November 17

Will

It felt like the last two months hadn't even happened. He and Nico had been nearly inseparable since the Feast. Nico had shown him his favorite parts of New Rome in the mornings and the rest of their days were taken up by the the Plebeian Games. They had eaten cannoli at Nico's favorite bakery, watched chariot races, joined in a War Game with the Roman demigods, and toured the med school and hospital. One of the New Rome doctors had even offered Will an internship during the following school year after Nico had gotten him to heal a charioteer with a gash on his shoulder.

Today was the last day of the Games, marked by a final parade from New Rome to Temple Hill. Will and Nico were watching from a balcony by themselves. Nico had gotten frustrated with the crowd on the street, and pulled Will into a shadow. They reappeared on a third floor balcony attached to an empty office space. Will half-heartedly protested that they obviously weren't supposed to be up there, but Nico ignored him.

They were sharing a bag of sweets and pointing out their favorite parts of the procession. Giant sculptures of the gods on top of various wagons and trailers were pulled by groups of their descendants dressed in classic togas who were also throwing gifts to the crowd.

"Nico, we're missing the free pocket knives!" Will pointed at the descendants of Vulcan, dressed in a mix of black, yellow and orange referencing the fires of the forge, who were throwing pocket knives and small hammers.

"I am shocked Terminus is allowing that."

"This view is good but I'll be disappointed if I'm the only person at camp without one of those." Will pouted and grabbed a cookie.

"I'll buy you a pocket knife. It isn't worth getting your feet stepped on. Or getting hit with one of those hammers. Seriously, how did that get past Terminus?"

Will wasn't actually interested in moving from their spot, no matter how good the gifts at street level were. He enjoyed having Nico to himself, and was going to enjoy it while it lasted. Back at Camp Half Blood, Will was worried that Nico's insecurities would get the best of him. What if Drew said something snarky again? Will would've preferred to just stay at Camp Jupiter, where they could leave and walk around the city on their own. But Will knew the relationship between the two camps hadn't gotten to the point of full-time exchange students. Nico was a special case, and Will wasn't prepared to ask Reyna if he could live here too.

They kept watching as different statues moved past them. Fruit and wheat were given out as Ceres rolled by, pearls and seashells for Venus, grapes and pine cones for Bacchus. When Pluto's section reached them, Will burst out with laugher. Nico just smiled as they watched the skeletons and Mrs. O'Leary pull the huge statue. Pluto didn't have other descendants in New Rome besides Nico and Hazel, and Will knew neither were the type to be in a parade, but he hadn't expected ten skeletons wearing black togas to be their replacements. At first, the children watching on the sidelines hid behind their parents when the skeletons approached, but they quickly got over their fear when they realized they were handing out small jewels (not deadly, Will hoped) and poppies.

The two of them watched as the end of the parade moved past, and neither moved to leave even as the last of the crowd dispersed. Fireworks began over Temple Hill and Will leaned back on his elbows to watch.

They sat in silence until the sky fell dark and stars began to emerge. "I don't want to go back tomorrow," Will finally said, now on his back, looking up at the sky.

"Really? Why?" Nico was sitting balled up, with his arms around his knees, watching the city lights.

"I don't know. I guess I'm worried about what will happen."

Nico looked at him. "What will happen with what?"

"You really are dense sometimes," Will turned to look back at Nico. "You know, with whatever we are," he said as he gestured vaguely between them.

"Oh." Nico looked away, down at the empty street.

"I mean, the past few days have been really great. But Nico, Camp is still how you left it. People still gossip, I'm still out … I'm worried you'll disappear again if someone says something. And I'm not saying that you should come out too or anything, just that if we keep hanging out like this people will make their own assumptions. Are you going to be ok with that? And if you aren't, that's fine, but … what then, do we act like we don't know each other or something?"

Nico was quiet for a long time. In the dim light of the streetlamps Will couldn't tell if he was upset or just thinking. Finally Nico shifted and turned to face Will, who leaned up on his elbows.

"Will … I can't make any promises that I won't get overwhelmed or something, but I do promise I won't disappear again. At least without offering to bring you along," Nico half smiled. "I'm scared too, I guess. I mean, right now, sitting here, I don't care what people think and I'd like to believe that when I get back to camp I still won't care. And I definitely don't want to stop hanging out … but it's hard to just let go of that gut reaction, you know? I can't say for sure that I won't be bothered if someone says something. But I won't take off because of it again."

Will nodded. "That's a start."

Nico glanced at him and gave him a small smile. Then he looked back down at the ground and seemed to steel himself. Will felt a pang of nerves about what he was going to say next.

"Well, and... if you just want to stay friends or something I totally get it and it's fine… but I'd still like to go on a date sometime. You know, if you want. And, I mean, it wouldn't have to be secret or something."

Will's heart leapt and he sat up. "Yes. Absolutely, Nico. Wherever you want to go." Will felt like he could live for days off of Nico's smile.

Will didn't trust himself not to say something cheesy and embarrassing, so he just reached out and pulled Nico into a hug. For a second Nico tensed, but then returned the hug and burrowed his head under Will's chin. Will leaned back down and Nico curled up in a ball next to him. They wrapped their arms around each other and Will couldn't say how long they stayed cuddling on the balcony, not saying anything.

Finally, the clock at the city center struck 10pm and Nico sat up. "We have to get back for bunk checks. Come on," and he tugged Will into the shadow of the door.

They reappeared in front of the barracks. Nico turned to look at Will and blushed a little. "So… I guess I'll see you in the morning. On the way back to camp." He seemed unsure of what to do.

Will smiled and leaned down, kissing Nico on the cheek. "Goodnight Nico. I'll save you a seat."

Nico blushed even more and smiled and they both turned toward their respective sleeping quarters. Will couldn't stop grinning, even after he'd gotten into his bunk across from Kayla's and she threw a pillow at him, smirking and shaking her head.