You can find the links to everyone's outfits in my profile! I'll be setting them up later.

I'm sorry for the late update! My computer still isn't fixed, I have to take it in to the shop. But, fortunately, all of my files and whatnot have been saved! Thanks for all of the well wishes, you guys *insert heart here*

Wasn't the last chapter just so thrilling? I even sparked a review out of Chelsee! Ah, I mean EffervescentGrace.

But seriously, I'm a bit shocked by the reaction. Did I not warn you guys?

ALSO 700 REVIEWS WOW! THANKS SO MUCH!

GUEST REVIEWS

Toolazytodream: *falls dramatically out of bed* *screeches* MY SKILL LEVEL IS NOWHERE NEAR THAT OF AN ACTUAL BOOK OMFG. Ah yes have an update. UH IT IS *NOT* PHENOMENAL (you spelled it right tho so kudos to u). Yeah, the rest of my week was…iffy, to put it at best.

Hikaru: Sorry. Have this to make up for any tears that I have caused! And Will and Nico dancing to Uptown Funk would be amazing holy crap.

Guest: Shh I soothe your tears with this chapter

Guest: I'LL BE YOUR NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET-SHOT YOU WITH CHAPTER 25 AND I DON'T REGRET IT! Not sorry never sorry lmao. Thank you, and here's the update!

SweetNibblets: Why don't you read on and find out?

Pi not Pie: Why not? And read to find out…

Reynaromana: Will is so far from okay man. And thanks about my characterization of the gods! And yes he is. Nah, Nico wouldn't go that far (I think). Thanks for trying to get me to 666 reviews! That headcanon fits him so well omg. And me too. Aw, wish I had midwinter break! No apologies lmao. And you have to approve guest reviews. Dear Christ be careful, that's a lot of coffee beans. ENOUGH TO MAKE MY SYSTEMS GO-OH MY GODS SOLANGELO, SOLANGELO, OH MY GODS SOLANGELO, SO-LAN-GE-LO! I'm going to tell my Chemistry teacher that Valentine. Are you okay now?

Guest: Oh, yes.

ChocoChopsticks: Thanks! Wait how do you know about "APOLLO!" then bc that was literally over two years ago. Yeah, I was pretty young. THAT'S NOT INSPIRING THO AHAH. Yes, we had literally no idea about Nico's sexuality. I can just hear 13-year-old me screaming about it again. I'm (mostly) mature now. Yes, times have changed! "APOLLO!" definitely isn't the best, it's the worst (besides Cupcakes, Dipper Goes to Taco Bell, Wirt Goes to McDonald's, Homestuck High, and My Immortal though). I've barely evolved tho lmao. Yes Uncle Rick please make my OC's canon. NO APOLOGIES ABOUT CHAPTER 25 HAHA. Hm, I have seen that. We do tend to baby Nico, and Will is the guilty party of a lot of their fights. I HAVE NOT GROWN AT ALL. Shh you are though if you wrote any fanfiction I would definitely read it. I AM NOT THAT'S LIKE GHOSTYSTARR AND BIANCADIANGENO AND EFFEREVESCENTGRACE AND MOONSHROOM420 AND MORBIDBOOKWORM AND A THOUSAND OTHER WRITERS! But you're welcome!

Guest: Here's the update!

Guest: *eye twitch* Ah. I forgot about that. *rams head into table*. Yup, it just all went to shit! Proves that you shouldn't believe every rumor that you hear lol.

Nowdeadthanks: Oh my god your username thing I shouldn't be laughing I'm a terrible person. Did I seriously make you that sad? Omg.

Guest: How could this happen to meeeeeee, I've made my mistaaaaaaakes…

Guest: Are you Gamzee in disguise my good sir

UPDATEUPDATE: I'm so sorry that it's a week late, but here you go!

Hiro Helena: Thank you!

Guest: I meant that I'm okay with Guest Reviews. Because after I take down the chapter, all reviews will still exist, which means that people with accounts wouldn't be able to review again. And, trust me, everyone will want to review this chapter.

Swag: Thanks!

Guest: Ahh thank you!

Sadaboutnoupdate: I couldn't just leave you guys hanging if I could provide the reason why I couldn't update! And thank you! I honestly couldn't just leave out other sexualities and genders, since I'm part of the ones that people leave out (Genderfluid and pan, anyone?). Thank you!

0kayDamMundies: It was all of the books that I didn't have yet, which were Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, and An Abundance of Katherines. I love Ninjago! I watched it voluntarily lol. Zane's my favorite, and I honestly can't choose a least favorite out of the Seven currently. And Jay is so much like Leo! Oh, yeah, I do that sometimes lol. Gogo is like Thalia, now that you mention it lmao. Oh, he would. Ahh I have too many songs with Solangelo feels. Huh, that is weird. Yes, everyone did that the moment Apollo spewed haikus. And honestly Thalia wouldn't be swayed either way, she got no time for romance. Lexi is me whenever I have no homework lol. I don't know, I could probably do that. I don't know, I haven't seen all of their videos. I'm relatively new to the fandom! Uh, where is that from? Oh, I see. But I don't really ship them anyways. And if it bothers him, then shouldn't people stop?

Guest: What

0kayDamMundies: Oh, I see. That must have been a shocker. Yes, Amy is Amelia, but people either call her Amelia or Amy. It depends. I switch between Hades and Apollo, honestly.

Disclaimer: I think the fact that I referenced an anime in the chapter title should be proof that I am not Rick Riordan. Consider the title an apology for last chapter, Chelsee, and everyone else that knows what anime I'm talking about! Also, I'm terrible at first kiss scenes, especially if they're two guys. Eheh. Heads up.

Chapter 26: Kiss, Kiss-Fall In Love!

Percy may have been famous for being one of the most oblivious demigods in both camps, and possibly the world, but he could tell when something was up.

Nico was disappearing left and right. He definitely wasn't shadow-traveling, but he seemed to decide that leaving his cabin was pointless. After almost two straight days of hoarding himself up in there, he emerged, but he had changed back to his old self-sullen and avoiding questions. All he needed was his aviator's jacket to complete the look. And Percy hated it.

He may have been shitty to Nico in the past, but he was trying to make up for it now. And, honestly, seeing Nico gradually coming out of his shell over the past few months had been a blessing. Especially when he started to warm up more and more to Percy.

Now, it seemed like all of that effort had been for nothing. Maybe Nico was still talking to him, and he wasn't in his cabin all of the time, but he had still shut down somewhere. If Percy-or anyone- for that matter-asked him any personal questions, he stared blankly ahead and refused to answer. Jason wasn't getting through to him, and neither were Hazel and Reyna.

Nico seemed to have given up on something, but Percy couldn't tell what.

Not to mention Will Solace. Percy could've sworn that he and Nico had been joined at the hip, but the son of Apollo had disappeared-almost at the same time that Nico had changed. He was around at dinner and some cabin activities, but those were the only times that Percy saw him anymore. And, was it just him, or was Will avoiding him? If Percy walked into the infirmary and Will was there, Will would turn around and act busy with something when he obviously wasn't. What was even up with the guy? What had Percy done? Oh, gods of eternal Olympus, he hoped that it wouldn't be a repeat of what had happened between him and Nico.

This had been happening for nearly a week or two, and it was now Friday. Friday the 13th, to be specific, the 13th of February, with none other than Valentine's Day the very next day. And Percy still had no idea what was up with Will and Nico.

And, for that matter, Annabeth and Jason.

Almost as soon as Nico and Will had changed their behaviors, so had Jason and Annabeth. Percy often caught them whispering to each other, even though they didn't tell him what they were whispering about. And when Percy asked Piper about it, she just shrugged and claimed not to know anything either. He doubted it, though. She was Jason's girlfriend-she could worm just about anything out of the guy.

Now Jason and Annabeth were nowhere to be found. This had also been happening recently, and honestly, it was annoying Percy. He wanted to spend Valentine's Day with Annabeth, especially at the dance, but if she was just going to disappear, then he was seeing no point in doing any of that.

It was time to find out what they were up to.

Percy knocked firmly against the door of the Aphrodite cabin. Most of the cabin should have been down at the Arts and Crafts area, but when Percy had checked a few campers weren't there. One of them was Piper.

The door swung open and, sure enough, Piper stood there. "We're not taking anyone-Oh! Hey, Percy!" She smiled and waved at him.

He waved back. "Hey, Piper. What do you mean, you're not taking anyone?"

"Oh, you know, Valentine's Day and all. Demigods come around all the time asking for help, so usually a few people sit out of each cabin activity to handle the ones that come in when we're all supposed to be, say, canoeing or something."

"Ah." Percy nodded. "And you're the only one?"

"Oh, no, Drew, Amelia, and Lexi are somewhere around. Lexi's reading on her bed. Drew and Amelia…I should really go and look for them, but I'm busy."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "With what?"

"You know. Stuff."

Percy stuck his head in the cabin to see a huge bed sheet hanging around what he presumed was Piper's bed. Across from it, a blonde Latino girl flipped to the next page of her book, completely ignoring Percy and Piper. "Uh-huh. You making a mini-infirmary in here?"

"Uh, no. Why do you think that?"

Percy pointed at the bed sheet, and Piper winced. "Ah. We were hoping that you wouldn't notice that," she muttered.

"Who?"

Piper sighed. "You know how Jason and Annabeth have been hanging out a lot?"

"Annabeth." Percy perked up. "She's here? Wise Girl? Wise Girl!" He moved past Piper to go up to the bed sheet.

"Hang on, Percy!" Piper grabbed Percy's arm, and he turned around to stare down at her. "They might not want you to just barge in."

"What do you mean?"

Piper sighed. "Yup, you definitely have no idea about what just happened."

"What? Did something happen to them?"

"Well, not exactly."

"I'm still going in."

She huffed. "Fine."

"Great!"

Percy poked his head behind the bed sheet that Piper had put up around her bed. "Uh, everything okay?"

Jason laid on his back, head on a pillow, staring up at the ceiling. Annabeth sat a foot or two away from him, massaging her temples as she blew out shaky breaths of air.

"Running a shipping club. It does this to you," Piper commented, stepping in front of Percy and moving past him to sit beside Jason. She picked up the blond boy's head and moved it into her lap. He didn't say a word.

"I've noticed."

"We fucked up," Jason finally said, pushing his glasses back up. "We done fucked up."

"We got so involved and caught up in everything…Ugh! I should've seen this coming!" Annabeth moaned.

Percy sat down beside his girlfriend. "Hey, it's okay, Wise Girl," he soothed. "I wouldn't have seen it coming either, but it's nothing to beat yourself up over."

Annabeth whirled around to face him. "You don't understand, Percy!" she snapped, her gray eyes wild with anger. Percy leaned back. "Because of me, Jason, and the rest of the camp, Nico and Will aren't speaking to each other!"

"Wait…what?" Percy's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "This is what you guys have been whispering about for the past two weeks?"

"What did you think we've been whispering about?" Annabeth's eyes widened. "Oh, gods, you didn't think that I was cheating, did you?"

"No, I didn't! I mean, I knew that Piper was in on it too, somehow, so I realized that you cheating on me with Jason would be ridiculous. I just didn't know if you guys were planning something or what."

Annabeth sighed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Because I never would."

Percy grinned and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I know, Wise Girl."

Piper coughed. "So, do we tell him what exactly you guys have been despairing over for the past few weeks?"

"Sure," Jason replied. "He deserves to know all of it."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "I mean, how do you know that Will and Nico stopped talking to each other? Nico's barely talking to me, and I think Will's avoiding me, although I have no idea why."

"Yeah, we don't know, either." Jason sat up and pushed his glasses up his nose. "But I talked to Nico while he was in his cabin, and all I could get out of him was that he and Will had some sort of disagreement. And I guessed that it was a pretty major one, since Nico was barely talking to me, and was reluctant to get out of his cabin."

Annabeth cut in. "My sister Alexandria helps out in the infirmary sometimes. She came off shift complaining about Will, who was just being sullen all day instead of being a 'literal ball of sunshine' as usual. I stopped in later to grab a few cough drops since my throat was being sore to find out that she was right. This was during the first day that Nico holed himself up in his cabin."

Percy nodded. "Great detective skills."

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain. Then Jason came up to me and said that he couldn't get Nico out of his cabin, so we put two and two together and decided that, maybe, something happened between them."

"I asked Nico why he was down the next day, and that was how I found out that he and Will had their 'disagreement,'" Jason added. "Over what, we still don't know. But if it has anything to do with us…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Percy held up his hands. "So they have a fight, and you guys just think that it has something to do with you?"

Annabeth and Jason nodded.

"Why?"

Annabeth gave him her classic 'Are-you-fucking-kidding-me-Seaweed-Brain' look. "Tell me, Percy, what do Jason and I do that relates to Will and Nico?"

Oh, yeah. The club. Percy slapped his forehead. "Sorry, I've actually forgotten that that club exists."

Annabeth snorted. "Apology accepted."

"Okay, so Will and Nico had an argument, they're both pretty worked up about it to the point where they're not speaking, and we don't know why they fought or how to fix it." Percy sighed. "And you guys have no idea about what to do."

Piper raised her hand. "Correction: They don't. I'm just trying not to get involved in their shenanigans, because something is going to go wrong."

Jason glared up at Piper. "Pipes, why won't you help?" he whimpered. "We could use some children of Aphrodite on our side."

"Uh, no. I don't wanna get all up in their business." Piper shuddered. "I know how that feels like firsthand."

"Oh, yeah, your dad's Tristan McLean. You know, it's so easy to forget that sometimes," Annabeth pointed out.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, especially since I'm not with him all the time anymore. I have to remind myself sometimes," she laughed.

"Right. So you don't have to help us fix Will and Nico's relationship. Percy, do you want to help?" Jason asked.

Percy nodded, sure that he surprised even himself when he did. "Yeah. I don't really want to intrude on his business either, but I'd much rather see him happy instead of mopey like he is now. After all, he's been like that for-gods, how long? Two or three years, at least."

Annabeth winced. "A long time. So we should try to make him happy again. It's sort of our duty as his friends, I guess."

"Yup." Jason pushed his glasses up his nose again. "But where do we start? We can't fix it without knowing what made them fight in the first place."

Something thwacked against the bed sheet, and the four demigods jumped. Jason rolled away from Piper and leapt up into a fighting position. Annabeth whipped her head around and pulled her cap out from her pocket. Percy yanked Riptide out from his pocket and crouched. Piper punched the sheet in response.

A voice on the other side yelped. "Don't kill us!" Piper looked around at everyone and raised her eyebrows. The voice belonged to Drew.

"What?" Annabeth mouthed, looking confused. That was always rare to see on her face.

"I know!" Piper mouthed back, then turned back to the sheet. "Yes, Drew?"

"We kind of heard you talking, and we want to help."

"Uh, sure. 'We?'"

"Yes, it's me and Amelia. Can we come in?"

"Yeah, yeah."

The four demigods settled back down as the bed sheet swung open. Drew walked in, looking sort of pissed, and a guilty-looking freckled redhead that Percy guessed was Amelia followed her. Drew sat down neatly on the floor.

"Now, if you haven't met her yet, this is Amelia McIntyre." Amelia sat down beside Drew and waved nervously. "Now, we've been having a talk for the past two weeks, too, but it's not the same as the one that you guys have been having."

Percy scooted closer to them, and the scuffling noises nearby told him that Piper, Jason, and Annabeth were doing the same. "What about?" Jason asked.

"Tell them, Amelia," Drew ordered, crossing her arms and glaring at her haughtily.

Amelia blushed and looked away from her. "Well, at Halloween, I was talking with my friend Martha-Martha from Demeter, not Iris."

Jason nodded. "Go on."

"So we were just talking about the campers and stuff, right? Then I noticed that Will Solace was carving his pumpkin a few tables away. And Martha and I had been talking about the Solangelo club, plus I had heard something about…Nico having a crush on Percy."

Everyone stared at her. "Where did you hear that?" Percy finally asked.

"Let her finish, hon," Drew chided.

Amelia seemed to shrink in on herself. "And then I thought, 'Hey, if Will really does like Nico, then he'll get jealous if he hears anything about Nico having a crush on someone that's not him, right?' So I started talking about it with Martha really loudly, hoping that Will would hear us and react. He did freeze when we first started talking about it, but then he started to carve again, so we thought that he just didn't hear us and gave it up. And that's what happened." She waved her hands. "Ta-da."

"Okay," Annabeth finally said. "First off, don't talk about people like that. We need to talk about that later." Amelia turned a shade whiter, and Percy couldn't blame her. Annabeth was terrifying. "Second, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Their fight," Drew said. "Turns out that Will did hear Amelia, but he also misheard her and thought that Nico was currently crushing on Percy. I guess he got really worked up over it and confronted Nico about it, and they had a really loud fight and Nico stormed out."

"How do you know about this?" Piper asked, raising her eyebrows.

Drew and Amelia shared a look. "Well, um, Cupid and Favinous came to visit."

Jason took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Cupid talked to Nico, didn't he," he groaned.

Drew looked surprised. "Yes. How did you know?"

"I was there the first time, and I'm not going beyond that. And Favinous talked to Will?" Drew nodded, and Jason groaned again. "By the thrones of the gods, no wonder Will lashed out. Favinous is something else entirely. He must've found some way to rile up Will."

"Sounds like he did," Percy said. "Are they both really that jerky?"

Jason looked panicked. "I don't feel like being blown to bits right now."

"Alright then." Percy straightened up. "What does this mean for us?"

"Well, we're definitely going to need help fixing this," Jason sighed. "Who's good at patching up relationships?"

The bed sheet billowed open, and the Latino girl that had been sitting on the other bed walked in. "I heard what you guys were talking about," she announced.

"Look, Lexi, I was trying-"

"Shut up," Lexi growled, and Amelia closed her mouth, looking huffy. "I told you not to meddle in stuff like this! At least you weren't abusing your powers, like you usually do. Gods of Olympus, have you finally learned your lesson?"

Amelia glared, but nodded. "Yes, Lexi, I suppose I have."

"Good. Don't do it again." Lexi turned to face everyone else. "Honestly, I'm not even surprised that they fought. I've been sensing the tension coming off of them in waves every time I'm near one of them. What surprises me is that it took three months for them to snap."

Jason's brow knitted together in confusion. "Uh, how are you sensing them?"

"My powers. As an asexual and aromantic child of Aphrodite, I've been blessed with the ability to sense platonic feelings. Amelia has these too, but they're not as strong since she's just asexual. Doesn't stop her from screwing around with them, though."

"Shut up!" Amelia snapped. Lexi stuck out her tongue at her before she continued.

"Anyways, are you trying to repair Will and Nico's relationship? Because I've got a few ideas."

Annabeth perked up. "Wait, you do? How?"

"Well, you're going to have to get them to apologize. But they can't know that they're going to have to apologize to each other, otherwise they'll refuse to. Will is extremely stubborn, and I can tell that Nico can be, too."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jason agreed. "But what, exactly? If we lead either of them to a private place to do it, they'll know that something is up."

"Mm-hmm. So you've got to corner them. Bring them somewhere they'll never expect. Force them to go. Unless if you want your plan to go to shit, that is."

"So, like, a public place?" Drew asked.

"For once, you have the right idea," Lexi agreed. Drew narrowed her eyes at her. "And I know just the place."

"What?" Percy blurted.

"Well, what is happening tomorrow?"

Piper's eyes widened. "Oh, no way, Lexi."

"Yes way."

"What?" Then Annabeth gasped. "Lexi, you're a genius! There's no way that they won't apologize there!"

Percy glanced between them, confused. "Uh, tomorrow's Valentine's Day," he pointed out.

Everyone else stared at him. "And what are we doing to celebrate?"

"Uh…" Then Percy got it. "Oh. Oh. Oh! That's where they're apologizing?"

Lexi smirked. "I know just the person to help."

*IT'S TRUE, IT'S TRUE-THAT I'LL LOVE YOU LIKE I ALWAYS DO*

It was the worst day ever.

Nico hated Valentine's Day. Even before his encounter with Cupid, he hated it. He had spent the previous Valentine's Day full of heartache, because Percy had disappeared and he couldn't find him anywhere. The previous two had also been nothing but heartache over Percy, and he had missed nearly three-quarters of a century's worth before that.

And now, this one would just be filled with more heartbreak.

Nico regretted every word that he had said in his fight with Will. After he had left, he had ran into his cabin and thrown himself onto his bed. He screamed into his pillows and yelled at himself-for what, he wasn't sure. There were too many things to choose from. Being a hopeless, heartsick fool was definitely one of the top reasons.

How could he have ever hoped that he was more than friends with Will, that they could somehow be more? It was Percy all over again, and Nico couldn't believe that he had let his heart fall for love all over again. It was disgusting. He was disgusting.

Nico just wanted to curl up in a ball and die, but then Jason appeared seemingly out of nowhere and immediately started to nag him about anything and everything. He somehow managed to worm out of Nico what had happened, even if he didn't say much about it afterwards. Jason then forced Nico out of his cabin at almost every opportunity, forcing him to eat and participate in some activities daily. Nico just went along with it, hoping that Jason would leave him alone if he did. Finally, he did, and Nico went back to going in his cabin to sulk. This went on for over a week, his peaceful loneliness punctuated by visits and an Iris-message from other friends. He told them to fuck off and leave him alone. He didn't desire any type of contact at all for the moment.

Now, the Fates seemed to have turned on him.

"Nico. I swear to every god-major and minor-that I will ban you from Camp Jupiter if you do not move."

"Fuck off, Reyna," Nico mumbled into his pillow.

"Excuse me? No, I am being your friend, and I will not 'fuck off.' Instead, I will be making you fuck off-fuck off from your cabin, that is."

The Valentine's Day dance, the one for both dances, was being held at the Camp Half-Blood pavilion. Originally, it had been planned for the Camp Jupiter pavilion, but a mishap had happened with the Mercury campers and the air spirits, so they had to change the location. Which meant that Nico lost his only good excuse for not going.

"Reyna, I am not budging from this cabin."

"Nico, you are budging from this cabin."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Something wrapped itself around Nico's ankle and yanked him off of his bed. He yelped and looked up to see that Reyna had grabbed his ankle, and was currently dragging him towards his cabin door with ease. "Reyna! Let go of me!"

"No, because then you'd find a way to chain yourself to your bed. It's not healthy to hole yourself up in your room like this."

"I'm-I'm not even dressed for this!"

Without even slowing down, Reyna picked a gray sweater off of the floor and threw it at Nico. It smacked him in the face, and he yelped again. "Pull it over your shirt once we're outside. The others are wanting, and Hazel has been very eager for this."

Nico sighed. Hazel had been pestering him about this constantly, and he couldn't disappoint her. He'd just had to shove his feelings to the side. "Alright, alright. I'll go."

"Good. I suppose this won't fail after all."

"What?"

But Reyna didn't answer. Nico glared daggers at her back.

"Stop glowering at me, Nico," Reyna commanded. Nico swallowed nervously and did as she asked.

Meanwhile, a similar event was happening in the Apollo cabin.

"Will."

"No."

"Will."

"No."

"Will, so help me, I will kick your ass if you don't get out of your bed."

"Go ahead."

It was the worst day ever.

What's wrong with me? Will asked himself every other second. He had just blown up at Nico for nearly no reason at all, only for Nico to start yelling back. And the fight didn't felt any easier when Nico left. Will had just sat and stared at the wall, crying a little, before returning to his cabin and burying his face in his pillow. He still went to the infirmary, since the work there helped to take his mind off of the fight, but it still stung like a dislocated arm being re-set. He just didn't know what to do, so he remained silent and didn't tell anyone about the fight.

Will supposed that, somehow, he had changed, because people kept on asking him what was wrong, what had happened. He just ignored them, or answered them with "I'm fine." If anyone tried to pester him further about it, he just ignored them, burying himself further and further in the infirmary work.

This had been going on for nearly two weeks, and honestly, Will was starting to get tired of holing himself up in the infirmary. But he didn't want to face Nico yet. Yes, Will wanted to talk to him. But no, Nico probably didn't want to talk to him. He probably hated Will now, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. He was probably swooning over Percy still.

But the Fates seemed to have turned on him.

"Idiota," Alex muttered next to him. Zhe were kneeling on the floor next to his bunk. He had turned away from zher, hoping that zhe would go away, but nope.

"I'm not going to this dance, it's just a waste of time," Will replied.

"Dude. Lou Ellen and Cecil will be there. You've barely seen them these past two weeks! Or anyone else besides me and the rest of your siblings, for that matter."

"Leave me alone."

"Everyone else is already there."

"Alex-"

"You don't want to let your siblings down, do you?"

"Alex-"

"Wiiiiiiiillllllllllllllll." A finger started poking his shoulder. "Wiiiiillllliiiiiiaaaaaammmmmmm."

"Shut up!" Will snapped, and rolled over to glare at Alex.

Alex laughed. "At last, he turns! Oh, what a joyous day this is-Hey, have you been crying?"

Shit. "Uh, no. Just some allergies." Will rolled back around to face the wall.

"Jesus Christ, Will. What happened?"

"Nothing!"

"Right, right. You really need to get out if something's making you cry."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"I will curse you so you can't speak for all of next week."

"That's gonna drain you."

"For a good cause. You know that I don't back off on my threats."

Will sighed. There was no stopping Alex. "Alright, fine. I'll go."

"Excellente. Let's go!" Alex leapt back from the bed, and Will saw that his half-sibling actually had zher hair down and brushed, and was wearing a nice blouse instead of a camp shirt.

"Um, Alex, I don't really have anything nice-ish to wear."

"Just a button-down should do. Here, use one of Austin's! He won't mind." Alex threw a collared shirt with white and blue stripes on it.

Will caught it, nearly dropping it in the process. "Uh, won't he mind?"

"It's for a good cause," was Alex's answer. "Now, hurry up before I drag you there!"

"Fine. But don't look!"

Alex turned on zher heel. "I have a girlfriend, bro. Plus, you're my sibling, and that's just nasty."

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to have some privacy."

"True, true. Come on, Lexi will whip my ass if we're not there in time!"

Will froze. "Lexi? As in, Aphrodite Lexi?"

Alex's shoulders hunched up. "Uh, yeah. I was going to hang out with her for a while, before the party really kicked off."

"O-kay." Will decided to ignore that, and continued putting on the shirt.

"Are you decent?" Alex asked after a minute or two.

"Yeah, but this shirt is a bit big on me." He rolled up the sleeves.

"Fine. Can I turn around?"

"Sure."

Alex pivoted again, and gave Will an once-over. "Cool beans. Vamos, ¡mi hermano!" She grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the cabin. He followed, yelping and stumbling.

Nico was in nearly the same position, except it was Reyna and Hazel doing the dragging. They were dressed up for the dance. Reyna was out of her praetor uniform, and was wearing a burgundy dress with a rhinestone decal. Hazel's dress looked like something out of a Minnie Mouse cartoon, if Minnie Mouse wore a belt. This was jarring to Nico, since he wasn't used to seeing either of them in a dress.

"I still don't see why I just have to go," he grumbled.

"Come on, Nico! It's gonna be so much fun!" Hazel bounced in her Mary Jane's. "Everyone is going to be there, and we're not letting you miss out!"

"Who even wants me there?"

"We do," Reyna said. "And so do the rest of your friends."

"Yeah, whatever. Why are you so dressed up?"

"Shut up," Reyna snapped, although her cheeks turned pink.

Hazel and Nico stared. "Oh, no way. Who is it?"

"Nobody!"

Hazel giggled. "You can tell us, Reyna. We can keep a secret."

Reyna pursed her lips. "Someone just asked if I would like to hang out at the dance with them. That is all."

"Who?"

"I'm not telling."

Hazel huffed. "Why?"

"You'll see."

"Is that why you're dragging me to this dance?" Nico demanded.

"No."

"Oh, so it's really because you want me to 'hang out' with you guys?"

Reyna and Hazel nodded.

"That's great."

The two girls stopped. "Nico, is something wrong?"

"Nothing."

They let go of his arms, and Nico nearly stumbled into the ground. "Hey!"

"No, what is it?"

"Nothing, I swear."

"Nico…" Hazel took his hand. "Why can't you tell me?"

Nico swallowed down his pride. "Am I a good friend?"

"Yes, you are, Nico! Why would you think otherwise?" Hazel cried.

"I don't know, I've…I've just been thinking."

Reyna and Hazel shared a look, and once again Nico got the feeling that they weren't taking him to the dance because they wanted him to hang out with them. "Nico," Reyna began. "You are a very good friend, no matter what anyone else may say. You're our friend, and you know that we don't choose bad friends."

"Yeah, but-"

"We're late," Reyna cut him off, and started dragging him again. Hazel did the same, causing Nico to start at the sudden pressure. "We must hurry."

"When will you tell me why we're really going?"

"No."

Nico sighed.

"Will! Stop dragging your feet!" Alex snapped.

"But I don't want to go!"

Alex snapped something at him in Spanish. "You went into Spanish there."

"Yes, I did, and no, you probably don't want to know the translation."

"Hey, Will!"

Lou Ellen and Cecil jogged up to them. "Come on, you're gonna miss the fun! Oh, and Alex, Laura is in the group ahead of us."

"Sweet! Hasta luego, you guys." Alex let go of Will's arm and blew them all kisses, before zhe ran up to a group of kids from Demeter a few yards ahead. Zhe wrapped her arms around one and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The girl shrieked before giggling, and turned around to give Alex a hug. Something panged painfully inside of Will, but he ignored it.

"We haven't seen you in a while! What's up?" Lou Ellen exclaimed. Her hair had been pinned up, and she was actually wearing a dress for once. Cecil looked uncomfortable in a black jacket and hair combed to the side.

"Not a lot. I actually want to go back to my cabin."

"No way, hermano," Cecil said, and grabbed his hand and started pulling as Lou Ellen did the same. "You are so not missing out on this."

Will groaned. "When will you people start dragging me everywhere?"

"Never. Come on, Lexi wants to talk to you!"

"What? I thought Alex was going to hang out with her."

Cecil and Lou Ellen exchanged looks. "Uh, did zhe say that? I don't know what zhe are talking about!" Lou Ellen smiled nervously. "Come on!"

"You're lying."

"Don't question me right now," Lou Ellen said through gritted teeth. "We are trying to help Lexi with something."

Will groaned. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You'll thank us!" Cecil promised. "If not, you can inject us with Greek Fire!"

"Cecil!"

"Thank you, Cecil, I've been hoping that I finally would be able to do that to someone."

Lou Ellen moaned. "I don't think Miranda will like me with Greek Fire in my veins."

"She likes you now, doesn't she?" Cecil joked. The smile fell off his face as Lou Ellen glared at him. "Oh, mierda. I was joking!"

"Just for now, you're off the hook."

"Watch out for that pole," Will pointed out.

"Ack!"

Will winced as Cecil banged his head against the pavilion pole. "I'm alive, but my head-ow!" He rubbed it gingerly.

Lou Ellen laughed. "The pole has given me revenge."

"How could you, pole? I thought we had something special!" Cecil gasped dramatically. "We were lovers. Now what are we?"

"Shut up, Cecil. You don't even feel romantic attraction," Will pointed out.

"True," Cecil mused. "But that doesn't change a thing!"

"Oh my gods." Lou Ellen rolled her eyes.

Will looked up from the injured Cecil to see that just about everyone from both camps had gathered in the pavilion. Music thumped, and some campers were already dancing. Will saw Paul from Aphrodite and a brunette that he guessed was his girlfriend dancing with Emily from Hermes and Alianna from Ares. Jake Mason laughed and filmed Mitchell from Aphrodite performing a terrible waltz with Malcolm from Athena. Travis spun Katie around, while Connor appeared to be teaching Lacy how to do the Macarena. Most just stood and talked with their friends. Refreshment tables were set up all around the edges of the pavilion.

"This place is a hot mess," he muttered.

"Duh! Now, Cecil, why don't you go and find Lexi?" Lou Ellen asked. "Bring Will with you. I promised Miranda the first dance. Oh, there she is!" Lou Ellen waved at them, before she jogged over to a girl in a white dress laughing with a boy in a tux. Will didn't recognize him, so he guessed that he was from Camp Jupiter. The pang struck him again as he watched the two girls greet each other, but once again he ignored it.

"Come on, where's Lexi? Follow me, Will," Cecil muttered.

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"But I don't trust you."

"By the gods, Will. Look, follow me, else Lexi will get pretty mad. She needs you to fix something."

"Like what?"

"Just…Just follow me and stop asking questions."

"Fiiiine."

Cecil stepped into the crowd, and Will followed him.

They pushed through the crowd of campers, muttering "Excuse me" and "sorry" every five seconds. Sometimes a friend or sibling would greet one of them, but they would turn away soon after. It was hard work to fight through all of them.

At one point, a loud shout of laughter caught Will's attention, and he turned to see Piper McLean and Jason Grace laughing with Annabeth Chase, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Calypso, and Rachel Dare. Jason stepped back to reveal Percy Jackson standing next to him, and Will found himself glaring at him. That damn Jackson…

Then a girl that Will recognized as Hazel Levesque stepped into their mini-circle and wrapped her arms around Frank. Will ignored the pang again, but it doubled when two more people joined their group.

Reyna Whatever-Her-Last-Name-Was moved to stand next to Rachel, and leaned over to Jason to whisper something in his ear. Jason nodded and gave her a quick thumbs up, before he leaned to whisper in Piper's ear.

Then Nico appeared, and Will felt his heart pound. Nico…Nico was here? Did Reyna and Hazel bring him? What was he doing? He didn't like dances. Oh, gods, what if he saw Will? What if he hated Will now? Will had to turn away, and hoped that his stomach would stop doing flips. He continued to follow Cecil.

Nico started when he saw Will a few yards away. Will was here? Why? Oh, gods, what if he saw Nico? What would he do? He probably hated Nico by now. Nico looked down at his feet and swallowed nervously, wishing that he could just melt into the ground.

"Hey, Nico! What's up?" Rachel greeted, "Cool dance, isn't it? I asked for them to play some Marina and the Diamonds later. Not a party without Marina!"

"Yeah, that's cool," he managed.

"You alright? Thirsty or something? Don't worry, Chiron had the Hecate cabin enchant the punch so the Hermes cabin can't spike any of it. I heard Cecil complaining to Lou Ellen about it earlier." Rachel laughed.

"No, I'm fine."

"C'mon, bro!" Jason pulled Nico into a one-armed hug, and Nico yelped for what felt like the thousandth time that evening. "This is gonna be so fun!"

"For you guys, maybe."

"Not without you."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Hazel coughed, and Nico looked up to see her yank Frank down. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. Nico frowned. What were they whispering about? What was Frank planning with Hazel?

Frank stood back up. "Um, has anyone seen Lexi? She wanted to talk to, you know…"

"Oh! I saw her at the northern punch table!" Piper exclaimed. "Do we go get her, or do we-"

"Take him," Rachel cut her off.

"Who's going again?"

Annabeth and Jason raised their hands. "Right now?" Jason asked.

Reyna nodded. "Yes, I believe so. She did say 'as soon as possible.'"

"Cool. Hey, Nico, can you come with us for a second?"

Nico's guard went up immediately. "Why?"

"Lexi from Aphrodite wants to talk to you about something."

Nico groaned. "Tell her I'm not interested."

"Not like that, I think she's asexual anyways," Percy replied.

Nico looked around at all of his friends, confused. "What's going on?"

"You'll see. Follow me and Jason!" Annabeth promised, before she started to push through the crowd of demigods. Jason followed her, adjusting his glasses, and Nico sighed. At least he wasn't being dragged this time.

"Where are we going?!" he yelled, although he doubted that neither of the blondes could hear him.

"You might hate us for this at first!" Jason shouted. Or, Nico thought that he did. Over the pumping music and loud chatter, he could have shouted, "You bite maters for breakfast!"

"What?!"

"Never mind!" That he heard loud and clear. Nico resolved to never follow Annabeth and Jason anywhere ever again.

A few minutes later, Annabeth yelled, "There she is!" and stepped out of the crowd. Jason and Nico followed her.

A blonde Latino girl in a peach dress who Nico vaguely recognized was arguing with Drew Tanaka (unsurprisingly in pink) and a redhead in teal that Nico vaguely remembered as Amelia.

"You said yourself that this might not work!" Drew protested.

"Well, none of your ideas have worked so far," the blonde girl snapped. "But did that stop you from trying?"

"Come on, Lexi. You don't even have a back-up plan!" Amelia moaned.

"Actually, I do. If this fails, we're just going to do it again. We need to be straightforward here, because sugarcoating isn't going to work again. And besides, the goal is to fix the relationship, not push it to a romantic point."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"There's more to life than just romance."

"Of course you'd say that."

"Amelia. Shut up."

Amelia scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Are we interrupting?" Annabeth quipped.

The daughters of Aphrodite turned to face Annabeth, Jason, and Nico. "Oh, thank the gods," Drew breathed. "Part of it is working!"

"Part of what?" Nico asked.

"Nico, why don't you stay here with the girls?" Jason asked.

"I'm not interested!"

"Neither am I," Lexi said.

"You're not my type," Drew said.

Amelia looked disgusted.

"Right, right. So, he just…"

Lexi nodded. "We'll take it from here."

"Great! Okay, back to Piper and Percy, Annabeth."

"Wait, you're seriously-"

"Bye!" Annabeth and Jason waved as they disappeared into the crowd. Nico cursed in Italian. Gods, he hated them so much.

"Hola, I have brought the party!" a voice greeted from behind Nico. He turned around, and couldn't believe his eyes.

Will stood a few feet across from him, looking completely exasperated. Nico heard Cecil chattering in the background, but he ignored that in favor of staring in shock at Will.

Will looked away from Cecil and glanced at Nico. Then he jumped in surprise and stared at Nico, before swallowing nervously and turning away. Something twisted inside of Nico, and he forced himself to turn away and cross his arms.

"I'll be going, my friends call! Bye, Nico!" Cecil bounced away,

"Fuck off," Nico muttered. But Cecil was already gone.

"Well!" Drew clasped her hands together. "Now that we're all here, who wants to start?"

"Start what?" Nico asked, and Will fought down the butterflies that erupted inside of him at the sound of Nico's voice. Nico hated him, he wasn't supposed to still have a crush on him.

Drew sighed. "Oh, fine. Amelia?"

"Why me?"

"The boys are going to be stubborn, it seems. Plus, you can break the ice."

Amelia cursed in Greek, before taking a deep breath. "Fine. Nico, I'm sorry that I gossiped about you. I was just trying to help with something, but instead I make it worse."

Nico stared at her. "Wait, what?"

"Let me finish!" She turned to Will, who had turned back to glance at her. "Will, I'm sorry that you heard me say this thing, and believed something about Nico that wasn't true."

Hold up, what? "It's…I'm sorry, I'm lost," Will said.

"What did you say?" Nico demanded.

Amelia had the decency to look sheepish. "I, uh, heard a rumor about how you had a crush on Percy, and I told Martha about it."

Nico ran a hand over his face. "That was not supposed to be public information," he muttered.

Something panged inside of Will again. Nico did like Percy.

"I'm sorry. A dryad heard your conversation with Jason about it, and she told me. And then I did something foolish with it." Amelia sniffled, and Will saw that her eyes were glistening. "I'm really sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. It's not a big deal anymore," Nico promised.

"Good."

Lexi cleared her throat. "Now, boys?"

"Do I start?" Will asked.

"Sure."

Will turned to Nico and took a shaky breath. "Nico, I'm sorry that I said those things to you. I was just making wild guesses, and I didn't mean half of what I said. You're a good person, and a great…friend." Nico's expression flickered, but Will ignored it. "I was an asshole."

"No, Will, you weren't. I bet you said all of those things for a reason, and it's my fault that I blew back up at you. You're-You're my friend too." Will's stomach twisted. "If anyone needs to apologize, it's me."

"What? No way!" Will stepped closer to Nico. "I started it all, anyways. I was just mad because you like Percy, and I didn't know, so I was mad that you were hiding things from me. You must have had a good reason to-"

"Hold up." Nico held out a hand. He was lost. "Me…like Percy?"

Will blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"Will…" Nico laughed. "What makes you think I like Percy?"

Something rushed inside of Will-a wave of relief. "Wait, seriously? But I thought Amelia said-"

"Well, I used to have a crush on Percy. But I'm over it now. I-I like someone else now." Nico was sure that his face had turned bright red.

Will's stomach twisted again. "Oh. Do you want to tell me?"

Someone gasped to his side. "Oh, my gods. I can't believe it!" Drew exclaimed. Will ignored her.

Nico looked away, shuffling his feet. "Um, you might get mad."

"Why?" Then it hit Will. Nico said he could get mad, and he was acting all nervous. "Oh. Oh. Is it…" He pointed at himself.

Nico nodded slowly, and Will felt his face lit up. Nico liked him…he liked him! It wasn't Percy that Nico had a crush on, it was Will! He could barely believe it.

"Nico, can you look at me?"

Nico shook his head. There, he had told Will. Will must've hated him by now, if he hadn't before. There went another friendship down the drain. Skeletal butterflies started to thump around again in his stomach.

"Nico."

Footsteps padded over to him, and someone took his hands. Nico looked and gasped when he saw that Will's hands were holding his. He looked up to see Will smiling back down at him, not breaking eye contact this time.

"I like you too, you idiot."

Nico could feel the heat rushing back into his cheeks at Will's words. "You-You like me-Oh my gods."

"Well, yeah. Why did you think I was so jealous of Percy?"

The skeletal butterflies in Nico's stomach expanded into moths, and before he knew it he was standing on his tiptoes and mashing his lips into Will's. At first, the taller boy didn't do anything, and Nico worried that he may have been too forward. But then, he closed his eyes and started to kiss Nico back. Nico's own eyes fluttered shut as well.

All too soon, they broke apart, breathing heavily. "Wow," Will breathed. "That was…amazing."

Nico didn't trust himself to speak, and nodded instead.

A loud whooping rang around them, and they twisted to see the Seven, the Apollo cabin, and the rest of their friends running up to them. "You did it!" Alex and Jason shouted at the same time, before they gave each other confused looks. Samuel and Gordon high-fived, while Reyna swept Nico up into an unexpected hug.

"Wow, Lexi, this isn't what we expected to happen, huh?" Annabeth laughed, while Lexi's eye twitched,

"I…am very surprised by this turn of events," Lexi muttered. "I was just trying to fix their relationship, but…oh, fuck romance. At least the sexual tension is gone."

"Tell me about it."

Cecil and Lou Ellen grinned up at Will. "You finally got the balls, huh?" Lou Ellen smirked.

Will spluttered. "Excuse me, Lou-"

"Don't sweat it. It was pretty obvious." Cecil grinned. "You were lost the moment you saw him on Half-Blood Hill."

"I was not!"

"Reyna!" Nico squirmed. "Put me down!"

"Whoops." Reyna set Nico down gently, smiling. "I guess I got too caught up in the moment."

"That's what you call getting caught up? Can't wait to see what you're like caught up in the music," Rachel commented. "But congrats, Nico! Your first boyfriend. So, if he ever says anything about Trojans-"

"Rachel!" Jason and Annabeth yelled.

"What? I'm just trying to help!"

"Why would he talk about them? They weren't very smart," Nico commented.

"Not those-"

"Excuse me." Will elbowed his way through his cabin mates to take Nico's hand. "What were you saying?"

"Something about the Trojan War," Nico answered.

Will grimaced. "Oh, no."

Rachel laughed. "I'm just kidding."

"So, uh, Nico." Will took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Do you want to stay at the dance? You don't have to."

Nico looked around at the people nearby. Piper and Percy were fist-bumping, Leo and Calypso were handing out drinks to everyone, and Lexi was talking with Alice, Laura, and Alex. Lou Ellen and Miranda were dancing with Cecil to the music, while the Apollo cabin seemed to have dispersed. Hazel was giving Frank a kiss on the cheek, and Annabeth and Jason were talking with Drew and Amelia. Overall, it was a little bit out of his comfort zone.

But he was willing to leave that zone. He had friends now-good friends, ones that were always willing to show that they cared. Plus, Will was by his side, at last. And in that moment, Nico felt invincible.

"No. I think I'll stay. There's a night to party away with my friends, and now I have you to party it away with me."

Will's eyebrows shot up in surprise, then he grinned. "That wasn't what I was expecting to hear, but alright."

Nico glanced at the floor, smiling to himself.

"So, about another one of those kisses."

Nico looked back up. "Of course."

Will smiled at him. "That, I expected to hear."

Nico rolled his eyes, but didn't pull away when Will closed the distance between them.

It was the best Valentine's Day ever.

Holy shit.

This is it. This is the final chapter. Now there's just the two-part epilogue left.

Can I just say how phenomenal this is to me? I haven't finished any of my fanfictions since the December of seventh grade, over two years ago, and that was on an entirely different site and an entirely different fandom. I wasn't even planning to expand this story, I had no set plot, and I wrote the first chapter for kicks because the post I created that I based Chapter 1 on got popular.

But you guys actually wanted more. You wanted me to continue writing this, and I decided to give it my best. I've always been self-conscious of my writing and art and myself in general, but seeing this get popular meant the world to me.

I actually have a sappier note for when I upload the second part of the epilogue, but I just wanted to say something for the official final chapter. It's been a wild four months of inside jokes, drama, humor, and fun, and I wanted to say thank you to all of you for it.

See y'all when I upload Chapter 27: Epilogue, Part 1!

Deranged Shadow Fangirl