I present to you: Two Disaster Gays. This is the last chapter tonight but I have another half-written chapter to finish tomorrow and I'll post twice tomorrow. I swear.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the sappiness/lack of proof reading/angst.

Is this a bad coping mechanism for my life? Yes. Is it healthy? No. Is it working? Yes.

Fez

Will had been avoiding Nico for two days now. Nico was fidgety and unhappy without him. He had sat alone at his table for breakfast and lunch—at least for the first day, after that he had just eaten in his room.

"You really should talk to him." Jason had told him. He'd come down from Camp Jupiter on short-notice after the invasion, to show support from Camp Jupiter and to help the campers in case of a second invasion. "He misses you."

Nico just grunted from where he was sat on his bed, obsessively sharpening his sword.

"I'm starting to get a bit worried. You're not planning on running him through with that?" Jason asked, and Nico gave a small huff of a laugh. "You're not planning on running me through with that, are you?"

He laughed again, his shoulders sagging and he fell back. He missed sleeping with Will, in the innocent definition of the word, and just being around him.

It was nice having someone care about him, who wasn't Jason or Percy.

"I just didn't want him to get hurt." He told the ceiling and Jason hummed in reply instead. "He ran down into battle to help the other campers and he almost got clawed by the monsters."

"But he doesn't want you to get hurt either. You do charge into battle without caring but you're still human. You still get hurt and it scares Will." Jason explained.

Nico was nodding along, having to admit Jason was right, until something in Jason's words clicked.

"Have you talked to Will about me?" He asked suspiciously and Jason looked away quickly.

"No I mean, I'm just saying hypothetically-"

"What else did he say? Does he hate me?" Nico asked, leaning forward intently.

Jason gave him a pitying look that didn't help Nico's anxiety at all. "You have it bad for him, and he has it bad for you. All I'm saying is talk to him. This isn't irreparable." There seemed to be a sadness lingering behind his eyes.

Nico nodded, getting to his feet and leaving his sword on his bed.

"Thanks, Jason." He said, but the grief in Jason's face made him stop. "Hey, really, thanks a lot. You're always really helpful. You're a good friend." He stumbled over his words, out of practise of speaking honestly with people.

Jason gave him an amused grin. "Thanks Nico." He told him, knowing what Nico meant in his rushed, unsure speech.

Nico hurried to the Apollo cabin. It was raining outside, nothing torrential but enough to flatten his hair against his head. He knocked before he could think otherwise.

One of Will's sisters answered the door, looking surprised to see him.

"I'm looking for-" Nico started, his words jumbling up together in his rush to hold onto his courage.

"Will?" The girl looked sympathetic but Nico was already scanning the room behind her. "He's not here." Nico could see his empty bunk and felt his heart sink.

"Do you know where-?" The girl's eyes flickered up to above Nico's head and his heart sank even more.

"Nico?" Came a voice behind him and Nico was sure his heart was somewhere in the Underworld, cowering right alongside his courage.

"Oh, hey." Nico said, turning around as casually as he could. He heard the Apollo cabin door slam shut behind him.

Will looked as fine as ever, but Nico could see circles under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped. He looked tired and… disappointed to see Nico.

"What did you need?" Will asked, his voice flat and Nico swallowed hard.

Will was one of the last good things left in his life and he was determined to hold onto him. "Hey, Will I just wanted to say sorry."

Will blinked in surprise and Nico wondered if an apology from him was really that surprising.

"For?" his… ex-boyfriend pressed and Nico knew it wouldn't have been that easy.

"For running off into battle without thinking. I'm useless out of battle, I know, but I just wanted to protect you and make sure you were safe. I saw the monster come up behind you and you didn't even have a knife. I just couldn't-" Nico was choking on tears at this point and he stared somewhere around Will's knees. He didn't want to see the cold attitude on Will's face.

"I can't lose you okay? You're really, really important to me and I can't stand for you to be hurt or killed and I just want you to be safe. And… And happy, and even if you're not happy with me, I just hope you're okay and…" Nico trailed off, blinking frantically. This whole scene was so pathetic he wouldn't be surprised if Will just left.

"Nico…" Will stepped forward and for a cold second Nico thought he was going to strike him. Then he was caught up in a hug, and all he could smell was Will's honeyed scent and suddenly he couldn't hold the tears back.

"Oh, Nico, I am happy with you. You're not useless." Nico heard through his own sobs and he was sure Will was sniffing too.

"I'm sorry too, I got mad and I shouldn't have, but I was so worried that you wouldn't pull through." Nico slowly sank to his knees, just clutching onto Will to ground him. "I can't lose you, and when I saw you took that hit for me… I'm the useless one, I can't even help you when you almost died for me."

Nico wonders briefly about if any of the other campers were watching this teary reunion but he quickly loses track of that thought when Will rears back suddenly to kiss him messily. It tastes of tears and sadness but also something that just tastes of Will and Nico presses back immediately.

"I've been wanting to do that for days." Will murmured and Nico pulled him in again.

"We're both such messes." He says when they both lean back to catch their breaths. Will had a wet patch on his shirt from Nico's tears and both of them have tears streaked down their faces. Will laughs wetly and pulls him in again.

"I'm sorry." He says again.

"We've both been idiots." Nico tells him. He doesn't want Will blaming himself.

"I'm sorry for not coming to find you before. I thought you hated me for what I'd said. I thought I'd lost you after the battle and then I almost properly lost you because I was an idiot." Nico catches Will's face between his hands and gazes at him until he goes quiet.

"We've both been idiots." He repeats. "I was sure you hated me too. It was only Jason doing his guilt-tripping big brother act that I came." He admits. Will tugs him closer, and Nico relaxes into his hold. Will doesn't hate him. Will doesn't hate him.

"So, Jason told you all of what I said, huh?" He asked, his face pressed into Nico's damp hair.

"No? What did you tell him?" Nico asked, sneaking a smirk up at Will who's eyes widened.

"Nothing! Nothing important." Will lied, and Nico narrowed his eyes. He was going to be having words with Jason soon.

"So," Nico starts. His knees are wet from kneeling in the wet grass and his hair is plastered to his head from the drizzling rain. Will watches him curiously, not letting go of his hands. "I've got a way we can make this up to each other."

Will smirks, and stands, helping Nico up. "Cuddles?" he askes and Nico turns to glare at the Apollo campers who are all peering around the curtains. They vanish rather quickly when they realise they've been spotted.

"Cuddles."