three days

-Twelve-

Will's POV

My heart was racing and I felt like any minute now, it would burst out of my chest. I couldn't help but notice every little, miniscule, and unimportant flaw. Each one ticked me off. I wanted tonight to go smoothly. No almost dead campers to stress about, because now it was just me and Nico.

So I tried to relax and loosen up. Hopefully he would do the same.

Nico was surprisingly warm and I instinctively leaned in closer. Now our knees were touching, which caused the Italian boy to turn his face away, hidden by his dark locks. He mumbled something so that I couldn't hear. I poked his cheek, smirking a little at the squeak that escaped him.

"Will! What are you doing?" He swatted my finger away and frowned a little, which I only found adorable.

"Nothing..." I whistled innocently but, being myself, couldn't pass up the opportunity to wink. Nico was vexed by this. It was obvious. But hey, I needed some humor. I laughed at his priceless reaction.

He shook my arm off of him and pushed me farther down the log we were sitting on.

"Piss off."

It was hard to take him seriously. I just laughed and took the huge bag of marshmallows from the camper in front of us. I pocketed two and stuck the third on the end of my sanitized stick. I waved the bag in front of Nico's face, watching his weak attempts to grab it from me.

"Stop being a bully, Will!" Nico hissed. Who knew that he was part snake?

"Fine...you win this time," I dropped it on his lap. He did the same as me, except he only got two marshmallows instead of three.

We sat in silence as we chewed our marshmallows; mine burnt and his slightly toasted. Chiron still hadn't stepped up onto the platform and I assumed that he was dealing with Leo's return. Some of my siblings took advantage of this time, setting up for their performances. I just tried not to fidget too much, not wanting to weird out the boy next to me. My fingers tapped against the scratchy bark of the log. At first, it seemed to be a random rhythm, but then Nico pointed it out.

"What song is that?" He asked, looking absolutely adorable with the marshmallows puffing his cheeks out. The look on my face must've answered his question; that I had no fucking idea what he was talking about. "What song are you humming?" Nico questioned again.

I was humming? I guess I was.

"Missing You by All Time Low, I think."

He nodded, "That's a good song. I like it."

"You know it?!" I practically yelled. Embarrassed, I covered my red face.

"Yeah. It's one of my favorite songs by them."

"Me too!"

I sat at the edge of the log now, bouncing a little out of excitement. He smiled. It was small, but it wasn't forced; it was genuine. That's also when Chiron finally came up onto the stage, ruining the moment. While he was announcing the arrival of Leo and his girlfriend, along with beckoning the campers who were about to perform, I zoned out.

I really wasn't interested.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I glanced at Nico. I just wanted this all to be over so we could go back to talking about the music we liked. And maybe avoiding all his concerns? He'd be bombarding me with endless questions, I was sure of it. As my siblings began to sing, sometimes asking everyone else to sing-along, I continued to try and discreetly glance at my crush. Gods, I could rant about how perfect he is all day (I did try that once, but Lou shut me up).

I brought my attention to the sky instead of Nico. Surely he would find it creepy if he caught me staring. The vibrant and pastel colors from earlier were fading, and a dark blue was creeping in. There were a few stars that shone brilliantly, twinkling and laughing. It was stunning how all these various shades of contrasting colors were blending together without a single flaw. It was ethereal. I was brought out of my reverie by a sudden weight on my shoulder.

Nico's eyes were drooping, his long eyelashes fluttering shut. I brought my hand to his dark locks, running my fingers through it, playing and twirling the stray strands that fell into his eyes. It was silky with no tangles, soft like the down of a baby bird.

"Tired?" I whispered.

"Mhm," was the only response.

"Wanna go to bed?"

"Mhm." I bit my bottom lip, wondering how I'd get him all the way to the infirmary. He was too worn out, and if I stood up, he'd be a prostrate figure on the ground. The best option was to carry him bridal style. So I slipped one arm underneath his knees and the other behind his back. Due to his lack of nutrition, Nico wasn't heavy. The real challenge would be maneuvering myself through the rows of campers.

Clutching Nico to my chest - fuck, he was so warm - I excused myself while weaving in between legs, people, and logs. I tripped only twice, and each time, I flinched, looking down to see if the movement had woken the almost-asleep boy in my arms. I let out a sigh of relief each time. A couple children of Ares scowled at me. I just ignored them. Now I was on the main path, which was empty. I shifted my arms so that they wouldn't fall asleep and become numb.

Nico clutched the collar of my shirt, balling the fabric in his fists. He buried his face into my chest. My heart rate sped up... again. My palms were sweating a little (more like a lot) and I licked my lips nervously. Once seeing the infirmary in the distance, I quickened my pace. As much as I loved holding Nico close, I feared that he would wake and realize what was happening.

Walking up the ramp to the front entrance, I nudged the door open with my elbow and shut it with my foot. The Italian's room was only a few hallways down and I reached it in under a minute. The bed was made (courtesy to Kayla) and I struggled to tug the sheets back. He would have to clean up the next morning.

A stack of pajamas sat on the chair. I hesitated. Should I change him into them? I've done it before and he didn't seem to mind. I nodded my head and began to undress Nico, not looking any longer than I should've. It took a while, but after a couple minutes, I was tucking him in. He was snug underneath all the blankets that I had piled on top of him.

Leaning forward, I gave him a butterfly kiss on the cheek.

"It's only a goodnight kiss," I told myself.

I barely heard what Nico said next in a language I didn't know.

"Buona notte, il mio raggio de sole."

-

Missing You by ATL is literally my favorite song of all time. I just had to add it in somehow :)) Anyways, this took forever to write. I wanted it to be good and Wattpad kept deleting like a shit ton of it each time I tried to exist out (resulting in some tears). And somehow I can remember like three deleted paragraphs but I can't memorize any Japanese phrases? Someone please explain to me how this works! I've been writing a lot for school too, which takes up a lot of time. So sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!

But I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm kinda proud of it. Thank you so much for the reads, votes, and comments that make my day!