Chapter 12: Solangelo

"Gods, Nico, you were right. I had no idea what it was like to be you." Will said, sitting on the Infirmary steps. Nico sat next to him, and took his hand, rolling his beautiful, dark eyes. "I told you. But, if I'm being honest, I did not know what it was like to be you, either. When Annabeth stood in the doorway with Percy on her back, I thought I would lose him for a minute, but...." "You didn't. You came up with a plan. One that saved him." Will finished, smiling. He hoped that Nico now knew he wasn't stronger by himself. That he would always need someone to help him. "Yeah, I....I guess I did." Nico said, looking at the ground. Will noticed it was slowly turning black. He nudged his boyfriend gently. "Hey, calm down. The grass didn't do anything to you." The black color slowly turned green again. "Sorry, I....Miscusi!" Before he could walk off, though, Will pulled him into a hug. He knew certain memories had been going through Nico's mind. And this proved him right. Because the shorter boy was still for a minute, tense, then he hugged back, nestling his head on Will's chest. He made small circles on Nico's back, hoping to calm him a little. After a while, Will realized he'd fallen asleep like this, and carried him to his cabin. Poor thing, he must've been so tired. Stressed possibly. When he went to leave, though, he heard Nico mumble three words. "I love you." Will smiled. That warmed his insides, even though it was a small sentence. "I love you, too, Nico."