A/N: For PoisonBones :3

America fic!

Nico stepped into the McDonald's with his backpack slumped over his shoulder. Stupid professors assigning him a paper due Monday. As if he didn't have enough to do already.

'Enough' pretty much referred to the blonde standing behind the counter in the visor. He immediately marched towards him, ready to rant about his idiotic teachers over a milkshake.

They had planned to spend all weekend together, a sort of romantic getaway from schoolwork. Will still had work, but at least they would have the apartment all to themselves. Will's roommates had gone home for the weekend and they'd leapt at the chance. Nico had never stayed over at his apartment yet and he was excited to finally be able to act like a real couple. But then Dr. Chiron decided to throw a surprise paper at him on the differences between Greek and Roman warfare strategies. Nico could care less about ancient, dead civilizations when he had a very lively boyfriend waiting for him.

"You won't believe what my Ancient Civ prof did," Nico complained as soon as he approached Will, casually throwing his bag on the counter like he lived there. He practically did most days. Thankfully, it wasn't busy in the slightest so Nico didn't have to worry about other customers giving him lip for holding up the line.

Will, who was stocking cups, turned around to face him, and Nico recoiled. "What happened?" Will asked in a groggy, stiff voice. His face was pale and flushed, eyes a bit swollen and watery, and his nose was red. His eyes were lacking that boyish charm that made Nico stare at him for hours. Will sniffled delicately and Nico's concerns immediately went to him.

"What happened to you?" Nico frowned. "You look awful."

Will chuckled. "Gee. Thanks, babe."

"You know what I mean." He crossed his arms. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, 'm okay!" Will slurred, waving him off with what Nico assumed was supposed to be a reassuring shrug.

"You don't look or sound okay."

"It'z jus' a bit of allergies. 'M fine!" Will tried to smile reassuringly. "Totally ready for our weekend alone!" Will probably meant to look charming, but his hand slipped off the counter and he nearly smacked his face off the register instead.

Nico was torn between laughing and telling him off, but instead he just reached over and placed his palm flat against Will's forehead. "You're burning up!" he scolded, hands immediately on his hips. "Will!"

"What?" Will whined, straightening up with a huff. "I feel fine, Dad!"

"How long have you had that fever?"

"I don't… not long…"

"Will," Nico hissed warningly.

His shoulders slumped. "This morning. I took some ibuprofen and hoped it would go away by now but…"

"You idiot," Nico growled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Will pouted. "Cuz you'd yell at me."

"Damn straight." He huffed. "When's your shift over? Go tell your manager you're leaving early."

"What?" Will went even paler. "Have you even met my manager? She'd cook you alive just for saying that! She runs a tight ship, man!"

Nico remained firm. "So do I. Who would you rather have on your bad side?"

Will glanced behind him and back. Nico could practically see him weighing the options on other side before he seemed to make a decision and sighed. "Be right back," he muttered and trudged into the back.

Grinning victoriously, Nico put his backpack on and zipped up his jacket. A little bit of manipulation in a relationship never hurt anybody. He waited at his usual booth for Will to stumble out. It didn't take long for Will to show up, already in his coat and looking defeated. "She yelled at me for coming in at all," he sniffled.

"Well, that's what you get."

"Mean."

Nico rolled his eyes and took Will's elbow, gently leading him out the restaurant and into the chilly air. "Don't you have a scarf?" Nico scolded, already unwrapping the one around his neck and draping it over Will's.

Will was strangely quiet during their walk. Every once in a while, Nico would miss a turn or stop and blink at a street sign in confusion and Will would tentatively mutter directions under his breath. "I know where I'm going!" Nico would stammer, cheeks pink, and started tugging Will down the sidewalk.

"Course you do," Will chuckled before erupting into coughs.

Nico grimaced and pulled him along faster. When they made it to Will's apartment, Nico fished the keys out of Will's jacket and unlocked it before guiding Will inside. "Pre-med, my ass." Nico pointed to the couch. "Sit down. Don't throw up."

Will rolled his eyes. "Oh, I feel better already."

"Shut it."

Will leaned over and pushed a kiss to the top of Nico's head. "Look, it's just a cold. I'm going to go put some jammies on and take some Nyquil and I'll be fine."

Nico hesitated. "Maybe… maybe blow your nose, too."

A horrified look overcame Will as he slapped a hand over his nose and scurried away. "For real? Ugh, Nico, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Nico shook his head, trying to dispel the smile on his face as Will disappeared into the bedroom. A few moments later, he heard Will begin to cough again. He frowned. There had to be something more he could do. What did people do when their boyfriends were sick? He briefly considered texting someone for help but immediately dismissed the idea. Percy and Jason would be just as clueless, Annabeth would give him a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo that he didn't understand, and he really didn't need another one of Leo's innuendos. No, he could take care of Will just fine on his own.

He went into the bathroom, digging through the medicine cabinet for any sort of cold medicine. Will actually didn't have Nyquil, but he had Dayquil. Did it make a difference? Was it bad to take Day-quil at night? For all Nico knew, there were some sort of harmful chemicals that interfered with sleep-schedules and he could be poisoning Will. He put the Dayquil back onto the shelf worriedly and found some tablets of Alka-Seltzer. He grabbed the box and started reading.

"For severe cough, mucus, and congestion," he muttered and frowned again. What qualified as severe? What if he overmedicated? Was that possible? "Ugh." Nico hit his head off of the cabinet door. Why was he stressing over this so much?

"Nico?" Will appeared at the door. He was dressed in sweatpants, an overlarge hoodie, and too-bright socks. "What'cha doing?"

"Uh," was Nico's intelligent response.

Will came closer and looked into the medicine cabinet. He grabbed the Alka-Seltzer seemingly without though. "Thank God these things come in pill form now," he said as he tore open the package. "I always hated when my mom would make me drink a whole glass while the thing was still fizzing. Nasty."

"Is that all right to take?" Nico asked quickly, pointing at the pill. "I mean, it says for severe cough."

Will snorted. "It's fine."

Nico glanced away when he felt his cheeks heating up. "All right," he muttered and walked out of the bathroom. Okay, so Will got the medicine. What else could he do? He looked into the kitchen. Cook. He could cook. "Are you hungry?" he called over his shoulder.

"Hm?" Will poked his head out.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

Will grimaced. "Oh, uh. I don't know. Stomach's kinda queasy."

Nico nodded. "Still… have you eaten anything at all today?"

"I, uh, had some apple slices at work?"

He sighed. "Sit down. I'll see if there's anything you can eat."

He searched through the kitchen cabinets and the fridge, but found only the typical college dietetics - Doritos, popcorn, soda cans, pizza rolls, etc. Nico glanced at the packaging and blanched. Could pizza rolls go bad? Nico made a mental note to take Will grocery shopping when he felt better. Did he eat that sort of crap on a daily basis? No wonder he was ill.

"Will, your kitchen sucks!" he shouted and heard Will chuckle.

"I know. I don't really have the time to keep it stocked."

Nico hummed. He wasn't about to let Will eat stale chips and freezer-burn for dinner. His stomach would upchuck that in two minutes flat. He dug through the cupboards again. What was even all right for someone with an upset stomach to eat? Toast? Ginger Ale? He remembered his sister giving him soup when he had gotten the flu last winter but the only cans Nico found in Will's kitchen were full of expired pie-filling. He could go get some. Though, he had no idea how to get to the nearest supermarket from here. He couldn't even drive.

Again, he thought about phoning for help, but that would be admitting defeat and he really didn't want his friends mucking up their weekend. After all, even though Will was hacking up a lung and a half in the living room, they were still together.

In the end, he found some bread and shoved it into a toaster. It got stuck in the slots and a heavy burnt smell filled the air so Nico had to unplug it and fish it out with a fork. He probably put too much jam on it, but hopefully that would cover up the burnt taste.

"Boun appetito," he muttered and dropped the plate onto the coffee table.

Will picked up a piece and scrutinized it, turning it in all different directions. "Did you toast it or use a flamethrower?"

Nico sat down beside him, arms crossed and nose in the air. "If you don't want it then don't eat it."

Will frowned, looked at the horribly burnt toast and back at Nico a few times, and gave a long-suffering sigh. He nibbled at the edge. "Ugh. I think that jelly is bad."

Nico threw his hands up in surrender. "You're supposed to be the healthy one! What happened to the four food groups?" He glared. "And you called McDonald's bad!"

"Actually," Will swallowed his bite, "there are five food groups. And between work and school and meeting up with you I don't really have a lot of time. Also, McDonald's is way worse than this. You have to pay for your stomach virus there." He winked and held up his burnt toast. "This is free!"

Nico wanted to smack him, as disparaging Nico's cooking was beyond unwise, but Will gave a sniffle and his resolve faltered. He couldn't inflict pain on someone that was already miserable. He looked away angrily, glaring at the television.

"Oh, come on! I didn't mean it like that!" Will whined. "You're an awesome cook! It's my American appliances. They can't keep up with your Italian talent."

If anyone else had said that, Nico would have punched them in the balls. But, it was Will and he was sick so Nico relaxed back into the couch and let Will wrap an arm around him. "Damn right," he muttered.

Will laughed, though it sounded hoarse and raspy. "So much for our romantic weekend, huh?" He sighed. "I'm sorry. This wasn't exactly what I was picturing."

Nico snorted. "And what were you picturing?"

"Candles, a real dinner, Netflix." Will shrugged with a lopsided grin. "You know. The classics."

A smile cracked Nico's stony features. He tried to hide it. "Netflix? How thoughtful."

Will laughed again. "Babe, if I could I would watch every single movie on there if it meant being with you." Well that was… actually quite sweet. He opened his mouth to say something nice back, but Will continued, "Though… I'd pop the popcorn. Apparently, someone likes to burn things," he taunted, dancing the charred toast in front of Nico's face.

"Oh, you sweet talker, you," Nico replied dryly.

Will grinned. "You know it." He leaned back, taking another bite of his toast with a loud crunch. "So, what now?"

Nico looked at him.

"Like… we could watch a movie or you could just go or—"

Nico frowned. "Do you want me to go?"

"What? No!" Will pouted. "I didn't mean it like that! I just… I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to. I know I'm not exactly an eye-catcher right now."

Nico shook his head. "You're more of an eye-catcher than you think," he mumbled before realizing it then blushed at his confession.

Will just smiled. "Right back at ya. But just forget about what I said. Stay. Please!" He emphasized his point by wrapped his arms around Nico and squeezing him tightly, holding him to his chest. Nico growled and tried to break free, but Will's cold hadn't affected his stubborn strength at all.

"All right, fine! Fine! Just let me breath, will you?"

Will released him. "Sorry. We can still watch some movies and cuddle?"

Nico took in a sharp breath and glared at him. "You're such a kid," he accused before settling back along Will's side. "I get to pick what we watch first."

"Yessir!"

By midnight, Nico was fighting to keep his eyes open. Will had drifted off, using Nico's shoulder as a pillow as he snored softly. Nico moved his hand from Will's head to the controller and, after fiddling with it for a few minutes, managed to turn everything off. "Hey," Nico whispered, gently shaking his boyfriend, "Will. Wake up."

"Hnn?" Will opened his eyes. "Whatisit?"

"Movie's over. Come on. Time for bed."

Will nuzzled Nico's neck before agreeing. Nico tried to help him up but Will just waved him away. "I'm all right!" he yawned out, rubbing the back of his head. "Man, your shoulder is pointy."

Nico huffed but followed Will into his room. Will immediately fell into bed face-first, groaning into his pillow. Nico had enough sense left to change into his pajamas he'd brought along. As he sat down on the bed, he felt a twinge of disappointment. He hadn't taken very good care of Will at all. He wanted to be one of those kind and caring boyfriends that could turn any bad thing into a good situation, but he'd just complained and fed Will burnt toast. Not very caring of him.

Sighing, he lay down beside Will, wondering why Will put up with him at all. He was surprised when Will immediately curled into him, wrapping an arm around his chest and abandoning his pillow in favor of Nico's shoulder. "I thought it was pointy," he said softly.

Will chuckled. "I still like it." He yawned again. "Thanks for staying," he slurred sleepily.

Warmth spread through Nico. He was thankful the dark could conceal his goofy grin as he pulled Will closer. Perhaps he hadn't been as useless as he'd thought.

Swiftly, he ducked down and kissed Will goodnight. Will lurched away, covering his mouth with his hand. "Germs," he complained, voice muffled.

Nico scoffed and knocked away Will's hand. "I don't care if you have a cold or bad breath or freaking laryngitis. I'll kiss you whenever I want."

Will smiled. "No complaints here," he said and Nico met his lips again.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise when they both woke up feeling awful, but it was worth it just by being able to pass each other tissues while snuggled up on the couch watching old reruns of sitcoms.

Moreover, Nico's illness earned him an extra day for his paper.