Solangelo

18. WILL

Eventually he pulled away, his lower lip trembling. Nico took a small step closer causing the son of Apollo to flinch.

'Sorry, I...' Nico said trailing off.

Will shook his head 'It's not, I mean I'm not, ugh' he groaned as the words got stuck in his throat. Nico bit his lip, 'Will it's okay, I'll give you some time to think.'
Nico reluctantly turned and walked away. Will stood for a minute, his whole body shaking, unable to move. He could see the dining pavilion filling up with campers, they were all laughing and smiling as they walked along side each other.
'That was me once' he thought to himself bitterly.

The last rays of sunlight faded away leaving darkness.

Eventually his muscles relaxed and he trudged towards the rest of the campers, everyone was seated now and he wished he hadn't waited so long.
As he approached all eyes were focused on him, his palms began to sweat as he tried to hide his face behind his overgrown hair. It was so quiet apart from the odd whisper of 'He look so different?' And 'Is that Will?'
His face burned with embarrassment as he pretended not to hear.
After a few seconds the noise began to increase and Will no longer felt so self conscious. He carefully filled his plate with food before scraping a part of it into the flames. Silently he prayed thanks to his father, and walked to join the rest of the Apollo table.
Austin and Kayla greeted him as he sat down, their smiles covering concern.

'How are you feeling?' Asked Kayla.

Will shrugged 'Honesty? Terrified' he laughed slightly to distract from his discomfort as his eyes wandered around the pavilion.

Kayla's expression softened, 'If there's anything we can do?'

Austin nodded in agreement, as he chewed silently.
Will smiled and shook his head 'No you've done more than enough to help me.'
He felt so weak and dependent, a feeling he was not used to. 'I just need some time'. He paused 'Do any of you know where Nico went?'

Austin frowned, 'No I don't think I saw him come in'

Will stood up leaving his untouched meal 'I'm just going to look for him.'

'But you havent eaten?' Interrupted Kayla

'I'll be right back' he lied 'dont worry.'
Quickly he headed towards his cabin, he felt bad for leaving Nico earlier. He could only imagine how he must have felt while Will was missing.
Once he reached his cabin he ran to his bunk where he kept all of his things. After rummaging for a moment, his mind disoriented as he tried to remember where he'd put it he found what he was looking for, his quiver and bow. After what he'd been through, Will felt weak and helpless, he didn't want to even be caught off guard again.
Hurriedly he shouldered his weapons and ran out the door.

Nervous, Will stood outside the Hades cabin.
His heart felt jittery, his mind spun. There was no noise from inside, but he wasn't put off. Gently he raised his hand and knocked 'Nico?' He called out.
No response.
Carefully, he opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was pitch black, the air was stale as if the windows had not been opened in years.
Quietly, he inched forwards following the small sounds of someone breathing. 
On the bed a small figure huddled under the blankets sobbing silently, Will gently pulled back the covers and gazed at the boy in front of him.
Suddenly, he dropped his bow and quiver to the floor.  Wordlessly sitting beside him, he ran his fingers through his dark hair.

Silence hung in the air, but despite this Will felt comfortable, it didn't matter to him, all that mattered was Nico.
Sniffing quietly, the son of Hades tried to stop the flow of tears.
Will continued to caress him tenderly, 'Aphrodite-' he began quietly, his voice cracking slightly 'she came to me twice. I was so scared... I know stupid huh? But to me and I feel like maybe you would agree, love is such a strong and terrifying concept. I was never afraid of you until I realised that.'
Nico looked up at him, 'You? You're scared of me?' he whispered.
Will nodded. 'Terrified, because I never realised how much I could hurt you by...- by loving you.' his voice shaking.
'Nothing hurt more, nothing Eris or anyone could do hurt me as much as that. I wanted you to let me go and to move on,'  his eyes stung as they glistened with tears. 'but you didn't stop. You found me and you saved me but I hurt you.' 

'You love me?' asked Nico.

He nodded smiling bitterly. Nico stared at him opening his mouth to speak before shutting it again. Instead he wrapped his arms around Will and pulled him closer.

'I love you too'

After a long time, Will pulled away and stood up offering his hand to help Nico up.

'Where are we going?'

'Don't think I'm going to let you off missing dinner just because I confessed to you' Will replied teasingly as he wiped his eyes.

'I'm only going if you are' replied Nico taking his hand.