Shelter (Solangelo)

Chapter 11

Nico's heart thunders in his ears as he stands in the doorway, his eyes on Will, while Percy and Jason take off. Has it always beat so loudly and he's only now noticing?

"So," Will says, approaching him. "Did you want to …"

Nico's hands seem to act on their own, and what's he supposed to do, try to stop them? He pulls Will into the cabin, kicks the door closed and pushes him against it – his mind finally catching up with his actions at the sight of Will's eyes widening – the Ikea catalogue falling to the floor.

But Will's not trying to stop him. In fact, he seems to be making it easier for Nico to reach, sliding his back down the door a little – legs spread to support himself – making room for Nico to stand between them.

Even Nico's eyeballs are throbbing, aching, wanting. He rubs absently at his sword arm, watching the smile play on Will's lips. He takes a deep breath, releases it, and starts to back up, but Will catches him by his belt loops and pulls him close. They're nose-to-nose, sharing breaths.

"I missed you, too," Will says. Then he brushes his lips over Nico's, sending a thrill of tiny electric currents through Nico's nerves all the way down to his toes.

Nico's lips tremble. He holds onto Will's waist, just breathing in his scent, getting high on it. Will smells of summer, of tropical air, of comfort. Nico can't bring himself to open his eyes all the way. He dwells in the moment, drawing it out, feeling around all the edges of this newfound attraction as if testing that it's real – that he's not dreaming.

Will's voice rumbles low and Nico can feel the resonance in his own chest. "Did you find time to think about stuff yesterday?"

Nico finally opens his eyes fully, fingers tight, twitching, then gripping the sides of Will's waist through his T-shirt. He meets Will's gaze, lost in the blue. "I – yeah," he breathes his words. It would be embarrassing if he wasn't drunk on Will's scent. It's bizarre how he's losing his grip just being this close to Will. "I came out to my dad."

Will's eyes widen even more, his eyebrows rising. "What? Whoa, that's big."

Nico's thoughts from earlier return. How much he doesn't know about Will's life. How much he'd like to learn. He pulls away a little, not breaking free, but cooling down the intensity. How does Will stay so calm? "Let's go somewhere we can talk? Um, somewhere I won't be tempted to … move too fast." He finishes, cringing a little.

Will's right. Nico's not very good at going slow. But honestly, he's never had this before, this returned interest, this right now urge. He just wants to devour it all and deal with the consequences later. He's starved. And that idea makes him cringe again. Is he so starved for affection he'll glut himself and then sick up when he realizes he's gone overboard? Yeah, maybe it is a better idea to take pacing cues from Will, at least at first.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Will says, pulling Nico out of his headspace.

~*~

They walk seemingly at random. There are campers training in the arena; three Hephaestus kids are on the roof of their cabin installing a huge bronze disc; Butch Walker takes on the climbing wall while Lou Ellen and Cecil cheer him on.

Nico recalls the argument he witnessed Will and Lou Ellen having with Clovis. He wonders what it was about, but figures Will would tell him if it was important. They reach the beach. "Don't you have to work today?" Nico asks.

Will shakes his head and grabs Nico's hand. It's beyond bizarre that Nico doesn't realize it until they're halfway down the beach headed for a large chunk of driftwood. He likes Will touching him. "Nah," Will says. "I usually hang out in the infirmary if anybody's injured, or kick it with Lou Ellen, Malcolm, Butch, a few others. I prefer to just chill … help out where I can."