Will was still waiting there when I returned. "What was that?" He asked, his arms crossed. "Just clearing up some air. Nothing important." I replied. "Okay!" He started walking toward the infirmary. "You coming?" I quickly caught up and walked beside him. "So… What am I going to be doing in the infirmary? I feel fine." I asked, hoping I wasn't walking too close to him. "I need to check your vitals, as well as make sure you get enough rest. And… Nevermind." He was fidgeting with his string. We walked in silence for the rest of the walk.
"What were you gonna say?" I asked, as we walked up stairs to the infirmary. Will opened the door, and we walked in. "Nothing, it's not important. Sit down." He gestured to a hospital bed. I sat down. "Anything you have to say is important to me." I covered my mouth, not believing I had said that. He thinks I'm stupid. What's wrong with me? He tugged on our string. "I um… I wanted to spend more time with you." He was looking at the ground. "Why? I'm a son of Hades. I'm weird, and not at all fun to hang out with. I'm scary and people blame me when things go wrong." I was staring at my hands. Will stayed quiet.
"Nico you… You are amazing. I don't know you well but I want to get to know you better. From this point forward if you talk bad about yourself that is one day in the infirmary. I can't let my soulmate hate himself." Soulmate. That word stood out to me. "What if the strings are wrong? I mean. They were supposed to disappear when we met, weren't they? What if this is a fluke? I can't like boys. It's wrong. I'm wrong-" Will cut me off. "The strings disappear when we fall in love. And this," He moved his hand in between us. " Isn't wrong. What makes you- Oh. I forgot you grew up in the 30's…" It stayed quiet for a long while. He took my vitals and did the basic doctor things.
"Are you ashamed? About this?" He picked up the red string. He was whispering. I bit my lip, holding back tears. I nodded. "Who told you this was wrong? I know you grew up in the 30's. But this isn't bad. This is natural. I don't know why the gods think we're meant to be, but we are. I have no clue how long it will take for us to fall in love, but we will eventually." He chuckled. "Son of Apollo and son of Hades. That's a match made when the gods were drunk as Hell." The tears were falling now. I grabbed the arms of my jacket. Stop crying. Stop, he's going to hate you. He already does. He will never love you. You are worthless- He hugged me. Will Solace. Hugged me.
My breath hitched and I turned red. "What are you doing?" I started feeling a new emotion. "I'm hugging you." He pulled back. "Sorry, I should have asked." He ran his hand through his hair. "No it's okay. I'm just not used to it." I replied. Will stayed quiet. In an effort to change the subject I said, "So are my vitals okay?" Will nodded and sat down.
"Nico. I care about you. Right now it's only as a friend but I hope. Gods, I hope it becomes more than that."
"Will… I don't know what to say. I'm not good at these things. I've always been told this is wrong. Gods when I liked Percy that was a whole new kind of self hate. Then when I finally accepted it I was so bad at trying to convince him to like me." I chuckled remembering. "I had him swim in the River Styx. Gods I was stupid." I took a shaky breath and looked at Will. He was smiling slightly. Gods he's cute. I looked away blushing.
"Are you hungry? You slept past breakfast so it's almost lunch." Will asked, standing up. My stomach growled and that gave him an answer. We both laughed. I tried to get up but he stopped me.
" 3 days of rest in the infirmary. I will bring you your food."
"So I'm going to eat alone? How does that seem fair?"
"Who said you were eating alone? I was going to eat with you dingus." He flicked my forehead and left to get food. While he was gone I looked around. I could tell the next 3 days were going to be difficult. I hated people taking care of me. I felt weak and like I was bothering someone. Will soon returned and gave me food. As he handed me a plate, our hands touched. "Why are you so cold?" He said as he sat down. "I don't really know. I spent a lot of time in the underworld so that might be it." I looked at my food. I had mashed potatoes, corn, and chicken strips. "That would make sense I guess. I hope you like the food I got, I picked the basics that I know a lot of people liked." I nodded and began eating. I avoided the corn (What happened in Italy makes me feel weird about corn). Will gave me an odd look, but didn't ask. Thank Gods, I didn't want him to get freaked out or worse. Laugh.
When I finished eating, I was pretty tired. I layed back and looked over at Will. "What am I supposed to do for 3 days? Sleep?" I asked. "Well yes. You are supposed to rest. I won't let anyone bother you while you sleep." I chuckled as I closed my eyes. I could feel his eyes on me. I smiled. "Maybe this isn't so bad." I draped my arm over my eyes to block out the bright lights. Just then someone walked in and Will went over to help them. He gave them some nectar and they were on their way. After that I started to drift off.
My eyes opened and Will was gone. How long had I slept?