Three Days

Day One

The three days after the departure of the Romans were some of the happiest and the most peaceful that Nico had experienced in a long time. Yeah, he was stuck in Camp Half-Blood's infirmary under strict orders to not try any more "Underworldly Stuff" but he was with Will Solace, and the Son of Apollo was an unstoppable flurry of warmth, happiness, hope, and laughter, he was the epidomy of everything good about living and he made Nico feel safe, which isn't a word he would have ever used to describe either himself or his life, but with Will he felt safe and he couldn't explain why. If there was a downfall to being in the infirmary all day it was that other demigods had need for Will's healing abilities as well so Nico had hours alone and when he was alone, the nightmares started. He had been anticipating them, but that didn't make them any less uncomfortable. In his dreams he stood in the underworld next to his father and they listened to the screams of the lost, the harder Nico tried to ignore them, the louder they became in his ears, he could feel their cold, empty prescence and he felt as though their hands were clamping around him, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move 'the son of Hades deserves no happiness' 'beauty of the world is not meant for you, son of night' 'pain is your destiny Nico di Angelo' 'Nico''Nico' "NICO' "Nico, Nico, c'mon man, its just a dream" Nico had jerked himself awake, lurched to his feet and grabbed his sword before he realized he was staring into the warm blue eyes of Will Solace, who was arching an eyebrow at the sword tip pressed to his throat. Nico lowered his sword and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks "Sorry"  Will gave him a smile "well you didn't run me through so we're good... are you ok? looked like a pretty nasty dream." Nico relaxed and sat back down on the bed he had just vacated "It was.....they always are" Will sat down next to Nico and waited, if Nico wanted to talk to him he would and if he didn't then Will would sit there until he fell asleep. Nico looked up at Will who was sitting and looking at him with more patience than Nico thought it was possible for the son of the hot-head god to have, and suddenly he wanted to tell him everything, from the moment his mother died until the the moment Will told him he needed three days of rest, he had never wanted to tell all of these things to anyone, not even Reyna, and so he did.

    Nico told Will about his Mother, Maria and the love Hades had for her, he told him about Bianca, the lotus hotel, the explosion that killed his mom, he told her about the Boarding School he and Bianca had been attending when Grover, Annabeth, Thalia and Percy found them, he told him about his crush on Percy that he had developed while watching Percy stand over him in defense, he told him about Tartarus and his father's palace, he told him about all the pain and the suffering he went through the fear he felt, he told him about his powers, and about all of his quests ending with the quest to bring the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. When Nico finally finished talking Will was studying him, he felt his nerves creep up on him and wondered if now that he had revealed who he really was Will would decide he wasn't worth being friends with and that thought sent a painful stab straight into his heart, he liked Will, he wasn't afraid of Nico like everyone else seemed to be, he was determined and strong and brave, all three qualities Nico admired, his blonde hair and skyblue eyes didn't hurt either but Nico would never admit that out loud.

       After listening to Nico's story will sat and studied him, trying to fully comprehend how someone so young could have been through so much while trying to ignore the sick feeling that grabbed his gut when Nico had mentioned a crush on Percy, Will liked Percy he was a great guy but Nico, well maybe not yet, but Nico was Will's, the way he saw it was that Percy had Annabeth, he could back off of Nico (though Will was perfectly aware that Percy wasn't interested like that, but jealousy isn't rational.) Will sat next to Nico, he knew he was waiting for a reaction from the healer, but Will was still trying to control the surge of must protect. mine. hands off. keep him safe. mine. mine. MINE. that was ripping through him, Nico would run from him if he knew about his desire to hold on and never let go, he tried his best but sometimes gut instinct can't be fought.

    Will knew Nico wasn't the biggest fan of physical contact but he couldn't stop, he reached out and pulled the younger demigod into his arms, he was prepared for the fight Nico would put up when he felt Nico's muscles tense, but the fight didn't come. Slowly Nico's muscles relaxed and he cautiously pressed his face into the crook of Will's neck, Will wrapped his arms around Nico and held him, a few minutes later Nico's breathing evened out and the Son of Hades fell asleep.