Will

He knocked hesitantly on the Hades cabin door. He wasn't quite sure why he felt nervous. He was leaving in soon to go home for Thanksgiving, and found himself stalling before coming to say goodbye to Nico. Maybe it was because he wasn't sure if Nico would even be here when he got back, and it would all feel like a weird dream. Or maybe it was because he wasn't sure what he and Nico actually were in the first place, and he didn't know if he should say goodbye as a friend or as a boyfriend or as someone in between. They had been back at camp for less than a week and only had a few days of classes before going on break. He and Nico had fallen into their old pattern - hanging out between classes and talking after meals and Nico even made good on his promise to help in the infirmary. But even though Nico said that he didn't care if anyone knew he was gay, Will didn't want to make any assumptions about what that looked like. So he had been as neutral and platonic as he could in hopes that Nico would take his hand at a campfire or return the kiss on the cheek or something, but there had been no clear signs from the other boy.

Nico opened the door and looked like he just woke up. His hair was messy and he was in an oversized sweatshirt and Will thought he had never looked so adorable.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Did you seriously just wake up? It's almost 11!" Will can't help himself and reaches out to fluff Nico's hair.

Nico bats his hand away and tries to fix it, turning back into his cabin. "Get out of here, Solace. I'm allowed to sleep in, there's no class today."

Will follows him in and sits on Hazel's bed, across from Nico, who had crawled under the covers again. "I brought you some TV shows to catch up on while I'm gone: Walking Dead and The Sopranos." Will put the stack on his bedside table

"Will," Nico says, taking the top DVD to look at the back, "I'm more than just an Italian who can raise people from the dead, you know."

Will rolls his eyes. "I don't have many options, Nico. They were the only good shows that didn't have discs missing or big scratches." But maybe also because Nico was an Italian who could raise the dead.

"No, I appreciate it," he grins, glancing up at Will, "thank you. I'll give you my full review when you get back."

Will smiles back. There's an awkward silence. At least, Will thinks it's awkward. It's hard to tell with Nico, who has begun to read the back of the Walking Dead case again.

"Well… uh, have a good Thanksgiving." Will started to stand but Nico looked up at him in surprise at sat up.

"Oh. Right now? Um, wait a sec."

Will sat back onto the bed, confused.

"So, I was thinking…" Nico wasn't holding his gaze for more than a second at a time. "If you still wanted to go on that date? Like, maybe next Saturday?"

Will tried to play it cool, but knew he had a huge smile on his face. "Yeah, absolutely. I… I wasn't sure if you still wanted to."

"What? Why?" Nico looked genuinely confused. Will wished he hadn't said anything.

"Oh, I mean, since we got back you just seemed… I don't know. It's stupid. I just thought you might have changed your mind about being out or something."

"What? No. I mean, I really don't know how to do any of this. At all. I definitely still … you know … like you. A lot." Nico was staring at the floor and chewing on his lip and blushing.

Will smiled again and said, "Good. I definitely still like you a lot too." He stood and glanced at the door. "Uh, I do need to go soon though, Cecil's mom is giving me a ride into the city."

Nico nodded and stood up too, still biting his lip. Will didn't feel awkward anymore, though. He had the confirmation he needed. And a date for next Saturday. He felt a little giddy.

"Hey Nico?" Nico just raised his eyebrows and looked up at him, not saying anything. "Can I kiss you?"

Nico's mouth fell open for a second. Will's heart couldn't get any lighter. Nico nodded and then hoarsely said, "y-yeah."

Will stepped closer and leaned down and kissed Nico. It was gentle and innocent and sweet and lasted just a couple seconds but also felt like it could've been a week. He pulled back and they just looked at each other for a moment, a faint smile on Nico's lips and what was probably a stupid looking grin on Will's face.

Then there was a loud banging on the cabin door and the moment ended and Cecil was yelling, "Will! Mom's here, we've got to go."

Will cleared his throat and took a step back. "Ok, well, see you on Monday." Nico was still standing there, just staring at him, but he nodded absently and Will left.

Outside, Lou Ellen and Cecil were leaning against the porch next to Will's bag. They both turned when Will closed the door.

Lou Ellen took one look at his face and broke into a smile. "Ok, what just happened?"

Will tried to look innocent. "What? Nothing. Aren't we leaving?"

"No, no, no. You went in there looking almost nauseous. Now you look like you hung out with a million puppies. Something happened in there. Something good. You aren't about to escape into Cecil's mom's car without telling us."

Will sighed and pulled them to start walking toward Half Blood Hill. "Fine. We're going on our date next Saturday and we kissed. Like, a small kiss, but still."

Lou Ellen smirked. "I knew it. Finally." She poked him in the arm. "He better not screw up again, though, I'm serious."

Cecil rolled his eyes. "Lou Ellen, Will can take care of himself."

"Cecil, you know Will is prone to moping."

"I'm right here."

"Will, all I'm saying is that he better not put one toe out of line. I'm keeping an eye on him."

Will huffed. "I thought you said that you liked him now."

"No, what I said was that when we had class together on Monday he was a good sport about me practicing mist tricks on him. I did not say that I liked him."

"I like him," Cecil said, shrugging.

"Thank you, Cecil. You were always my favorite." Will threw his arm around him.

"Cecil just likes him because he thinks skeletons are cool and Nico seems vaguely anti-establishment."

"Accurate," Cecil says, nodding.

"Ok well after the break maybe we can all hang out or something. He's funny, in an introverted sort of way."

"Mhmm. Barrel of laughs, that one. That's all I hear about Nico di Angelo, that he inherited Hades' fabulous sense of humor."

"Shut it, Lou Ellen," Will laughed. Cecil's mom waved to them and the three piled their bags into the trunk of her car and settled in to answering mom-questions about New Rome and their classes and how their half-siblings were doing.