The Coming of Nico di Angelo

Percy Carries Nico Bridal Style into King's Cross

CHAPTER SUMMARY

The questing demigods say goodbye to Camp Half-Blood, and hello to London.

BEGINNING NOTES

Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: None
Word Count: 4762

And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.

____________________NICO____________________

Nico hummed along to a My Chemical Romance song on his iPod while he finished his packing. He was just finishing his last sweep of the cabin when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" He took one of his earbuds out. He expected it to be Percy or Annabeth, telling him to move his butt so they could get started on the quest. Instead, he found himself face to face with someone else.

Will Solace.

"Why is it that I had to hear about this quest from Kayla?" Will asked, his irritation evident in his voice. Nico forced himself to look Will in the eye like a normal person would.

Don't think about how blue those eyes are.

Those instructions turned out to be counterproductive, because that soon became all Nico could think about.

"I've got better things to do than talk to you, Solace." Nico let just enough snark drip into his tone so it could come off as teasing, but not cruel. This was how he and Will worked; they argued and teased in a way that Nico didn't dare to hope was flirtatious.

It is with me. I'm so far gone it's pathetic.

"Too bad. I thought we were friends..." Will's voice trailed off, sarcasm still intact. Nico rolled his eyes just enough so Will would notice. He only watched as the son of Apollo walked towards him at a snail's pace, teasing smile on his lips. Those perfect lips... it was all Nico could do not to shove Will against the wall and kiss him senseless.

Will stood right in front of him now. He took the earbud dangling at Nico's side, and plugged it in his own ear. The closeness made Nico's heart beat about a million miles an hour. "The Ghost of You." Will smiled knowingly. "Classic Neeks."

"You know I hate that nickname."

"Still avoiding the question?"

"Things just got... busy, ok? I, um, got busy."

Idiot! Of all the things to come out of my mouth...

"You could die, Nico, and that's all I get? Is that the best goodbye you could come up with?"

Will reached into Nico's pocket, removing the iPod. Time seemed to freeze in that very second, and Nico's senses went into overdrive. He could feel the ghost of Will's hand on his leg, hear the little click echo when the pause button was hit.

Silence.

Will's other hand drifted up to Nico's forehead, then moved some hair out of his eyes.

Is Will... is he... does he...

Nico wasn't able to form a coherent thought, not with the way Will was playing with his hair. He had never done this before. Nico's heart pounded with such ferocity there was no way Will couldn't hear it. His skin felt aflame from the closeness... the way Will twirled his bangs around his finger...