. But now Will has gone out with an inexperienced demigod, and they had no idea where to. He needed to get to Will before he could get into some trouble. For months they have been very careful not to let Will get out of their sight. One of them had always been with him wherever he went. It didn't bother Will at all which surprised Nico. It was easier for all of them to spend time with each other than with the rest of the camp. Of course they were perfectly friendly, but it was just a façade in front of the campers. Apart from Will, all the others shared experiences they rather kept to themselves. They didn't mind having Will around when they wanted to talk about those experiences. Partly because Will was a good listener (which Nico found amusing knowing Apollo's ability to not listen.) He even got Percy to open up about Tartarus which was a feat itself. He suggested a herbal bath to Percy which was a combination of demigod healing and nature magic to keep his nightmares at a bay. Now he wasn't even surprised when Percy, Annabeth and Piper rose from their places to join Nico. As Chiron started to speak the door burst open and Alex came into the room, rushing.

"Chiron! You are needed at the infirmary. Will just came back from the city and he fainted as soon as he entered the camp. The guy who went with him is hurt a little…."

Alex couldn't finish what he was saying as Nico ran out of the room closely followed by his friends and Chiron.

Will had been unconscious for two hours. He hadn't been hurt when he came to the camp and according to the patrol guards and the infirmary staff. The legacy of Venus wasn't hurt either, but he was scared to death that they had to wait for an hour before he started talking.

"I need you to tell me what attacked you, child. Without that I can't treat Will," Chiron had patiently asked him.

"I… I don't know," was the boy's response.

"How can you not know? Aren't you a demigod?" Annabeth fumed at him.

"Look here Sugar! I AM a demigod. But that doesn't mean that I go around risking my life like you silly ones. I don't run into a fight with some monster. I simply closed my eyes when Will shouted. Besides we are not forced to learn the names of all the monsters that crawl on earth. It is very safe in New Rome, unlike here." He turned his nose up.

"Then what in the Hades are you doing here?" Percy voiced Nico's question for him. For once he forgot to even quip about the abuse of his father's name.

"I am here for Will." Mike said, looking directly at Nico.

Everybody was watching Mike with their jaws on the floor.

"Two years back the Augury predicted that my destined partner is a son of Apollo. I have been looking for him all this time. Then when I met Will here I instantly knew that this was the person I have been looking for," Mike turned and stared directly at Nico. "I know you think you have a thing going on between the two of you. But it ain't true Hon. You better find a new boy for yourself." He sneered at Nico.

"Mike, go to your cabin and do not bring up this particular conversation ever again. Do you understand me?" Chiron looked intimidating enough to silence a monster. The boy did not argue the Centaur and went running out of the infirmary.

"Nico, go and sit by Will and keep an eye on him. Rest of you; come with me to the Big House." He trotted off the infirmary and the other demigods followed him out after reassuring Nico.

Nico was holding Will's limp hand in his own while he ran his fingers through the older boy's soft hair. His heart ached to see the drained look on Will's face. Will was almost always so buoyant, which made him annoying at times. He was as capable as Percy at acting immature, and had Nico rolling around laughing half the time they were together. The other times he was so beautiful and sensual that he stole Nico's breath away.

"Will."

Nico dropped his head and touched the pale smooth forehead of the other demigod with the softest kiss. Next was on the tip of the nose and then the next on those luscious full lips.

"Please wake up Will," he murmured against Will's lips.

He was used to waiting. Nico thought of himself as a master of waiting. Mostly the things he waited for never came to pass. But this time he was sure the wait was going to be worth it. His fingers ran through the golden locks and traced a line from Will's temple to jaw and his thumb drew lazy circles on Will's cheek.

He sighed and picked up the book on the bedside table.

After about two hours Annabeth came and sat next to Nico.

"How are you holding up?" she quietly asked.

Nico didn't reply right away and Annabeth seemed willing to wait.

"Do you think it is true?"Nico questioned without meeting the penetrating grey eyes.

"No."

"How can you be so sure Annabeth? What guarantee do you have to believe that Percy will always be yours? You do know about Rachel, Calypso, Reyna and all the others, don't you? At least you know you are good enough for him. But what makes you so confident about me and Will?"

"Yes, you are right. I don't have the guarantee. But that what it is about. Trusting the other. I have to believe that he loves me for a reason and trust that reason. There is no point of going in rounds and rounds asking why. So just don't wallow in pity and trust what you two have together."

For some unfathomable reason it did make sense and Nico believed what Annabeth told him. Besides Annabeth knew everything about trusting love, and Nico had seen it himself when Percy was taken away. He smiled at Annabeth and she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Nico felt determined. He was going to try and keep his insecurities away and be strong for Will. He would not let anybody come in between him and Will, that he was sure about.

"You are mine," he told the sleeping form of Will as he picked the book back up, "you will always be mine if I have anything to do with it."