(AN: Sorry for the very late upload, I got caught up with school and mental health things. I will do my best to upload sooner next time)

We were startled awake 2 hours later by one of the Apollo kids bursting in. "WILL! Oh… I am gonna leave you two alone." They said backing out of the infirmary. I look at Will who is still in my arms and my face flushed. I pushed Will off me, worried because someone saw us together. "Hey! What was that for?" Will said, glaring at me slightly. "S-sorry… It's just… Your sibling saw us and I'm not out yet and I don't want people to hate me and-'' Will cut me off, "Nico, no one is going to hate you for being gay" I took a deep breath. "Okay. It's just… They were the first one to see me with a guy. It kinda freaked me out a little." I replied, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt.

He scooted closer to me again, taking my hands in his. "Nico, I understand, you don't have to be ashamed." He smiled at me with that amazing smile of his. I smiled back, and started thinking. "That was the best I've slept on my own in years." I thought out loud. I put my head against his shoulder and chuckled lightly. "What's so funny?" He asked, playing with my hair. "I just thought it was ironic that I slept amazing with you after having a nightmare about you." I said, looking up at him now. His stomach growled, and he gave an awkward laugh. "I have yet to eat today." He stated. "Go get food dummy!" I exclaimed, pushing him. "It's dinner time you dingus, you need food!"

"Okay, okay fine!" He said as he stood up and stepped toward the door. "I hope you know I'm bringing you food too." He said before leaving. I stared at the door even after he left and thought. What am I going to do? I don't want to hurt him. I really like him, I can't hurt him. I got up and decided to look around. I rummaged through drawers and cabinets, looking out of boredom. I didn't find much of anything when Will came back. "What are you doing up?" He said, making me jump. "Nothing! I got bored and decided to explore." I replied and went back to my bed. He handed me a plate with pizza and grapes on it. I sat down and ate them slowly.

"Feeling any better?" I asked as I watched him hoover down his food. He looked up at me with some rice on his face. I laughed and wiped the rice off. "Hey I was saving that!" He chuckled and grabbed my wrist playfully. I smiled and finished eating, standing up to put my plate away. "Will, how am I going to sleep tonight? I napped twice, that's a lot even for me." I inquired, looking at him. "Well we could always Watch a movie or play a game till you're tired. We can play some games to get to know each other better." he smiled and set his plate on a counter. I patted the empty spot beside me on the bed, inviting him over to sit. "Sure! What do you want to play?"

He thought for a minute and replied, "Truth or Dare". I looked at him for a minute, thinking about the outcomes. "People only play that game when they wanna… y'know." I said, looking away. I was embarrassed at the thought. "Well I wasn't even thinking about anything in that realm, but if you are uncomfortable with it we don't have to." He said with a comforting smile. I nodded.

"We can play, that's okay"

"I'll go first. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"I know this might be really personal for the first question, so feel free to decline. What was Tartarus like?"

I averted my eyes, "It… It was terrifying. You saw what it did to Percy and Annabeth. They were together. I did that alone. I felt like I was always being watched. I was hungry. I was scared. I… Sometimes I wish I had died there instead of having to live after. All the nightmares, all the trauma. It's so hard and now on top of it, I almost died trying to save the camp. Nothing has gone right since then."

"Nico I…I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there. I wouldn't have done much but at least you wouldn't have been alone."

I closed my eyes and layed down, putting my legs behind the sunshine boy, who didn't seem so sunshiney right now. "Come here. We can't have a sunflower all droopy." I opened my arms, signaling for him to lay down with me. "I'm the death boy, I'm supposed to be all mopey and self-destructive." He laid down, his head on my shoulder. "Okay my turn. Truth or dare." I asked, hoping to lighten up the mood. "I'll go with truth, I don't want to move right now." He said, holding my arm, practically hugging it. "Truth you say… Where do you live outside of camp? Not looking for an address or anything, just like the state or city." I asked, rolling him to face me.

"I live in Austin, Texas."

"So you're a cowboy?"

"Not technically. Are you stereotyping me?"

"Yes Will. I am very much stereotyping you."

"Well deathboy. If that's the game we are playing then how many people have you killed?"

"Hey, that's not fair, I didn't pick the truth or dare."

"Fair, fair. Truth or dare"

"Just to spite you, Dare"

"Well… I dare you to smile."

"...Smile?"

"Yes. Smile. I like your smile, it's very nice."

I slowly let myself smile at the compliment. It felt good to genuinely smile for once. I smiled more at the thought of Will liking my smile, my teeth showing now. "There it is! See, it's so beautiful." He smiled at me and reached his hand up, booping my nose. I covered my face and pushed Will away playfully. He chuckled and stopped himself from falling off the bed. I looked out the window, seeing it was getting dark. "Will, you are going to miss the campfire. You should go watch it, I'll be fine." I pointed out the window. "I'm not going to leave you Nico. It's fine if I miss the campfire for a few nights, I'm tending to a patient." He replied, waving my hand off. Well that settled it, he was staying the night with me. I don't know how I feel about that.

He's already seen me have nightmares once. What if I have more? Wait, what he expects us to… No he wouldn't. But he might… "Nicooo, Earth to Nico." He waved a hand in front of my face. I blinked a few times as I returned to reality. "Huh? Sorry I was just… thinking" I replied, shaking my head. "What are you thinking about? I noticed you looked panicked." He asked with a look of concern on his face. "I'm okay… It's just. Do you want me to be completely open with you?" He nodded and I continued. "So you are going to spend the night with me I assume? Well… What do you expect to happen? Because I'm not ready for that if that's what you have planned… I…" I got embarrassed before I finished my sentence. "I never even kissed someone Will, so if you want that, I don't think I could do it." He looked at me with wide eyes as he listened to me.

"Nico, do you think I'm some sort of man whore or something? Like all I want is sex? When have I ever shown an interest in having sex? Never. Why would you ever think that?" He sounded annoyed or even mad at me. "I…I don't know. I was raised to think that's all that gay guys want. What am I supposed to think? I've never known anything else. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I was scared. I'm sorry, please forgive me. I understand if you do-" He cut me off. "Nico. I'm not mad. I was annoyed because that's the second time that you have accused me of wanting sex. We are both at fault here. You yourself are gay. Think about it. How often do you think about wanting sex? Hardly ever I assume because you get panicked at the idea of it. That's proof that gay men want more than sex. I am at fault because I wasn't thinking about how you were raised. I always forget that you weren't raised the same way as me. That this-" He gestured to us, "Is all new to you. Now we can move past this easily if we both apologize and try to be better about it in the future. I'm sorry I got upset at you. I'll be more thoughtful in the future." I nodded and looked down. "I'm really sorry for offending you and assuming that all you wanted was sex. I promise to think more logically in the future."

I didn't expect what he did next. I felt his arms close around me in the softest manner possible. I had never had this happen before. After an argument, people always are mad and never want the other to feel better. He hugged me. He cared. This was all so new, I started to tear up and hugged him back. I jumped back as I felt something on my finger move. I look at it with eyes the size of saucers and up to Will. "Y-You saw that right!" I was excited, meaning I wasn't going to let Will down. He nodded happily and hugged me again. We laid down like that, giddy and happy. We stayed like that for hours, chatting and cuddling.

Eventually he fell asleep, and I watched him with a smile on my face. I fell asleep soon after and had nothing but good dreams. Or so I thought.