A second chance.

22. Request

Nico

I slowly opened my eyes to feel an arm around my waist. I blinked, still half asleep, only to realize that the arm around my waist belonged to a certain blonde haired son of Apollo.

My face burned as I remembered what happened last night. I had entered Will's room to talk to him about the upcoming attack we were going to do on Olympus, and then he had kissed me. 

Kissed me. 

I gazed at Will, my heart thudding against my ribcage. He looked so peaceful and cute when he was asleep. I reached out and pushed a strand of hair out of his face, but as I did so, he stirred. 

I froze as Will's eyes opened, and his gaze focused on me. The son of Apollo chuckled drowsily as he saw me staring at him. "Good morning, my little angel." 

I paused for a second before smiling and replying "Good morning, sunshine." Will raised an eyebrow at what I had called him before propping himself up on one elbow. 

"Sunshine? That's a new one. I like it." He grinned before pulling me towards him so that my body was basically pressed against his. I flushed red once more and Will murmured "You wouldn't know how long I've been waiting to finally confess my love for you." 

"Oh yeah? Please, I've probably had a crush on you for longer." I laughed. Will rolled his eyes playfully before there was a loud knock at the door. We both froze, and our gazes turned fearfully towards the door. 

"Will? Will, are you in there?" Clarisse yelled as she banged on the door once more. "Hello?" Will quickly glanced at me before grabbing the blankets and throwing them over me. 

"I'm here, jeez, you don't need to yell." I felt the mattress shift as Will got to his feet. I heard him walk over to the door and opened it. "What do you want at this ungodly hour?" 

"Ungodly hour? You're kidding, right? Everyone else is already awake, what the hell have you been doing?" Clarisse demanded. "And have you seen Nico? I went to check on him but he wasn't in his room." 

I raised an eyebrow at the thought of Clarisse going to check on me when Will started to laugh awkwardly. 

"Haha no sorry, I don't know where Nico is. Maybe he left the base or something." There was a long pause, until Clarisse spoke again. "Alright, whatever. This was a waste of time." 

The door opened again and closed, and footsteps walked back towards the bed. I ripped the blankets away from my face to see Will smiling down at me. I huffed as I sat up. 

"I was suffocating!" "No you weren't, you're fine!" The son of Apollo held his hand out and I grabbed it, lacing my fingers with his. Will pulled me to my feet, and he walked back towards the door again. 

"We should join the others." I commented as Will put a hand on the doorknob. He sighed before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. I waited until he had started to walk down the hallway before I quickly slipped out of his room to follow him. 

We entered the main room to see Clarisse leaning against the kitchen counter, holding a glass of what looked like apple juice in her right hand. Her eyes narrowed as she saw me walk in with Will. 

"I thought you said you never saw him?" The daughter of Ares said to Will in a suspicious tone.  He swallowed before nervously running a hand through his hair. "I didn't, I was just leaving my room when I saw Nico."

I stifled a snort at how bad Will was at lying. I mean, his dad is the god of truth after all, so I suppose I would let him off the hook on that.

Clarisse smirked as she downed the apple juice in one gulp before slamming it down onto the kitchen counter. "You're ass at lying, Solace. You can tell me the truth. Actually, I might already know what's going on." 

Will's eyes widened slightly and I felt heat seep into my cheeks. Clarisse chuckled at our expression as she tapped a finger on her chin. 

"Let's see. Well, it's obvious that you two like each other. So, last night, Nico probably snuck into Will's room, and then you two ended up making out. Then you both fell asleep. Am I right?" 

Clarisse straightened up and crossed her arms across her chest, her eyes switching from Will to me with a faint smile on her face.

I'm not going to lie, I was impressed that Clarisse was practically spot on. But on the other hand, I was embarrassed that she found out so quickly about Will and I. I snuck a look at him, and I saw that he was slowly nodding to what Clarisse had said. 

"You're right. Okay, but can you please not tell anyone else about this?" Will asked. Clarisse's smile widened and she gave the both of us a thumbs-up. Will visibly relaxed at that. 

"Of course. Don't worry, I understand that you two want privacy for now." Clarisse walked past us to pick up her electric spear that was lying on the table. She then turned to face us once more. 

"Nico, when's the last time you went to check up on my father and the other prisoners?" 

I blinked, thrown off guard by her question, before answering. "I don't really know, I've spent most of the time training and preparing. I think it's been..... about two, three weeks?" 

Clarisse's expression darkened as she clenched her fingers tighter around the shaft of her spear. "I want to go check up on them. See how they're doing. Can you do me a favour and take me to Olympus so I can.....so I can see them?" 

I frowned slightly at that request. Every time I went to see how Annabeth and the others were doing, I had to be extremely careful so that I wouldn't get caught. But now, if I bring Clarisse along with me, then we would have a higher risk of getting captured. 

But I knew I wouldn't be able to turn down Clarisse's request. I wanted to check up on the other demigods and Olympians as much as she did. I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder and I knew instantly that Will was the one who did that. 

He squeezed my shoulder and whispered "Just accept her request, my little angel. But you have to promise me that you will be safe. Can you do that?"

I met Clarisse's eyes, and I finally gave her a short, firm nod. She smiled, clearly relieved that I had agreed to take her along with me to see the prisoners back up on Olympus. "Thank you, Nico." 

Will lifted his hand off of my shoulder and smiled at me as well. Clarisse strapped her spear to her back before stalking over to the small hallway that had the entrance and exit to the base.

I took a deep breath before following Clarisse. She was already at the top of the ladder and was patiently waiting for me. Before I could start climbing the ladder, Will called "You two better be careful.I don't want to have to go find you guys if you get caught." 

Clarisse snickered as she pushed against the metal trapdoor. As it swung open, the three demigods were greeted with a blast of hot air and sunlight. 

"Don't worry. We won't get caught." Clarisse hauled herself up and disappeared from my view. I climbed the ladder and reached the top, pulling myself up and onto the soft grass. I leaned over to close the trapdoor, but before I did, I blew a kiss to Will. 

He smiled at me before raising his hand and waving. I pulled the trapdoor closed and kicked some dirt over it before joining Clarisse. I looked at her before glancing up at the white clouds floating overhead. 

Let's get this over with. 

Word count: 1352

I suck at math, holy crap-