be home with you

by haatorii

Summary:

Will’s supposed building doesn’t look so worn, but it isn’t new either. Definitely not what he was expecting. It’s a six-storey building with its white paint yellowing with age. It reminds him somehow of Japanese apartments with their uniformity and the balconies. The ground floor is a commercial space for a convenience store, hair salon, laundromat, and noodle shop. The stairway leading to the living spaces above is dark and cold and full of inconspicuous spaces that he’s sure if someone slips and dies here, nobody would find the body until five years later.

Notes:

Yes hello here I am posting unfinished content again lmao I'm almost done with the second chapter because I'm so excited 😆😆 this fic will most likely be short, probably only 10 chapters lol

CW:
1. minor character death (nothing graphic, just passing really)

 

This, like most of my works, is unbeta'd, but my friend Gel is up for beta-ing my works again so chapter 2 will probably be beta-read 😆😆😆😆 And English is not my first language so I apologize beforehand for grammatical errors and such. I tried my best to find them all and I will continue to do so in the following days.

 

P.S. Ratings will update in the next chapters

 

Title is from Hozier's In A Week feat. Karen Cowley

Chapter 1: let's call it quits and see what the future holds

Notes:

So I fucked up last night when I promo'd this fic lmao it wasn't my intention to do it or to make anyone uncomfortable, but maybe some did? idk. I already changed the summary so I hope it's okay now. for what it's worth, I apologize.

I'm making this note because I feel like I need to address the kind of parenting that will be shown in this fic. I know people have different ideas and styles of parenting that suit them and that's great! we all should do what's convenient and comfortable as long as the kids are safe and happy. in my case, everything that will be written in this fic is influenced by my Asian culture, my upbringing, and my experiences in child and infant care. I don't reckon anybody would be uncomfortable with anything in here, but in case some would... I don't really know what to say bc as I've said, people have different styles and ideas in raising kids.

 

The title of this fic is from Hozier's In A Week feat. Karen Cowley, and the title of this chapter is from Grouplove's Enlighten Me.

“Papa, I want miwk! Lily want miwk!”

“Yeah, love, in a minute, I swear!” Will frantically picks up all the stuffed toys scattered on the floor. They all need to be washed, he thinks. Maybe this weekend when he does their laundry. He spots a soggy cereal by the leg of the coffee table but he ignores it, there are more pressing matters that need his attention right now, like the french toast that’s sizzling on the pan and the armful of stuffed animals that needs to be put in the hamper.

Will grabs her sippy cup, shakes it, and gives it to her. 

Will’s day usually pans out like this: Lily wakes up at three in the morning (ergo waking him up as well), he gives Lily her sippy cup and they both pass out halfway through it, Lily wakes him up again around four to go to the toilet (she gets fussy and cranky when she wets her diaper, and she has a sensitive bottom so Will has no choice but to go with her), Will takes a nap for fifteen minutes before begrudgingly wakes up at five-thirty to prepare for the day as his shift starts at seven. He’d bathe, feed, and clothe Lily, tidy the house as much as he can before dropping her off at the daycare so he can clock in for work. For lunch, he’d pick her up, feed her again, drop her back to the daycare, go back to work, then call the sitter (or Jeff) to pick her up, give her dinner, and bathe her so Will can tuck her in when he’s done with his shift at eight in the evening. When she’s finally asleep, he’d eat, go over everything in the house, have dinner, and prepare for tomorrow.

Needless to say, he’s exhausted all the time.

But the air is different today like something is about to change.

He used to wake up feeling like this all the time when he was still at camp. Every day is new and special— exciting.

Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t miss the ambush of monsters and threat of apocalypse every three to six months. What he misses are the mundane things, like the strawberry jam the spirits prepare for meals, the morning breeze, the smell of fire, and the sizzle of metal on water every time he passes by the Forge, the claiming party, capture the flag. He misses being at camp.

It has been quite some time since he was last in Camp Half-Blood, seven years to be exact. He’s too old for the camp now and frankly, he has more responsibilities now than he ever did as the head counselor of the Apollo cabin and the head medic. He’s responsible for the general well-being of an actual human being now. Not that he wasn’t responsible for the general well-being of his brothers and sisters and the whole camp before, but this is more crucial in his opinion. Lily’s well-being is more crucial in his opinion. One mistake and he can fuck up her life forever. More fucked up than being a demigod, even.

Juggling work and taking care of her is hard. So much that he had to postpone his med school plans and just focus on taking care and providing for her. It’s rewarding for the most part. He loves going home to her after a ten-hour shift at the hospital. He wants to be more present as she grows up, to witness every milestone, to be the first arm she reaches when she falls, to be the one to calm her down when she’s upset. But he has to work, to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, and give all the things that he missed growing up in a poor household. Naomi Solace was a good mom and she did her damndest to provide, but she could only do so much as a full-time mom on a part-time singer paycheck that she even had to split with her bandmates.

At two and a half years old, Lily is showing incredible abilities as a legacy of Apollo. During the first few months he had her, he noticed her scrapes and bumps heal remarkably fast even for a literal baby. She also glows a little in the dark, if anyone can believe it. It’s quite faint, probably imperceptible to a mortal’s eye but it’s there, shrouding her little body with golden light. Will was worried at first that the glow might become a beacon for monsters but so far all it did was protect her from common illnesses. She never even had a cold since having her. When they were outside together, the worst thing that happened was them being chased by a hostile centaur that happened to see them when it was scavenging in a dumpster, party hat hanging loose on its neck and had a long tube of party popper as a weapon. He couldn’t fight because he was carrying Lily in front of him and he didn’t have anything sharp or heavy, so they hid in a fast-food chain until he was gone and since then he always has a pocket knife with him whenever he's outside. Will reckons the Shroud will disappear once she turns three.

Will gathers Lily in his arms and places her between his legs, her feet dangling from the couch and trying to get away. He grabs a handful of those multi-colored hair bands and struggles as he puts her brown hair on pigtails while she squirms. He clips two red bows on them. When he’s done and she looks way more put together than Will actually feels, he changes her into her favorite blue-green dress, along with her favorite sparkly red leggings and equally sparkly red shoes. Lily gets distracted with the sequins on her leggings that Will finally has the time to remove the blackened soggy bread from the pan. He quickly places them atop an aluminum foil and wraps it sloppily. He stuffs them inside her old Lilo & Stitch thermal bag along with fruit snacks and a mango-flavored yogurt, her favorite. Only the best for her lovely Lily.

He checks one of Lily’s bags again, the one with all her spare clothes in case of emergencies, and mentally lists everything: anti-rash powder and ointment, spare dress for accidents, three diapers, a container for individual servings of formula, two sippy cups (one for water, one for milk), comb, towel, wet wipes, a piece of her favorite blanket, and Mr. Bunny (his old Bugs Bunny keychain-stuffed toy hybrid when he was a kid that he found in his childhood home while boxing his mom’s stuff). There, she’s all set.

It was a shame his mom never met Lily. She passed a few months before he had her. She would’ve loved her like her own. She had two boxes filled to the brim with girl baby clothes, a token from that time he almost had a baby sister. That’s where he got most of Lily’s stuff as they were still usable albeit dusty and a little itchy. That was a hard year for him and his mom. The financial burden and the emotional pain were almost too much, but Naomi Solace soldiered on and did her best for her son.

Every night he prayed to be half the person his mom was to him in raising Lily.

Will looks around the apartment, looking for more mess to clean (completely forgetting about the soggy cereal by the leg of the coffee table). He remembers the dirty dishes in the sink and goes to do it, entirely missing out on the knock on the door.

knock knock knock!

Will sets the machine on quick wash. Fifteen minutes is too quick to be sanitary unless he does it by hand, but it’ll have to do. Cockroach and rat infestation would be harder to solve if he leaves the plates to fester in the sink. Lily can’t get a common cold but Will wouldn’t risk rabies in the mix.

knock knock knock!

Will halts in his place, did he just hear a knock? Did that come from the TV?

knock knock knock!

Oh gods, who could that be? Is it the Child Welfare Agency? No, he had the proper paperwork. He had several witnesses to prove that Lily is his. He mentally lists the names of the people present in the emergency room that day: Dr. Olmedo, Dr. Rheon, Lindsey, Lukas. Samantha has moved to another hospital but he can still track her if needed. He has her birth certificates (even a baptismal certificate), her immunization profile, his reports from the social worker, basically everything that was given to him by the doctors and social workers about Lily. He can also give his landlord’s number if they want another background check. He has all the necessary documents to prove that Lily is his. He’s faced countless monsters, helped win a literal war when he was fifteen, battled ancient forces and survived. He should not be scared of a lady armed with a clipboard and a pen. But of course, he should be scared, one bad report and they can take his whole world away forever. 

He glances at his watch—twenty minutes before clock in—fuck, he’s gonna be late!

Will slings the thermal bag and Lily’s other bag over his shoulder and kicks a dirty towel under the fridge.

knock knock knock!

Oh gods, he’s hungry, he should at least eat a piece of that toast.

knock knock knock!

Will runs back to the kitchen to grab his piece of toast and shoves it in his mouth like an anime girl, then he rushes back to the front door, running his fingers through his hair and casually kicking one of Lily’s toys out of view as she continues to sing intelligibly. 

Will twists the doorknob and yanks the door open and hitches in a breath

“H-hey,”

✾✾✾✾

Nico breathes in the sharp scent of early morning air and cracks his neck.

It has been quite some time since Nico had the opportunity to walk around without worries all by himself. Usually, it’s a rush between tasks and assignments for Dad. One day he’s in this part of the city and then he’s being called on the other side of the continent the next. However, this time, he finished a task early and efficiently so Hades gave him some time off to recuperate, telling him that he’ll hear about his next assignment one of these days. Whatever the fuck that means. So he’s here, in La Nysta, taking in the view and hoping he doesn’t run into anyone he knows or monsters he’s killed before.

Who is he kidding, he’s not in La Nysta purely by chance. The moment Hades said he can take some time off, he immediately shadow traveled to La Nysta because that’s where Will’s last address was. There’s an eighty percent chance that he’s still living in La Nysta but he will not keep his hopes up. And who does he think he is, visiting Will out of the blue and expecting he’d still get back with him after he left seven years ago? Nuh-uh.

Nico clutches the paper containing Will’s address and the paper tears a little. The damn little thing has been living inside his jacket pocket for years that it has already deteriorated.

 

Will’s supposed building doesn’t look so worn, but it isn’t new either. Definitely not what he was expecting. It’s a six-storey building with its white paint yellowing with age. It reminds him somehow of Japanese apartments in their uniformity and the balconies. The ground floor is a commercial space for a convenience store, hair salon, laundromat, and noodle shop. The stairway leading to the living spaces above is dark and cold and full of inconspicuous spaces that he’s sure if someone slips and dies here, nobody would find the body until five years later.

He supposes it’s the perfect place for a demigod who’s trying to blend in with society and hide from monsters that might still be sniffing out for older demigods.

Nico ascends the stairs, offering a small prayer for Tyche to help him be safe.

Finally, when he’s out of the scariest staircase of all, he breathes a sigh of relief. He opens his palm again, reading Will’s address, and starts his search. Fortunately, Will lives on the second floor so he doesn’t have to go back down the scary staircase unless he has to leave, but judging the state of it, he’d rather shadow travel out of the building than risk falling to his death.

Will’s apartment, 2L, is the twelfth unit from the staircase since the rooms are arranged alphabetically. He pounds his chest for good luck when he finds it and raises his fist to knock.

It has been seven years since he last saw Will and though they never really ended on bad terms, the way they broke up wasn’t good either. Will was starting college and he asked Nico to come with him, but Hades wanted him to stay in the Underworld for a few years, something about getting the Underworld back in order and implementing new rules or something (he already forgot, it’s been seven years), and by going with his dad, he might know which family Bianca would be reborn into. He wanted to go with Will, gods know how much he wanted to stay with Will but Hades' offer also tempted him. Bianca was aiming for the Isles of Blest so she is bound to be reborn, and Nico desperately wanted to know where she’d be born so he could watch out for her.

In the end, for something else he cannot remember anymore, he chose his father. He and Will had their biggest fight that lasted for months. It became too taxing and exhausting that they called a truce. They talked, apologized to each other, and ended things together. Nico immediately packed his bags and went to the Door of Orpheus to meet his dad and step-mom. That’s it.

Nico has been on Hades’ beck and call ever since.

He never saw where Bianca went.

Hazel on the other hand is thriving. She’s still with Frank and they see each other once in a while when he has a few hours to spare. They’re in New Rome, both retired from their old duties and are now taking care of themselves. Building their future and all that. Nico is happy for them.

Maybe it was for the best that Nico went with his dad because if he stayed with Will he would’ve dragged him down with him. He had no interest in school, although he remembered being a tad good at it, he couldn’t connect to anybody to have friends, monsters are extra attracted to him since they think having him as hostage would make Hades suddenly “care” about him as an actual son and release all their monster friends, and he doesn’t like authority. He has no idea how the last one would corrupt Will but it could’ve, might have if Nico’s with him.

Now here he is at twenty-five, no permanent address, and no skills other than sword-fighting or any physical activities. Will must be rich as fuck right now, some hotshot surgeon with wife (or husband), two kids, and a dog living in their pristine home. But obviously, based on the state of this apartment complex, that’s not true. 

But… maybe Will owns this building? He heard that being a doctor is expensive so maybe he bought this building as an investment and saving up for renovations? And he lives in apartment 2L with his husband (or wife), two kids, and dog because why would they live somewhere else when they can live in one of their rented units, right? That would be crazy and a waste of fucking money. Yeah, yeah, maybe that’s it.

Nico exhales, makes a fist, knocks three times, and waits for a couple of seconds. Nobody answers but the TV must be on since he can hear murmurs behind the door, so he knocks again. And again. The doorknob rattles so he braces himself.

“He—oh,” he says, his smile almost immediately turns to frown when he sees an old man. Will’s father-in-law? “Oh hi,” he repeats, “is uh, Will here?”

The old man narrows his eyebrows together. “I’m Bill. Who are you?”

“I’m Nic...aragua. My name is Nicaragua Rosso.” He grimaces. What the fuck?

“Your parents named you Nicaragua, the country?” The old man raises an eyebrow, looking more suspicious of him as the seconds tick by. Nico wants to shadow travel away from this situation.

Nico gives an awkward laugh, “Ha ha, you know, uh hippie...parents. They said I was conceived in Nicaragua so that’s what they named me?” He’s just spouting nonsense at this point.

The old man looks even more unconvinced. “Uh-huh,”

“Anyway, I meant Will, not Bill. Will Solace?”

“Yeah, my name is William, but I go by Bill.”

“There’s no “B” in William, why do you call yourself Bill?”

“That’s just how it is, kid.” William—Bill—folds his arms and stands straight. He slightly towers over Nico. At five foot seven, Nico is used to people towering over him so it’s not surprising that this man towers over him too, but he puffs his chest like a gibbon making itself look larger to defend himself if push comes to shove. Of course, he can take this man easily, one swipe at the leg to lose his balance and a few punches on pressure points would surely knock him down. But he won’t do that. This man is not a monster so no point in handling him like one.

And also, how the fuck do people get “Bill” from “William”?! That just doesn’t make any sense!

Nico looks at him straight in the eye, only blinking when the other man does, finally the old man exhales and scrunches up his nose. “William Solace you say? He’s on the third floor, 3L.”

“He moved?”

“Always been there, kid.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Nico gives a strained smile and starts to walk. 

“Hey!” the old man calls out, Nico looks over his shoulder, “you look like bad news, just keep in mind I have security cameras all around. I would know if something bad happens.”

Nico tries his very best to not roll his eyes and instead gives the graying man a thumbs up. He still rolls his eyes when the old man’s door slams close.

He debates whether to use the disaster staircase again or shadow travel up but he ultimately chooses the former. The old man might be watching from his ‘precious’ security cameras. The Mist would protect him but that man’s not worth the effort.

He tips his head up as he ascends, not even attempting to look down (Jesus, Will, if he donates money for him to install an elevator here, would he accept?).

“Woah careful! Sorry ‘bout that!” A man says when he almost knocks Nico over the edge of the steps by the car seat he’s holding. Nico immediately holds on to the rusty railing.

“Y-yeah, no problem,” Nico grins uncomfortably. The metal crumbles in his hand. He rubs his hands together to get the crumbs of red-colored metal off. He counts the units as he walks by, 3H, 3I, 3J, 3K… 3L. Here it is. Will’s unit. A metal tag on the side says W. Solace. 

Nico rubs his face. This is really it. He’s finally going to see Will after seven years. His heart beats extra loud in his chest that he’s afraid he might pass out or something. His hands are clammy and sweat starts to form in the back of his neck and the dip of his spine. He absent-mindedly wipes it off with his shirt and raises his fist to knock.

A muffled ‘yes, Jeff! I’m coming!’ says behind the door. Will. That’s Will’s voice! Nico sucks in a breath and knocks one more time.

“Jesus, Jeff! I’m coming!” The voice gets louder then stops, the door yanks open and there he is. Large golden curls tied behind his head save for a few wisps of hair falling over his eyes, and he’s wearing a thin, white long-sleeved shirt. Two bags sling on his shoulder and he’s… holding a child.

Nico bites his lip and blinks back the moisture in his eyes. His heart hammers even more in his chest that he can practically feel his blood course through his body. Nico feels lightheaded.

“Hi,” he manages to whisper and give a small smile. Good.

Will’s eyes are huge and blue, much like the child in his arms. “Nico,” he whispers, “Nico,” he says again, louder this time.

“Hi,” Nico repeats like a broken record. He can’t take his eyes off of Will. The years have been good to him, his hair is brighter, albeit longer than the last time he saw him, he’s taller, broader, and more muscular too. He’s gotten paler too but not drastic, only a few shades lighter.

“Um, what are you doing here?” Will asks, eyes darting everywhere like he’s waiting for someone.

“I was uh, in the neighborhood. Thought I drop by.” he swallows and forces himself to stand properly, raise his chin up and hold his shoulders back.

“Yeah, cool.” He glances down at his watch “I’m actually running late, can we talk later when my shift is over? I really gotta go. You can stay if you want. No, I insist you stay. Help yourself with whatever’s inside, okay? I gotta go, see you later.” He smiles, taps Nico’s shoulder like they’re office acquaintances and not exes who used to sleep together, and practically runs to the rickety staircase, adjusting the bags on his shoulders every step. The baby bounces in his arms like a ragdoll but she’s laughing still.

Nico looks around, looking for anyone to talk to about his situation. He glances up and sees a camera. He stares at it, daring the man that's probably spying on him to do something, anything about it. He sees a little hole under the lense--a microphone. 

"You heard him," he says, giving a wink to the camera and heads inside.

Chapter 2: on hold

Summary:

Why did Nico show up at his doorstep after seven years of no contact? He didn’t look sick this morning. Is he in some kind of trouble? Did he need a place to stay until whatever he’s running from blows over?

Notes:

Yep the second chapter. This chapter is still unbeta'd because my friend was busy as heck. Please excuse my mistakes :D I'll give it another read later for another round of check up.

"What took you so long, man?" Jeff shoves the key in the ignition as Will buckles Lily on her car seat. He quickly opens the passenger door and locks his seatbelt in place.

Jeff pulls away from the side of the road. “Yeah, sorry. My ex showed up at my door,” he says.

He snaps his head at Will, “Who, Nick? Lukas?”

“No, the other one,”

“You never really dated the whole time I knew you—” Jeff gasps. “Wait. The one who left for abroad?”

Ah yeah, left for ‘abroad’. “Yeah, him,”

Jeff glances at the rearview mirror. “Oh shit. What’s he look like now?”

“Still the same: black hair, black shirt—”

“Black leather jacket and anemic?”

Will nods his head, “How’d you know?”

“Hit him with the car seat earlier. Would’ve pushed him over the railings if I had known,” he chuckles at his own joke and honks to the passing car. “Asshole! Anyway, what did he want?”

Will shrugs, when he realized Jeff can’t see him, he answers, “I dunno. I told him to stay in the apartment.”

Jeff snaps at him again, flabbergasted and looking like he’s one stupid thing away from whacking Will in the head. “Dude! Why?!”

“Eyes on the road, Jeff. Lily’s at the back.” He turns Jeff’s head back on the road and sighs. He scratches his head. “I don’t know. It’s been seven years.”

“He broke up with you now you let him inside your home?”

“The breakup was mutual. He said bad things, I said bad things. It’s just how it is.”

“Still, dude. Did you even know what he was doing in those seven years abroad?”

Underworld stuff, obviously. “No. But he worked for his dad,”

“Family business uh-huh. What did his dad do?”

“Uh… mortician?” Nice save.

“He went abroad to study to become an undertaker? That’s bullshit.”

 Will scrunches his face and throws his hands up. “Forensic science? Bloodstain pattern analysis? I don’t know. We were breaking up, I didn't bother to ask."

"Alright, alright man. It's fine. You're both gonna be okay, right?"

"I think so, yeah. I mean he fights really well but I don't think he's gonna punch me or anything." Will looks out the window and watches the trees as they pass by.

"He was violent?!" 

Will twists to look at his daughter who's starting to look scared. He coos and gives him Mr. Bunny. "Dude, calm down you're freaking Lily out,"

"Sorry, sorry!" 

"I said he fights really well, not that he abused me. And I can take him. We used to spar all the time, I know a few tricks to bring him down."

"How did you two meet, by the way? I don't think you ever mentioned that. Hell, this is the first time I'm hearing that you know martial arts,"

Less martial arts but more on archery and sword fighting, really. "We attended the same summer camp growing up. I was twelve, he was like eleven."

"Wow. When did you start dating?"

"Sixteen. He was fifteen."

"And you broke up, what, three years later?"

Will clicks his tongue and pointed finger guns at his friend. "It's fine. He's not gonna do shit, I promise."

"Whatever. But I'm gonna drop by later just to be sure,"

"If you think that's better than having dinner with your wife then fine."

They arrive at the daycare five minutes later. He unbuckles Lily and slings her bags over his shoulders to take her to Dottie, one of the teachers.

“Say goodbye to Uncle Jeff,” Will tells Lily.

“Bye, unca Jeff!” She blows him a kiss and then they’re off.

"Hey, lovely Lily! Good morning!" Dottie coos and takes her bags from Will. Lily squeals. Will kisses her on the head, nose, and cheeks. She giggles and kisses him back on his nose. It's wet and she smells like milk. 

“Lily, say bye-bye to papa!” Dottie encourages her.

“Bye-bye, papa,” she says. 

“Bye, baby. Have a great day!” Will smiles at her and gives his daughter one last kiss on her forehead before an assistant teacher, Olive, brings her in to play with her friends. They swarm her the moment she enters the door.

Like a true descendant of Apollo, Lily, just like him, Lilian, Kayla, Austin, and all their siblings, is a people person. Lily will surely gain new friends wherever they go, be it the park, mall, or just the street. People are drawn to her. Will thinks it's a blessing from his Dad because though Will easily adapts to any place he's in, Lily's abilities are just too freaky to be natural. There has to be divine involvement in it.

“You’re almost late today, Solace,” Dottie teases, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face.

Will blushes and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I slept in. Won’t happen again, I promise.”

She shakes her head slightly, “No no, it’s no big deal. I’m actually glad you almost came in late today ‘cuz I was starting to think you’re a robot or something. You’re too perfect! You’re tall, kind, hot! Jesus man, you’re really hot, and such a good dad! Ugh, all the dads here can never compare!”

“Aw geez,” Will flushes even deeper and his cheeks hurt from smiling too much. “I’m sure that’s not true. There are plenty of good dads out there. I’m just doing my best for her.”

“Oh, you sweet beautiful nurse angel. Liv, did you hear that?!” She screams to Olive who’s helping another kid take his shoes off. She screams back, “Yeah! Fudging adorable!”

“I could cry just from hearing you say that. There are plenty of good dads out there, yes, but you’re one of a kind, Will. Shut up and take the compliment.” The smile she gives Will is bright and he feels warm inside. And she’s really pretty too with her hot pink-colored hair, dimpled cheeks, and spider bite piercings.

“Alright, thank you,” he surrenders. His face feels melting. “I’m heading off now, gotta clock in at work.” Will points at the car behind him and hopes that she doesn’t interpret it as being rude. He’s just really late for work.

Dottie looks at him with intense eyes and a wide smile on her face like Will's a child doing great in sports or whatever. It’s a tad embarrassing but he really appreciates Dottie, Olive, and the whole staff for looking out for her daughter so it’s fine even if they embarrass him once in a while.

He waves goodbye to them both and Dottie reciprocates with a “good luck hot dad!” He quickly ducks inside Jeff’s car and they speed off to the hospital.

“Dude, I keep telling you she likes you! Ask her out, I'm sure she’ll say yes!” Jeff insists.

“Nah. I told you I’m not gonna date anyone from the daycare. I don’t want things to be weird when we break up, and I’m making Lily my priority.” He drums his fingers on the window to the beat of the music from Jeff’s radio.

“What do you mean weird? Everyone and I mean everyone loves your little nugget there! I’m sure they won’t change how they treat her if you break up with Dottie. And why would you break up in the first place? She’s great, you’re great, Lily’s future siblings will be great!”

“Stop,” Will shoves his friend playfully away. “I’m not gonna date Dottie. That’s final.”

“Alright, alright. Your loss, man.”

The truth is Will isn’t that interested in dating anymore. After things ended with Nico seven years ago and the two guys he “dated” in college, no one really caught his attention. And having Lily was a total accident. No, having a baby was not in his priorities at all. Sure, he might’ve flirted back with a few people back then but nobody could compare with Nico. He was smart, strong, even sweet when they’re all alone. He was determined and helpful and being with him was like being a kid again, unburdened by their status as demigods and family drama. He actually thought Nico was the one for him, that they’d get married, have their own family and move a little closer to Texas so he could visit his mom often. Or they could move to California and be closer to the entrance to the Underworld, or just stay in New York for easier access to Lord Hades’ throne room via the Door of Orpheus.

But nothing ever goes right when you’re a demigod. It’s by design. Written on the stars and all that. Two things go right and the next one will turn into an unsalvageable dumpster hellfire.

There were times when he found someone he thought he could connect with, but they turned out to be real jerks to Lily or they just didn’t see themselves taking care of a partner’s child. It’s fine, of course. At least he never wasted time with any of them. Never in any universe he will choose them over his Lily.

“By the way, you wanna have dinner with me and Amy later?” Jeff asks.

“I have a guest, remember?”

“Right, your ex. Got it.”

 

The hospital is a good ten minutes away from the daycare so the drive isn’t long. Will removes Lily’s car seat and carries it with him inside. Jeff sticks out his hand from the window and waves goodbye. 

Jeff doesn’t work at the hospital anymore. He used to before he and Amy got married. Now, they have a small hardware store in the middle of town. It isn’t much (their words not Will’s) but it generates enough income that they can live a tad more comfortable than Will. Plus they don’t have kids so all their parental attention is focused on Lily.

He, Jeff, and Amy met in college. He and Jeff were Nursing majors but he moved to EMS in the second semester. Amy was in Medical Technology but moved to Business Management halfway through their first year of college. Since their second year, Jeff and Amy have been together, so Will has been the third wheel in their relationship for most of their twenties. He’s happy for them. He wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world, although sometimes he does when Amy tries to set Will up with her friends for the 823rd time.

Jeff and Amy are also Lily’s godparents. Will doesn’t have a family anymore after his mom died and he never kept in touch with any of his friends and siblings since leaving Camp Half-Blood. Jeff and Amy are also mortals so he's positive they can give her a good life when he's gone. Will can come back anytime and introduce Lily to Chiron, sure, but he’d... rather not. He’s not embarrassed that he never reached his full potential as a son of Apollo, the god of medicine, what he doesn’t want are the pitying looks he would get from his siblings and other campers (cousins?). He doesn't want the new Cabin 7 residents to look at him and think “this is what’s gonna happen to me if I don’t act my shit together and excel in my field”. That’s not true, of course. Being a child of Apollo automatically gives one an advantage in their field. He is great at his field. He’s confident with his abilities as a healer. But once you’re out of Camp, everything is different. Labels are automatically placed on you. You become the ‘problem student’ again, the ‘wild child’, the kid with dyslexia and ADHD, the teacher’s nightmare, the unruly. No matter how hard you try to be good, something fucks up everything and you have to start building their trust again from scratch. Not like you can blame the monster for wreaking havoc, right? The monster excuse gets old real quick.

And that doubles when one is born in a ‘financially challenged home’, which is a fancy phrase for being poor, which Will was, or still is. Nursing school is still expensive even with scholarships so he’s still paying his student loans. He can't go to med school and take care of Lily at the same time, one is bound to suffer and he'd rather it be the med school thing than Lily. 

Will takes Lily to McDonald's for lunch. The moment he places the tray on the table he is instantly reminded of Nico's affinity for the fast food chain and its food. As a person in the medical field (and any parent or adult for that matter), he knows how deeply unhealthy their foods are, but once in a while, he lets Lily have them just so she wouldn't get too jealous of her friends who have fries, burgers, and chicken nuggets for snacks.

Will drops Lily back to the daycare and hands Dottie a bag of fries to share with everyone. She gives him a wink that sends him stuttering until he finally leaves the premises.

 

“Solace, a little birdie told me you got a guest,” Ydith sing-songs. They cock their head to the side and hand Will the clipboard for his next patient. 

“No, Ydith, don’t start now,” Will rubs the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and takes it.

“What? I didn’t say anything,” they say defensively, although Will can clearly see they’re dying to ask for details. He truly believes this is his punishment for being work friends with his landlord’s nibling and for taking their offer to live in their uncle’s building.

He takes a small tray and reads the chart. He grabs a couple of ziplock bags and starts bagging his next patient's meds. “Shut up, I know you have questions.”

“Plenty, actually,” They shove away the files they’ve been working on to look up at Will expectantly. “What’s their name? Are they cute? Can you give them my number?”

Will huffs an air and rolls his eyes. He grabs a pulse oximeter, glucose monitor, extra latex gloves, and a small bag for hazardous waste and dumps them in the tray before placing it on the clipboard, “No. He is gay and he only likes men,” and walks away.

"Are you sure about that?" they call out.

Will looks over his shoulder, "Yes!"

Ydith blows him a raspberry. “You’re no fun, Solace.”

 

“Seriously, Will! You know I’m annoying. I will pester you until I have my way, so spare yourself the trouble and just give in. Tell me!” Ydith ambushes him the moment he enters the nurse’s station. There are only five assigned nurses on this station and most of them have gone into their rounds. Will just finished his and Ydith is on file duty for the next couple of hours.

“Fine, fine!” Will tosses the tray in one of the cabinets and swipes a granola bar from his locker. He tears it open and takes a huge bite. “My ex,” 

Ydith’s eyes flare. “Woah. You have an ex?”

Will rolls his eyes and continues chewing.

"But you’re the most uptight person I know? Oh! You have an ex so that meant you had sex. Maybe getting you laid would loosen you up, eh?” Their waggle their eyebrows.

“Dude, I am not uptight. I am simply tired all the time.”

“Your mom was tired all the time.”

He gives them an exasperated look.

“Do you have pictures?”

“No. I burned them all after we broke up.” He balls up the plastic and tosses it on the nearby trash. It misses. He picks it up and shoves it in his pocket. He still has Nico's polaroids in a shoebox hidden somewhere in his closet at home.

“Hm. Shame.” They take their phone out and type something. A minute later, their phone pings and they grin. “Shit, Solace, he’s hot!”

Will’s face scrunches. “Give me that!” He grabs Ydith’s phone and it’s Nico, looking straight at the camera, smirking like he’s gotten away with something illegal. It reminded him of when he joined Connor and Travis in pranking Cabin 10 and got caught. Nico shadow traveled away from the scene so only the Stolls were apprehended.

The message was from Bill.

Goddammit, Bill.

His landlord is pretty okay, not a saint but not the devil incarnate either. He lives in the building so all complaints can be directed to him, no super required. He does all the simple repairs in the building, and sometimes, when something is too difficult for him, he calls Will or the professionals for help. Will when it’s a two-man job and he’s free, and the professionals when it’s dangerous. He always gives Will fifty bucks no matter how hard or easy the job is.

But Bill is nosey. He likes to butt in with other tenant’s businesses, giving out unsolicited advice on how to feed their dogs, or what to give toddlers to shut them up. And he always spies on everybody using the security cameras. He’s positive Bill would leave nanny cams in every unit if it weren’t illegal just to spy on all of them.

“What is loverboy’s name? He’s really handsome, Will.”

“Nico,” Will sighs.

“Cute. It suits him. What’s he doing in your place?”

“Hm?” He turns his attention back to Ydith. “I dunno. I left before I could ask.”

“Wait, is he your baby’s father?!” They grab their phone from Will’s hand to stare at the phone one more time.

“No, dipshit. I’m my baby’s father.”

“Are you getting back together?”

“No. I don’t… think so. No.”

“Shame. He looks like he fucks.”

Will ignores them.

Ydith locks their phone and starts humming. They enter a few data in the system, prints stuff, and compiles clipboards like they should be doing. Huh. Maybe they are over with the conversation. Will stands up to check his phone inside the locker for any messages from the daycare. He finds none so he locks it in again.

His mind drifts back to Nico as he gathers stuff for the nurse’s station on the other side of the floor. Why did Nico show up at his doorstep after seven years of no contact? He didn’t look sick this morning. Is he in some kind of trouble? Did he need a place to stay until whatever he’s running from blows over? There are only a few hours left on his shift, he can’t half-ass his job for someone who might run away again. 

✾✾✾✾

Nico goes around the whole place one more time.

“Everything’s clean,” he tells himself. The surfaces and cabinets have been dusted, the fridge has been cleaned and cleared out of old food, the toilet is sparkling, he already did and folded away the laundry, and the floors vacuumed and mopped. He was bored and there were only too many shows he could watch before something itched under his skin and he had to move or else he'd go crazy. So he cleaned. Will wouldn't mind, right?

There were a few things he found out as he went around the house. First, that girl is Will's daughter and her name is Lily. He couldn't find any pictures of her mom (his wife?) so he's assuming she's not in the picture anymore. Second, he seemed to have cut off all contact from Camp Half-Blood based on the lack of pictures and letters from any of his siblings. Third, he has at least two friends that he sees regularly and he's a nurse. Fourth, Lily is approximately two years old.

"Thanks for the help, Jules-Albert. Do you mind getting me some lunch? You know I want," He says to his undead chauffeur. He called him up to dispose of the trash and to lift the couch and stuff. 

Jules-Albert groans his affirmative and starts to shuffle away. He opens the door, dragging his leg, and closes the door with a squeak. A shriek comes from the other side of the door then it's gone. Nico huffs a laugh. He doesn't know what regular folks can see when they look at his chauffeur but whatever it is, he guesses a shriek or even a startled gasp would be the best reaction to it.

He gives the coffee table one last look before putting away the rag and cleaner. He washes his hands and goes back to the couch to wait for his food.

Jules-Albert comes back fifteen minutes later with a huge paper bag. It smells good and his stomach grumbles. He thanks his zombie friend who places the bag in front of him. Nico disposes of his trash properly when he's done with the meal.

"Thanks for today, Jules-Albert. I think I can handle today by myself. You're dismissed. Just come and get me when it's time or when dad has something for me." Nico says. Jules-Albert groans again and finally leaves.

Nico is left alone for two more hours before he hears footsteps coming from the hallway and in front of the door. Nico straightens himself and brushes his hair with his fingers before the front door opens and the bastard who hit him with the car seat earlier appears. He stops under the threshold, mouth slightly agape, and stares. Nico stares back. The toddler is in his arms asleep and drooling a little.

"Um," Nico clears his throat, "Hello, where's Will?" He has improved his people skills over the years but Nico still prefers to not interact with strangers if possible.

The man leaves the door open as he enters the apartment. "He's still at work. He'll be home in a few hours."

Nico bites his lower lip. "Cool,"

"Uh-huh," the man murmurs. He toes his shoes off and goes straight to what Nico assumes is Will's room. He leaves the door open as he tucks Will’s daughter in. He removes her shoes and socks and places a stuffed animal beside her. He must be the guy from one of Will’s pictures. One of his friends. 

The man closes the door behind him and heads to the kitchen, removing everything in her bag and dumping it in the sink and hamper. 

Nico is drumming his fingers on his lap, sitting on the couch like a catholic boy in easter mass, waiting to be told to do something. Well, he is a catholic boy, technically, but that was decades and decades ago. Not that he’s expecting any orders from anyone but this isn’t Nico’s territory, this man is well in his rights to order him around.

“What do you do, man?” The man asks startling Nico a little bit. He twists open a bottle of water and drinks.

“Um, I’m… waiting for a callback.” He says, not exactly a lie but not the truth either. He doubts Will told him about their nature as demigods that can heal superficial wounds by singing to it like Rapunzel and can summon an army of undead warriors to fight for him.

“Unemployed, huh,” he takes another sip of his water, eyes trained intensely at Nico. It makes him feel like he is being interrogated.

“For now,” he tries to smile at him but comes out as an awkward grin.

“How long would you be in town?”

“I… I dunno. Haven’t thought about it yet,”

“Are you gonna be here all the time you’re in town?”

“N-no, I don’t reckon I’ll be here again after today unless—” The man’s phone rings.

“Hold on,” he says, then takes his phone out and answers it. “Uh-huh. Mhm. Yeah, she’s asleep, Amy gave her fruit snacks and string cheese and changed her. Yup. She told me to pick up some food but it can wait until you’re here. I don’t wanna leave her alone,” he gives Nico a glance implying his distrust of Nico but Nico pretends to look away. “Sure. Alright, bye.”

The man sits on the other end of the couch and turns on the TV. He clicks a few buttons and soon he—they—are watching a movie called The Wolf of Snow Hollow.

The doorknob rattles by the time the wolf attacks the car of the deputy’s daughter revealing Will on the other side holding two bags. He’s still wearing his sky blue scrubs and he looks weary, shoulders slumped and dragging his feet as he hangs one of them on the hook by the door.

The man grunts and stands up, “Alright, you’re here. She’s still sleeping in your room. Kiss her goodbye for me,” he taps Will’s shoulder twice and then he’s gone.

“Hey,” Will greets, grounding Nico from his thoughts of wolves and Cerberus. “Sorry, I left you alone. You didn’t have to clean, you know,” Will smiles wearily.

“No big deal. I got bored and I didn’t want to leave since I don’t have keys and I have no idea when you’ll be back,”

“Yeah. Anyway, are you hungry? I can probably whip up something quick to eat here,” he opens the fridge and crouches down. He groans. “Wow, you even cleaned my fridge,”

Nico curls his toes inside his socks. “Told you I was bored.”

“I can clearly see that,” he stands up, groaning again, and takes a peek in the toilet. Nico looks away. “Even my bathroom is spotless. Thank you,”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Well, since you cleaned my entire apartment, it’s only proper that I feed you. Do you want anything? Me and Lily can eat anything. She’s not picky. Speaking of, wait,” Will rushes back to his bedroom and shuts the door. He can hear Will’s muffled voice behind it but nothing comprehensible. A moment later, he comes out with his daughter in his arms, awake but looks like she’s five seconds away from going back to bed.

“Papa, ’m sleepy,”

“I know love, but it’s almost dinner. If I let you sleep until then, you’ll be up until three in the morning,”

“Papa,” she whines.

“Nuh-uh. Okay, I’ll let you pick dinner, you want that?” Will sits her on top of a chair so they’d be eye to eye. 

“I wan stapegi,” she says, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Will chuckles. “It’s spaghetti. Again?”

“Stagetti,”

“Close. Follow me, Spa-ghe-tti,”

“Spa-ghe-tti,”

“Spaghetti,”

“Spategi,”

“Alright, close enough. You want spaghetti?” She nods. “Then we’ll get spaghetti. You alright with spaghetti?” He turns to Nico to ask. Nico startles again and nods. “Alright, baby. This is my friend Nico. Will you sit beside papa’s friend for a while? I’m gonna call someone to bring the spaghetti here.”

She gives her dad a small smile and wiggles so Will would put her down, she then walks up to Nico and slings her foot at the edge of the couch so she can hoist herself up. Nico doesn’t know what to do so he hovers his hand just in case she falls and would need any help.

“Was’at?” Lily asks, pointing at the skull ring on Nico’s left hand.

“Huh?” He looks up to Will who’s watching them with the phone to his ear.

Will raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side, non-verbal for ‘answer the damn question’.

He turns back to the small human. “It’s a ring,”

“Wing?”

“Ring,”

“Wing?”

“Ring,” he rolls his r.

“Wring?”

Good enough. “Yeah,”

Lily goes back to the show, but her eyes keep darting down on Nico’s hand. Will is still on the phone and he doesn’t know what to do so he removes his ring and gives it to her. “Here,”

Lily’s blue eyes shine with delight. A memory flashes his mind, their first kiss. “Tankchu!” Nico nods his head then hears Will clear his throat.

“What?” He mouths at the blond.

“Say ‘you’re welcome’,” Will mouths back.

“You’re welcome,” he says to Lily. She gives her a toothy grin, then her attention is pulled back to the TV by the growl of the wolf. 

Deciding that the movie they're watching is too violent and scary for a two-year-old, he takes the remote to change the show. He clicks an animated movie called Secret Life of Pets. Lily bounces on her seat the moment the bright lights are shown.

"That's her favorite movie," Will says as he settles on the chair on Lily's left.

“Papa, where ish sageti?”

“On its way, baby,” Lily giggles and swings her feet. She crawls to Will and settles on his lap.

They watch the movie in silence except for the funny parts where Lily squeals and giggles to the white dog on the screen and their friends as they scour New York for the two dogs, Max and Duke.

The knock on the door announces the arrival of the food so Will stands up to get it. He places Lily on Nico’s side with a quick ‘I’ll be back’. Lily then sighs and leans back and makes herself comfortable.

Nico is tense; his back ramrod straight and his arm avoiding the little kid beside him. Lily moves around again, almost at the edge of the couch. Nico frantically holds her shoulder. It’s a relatively short fall but babies are delicate, even toddlers, so he decides it’s better to hold her than risk it. Will runs to the kitchen with the paper bag in his arms and prepares dinner.

Nico tries to go back to the movie when he sees the faint golden glow around Lily’s hair. At first he thought it was just her head, but her arms are covered with it too. He looks at her pajama-clad legs but it’s still there. Concerned since all the babies he’s seen (only a few but certainly enough) don't glow, he calls out to Will.

“Will?” He keeps his head high. Babies’ ears are sensitive too. “Your baby is glowing.”

“Uh-huh. I know.”

“Why?”

“I dunno,” there’s a clatter of forks in the direction of the kitchen. “It’s been there since she was born. Probably a blessing from Dad.”

“What does it do?”

“She never gets sick. She still gets cuts and bruises but never a fever or even a cold. Like there’s this one time there was an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease at the daycare, she never got sick.”

“Does she have any gifts?”

Will shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Maybe still developing? She’s a legacy so it’ll probably show at some point.”

Nico nods his head in approval, “Yeah,”

“Alright, dinner’s ready!” Nico pauses the TV and waits for Lily to climb down herself, when it doesn’t happen, Will comes in to pick her up. Nico stiffens, It's the closest he’s been with Will since he showed up this morning. He hasn’t felt Will’s touch in over half a decade but being this close to him feels like nothing has changed. He closes his eyes, trying to savor the feeling of the blond’s warmth but it’s gone too soon. Nico coughs to mask the disappointment trying to claw its way out of his throat.

“Your throat itchy? I got some lozenges if you want,”

“No, I’m fine.” Nico stands up and brushes the invisible dirt on his pants and shirt and follows the father and daughter to their small dining table. Nico watches as Will sits Lily on her high chair and places a plate in front of her. She starts digging in, picking her food with her fingers and shoving them in her mouth.

Will serves Nico, muttering his thanks as soon as the blond is done. Nico forks a few pasta and lifts it in front of him. “Dad,” he says, like toasting to an old friend at a dinner party, then eats it. Whatever. It’s not like his dad's gonna come marching up here to give him a lesson about proper offering etiquette. He knows Nico is offering him food, that’s good enough for him. He ran out of fucks to give a long time ago.

“Papa,” Lily starts, spaghetti sauce smeared around her tiny mouth, “why did ‘ee do that?”

Will wipes his face with a napkin, “Did what, honey?”

Lily picks up a few pasta and raises her arm. “Like dis,” she says, then eats the pasta. Will turns to Nico, eyes searching like he’s thinking of a good and normal way to answer his daughter.

“Um, b-because he’s—”

Is Will hiding their true nature? Nico doesn’t know shit about kids but isn’t it better to just tell the truth? When she’s older, If she asks why they’re different, Will can easily explain why. “It’s an offering for my dad,” he says, “he likes spaghetti,”

“Why dis your dad like pageti?”

“Because he likes any food,”

“Why?”

“Because Nico’s dad needs food to survive, just like you,” Will interjects.

Lily picks up a few pasta strands and raises her arm. “Can I give his papa food?”

Will sighs. “You can’t give Nico’s dad food. What about you give your grandpa food?”

“Gra-pa?”

“Yes, my dad.”

“Okay,” she agrees cheerily. She raises her tiny fist full of pasta strands. “Gra-pa!” She squeals and giggles.

“You say grandpa Apollo,”

“Gra-pa Apoluh!” Will smiles at her daughter and reaches over to grab the wet wipe. He clears the sauce off of Lily’s forehead and hair.

“Now eat your food. I’m sure your grandpa is full and—.”

A knock on the door interrupts Will mid-sentence. Will turns to Nico once more and he shrugs. He turns his attention back to his daughter.

“Who’s dat, papa?” Lily asks, stuffing her face full of spaghetti again.

“Maybe it’s uncle Jeff, wait here alright?” He ruffles Lily’s hair and walks to the door.

Another knock. “Yeah, Jeff, we’re fine. You don’t have—”

“Unca Jeff!” Lily calls out, then she screams. “Papa! Monster!”

“Oh shit,” Nico mutters, quiet enough that Lily doesn’t hear her and rushes to the door. “Jules-Albert, get out of her line of sight!” Jules-Albert, groaning, moves out of the way. Will runs back to his daughter, using his large body to hide her from Nico’s chauffeur. He can hear Will consoling her, whispering words of assurances and trying his best to distract her from the undead driver.

Nico shuts the door behind him. “Why the fuck are you here?! I told you to get me when it’s time. It’s not time to fucking go yet!” He keeps his voice in a harsh whisper so Will’s neighbors and the camera by Will’s door can’t pick up his words.

Jules-Albert groans, Lady Persephone has ordered me to drive you back to your living quarters, Master Nico. 

“Can’t it wait? I’m in the middle of dinner!”

Jules-Albert groans again, I’m afraid not, master. We have to go. 

“Fuck,” Nico mutters under his breath. “Fine. Fine. Just wait here. I’ll go say goodbye. Move out of the way, jackass! The baby can see you! She can see what you are, she’s a legacy of Apollo. Better yet, go back in the car and wait.”

Nico doesn’t like snapping on Jules-Albert, especially since the zombie has been his only friend since he went back to the Underworld seven years ago. They have been in multiple car chases, stakeouts, and even a few car crashes, and they have bonded since Jules-Albert is usually the one to patch him up. But sometimes, Jules-Albert catches him off guard, like this one.

Nico opens the door again, bracing himself for chaos, but Lily has calmed down. She’s in Will’s arms, her head resting on his shoulder as he rocks her around. Will spots him by the door.

“What does he need?” Will whispers.

“Persephone wanted me… home? I don’t know, but she wanted me to come with Jules-Albert.”

“Oh.” Something akin to disappointment flashes in his face but it’s quickly gone, “Alright. take care then.” Will gives him a strained smile. “Always bring ambrosia with you. Send my regards to Lady Persephone.”

“Huh? Ah, no. I’m not going back under. Not yet. I’m on forced leave, I guess. Persephone just wants to show me something.”

“Okay. That’s… good to hear.” His eyes dart around before settling back to Nico. “So, see you around?” Will rocks Lily again when she whimpers.

Nico gives Will a hopeful smile. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be around.” Maybe Will would want to see him again tomorrow? Would he look too eager or desperate if he drops by again tomorrow?

“Goodnight,”

“Goodnight, Will.”

Notes:

Yeah tell me what you think! :3

Chapter 32 of Waiting To Set It Right will be up some time this week :D

Chapter 3: take him back

Summary:

Lord Hades, the god of the Underworld and wealth. Possesses all the riches of the earth. How can he explain it without giving so much away?

Notes:

Hi! It's been two months since I last updated this fic. I'm still not done with Chapter 34 of Waiting to Set It Right but I'm at least 90% done with the chapter. My brain just doesn't wanna cooperate. I'm sorry.

But for now, have these pinning boys with their adorable daughter.

This, like all my fics, is unbeta'd. Please bear with the grammar mistakes and inconsistencies.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Will straps his daughter’s black shoes in place and smoothes the back of her white blouse. She has her hair in pigtails again because it’s the easiest hairstyle he can do (he’s still having problems gathering all her hair in a ponytail), while Lily picked a blue ribbon for her hair and a Vaporeon enamel pin to complete her look.

“Hm,” Lily points at her chin and purses her lip, (she saw this move in a show a few months ago and she’s been doing it ever since) “the zoo?”

“Nope,” Will finds a smudge on the knee of her indigo leggings. He brushes it away gently. “You really like it there,”

“The pak?”

“Close, but we’re going near a park. Okay, clue: your friend Remy visits there sometimes,”

Her eyes shine bright and her face slowly shifts to delight, “Auntie Amy and Unca Jeff!”

“Yes! We’re going to auntie Amy and uncle Jeff!”

“Remy is there?”

“Yeah, baby, Remy is waiting for you.”

Lily giggles and pulls Will along, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Alright, baby. Lemme just put on my shoes.” He bends down to tie his laces and soon they’re on a bus ride to his friends’ house. It’s a short ride, only ten minutes, but Lily likes riding the bus. She likes to say ‘hi’ to everyone she passes by and pet small dogs in their owner’s bags, even the occasional giant dogs. 

Looking at her in the middle of her routine puts a smile on Will’s face. His mom once told him that he used to do the same as a child, sometimes he would even sing in his seat loud enough so people could hear him. Lily doesn’t sing, but she likes to hum her favorite nursery rhymes and a few The Carpenters songs for some reason. Maybe the daycare plays The Carpenter songs? He’s gonna have to ask Dottie about it next time so he can play it at home.

Seeing Lily interact with adults sometimes makes him feel a tad paranoid for her in the future when she grows up and has to navigate the town on her own. It's a parent's nightmare to have their child be taken advantage of, and with how friendly she is, it is a possibility that he should be aware of. 

Will closes his eyes and pushes the thought in the back of his mind, telling himself to forget about it until the time comes. She’s still young, he can still keep her safe. He’ll know what to do when the time comes.

He carries Lily into his arms when they get off the bus and skip to the elevators, earning giggles from her. Will swings her back and forth to the elevator music and even throws her up in the air twice. She puts her down and they walk hand in hand to Jeff and Amy’s apartment.

 

“How was the dinner with your ex?” Amy asks as she places the pitcher of lemonade and doughnuts on the coffee table. Will and Lily are at the Soriano’s for a playdate since Amy’s niece, Remy, is in town. She’s Lily’s first friend and they have been playing together ever since Lily was big enough to socialize with other kids.

Will claps his hands like he’s asking the attention of his friends before he announces something, “He left before we could talk.”

“Why?” Amy asks.

Will shrugs, “His uh,” quick, think of an excuse, “stepmom? Yeah, his stepmom wanted him home, I guess? She sent the driver to pick him up.”

Amy whistles in appreciation. “A family driver? Wow, he must be loaded.”

“No, not… really a family driver. His personal driver. Chauffeur.”

“Damn, Will. You didn’t tell us he was rich. I thought you said his dad was a mortician?”

Lord Hades, the god of the Underworld and wealth. Possesses all the riches of the earth. How can he explain it without giving so much away? “Uh… generational wealth? It wasn’t important.”

“Okay, and? Did he visit you again?” Jeff asks, reaching for his wife’s homemade doughnuts, the powdered sugar sprinkle like snow on his dark wash jeans.

“No. Haven’t heard from him in two days.” Will answers simply.

“Do you think he’s planning to visit again?”

Will shrugs one more time. “I dunno, told you before he’s pretty busy, and his stepmom wanted him home so maybe she gave him an errand or whatever.”

"Is she the same stepmom from when you were still dating?"

"Yeah. She and Lord—" think of a name that starts with H, quick! "Henry have been together for a long time."

Amy raises an eyebrow. "Lord?"

"His employees nicknamed him Lord Henry."

Lily pulls on his shirt, “Papa, want juice,”

“Yes, baby.” Will grabs a glass and pours a little for his daughter. He gently gives her the glass cup and watches out as she tips her head back to finish the juice. Will is training her to drink in a glass already since she’s already two years old. She burps and smacks her lips a couple of times before handing back the glass to his father. She screams her thank you and goes back to playing.

“Remy do you want lemonade?” Jeff asks.

“No,”

“Doughnuts?”

“No,”

“Alright. Just ask if you want some,”

“Okay,”

Jeff huffs a laugh, “Kids,”

Amy shakes her head as if dismissing her husband’s nonsense then says, “Do you have any idea why your ex visited you?”

“No fu— fudging idea. At first, I thought he needed me to patch him up or a place to lay low but he just left.”

“Why would he go to you to patch him up? Can’t he just go to a hospital or something?” Jeff hands Remy a yellow Tamiya car from the coffee table and she says a little ‘thank you’.

Like every modern demigod, admitting to his friends that he’s not entirely human never crossed Will’s mind. It might be easier to admit to them at this point so they can understand his and Nico’s history better, but he’s hidden it for so long that it’s practically second nature to him to lie about his heritage. So he doesn’t.

“He doesn’t like doctors.” Will grimaces internally, “And he has issues about strangers touching him.”

“Does he get injured often?”

Will tries to remember all the injuries and near-death experiences Nico has gotten the whole time they were in Camp Half-Blood, but there were just too many, not to mention the unimaginable pain and misery he’s experienced from the years he isolated himself from everyone. “Yeah. Can we… not talk about his injuries anymore? Every time I blink I see them all over again. He’s been right at the doors of death countless times and I don’t like to remember them again.”

“That bad, huh,” Will offers a slight nod. He feels himself paling from the memories of patching up Nico in the infirmary. He did his best and was even proud of how well he did, but there was no denying that Nico’s injuries were terrible, and if it weren’t for the high pain tolerance and the resilience that comes with being the son of Hades, and being who Nico was a person, he would’ve succumbed to his injuries.

Will sighs, disguising his shudder by raking his fingers through his hair.

“Will, I know we’re prying about your relationship with… him, but I have to ask: What will you do if he wants to get back with you? Continue where you left off, so to speak,”

Will may be a liar but he’s never been good at lying to himself. He used to fantasize about getting back with Nico all the time, when the breakup was fresh and new, when the wound in his chest had barely scabbed over. He used to imagine Nico, bursting into his home or materializing in the shadow in the corner of his room, kissing him breathless, asking him to come with him. It didn’t matter where as long as they’re together. He was sure his mother would understand.

He stopped wishing for Nico to come back a year after he left.

Will gives his friends a look of defeat. No use lying about this one to them. They know him very well to even attempt to lie about this, so he tells the truth without hesitation. “I’d take him back.”

 

✾✾✾✾

 

 

Jules-Albert rounds the corner five blocks away from Will’s complex and stops in front of a swanky building. He groans to let Nico know it’s time to get off so he does. Jules-Albert speeds off.

Nico clicks his tongue and shakes his head disapprovingly. “Jesus,” he mutters under his breath and makes his way to the reception.

The receiving area bleeds style and sophistication with its white walls, dark brown hardwood floors and desk, and the slab of dark gray marble attached to it. The lady behind the desk greets him with a smile.

“Hi, how may I help you, sir?” She says in a perky voice. She sounds a little bit like Barbie. Her black hair is in a bun and she’s wearing minimal makeup; a little shimmer on her lids, mascara, and a pinkish-nude colored lipstick. She has seven ear piercings, three on the left ear and four on the right. There is a faint break on the wall behind her. A door, he notes. There’s also one behind the tiled wall on her side, but this one is more obvious than the one behind her. There are five cameras; two on each corner of the reception, two by the entrance, and another one directly at the center of the wall behind her (just above the secret door).

Nico clears his throat before answering. “If I’m not mistaken, I’m expected here? I was dropped off by my driver without a word.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem at all. Can I ask for an ID?” Nico takes his wallet out and hands her the driver’s license he’s never used even once before. “Thank you. This’ll be a moment.”

Nico takes a step back, because that’s what he’s always done, and looks around. The security cameras above the reception desk have a little hole under the lens, just like in Will’s apartment, but this model is newer and far more modern than that old thing.

“Oh yes, Mr. Di Angelo, you came at the right time. Your unit is ready.” She hands her a set of keys which Nico takes. “Your place is on the seventh floor. If you have any questions, there is a phone connected to us in your room. Just press zero. Have a nice night!” Nico gives her a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and walks to the elevators. 

He still has no idea if this place is a hotel or an apartment complex. If this is the former, Jules-Albert would definitely have an earful after he fucks off from this place. 

Nico finds his ‘unit’ easily as it’s located just a few doors down the elevators. He swipes his card in the slot and the door opens with a soft click. It’s dark inside so he gropes the wall for the light.

It’s an apartment. A generic one. The walls are white with a slight grey undertone. The couch and chairs are white with a few bright red ottomans for a pop of color, and black pillows. The rug in the middle is huge with swirls of different shades of gray. He spots a small fountain that sprays mist by the breakfast bar and figures it must be his ‘phone’. He fishes out a drachma and tosses it on the water. The now-brown hair of her immortal stepmother comes into view.

“There you are, my little pale-faced step-son. I take it Jules-Albert dropped you off already?” Her slightly high-pitched voice echoes around his quiet place.

Nico fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I was in the middle of something,” he growls, “but yes, he did.”

She ignores him. “Good. Now, as per your father’s request, this’ll be your home for the time being. You will stay here until he has something for you again.”

“Fine.”

“And don’t forget to call every single day. That’s his only deal. You are to call every. single. day. You understand, boy?”

He rolls his eyes this time.

“Perfect. I have to go. My flowers need tending.” Nico rolls his eyes again. “Oh, your application to that...” she pauses, seeming to find the right word, “school has been approved. You have to come in tomorrow. You’re the new gym teacher.”

He bugs his eyes at her. “Wha— I said history!”

“Just be glad it's not Home Economics. Gotta go byeeee!” And she drops the call.

A gym fucking teacher. What the fuck? He’s not underestimating gym teachers but a gym teacher?!

Nico grabs a pillow and screams in it.

He removes his jacket and throws it on the couch. He goes to the fridge and yanks it open, finding a bottle of water. He drinks the contents in five huge gulps and tosses the bottle in the trash. He digs his pockets for a band and ties his hair up in a sloppy ponytail. He removes his shirt and retrieves his jacket and throws them both in the hamper. Nico knows he can’t stuff his leather jacket in the wash but he’s too tired and annoyed to hang it so fuck it.

The bathroom is behind the kitchen so he pushes one of the two bedroom doors open to see which one is his. The first one is big, most likely the master’s bedroom. He shuts the door and moves to the next one. It’s a tad smaller than the other one. The first door it is!

Nico plops face down on the bed and barely turns the air conditioning on before he’s drifting off to sleep.

 

The shrill ringing of an alarm clock wakes him up almost violently, making him fall off the bed and grope the floor and the space beside him for his sword, then he remembers where he is and what’s going on. “Fuck!” He exclaims loudly. He rubs his face to calm himself down.

It has been some time but he finds himself quickly falling back to his morning routine from years ago: shower, eat a piece of toast with two cups of coffee, brush his teeth. Jules-Albert picks him up when he’s done and he’s on his way to the nearest integrated school in no time.

“Good morning, everyone. As you all know, Miss Sophia has finally retired after spending many years in our school. With that in mind, I want you all to meet your new gym teacher, Mister Nico—” the principal, Mr. Robertson covers the microphone before leaning back to whisper at Nico, “I’m sorry, what was your last name again?”

“Di Angelo.”

“—D’Angelus! Nicholas D’Angelus!”

“Di Angelo, no, don’t call me Nicholas, but whatever, fuck me, I guess,” Nico mutters under his breath. He gives an awkward smile and offers a wave to the bored teens before stepping back to the line with the other teachers.

“You will all meet Mister D’Angelus in your gym class today so if you have questions, you can ask him by then.”

Oh shit. He’s gonna start today? Like, today today?! Fuck.

Nico mimics his co-teachers as they start clapping. He slowly leans to his side and whispers to the person on his left. “Do I really have to start today?”

The other person whispers back. “Yeah, you should. I think Miss Sophia left a copy of her lesson plan for this quarter, you can totally use that if you don’t have one yet.” What the fuck is a lesson plan?! How do you even make one?!

“Thanks,” he finally turns to her and offers a hand, “I’m Nico, literally nobody calls me Nicholas.”

“Mina Hale. Biology. Nice to meet you.” She smiles, takes his hand, and gives it a firm shake. “Do you want to have lunch together later?”

“I’d like that, thanks.”

Nico’s first class is at nine so he has time to read the lesson plan or whatever the fuck it is that the old teacher left. It’s got a bunch of boring shit about exercise, proper stances and whatnot. He groans. This is totally Persephone’s fault. Of all the things he could do in this school, they put him in gym class.

The goddess has been trying her best to be a step-mom, and he acknowledges her effort, but they get on each other’s nerves most of the time. Whenever Nico has gotten under her skin, she’d retaliate by doing something insane like turning him into a dandelion, corn (like that time Triptolemus turned him into one), one of those weeds that close when touched, and this. 

Nico can’t help but consider this a personal attack though.

He’ll talk to his dad and file a formal complaint if he has to.

The bell finally rings a few minutes later. He groans one more time and changes to his ‘uniform’: sneakers, white basketball shorts, and a loose black collared shirt (only white shirt was available so he had to shadow travel home to grab the black shirt). His hair is still too short for a proper ponytail but long enough for it to be a bother so he gathers all he can to tie them up, making him look like a Shih Tzu. Whatever, these kids are no threat to him. He’s not insecure with how he looks so nothing they say can hurt him. He’s been through worse. Literally. Nothing can faze him at this point in his life. He grabs his class record and leaves his office.

The school’s gym class is divided by gender so the boys are separated from girls. Miss Sophia was the girls’ gym teacher. Nico groans at the back of his throat.

Nico takes a look at the girls sitting on the floor in front of him. They’re all on their best behavior since he’s new and still a stranger to them. He lets out an exasperated sigh and places his clipboard on the bench.

He scrunches his face before clearing his throat. “My name is Nico di Angelo. You may call me sir or Mister di Angelo and nothing else. Got it?” The students slowly nod their heads. One girl raises a hand. Nico almost rolls his eyes.

“Where are you from, Mister di Angelo?”

“I’m from Italy. Next,” He points at a brunette on pigtails.

“Are you American?"

"I don't know,"

"Your English is good," the same girl says.

"Yes, I've been here since the 1940s," the girls laugh.

"Do you speak Italian?”

“Yes. No, I will not speak Italian in front of you. Do you have more questions? Let’s get it out of the way before we start, come on, people. Ask away. I will not answer any more non-academic-related questions after this.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-five,”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.” Some of the girls at the back giggle.

“Boyfriend?” 

“No.” Some girls oohed and ahhed.

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“Are you on social media?”

“No.”

“Where do you live?”

“In my apartment.”

“Do you have pets?”

“No.”

“Do you have an insta?”

“I just told you I’m not on any social media,”

“Why are you so pale?”

“Genetic problems.” Not technically a lie.

“Do you like the beach?”

“No. Too hot.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

“McNuggets,”

“When’s your birthday?”

“Sometime this year. No more questions?” He sweeps his eyes from left to right, looking for any girls who might still have their hands raised. He grabs his clipboard again when he finds none. “Alright. Don’t ask me personal questions again. Say ‘here’ when I call your name. Abrenica… Anderson...”

 

Nico hears Mina's footsteps before her head peeks through the crack of the door. “Knock knock!" she says.

Nico gives her a slight wave, "Hey, I'm just finishing here,"

"Oh don't mind me, I just wanted to see the office. I've never been here before. Miss Sophia was a scary woman."

Nico logs his basic information on the school system and checks his schedule. He has another class at 3:00 with the tenth graders, on Thursday he'll have the seventh graders at 9:00, sixth graders at 1:00, and ninth graders at 3:00. He'll do the same thing he did the tenth graders with the eighth graders later, no need to stress himself when it's literally his first day of school.

“You can stay here whenever you want. I don’t mind,” Nico says. He can be friendly if he needs to be, and he’s not planning to spend his break time here so she can have the room. 

“Really?! Oh thank god, the faculty room has a weird vibe. I don’t think they like me very much there,” she says, her red hair bouncing on her shoulders as she plants her ass on the nearest chair to her right.

“Why? How long have you been teaching here?”

“Just a little over five months. I’m the new ‘kid’ before you. How long have you been teaching?” She asks, leaning forward a little and crossing her legs in front of her.

“First time,”

“Oh, that’s… surprising, you’re what, twenty-three?”

“No, I’m twenty-five. I’ve been busy.”

“Doing what?” Gods, she’s curious.

“Family business,”

“What kind?”

“Mortuary,” he answers. Mina makes a face. Good.

“That’s… interesting,” she lets out an awkward laugh. “But you’re teaching full-time now?”

“By the looks of it,” he mutters.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,”

 

Mina is… an interesting character. She’s bubbly to the point of annoying but Nico lets her talk since she seems to find catharsis in sharing the latest gossip, and the things Nico has to ‘watch out’ like who’s dating who or the bullies of the school. Again, nothing can faze Nico. He's been to Tartarus and back. Teenagers and adults with superiority complexes and holier-than-thou attitudes are nothing compared to that.

"So," she says after her rant about the terrible cafeteria food and how she's campaigning to introduce "Taco Tuesday" to the menu, "what's your story?"

"Huh?" Nico replies distractedly. He's attempting to type down Mina's rants.

"Uh-huh,"

"Told you, mortuary business to teaching. Nothing too deep."

"You're funny," The first time for everything, he thinks "I'll figure you out."

"Good luck with that."

Nico follows her to the cafeteria. The moment they step inside, most of the students are already turned to their direction, with a few of them whispering to each other. It's the classic reaction to Nico in every space he visits so he isn't bothered by it. Mina, however, is quite confused.

"This feels different. Why does it feel different? Do you feel different?" She asks rapidly.

Nico sighs. "Don't worry about it. I have… an effect." That comes with being the child of Hades, he thinks but doesn't say. The Mist might conceal everything about him being a demigod (like his sword that's permanently attached to his side), but most mortals sense something underneath, especially the kids, and this place is filled with them.

"I'll grab us a seat," Nico says, leaving Mina by the entrance. She quickly grabs a tray and a plate specified for teachers and hurries to Nico's table. Nico stands up to grab his the moment Mina sits across from him. He doesn't have an appetite but he's been on a 50-day not-forgetting-to-eat streak so he grabs a soggy burger, a bottle of water, and heads back to their table.

"That's all you're gonna eat?"

Nico looks down at his food. "Uh, yeah,"

Mina shakes her head as if disapproving of Nico's life choices. She opens her purse and produces a blue plastic container. 

"My, uh, husband prepared this for me," she opens the container revealing food that smells sour and spicy.

Nico raises an eyebrow at her. "Uh, what is that?"

"It's called kee-lah-ween. It's roasted pork, cucumber, pepper, red chili, lime, ginger, vinegar, and red onions. Kinda like ceviche but with roasted pork instead of seafood."

Nico hesitates. "It's good with rice," Mina adds, taking a smaller plastic container from her purse. It's rice.

"Uh… thanks?"

"You're pale. You need to eat,"

"I'm… fine. It's genetic. I got it from my dad." Not technically a lie.

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Nico. You need more than a thin, overcooked patty in the middle of two oily buns," 

Nico gives her a strained smile and scoops a spoonful of Mina's food. Mina adds five spoonfuls of rice which almost makes him complain.

"You gotta eat the rice and kee-lah-ween together. Or just the stuff, it's good either way. But I strongly suggest eating it with rice. You look like you haven't eaten anything so the lime might upset your stomach."

Nico nods hesitantly. He fills the spoon halfway and shoves it in his mouth. It's got a weird mouth feel to it but not too bad. The spiciness also helps.

"Good, right?" Nico nods to please her. "Now finish that,"

"You're not my mom,"

"Ah! I might as well be! Just kidding, but you gotta finish that. That's only five spoonfuls of rice."

"I'm Italian. We eat pasta, not rice,"

"And I have Asian friends.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Just eat.”

Nico rolls his eyes and puts a spoonful in his mouth. He’s only doing this to get it over with.

 

The week passes without any incident, but Nico still hasn’t come back to Will's apartment. Leaving like that was incredibly rude, and he genuinely felt bad for scaring Will’s daughter when Jules-Albert came to pick him up. The right thing is to come back and apologize, but he’s still in the middle of getting the hang of his schedule. 

He doesn’t like it at all but the visit to the blond and his daughter will have to wait for another week.

For now, he’ll have to do with passing by Will’s building and looking up at their balcony.

 

“Sir, can we, hah! Can we take… a break?” One of the students, Cindy, if Nico remembers correctly, asks.

Nico scrunches his face. “Already? You only ran four kilometers, that’s nothing. Give it another two kilometers and I’ll let you rest.” Most of the students groan and a chorus of complaining kids mill around him asking for a break. “Cazzo, fine! Fine! Get the fuck away from me and I’ll give you five minutes.” The girls cheer immediately and break into a few groups.

He stands there with arms folded against his chest, his whistle digging in his chest as he regards his students.

Teaching Physical Education isn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Maybe because he’s actually good at it; he’s fit, quick on his feet, and his ADHD brain just prefers anything that makes him move on his feet. He doesn’t usually run with his students, but sometimes, thrice now, they make him teach the boys as well. There he can be a little rough on them. Not that girls can’t take the rougher side of any sports, but most of them, 90% in fact, are in the stage of wanting to look pretty, being eighth graders and all.

His experience being around eighth graders (not including his students) are quite different. Most of the campers, Romans or Greeks, were ready to get mud all over their favorite shirts, get gashes, burns, and all sorts of wounds, as long as they’re not deep enough to kill them, to get stronger, faster, more efficient in killing monsters who are out to get them when they’re not on camp.

The only group of people he knows that are averse to getting filthy and bloody are the Aphrodite kids. 

“Alright, five minutes are up! Get up your asses and give me two more kilometers!”

“We don’t even know how far that is!” One of the students complains.

“Then learn the damn metric system, Candice!”

 

Nico tells Jules-Albert to slow the car down once they turn to Will’s building. Jules-Albert grunts in confirmation.

The thing is, Nico has seen Will on their balcony a couple of times already, and every time he was hanging something or watering the plants. He never seems to notice Nico’s car on the street and Nico is okay with that. Today is no exception; Will is tilting a small plastic thing on a plant while holding a laundry basket. When he’s done, he puts the green plastic thing down and starts putting clothes on hangers and hanging them on what looks like bars on his balcony.

Then he looks up, or down, depending on how someone looks at it. He isn’t sure if Will sees them, but his eyes seem trained on Nico’s general direction.

Nico doesn’t do anything, just watching Will watch him. Then Will lifts a hand and waves. The action wakes Nico from his trance-like state and he jerks, surprising himself. He gives Will a hesitant wave.

They stand there for a moment or two, just waving at each other. Nico doesn’t want to go so he’s waiting for Will to get fed up and get inside, but it doesn’t happen. Instead, Will motions for him to come up. He points at himself as if asking, “who, me?” Will nods and motions for him to come up again. Nico smiles.

“I’m gonna stay here, Jules-Albert. I’ll call you when I’m done. DO NOT! Do not do it again what you did last time, okay? I don’t want to traumatize Will’s daughter.”

Nico checks himself on the mirror embedded on the ceiling, fixes his hair a little bit, and gets out of the car. He jogs to Will’s entrance and takes the stairs almost two steps at a time, ignoring the rusty rail and the suspicious yellowish-green liquid on one of the steps that’s either piss, pus, or stagnant water. He silently counts the doors again and knocks when he reaches door number 3L. Will opens it with a smile on his face.

“Hi, Nico. Come in!”

Notes:

I'm always on tumblr!!!!!

Chapter 4: the still of your hand

Summary:

Will has been cleaning the house for almost two hours now while Lily watches Tangled on TV. He already cleaned the windows and all surfaces in the house, he’s done tossing expired stuff from their fridge and wiping the walls and glass with disinfectant, and Lily has had her shower and meal. Vacuuming the couch is the only thing left on his agenda so he’s doing that before Nico comes over in a few minutes.

Notes:

This chapter is only for Will. I originally planned to have this fic in Will's POV but idk what happened lol I enjoy writing both their POVs so I guess it's fine :)

 

Content Warnings
1. There are two minor character deaths in this chapter. Please take caution and take care of yourselves.
2. There are mentions of blood. I cannot promise it's not graphic because everyone has different "gore" tolerance, but what I can promise is that there is NO graphic description of gore and viscera, just blood.
3. Alcohol (I'm an adult and alcohol, though not a big part of my life, is sometimes necessary to make people talk)

That's it!

 

This, like all of my other fics are not beta read. Excuse me for any grammatical errors and inconsistencies as English is not my first language, though I try my best to proofread and edit my works. :)

 

The title of this chapter is from Hozier's No Plan

Will has been cleaning the house for almost two hours now while Lily watches Tangled on TV. He already cleaned the windows and all surfaces in the house, he’s done tossing expired stuff from their fridge and wiping the walls and glass with disinfectant, and Lily has had her shower and meal. Vacuuming the couch is the only thing left on his agenda so he’s doing that before Nico comes over in a few minutes.

He and Nico had talked a few days ago after he noticed his car lingering across the street. Well, he didn’t know what Nico’s car looked like, but the window was open and he’s only on the third floor so recognizing his pale ex was pretty easy. We waved at him and called him up, and Nico did, so they had their talk.

Nico apologized for running away after dinner, and for scaring Lily with Jules-Albert. It was the first time his chauffeur did that, so Nico suspected Lady Persephone had something to do with it, and he was right. Nico told him that his immortal step-mom requested him to 'check out the new place' to see if it was to his liking. Will was sure her ‘request’ was less kind than Nico had meant.

They talked, had a few hard seltzers (only one and a half for Will since he had an early shift the next day), and at one point Nico ordered a bucket of fries from a diner a few blocks over (he originally offered to shadow travel there but Will told him not to). It was great. It felt like they were at camp again hanging out in the infirmary.

When Will was seventeen, when he was well into his second year as the camp's head medic, he was allowed by Chiron to stay up late provided he's at the infirmary. Because of that, the harpies never clawed him and he could walk unbothered from Cabin 7 to the infirmary if he used the trail. He often invited Nico to his stays at the infirmary after that, and there they spent most of their nights talking or sleeping together in Will’s ‘room’ in the infirmary. Nothing happened, just sleeping, cuddling together, making out. Usual boyfriends stuff.

Will used to clean the infirmary before Nico dropped by too. He would sweep the floor, dust a little, and light a few chamomile-scented candles that Aphrodite girls and Hypnos kids formulated to ensure a normal REM cycle (no nightmares for Nico), or the lavender-scented one for extra relaxation (when Nico came back from a grueling mission in the Underworld).

Will smiles as he points his handheld vacuum at the ceiling where a cobweb that was not there last night now rests.

Rapunzel is in the middle of singing the third reprise of When Will My Life Begin when the knock on the door happens. Will, being on the other side of it, startles a little. He’s getting real rusty sensing people these days. He should really pay attention to his surroundings even at home and not just outside. He rushes to the kitchen and tosses the vacuum a little too hard in the cabinet. Gods, he hopes it didn’t crack or something. He’s pretty short right now to buy another.

Will runs by a mirror, comes back, and fixes his hair a little bit before opening the door. “Hey. Uh, whaddaya got there, Neeks?” He asks, looking at the glassware in Nico’s hand.

Nico purses his lips, biting the inside of his cheeks, he’s sure, before speaking. “I… brought lunch.” And smiles. There’s wariness in his eyes. He’s worried… about what?

“Oh! Thank you!” He takes the lasagna from his hands and invites him in. Nico smiles, looks back, and follows him inside. Huh.

“I would’ve brought ravioli but I don’t know if she would eat that.”

Will chuckles at his aversion to using her daughter's name. “You can call her Lily, Nico. She won’t materialize beside you if you mention her name three times. She's not the Candyman.”

“Ah, sorry. I’m still getting used to, you know, hanging out with someone who has a kid.”

Does that mean he’s planning to stay? No, don’t give yourself false hopes.

Lily’s attention is focused on the television as Rapunzel enters The Snuggly Duckling. She always giggles whenever Hook Hand starts singing.

She must have noticed the door open because her attention is now trained on Nico by the door. He’s still figuring out if he has to remove his shoes but Will shakes his head. “No need, the place is absolutely filthy.”

Nico looks about to protest but he sighs and stomps his feet by the door to shake off invisible mud, and walks right in. Lily looks back at the TV, smiles, then back at Nico.

“Hi,” she greets, waving at him with her tiny hand.

Nico looks shocked, but he indulges and gives a little wave. “Hi.” He answers.

“I’m wa-ching Tangled!”

“Ah,”

“Hook Han is singing!” She points at the TV.

“Yes, I can see that.”

“Big Nose is next! Den Rapunsel!” She exclaims, bouncing in her seat.

Nico gives her a wide grin and stands in front of her. 

“Go on,” Will encourages, “sit, she won’t mind. Don’t you, baby?”

“No!” She moves closer to the TV and pats the spot beside her. “Sit! Sit!”

Nico rubs his hands on his pants and looks at Will. Will tips his head on the spot. Nico finally sits.

“Look! Look!” Lily turns to Nico again, cheeks pink, her brown hair bouncing, and green eyes shining bright.

“I am looking,” Nico says in a quiet voice.

Will smiles at them and goes to the toilet. He's doing his business when he hears a high-pitched voice singing.

“I gotta dream! I gotta dream! I jus wanna see the floating lanterns leeeaam! I’m so glad I lef my tower! Like all you lofley fokes I gotta dream!”

Will quickly zips his pants, washes his hands, and yanks the toilet door open. "Did she just sing?! Oh my god, she was singing!" Will exclaims. He rushes to Lily, lifts her up, and spins her around. She's giggling the whole time.

"Oh my god, baby! I love you so much!" He kisses her cheek and blows raspberries on it. She giggles heartily then squirms in his arms a moment later.

“Papa, I wanna watch Rapunsel!” She says.

“Oops, sorry.” Will kisses her cheek again and puts her down. She doesn’t sing again until Rapunzel sings her song to Flynn Rider to fix his cut hand.

“She doesn’t sing?” Nico asks when Lily’s concentration is back on the show.

“No, she usually just hums songs. I was getting kiiind of worried she only got the sociable aspect of being an Apollo legacy. Nothing’s wrong with that, of course, but my mom and I used singing as a time to bond. If other parents would take their kids to places for summer, my mom would bring me to her singing gigs with her band and let me play the castanets or the tambourine while singing background vocals. I want to have that with her, I guess.” Will places two plates on the table and one with a suction bottom for Lily’s high chair. “Can you get me some forks?”

Nico nods. “Where?”

“In the white drawer.” Nico nods again and takes two aluminum forks and a plastic one for Lily even without his request. Will fights back a smile.

“Here,” he hands Will the forks.

“Thanks. So, uh, have you talked to the others already?” Will asks, eyes on the task in front of him.

“Who?”

“People from camp,”

“Oh. I tracked Percy and Annabeth several weeks ago after a mission.”

“And?”

“They’re well. Still together. Annabeth’s pregnant.”

Will’s head snaps up. “Oh?” Nico nods. “Good. Good for her.”

“Yeah. They’ve been trying for quite a while, she said.”

“What about your other sister?” Will moves to the kitchen to grab the caramel chicken he’s been keeping warm inside the oven. 

“Hazel?”

“Uh-huh,”

“She’s good.” 

“Cool.” Not elaborating? “Not married?”

“I dunno. She’s still with Frank. She seems happy.” Nico steps in closer, leaning against one of the chairs. “I used to visit when I had a few hours to spare.”

“Where are they right now?.”

“Last time I visited, New Rome. “I think they were planning to move. I might have to check in on her again one of these days.”

“You should. It sounds like you haven’t gone there recently. Are you still Pluto's ambassador?”

“Pluto? Hm, yeah. Fewer monster activities going on these days so I don’t have to be there every time they have a senate meeting.”

The silence that follows is far too long for Will’s liking, so he goes to his daughter and tells her it’s time to have lunch. Lily follows without a fuss. He boosts her up and takes the red suction bowl on her table. “What do you wanna eat? Papa’s caramel chicken or Nico’s lasagna?”

“Wasanya!” She giggles and rocks her high chair by swinging her feet excitedly.

“Good choice,” he says and lifts his head to meet Nico’s eyes. Will winks at him earning a blush from the guest that definitely did not make his heart all fluttery and shit.

Will hands her the bowl back and presses on the suction for extra grip. “Before you eat, what will you say?

She turns to Nico and says, “Fank you for da food!”

“Alright, baby, dig in!”

“Yay!” She squeals. Then she does something incredible: she takes the first layer of the lasagna, raises it up, and says “Gra-pa Apowlow!” before dropping the layer and gobbling up her food.

It has been three weeks at least since Lily saw Nico do that, but he's damn surprised she remembered. This explains the mess, more than usual with huge chunks of her food, she leaves all the time on the tray of her high chair.

"Did you teach her that?" Nico asks.

"No. I'm just as surprised as you are. However, I did tell her whose name to say when you visited, before the..." Will mimes a zombie which Nico fortunately gets.

Nico's lips pout and his eyebrows furrow a little bit. "That must be it."

"Okay, shall we eat?"

"Uh, yeah," Nico answers. He looks around and then grabs the chair on his right.

"Ah, allow me," Will rushes to Nico's side to pull the chair out for him. Nico smiles a little, unsure of what to do, then sits down.

"Thanks," he mutters.

"No problem."

Will serves Nico his caramel chicken and a little bit of the lasagna after Nico asks for a little bit ("The whole time I was away, I only ate that or fast food. I'm honestly a little sick of it." "I thought your diet before was terrible but gods, Nico, that's atrocious!" "Attoshius!!")

Nico cuts a little of his chicken stabs it with his fork and raises it just above his nose. "Dad," he says, then drops it in the corner of his plate.

It’s been a long time since he last gave an offering for Apollo. Maybe it’s time to do it again.

Will offers his first bite to his dad, saying a quick acknowledgment and then putting the meat in the corner of his plate. He and Nico can probably make a ceremonial fire by the balcony so they can sacrifice properly. He wouldn’t mind, would he?

“Did they put anything special in the pavilion fire back at Camp Half-Blood?” Will asks.

“For what?”

“The offerings.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Will you join me later?”

“To make… a fire?” Nico eyes him skeptically.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Great.”

 

Lunch goes fine after their conversation. When Lily is done, Will helps her down and takes her back in front of the TV to finish the movie. Nico asks for more of the caramel chicken which makes him quite warm inside since it’s one of the few times he’s seen Nico take seconds. Nico finishes his second helping of chicken thigh and then the small square of lasagna on his plate. He hangs on the table with Will while taking glances at Lily every now and then. Nico gives Lily water when his daughter asks for water.

“Fank you,” she says to Nico after accepting the glass.

“You’re welcome,” Nico answers. Lily goes back in front of the TV that’s now playing Lilo and Stitch.

“You know I’ve never seen you interact with toddlers before,” Will says, stacking all their plates together. He scrapes all the offerings to another plate for easier burning. “You’re pretty good at it.”

Nico scoffs. “I don’t even know what I’m doing.”

“You just have to treat them normally. You don’t have to baby them all the time. Lily personally hates being babied. She knows if she’s being babied.”

“This is the first time I’ve interacted with a toddler before.”

“I guess when Annabeth and Percy’s baby is born you’d want to be there?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it yet.”

“Do they want you there?”

“If they didn’t, they haven’t told me explicitly.”

“Then I guess it’s safe to assume they want you to stay in their lives.”

“What about you, why haven’t you contacted anyone?”

“That’s different.” Will takes the plates to the sink and runs the water. It wasn’t his intention to cut everyone off, but interacting with them made him remember Nico all the time, so he did what he needed to do. He had to put himself first somehow.

Will puts the leftovers in a plastic container and stacks them neatly in the fridge. He washes Nico’s glassware carefully and wipes it dry with a dishtowel before placing it back gently on the dining table. He goes back to the sink, grabs a glass bowl and lighter, and calls Nico.

“Do I need to put some sage or something?” He asks.

“No, just light a fire and then give a short prayer for Hestia. She’ll keep the fire going.”

“Alright.” Will lights a kindling, says a small prayer, and sure enough, the fire doesn’t go out. He drops Lily’s offering first, mouthing Lily’s name and giving a short reason why she can’t do it herself. Then he drops his offering. Both their offerings burn without trouble. Nico drops his and then turns without saying anything. His offering burns just fine.

Will wonders if Apollo knew about Lily or her mother. Does he care? Would he care to visit Will and his granddaughter one day?

 

“Say bye-bye to your Miss, Lily!” Will twists to let Lily say goodbye to her teacher. She waves her hand and blows Dottie a kiss multiple times.

“Bye, Miss Dottie! See you Monday!” She says.

“Bye lovely Lily! Enjoy your sleepover!” Dottie says, her pink hair blowing in the wind. Multiple kids hug her hips while saying goodbye.

Will gives one last wave to daycare teachers and then walks back to Jeff who’s waiting at the parking lot. “Did you have fun today?”

“I did!”

“Okay, now do you wanna have snacks at home or at Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff’s?”

“Auntie Amy and Unca Jeff!”

“Are you excited about your sleepover with Remy?”

“Yeah! Remy and me will play and eat chikin nuggets!”

“Yeah you will, or whatever Auntie Amy or Uncle Jeff gives, right? What should we not do at their home?”

“Be picky,” she grins and takes a sip of her water.

“That’s right. We should eat...”

“What Auntie Amy and Unca Jeff give,”

“And we’ll say...”

“Fank you!”

“Very good.” Will kisses her temple. Jeff honks to let them know where he is.

“Unca Jeff!” Lily shrieks when she sees Jeff’s teal car.

“Lily!” Will hands Lily to Jeff who’s already reaching out for his goddaughter.

Will secures Lily’s car seat and puts her bags in the backseat while Jeff throws Lily up in the air.

“All done.” He says after a few minutes, placing his hands on his hips.

“Ready to go, baby?” Jeff asks and Lily shrieks her answer. Jeff hands Lily back to Will and buckles her to the car seat.

“Are you sure this is really okay? I know this is a lot.” Will asks his friend one more time. He’s asked the same thing yesterday, and the day before that, and last week when they all first talked about the sleepover. Jeff and Amy assured him that it’s totally fine and it would be their pleasure to have Lily sleep at their home with Remy.

“We told you before and I’m telling you again: it’s fine. Go sleep early, or I dunno, get laid or something. You have your home to yourself for the next two days. Be irresponsible, go wild. But not the kind where you get someone knocked up.”

“Shut up, you know I’m not gonna do that.”

“Papa, you said a bad word.”

“Oops. Sorry, baby. Won’t happen again.” Will turns and pinches his daughter’s cheek.

“Seriously, Will. Have fun tonight. Relax.”

“Okay, okay. Thanks, man.” He laces his hand around Jeff’s own and squeezes. “I think I need this.” They’ve always been affectionate, the three of them, and they show it to one another through everything they can. Will was always a touchy person due to his healing gifts being triggered through touch, he thought maybe their years together as friends had influenced Amy and Jeff to do the same. 

“You’re welcome.” Jeff smiles at him. Will feels his shoulders go lighter. He’s so fucking glad to have a support system like them.

 

After helping Amy and Jeff in feeding and bathing Remy and Lily, Will hugs Lily so tight she starts complaining. Amy threatens him with violence if he ever texts them tonight, saying he should have fun and not worry for the night, but she promises to send Will pictures the next day. He plants as many kisses as he can before Lily complains again, then leaves the Sorianos with tearful eyes. This is the first time Lily has stayed out and it makes his chest hurt. She’s growing up, no doubt about that. In three short years, she’s going to start preschool, then grade school, middle school, high school, and then suddenly she’s off to college and Will will have to let her go. That’s a long way down the line and plenty of things can happen along the way, but he can’t help but be emotional. Geez, is this what his mom felt like when he left for Camp Half-Blood the first time? But that was different. First of all, he was eleven, and second of all, it was needed. Monsters were starting to disrupt their everyday lives and his mom couldn’t protect the two of them anymore. Marcus helped, but there was only so much a satyr could do.

Will tries to relax the moment he gets home; he takes a long, hot shower, puts his hair up so he can put on moisturizer without the product getting all over his hair, and takes the bag of barbecue-flavored chicken skin that he hid behind the pantry cabinet for special occasions. He cracks open a beer and picks The Fellowship of the Ring, spring on his feet as he sets up his DVD player. It has been quite some time since he watched the whole trilogy so he’s particularly excited to watch them again. He’s about to hit play when there’s a knock on his door.

Another knock. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming. Oh— hey, Nico.”

“Hey. A-am I interrupting anything?” Nico asks. He’s wearing a simple black button-up, an enamel pin of Cerberus, and dark blue jeans. His clothes have changed significantly since he last saw him, from black t-shirts and black jeans to black button-ups and dark wash jeans. It’s good, he looks good in them. 

“Uh, no,” Will is instantly aware of the moisturizer currently making his face shine like a pan after the bacon has been taken. “What brings you here tonight?”

“Um… I,” Nico looks around, behind him, then back at Will. “I don’t know. I just want to see you, I guess. If you have company I can go. Jules-Albert is downstairs, I can get out of your hair fast.”

“No, no, I'm alone.” He says rather quickly. It’s good to have company tonight or else he’d make himself sick of worrying Lily. “Come on in.” Will moves to let Nico in. Nico gives him a small smile and steps in, toeing his shoes off. Will locks the door behind him.

Nico sits on the adjacent chair, looking around with his back straight. “I'm about to start Lord of the Rings. You wanna watch somethin’ else? We can watch whatever.” Nico shakes his head. “Do you want a beer? I can get you one." Will offers. 

"No, I'm good with Lord of the Rings. I haven't watched those yet?"

"Seriously? Oh man, this is gonna be good. I have the Director's Cut so this is over two hours long. Can you stay?"

"Yeah, I don't have anything to do tomorrow."

"Good, good. Same for me. I'm free to do fuck all for two days."

"No shifts at the hospital?" 

"No, and Amy and Jeff have Lily for the weekend. Amy's niece is in town and she wanted to have a sleepover with Lily. Amy said I could use the time to go on a date or whatever." He scoffs and takes his first sip of the night. Why is he volunteering that information? "Mm! Before I forget," Will goes back to the kitchen to grab another beer for Nico. He opens the can before giving it to him. Their fingers brush together. Will curls his pinky back to his hand.

Will plops down his seat, beer sloshing in its can and splashing his shirt a little. Aw man, he's not even drunk yet. 

Nico attempts to stand up but he waves him off. "I'm alright." He gulps his drink. If he's going to make a fool of himself, he'd better do it drunk.

Nico is still looking at him like a court jester so he plays the movie just so Nico can divert his attention somewhere else. He grabs the chicken skin with a grunt and opens it. He tips Nico the bag which he takes.

Twenty minutes in and he's done with his first beer. He takes another one because what the hell, he's free for two nights! He can get wasted tonight and be totally fine tomorrow! One of the benefits of being a child of the god of medicine. No hangovers for life, same with the Bacchus kids.

"You want another one?" He asks Nico. Nico snaps his head at him and gives a slight nod, instantly returning to the movie. Will can't even blame him, Lord of the Rings is very interesting.

Nico’s body is entirely turned to the TV now, hiking one of his legs up on the couch like he always did when they had movie nights at camp. Nico gasps, smiles, and even laughs at the TV. He’s particularly fond of Merry and Pippin and the latter's love for food. Nico turns to him again and laughs.

In a perfect world, they would be sitting side by side on their couch. He’d have his arm around Nico’s shoulder as The Fellowship of the Ring plays for the third time that month. They would have a bowl of untouched popcorn on Will’s left because they couldn’t be bothered letting go of the other’s hand. Lily would be sleeping in her room, slightly glowing in the dark, and dreaming of pegasi and dryads and satyrs and wind spirits. They would visit Hazel and Frank in the next town. The two of them will gush about how cute Lily is and Kayla will call him and Austin too, asking how married life is treating him. He’ll say he’s never been happier and raising a child with the love of his life is the best thing that’s ever happened to him and Lily is—

A yelp from the screen pulls Will back to reality. He sighs loud enough that Nico goes tense. 

He goes back to the kitchen and grabs another drink.

Two cans become four and soon Will is busting out the imported tequila Amy's aunt gave him when she visited from Mexico. He cuts up the limes, takes his container of salt, and goes back to his seat. The cap of the bottle doubles as a shot glass so he doesn’t bother with his own.

“Wanna take a shot?” He asks Nico. Nico twists his body to look at him.

“Alright.” He answers. Will pours one and hands it to him. Their fingers brush again. Will lets his pinky linger this time.

Nico tips his head once and swallows, wincing as the taste spreads in his mouth. Will chuckles and hands him the lime dipped in salt. Nico squeezes it in his mouth and shudders. “Gods,” he says, shuddering again.

“Good, right?” Will dips another lime in salt and takes the cap back from Nico to pour his shot. “Amy’s aunt gave this to me. She liked me, said am a good influence on her niece. Whatever the fuck that means.”

Nico scoffs. “You? Good influence? You taught me how to drink! You gave me vodka!”

“Right?!” Will tosses back the clear liquid and it burns down his throat real good. It’s smooth, unlike the cheap kind they used to buy as college students. "But it's a good feelin’, bein’ approved of by adults an’ whatnot. Made me think I could do anythin’,"

Another stretch of silence. It isn't as bad as the last time.

Frodo, Sam, and the rest of the Fellowship are ignored when Will and Nico start shooting their drinks back to back. Will attempts to tell Nico the rest of the movie but they keep ending up in giggles. After five attempts, Will gives up, earning another fit of giggles from Nico.

"Man, what're you doin' these days?" Will asks, dipping his large chicken skin in a concoction of vinegar, garlic, ginger, onion, and chili and shoving it in his mouth.

"Is that good?" Nico points at the dipping sauce.

"Yeah," Will dips a skin in the sauce and offers it to Nico. Nico leans in, letting Will feed him. "Good, right?"

Nico grins wide and wipes the vinegar dripping on his chin. "Uh-huh!"

"Ey, ey, what're you doin' for work!" 

Nico clears his throat. "I am a gym teacher." Nico enunciates his words properly whenever he's getting more than tipsy like he's learning English all over again. Will has forgotten how much he liked listening to Nico talk when drunk.

"Gym teacher? S'in, you teach kids to run?"

"No, idiot. Wait… kiiiind of? I am still getting the hang of it, though. Teaching kids is haaaard! How did the people at camp manage that?"

“Dun’no, my siblings were a pain to teach. But I like ‘em. Miss them to fuckin’ bits, those rascals. I’ve always wondered what they’re doin’ right now,”

"Why don't you call them?" Nico asks, taking his time to say 'call' that it almost sounds like cahl. 

"Nah, don't wanna. Haven't talked to 'em in…" Will scrunches his face, thinking, then he gives up. "I dunno. Can't use basic math right at this moment."

"Give me a ballpark?"

"A few months after you left," Will answers, taking another shot.

There's silence, then Nico takes the bottle from him and pours himself one.

"Well, that did not feel good. When was the last time you talked to any of your siblings?"

"Two years ago, actually. In the hospital." Nico turns his whole body to him. "It was Lilian. You remember her?" Nico stares at something behind Will. He's thinking. Then he shakes his head. "Thought as much." Will grunts as he stands up, slowly walking to the fridge to grab a beer. If he's going to tell Nico this story, it's best if he doesn't pause every few seconds to take a shot.

He grunts again when he takes a seat, his but drowning in the sofa. "She came to camp a few weeks after Hera switched Jason and Percy. I reckon you’re already spendin' your time at Camp Jup'ter so it's understandable you don't know Lilian. But I think you saw 'er 'round? She had pink hair, bluest eyes you've ever seen, and the best archer Cabin 7 ever had since Michael."

"I think I saw a pink-haired girl once or twice." Nico agrees. "What did you two talk about?"

Will sighs heavily. He gulps his beer and smacks his lips twice before talking. "My shift was at the emergency room that day. It was quiet then…" Will makes an explosion gesture.

"A bomb went off?"

"No, psh," Will snorts then takes a drink. A few liquids escape his mouth but he wipes them off with the back of his hand. "Sorry. No, the doors burst open and they rolled her in. Lilian. She… she was in a bad shape."

Will pulled his eyebrows together. He doesn't like talking about that day. He'd only ever told this story exactly once—to Jeff and Amy. 

He remembered the blood, so much blood. Lilian's arm had a huge gash and it was just hanging beside the gurney, dripping red all over the white tiles, tracking them to the OR. He never expected to see any of his siblings anymore, not in that part of La Nysta, especially in that state.

Will gulps his drink, almost finishing it. He shudders then continues.

"She was in an MVA. Seven dead including the driver of the van that hit ‘em. Four were dead on the spot, two dead on the way to the hospital, and one died in surgery."

Will was the one receiving patients that day, asking them questions and letting them fill out forms before another nurse comes in to take them away, so the attending physician could take a look at them one more time and send them off to their specific doctors. 

It was a slow day that day, or at least as slow as a government hospital could. There were fifteen people on the chairs waiting to be called, and five more filling out forms.

Most of them stood up and moved out of the way when the doors burst open, horrified gasps and paling faces when the gurney rolled past in front of them. Will also stood up, wanting to see what's going on because it's his job to know. The first thing he saw was pink, pink stained with red. A pang of nostalgia hit him in the worst possible way when he thought of Lilian in the archery range, Lilian in the dining pavilion, Lilian in the infirmary.

Then he's met with the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.

Will left his post and chased after his colleagues, even pushing two of them aside so he could hold Lilian’s hand.

Will shakes himself off from the memory. He turns to Nico, now looking at him with curious eyes, not an ounce of pity or sorry in his gaze. He clears his throat and looks away, playing with his beer can so he's not looking at his black eyes.

He sighs again. "Turned out she was pregnant. The guy who died in surgery was her husband. She was bleedin’ heavily ‘cause of shock and they were gonna do an emergency c-section so they could save the baby. So they could save Lily.” He balances the can on the armrest of the sofa chair so he can wipe his hand on his pajama pants. His drink is getting dangerously low and he wants to get more beer in the fridge but goes against it. He’ll finish the story then he’ll get another drink, maybe two, or five shots.

“She wanted me in the OR, but they didn’t let me. So instead she told me, told everyone basically, to save the baby, Lily, no matter what.” Will can feel tears prickling his eyes. He rubs his eyes then continues talking. “They let me in when they got her. Her husband was dead by then so they let me hold Lily. They patched her up, and for a few hours she was fine. She was pulling through. Then she suddenly woke up when I was talking to the doctors.” He scratches the spot behind his left year. “Until now I haven’t got a clue how she woke up only two hours after getting out of surgery. Maybe it’s an Apollo kid thing? I dunno. But she woke up, and there were nurses and two doctors in her room along with me. She told me, told us, that she was gonna die. Said she could feel it. And she’s leaving Lily to me.”

Will sniffs and tips his head back, not allowing the tears to fall. He blinks rapidly until the tears are no longer there. 

He hasn’t let himself grieve in over two years because he’s been so busy rearranging his life to accommodate the child that Lilian entrusted him. Three days after Lily and her husband died, Will dropped out of med school, and he finally went back home to sort out his mom’s stuff after putting it off for two months. There he found his late sister’s stuff which he then used for Lily. His mom kept a lot of his baby stuff too so that helped him immensely.

Will arranged Lilian and her husband’s funeral. Due to the accident, Lily was born premature but because of the Glow, the blessing of Apollo, she only stayed for two days in NICU. Will asked Jeff and Amy to take care of her while he went through Lilian’s accounts, insurances, properties, and such. When Lilian’s lawyers asked for proof, any proof, that she’s a relative, he showed them an old polaroid of Cabin 7, the one they took a year after Lilian arrived at Camp. He said they were half-siblings and they were estranged, which was technically true. Witnesses from his colleague (and maybe divine intervention?) made the lawyers and social workers believe his story.

The past two years were exceptionally hard for Will, but he wouldn’t trade Lily for everything to go back to normal, not even for a do-over with Nico, not even his mom. Lily is worth every pain and hardship he faced and he would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Nico scoots a little closer and reaches out to put his hand on Will’s knee, rubbing the skin under his thumb for comfort. It’s warm and comforting.

Will wants to hold his hand. He’s drunk and in grief and he wants to hold Nico’s hand. Will slides his hand forward, letting his finger touch Nico’s. It gives him enough comfort to finish his story.

Will presses the heel of his palms in his eyes and wipes the moisture away. “So yeah. She’s been with me ever since. Apollo might’ve intervened with the social workers but I live every day in fear that they’d come knockin’ and take her away. But none of that has happened so far so I guess we’re fine.” Will rubs his hands back and forth on the velvety armrest. “I’m planning to tell her about her mom when she’s old enough. Don’t worry, I’m not a monster.” He huffs a laugh, Nico only smiles. He knows it’s the first thing some people ask parents with the same predicament as him, but it’s nice to experience Nico’s silence instead of the usual accusations he sees most of the time.

Will stands up with yet another groan, missing the warmth of Nico’s hand on his knee, and takes two beers from the fridge. He sways a little when he stands on his tiptoes to grab a bag of chicharrón. He brings the items to Nico and puts them in front of him, like a kid pouring all the rocks and shells he gathered on the beach. Nico says thanks and tears open the bag of fried pork skin. Will opens the beer and finishes it in seven big gulps. He hands the other can to Nico.

“For what it’s worth,” Nico starts, “I am sure Lilian was glad she left her daughter to you.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so. How is Naomi, by the way?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, she died two months before Lilian’s accident.”

“Merda. Mi dispiace molto sentirlo,”

“Qué dijiste?” Will snorts. Nico’s lips quirk up. “That’s new.”

“Sorry. I tend to do that now,” Nico explains. “I did not realize I was doing that until Hazel pointed it out.”

“It’s fine. It’s new. It’s cute. I like it.” Will says. Wait, did that sound flirty? Was he flirting? They were just talking about the dead mother of his child and now he’s flirting?

Nico ducks his head and… blushes. Ohh-kay, maybe they’re both too drunk for this.

Will glances at the clock by the door. It’s already 11 pm. “It’s late,” he says to Nico. “Wanna get shit-faced?”

“Sure, I'm not driving. I told Jules-Albert to pick me up in the morning if I don’t call him tonight.” Nico opens his can and drinks it like soda. He burps loud and long after. He blushes slightly, "Scusami."

Will only nods, not comprehending exactly what Nico had told him. "Heh, burp all you want, man! No girls to get shy around here.” Nico gives him his rare smirk, the one where Will can see the slight dip of his cheek. It’s a dimple, but not deep enough to be noticed, let alone be considered as one. Nico raises his almost-empty can.

“Salute.”

Will opens his eyes slowly as the morning light peeks through his curtains, and the first thing he sees is a mop of black hair on the pillow beside him. He smiles. Nico’s eyes are closed, and he’s breathing evenly. He’s still asleep.

He moves to lie on his back. His head is clear despite drinking heavily last night, but his mouth tastes like dried spit with sand stuck in it. He finds himself wanting a glass of water.

He lies on his side again to look at Nico. He’s tempted to run the tip of his finger on the bridge of Nico’s nose and cheeks, but that would be creepy and would wake him up, so no.

How did they end up in his bed last night? No part of his body is sore and they’re still (pain)fully clothed, Nico is even wearing his Cerberus enamel pin still, so he’s 100% positive they didn’t sleep together.

And he has no idea what he'd do if they did have sex last night.

Will lets himself stop thinking and just looks. After all these years, Nico is still beautiful. He's grown a tad taller, and his skin has a lot more color now than it did seven years ago. He looks healthier, stronger. Their years apart have been good to him, physically at least, Will cannot know for sure. Nico never shared what he was up to those seven years and Will never asked.

Will wonders again if this is how he'd spend forever with Nico; waking up first in the morning and spending some time looking at him while sleeping, memorizing his image, listening to his gentle wheezing, and counting the faint freckles on the bridge of Nico's nose and cheeks. He'd gladly do it his whole life, and after that.

Nico's brows pinch, he sighs and scoots closer to Will. His hand now on top of Will's and their faces mere inches from each other. Will can practically see every strand of Nico's eyelashes and the evidence of sleep in the corner of his eyes. He itches to brush them away, to give himself an excuse to touch Nico again.

Will’s stomach growls, and his bladder is finally insisting he get out of bed. It’s still fairly early, 8:00 AM, and he’s operating on Dad Time™ so 8:00 is already late, and he needs to prepare breakfast for him, Lily, and Nico. Ah no, Lily isn't here, she's at Jeff and Amy's.

He gets out of bed slowly, careful to not step on the creaky floorboard in front of his bedside table. He sighs in relief when he finally closes the door to his bedroom. He brews a fresh pot of coffee and grabs four eggs from the fridge, hash browns, dino nuggets, and bread. He prepares the pot, pours a significant amount of oil, and dumps the hash browns and dino nuggets in when it’s hot enough. On a separate pan, he drizzles some oil and cracks open the eggs two at a time. He sprinkles salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika– just how Nico likes. While the eggs are cooking, he puts bread in the toaster and spreads butter on them when it’s done.

Nico emerges from his bedroom twenty minutes later, hair disheveled and groaning. He’s rubbing his face and temples, moving to the kitchen in sluggish steps.

“Good morning!” Will greets. Nico stops him with his hand, palms facing him and shaking his head ever so slightly. Nico mouths “no”.

“Got it,” Will whispers. Nico takes a chair out and sits, still rubbing his temples and resting his cheek on the cool glass of the table. Will takes pity so he grabs a mug and pours Nico some coffee. “Here,” he whispers again. Nico blinks up blearily at him and mouths “thanks”. Will goes back to his eggs. He cracks the next two.

“Why aren’t you hungover?” Nico croaks.

He points at himself, “Apollo kid. I can’t. It’s something we have in common with the Bacchus kids.”

“I hate you. Can you do something with my head?” Nico asks, his mouth sounding dry. He needs water, so Will gives him a glass. “Thanks. Can you do something with my head?” Nico asks again.

“Sure. Stand up.” Nico does. He turns the stove into low heat. He holds Nico’s head, like how a fortune teller would hold her crystal ball, and moves closer. Will closes his eyes and focuses on concentrating his healing gift to his fingertips. His hands turn warm, his signal that it’s ready to move to another person to heal whatever it is that’s ailing them, and he digs the pad of his fingers on Nico’s temple, the back of his ears, his jaw, and whatever it is that his fingers can reach.

Nico takes a sharp breath and closes his eyes. He hums, like he’s eating a good meal instead of being healed of his hangover, letting Will carry his head for him. Will smiles and rubs his thumbs gently on Nico’s temples.

They’re too close now, Will thinks. Too close that Will only needs to lean down a little to capture Nico’s lips on his. But he’s not going to do that. They aren’t together anymore, he has to stop thinking (and hoping) that Nico might want to be with him again.

Finally, the warmth on Will’s fingertips fades. Nico sighs in relief and holds Will’s wrists, smiling tiredly. He opens his eyes and stands there, holding Will’s wrists and his gaze, making no attempt in moving away from their position. It feels intimate. Will slowly massages his scalp. Nico moans a little in relief.

“That feels nice,” Nico hums.

“You like it?”

“Uh-huh,”

“Okay,” Will continues massaging his head until Nico sighs again. “You good?” Nico nods his head, still holding his wrists. “Are you hungry?” Nico nods again. “I made breakfast,”

“You’re a fucking lifesaver, Solace.”

Will reluctantly untangles his fingers from Nico’s hair. He brushes the sleep from the corner of Nico’s eyes. “Sit, the eggs should be ready by now.“

Will moves to the stove and… ”Oh no.”

“What? What happened?”

“I burned the eggs.” Will shows him the eggs with browned edges. Nico giggles at first, then full-on laughs. He looks so carefree.

His laughs die down, wiping the tears in the corner of his eyes. “That’s okay. It’s not charred, is it?”

Will flips the eggs gently. “No, I don’t think so.”

“I like them with crisped edges now. So that’s perfect.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, bring those here. I’m starving.”

Breakfast is filled with laughter and stories of their time in Camp Half-Blood. Even when their food is long gone, and their coffees are now tepid, nobody tries to clean up. Eventually, though Will doesn’t know who stood up first, they start clearing up; Nico with the table and Will at the kitchen. Will washes the plates while Nico dries them, putting them on the dish rack right after. Nico stands at arm's length as Will wipes the counter.

Will’s phone chimes while they’re drinking juice in the kitchen, Nico giggling when Will choked on his juice.

“Who was that?” Nico asks.

“Amy. She sent me pictures of the girls,” Will answers, angling his phone so Nico can see Lily and Remy in their matching pajamas and stuffed animals. They were watching Coco and eating cut-up apples and halved grapes. The next picture was of the girls sleeping, clutching their stuffed animals together and Remy sucking her thumb. The next was a picture of his friends and the girls, making a silly face. Jeff looked especially ugly that Nico started giggling again.

The last thing Amy sent was a video of Lily saying “Have fun alone, papa! Get laid!” but she said it as “Haaf fun lone, papa! Get lay!” while Jeff coached her from behind the camera.

Will’s face flames and he instantly looks at Nico to see his reaction to the video. Nico is red-faced, but otherwise doesn’t say anything. “Sorry about Jeff. He’s embarrassing.” He says, pocketing his phone. A knock on the door interrupts the awkwardness that Will almost runs to get to the door quickly.

Another knock on the door. “I’m coming!” Will almost yells. “Who is– oh,” It’s Jules-Albert, still wearing his plain black suit and black tie. He had almost forgotten what Nico’s undead chauffeur looked like but yup, still looks like a generic Hollywood zombie, but more Shaun of the Dead rather than The Walking Dead. “Nico, it’s Jules-Albert,” Will says loudly. He hears Nico swear, choke, then clear his throat.

Will turns back to Jules-Albert. “You wanna come in?”

Jules-Albert’s foggy eyes move up and down then side to side, he groans then shuffles back to the stairs. Will wonders how Jules-Albert can drive if he has cataract-covered eyes. And what does the Mist let people see when he’s outside with people?

“Hey,” Nico says behind him. Will moves out of the way so Nico can get out. “Last night was fun… I-I liked breakfast.”

Will’s body warms, he feels gooseflesh up his arms. “I liked breakfast too.” They’re close, still too close but Will is not thinking about it. Nico’s going home and it’s only natural for hosts to walk their guests out and be in their personal space, right? Right. “Thanks for drinking with me last night.”

Nico smirks. “You’d drown your liver if I didn't join you.”

Will cocks his head to the side, grinning. “Well, that’s not true but I really appreciate it. And you haven’t finished Fellowship of the Ring, we should watch that next time sober. I promise it’s great, but let’s not do the thing that we did while drinking next time, okay?”

“Okay,” Nico smiles again, his faint dimples showing now and there’s pink on his cheeks. Nico scrunches his face suddenly, his eyebrows pinching and he’s frowning. “I gotta go. I think I can feel my dad’s wife about to call.”

“Oh, okay. Say hi to Lady Per–”

“No, don’t say her name!” Nico covers his mouth with his hand. “I don’t want her to know we’re talking about her.” Will nods. Nico releases his mouth and puts his hand in his pocket. “I gotta go. Thanks for fixing my head.”

“Happy to help. See you around?” Will asks hopefully. He very much would like to see Nico again.

“Yeah. I’ll see you around. Bye,” Nico turns to the stairs then back at him again. He looks like he has more to say but he only rubs his mouth then runs his fingers through his hair.

Will watches Nico until he descends the stairs, then he rushes to his balcony to see Nico leave his building and into his car that’s parked across the street. Nico turns back again and waves his hand, and Will does too.

Notes:

Comments are extremely appreciated ♥

 

I'm always on tumblr.

Chapter 5: turn around and get closer

Notes:

i honestly don't know what to say right now.

"You're chippy tonight. What gives? Did your ex come over again last night?" Jeff asks when Will sits beside him.

"Hm? Yeah," he says, chewing his food. He's over at the Sorianos with Lily for their bi-monthly dinner.

'He's been over a lot, huh?" Amy scoops him some mashed potatoes. Remy, Lily, and one of Amy's nephews, Jimmy, are playing in the living room.

"Mhm,”

“What’s he doing whenever he’s over?” Jeff bites a dinner roll.

“We mostly have dinner, the three of us. He stays for a few hours then Jules-Albert picks him up.” He shoves a forkful of vegetables in his mouth.

“What’s that?”

“Huh?”

“The name you just said,”

“Jules-Albert?”

“French?”

“Uh… I guess so?”

“Your rich ex has a French chauffeur?”

“Yeah, hence the chauffeur, I think I told you that before,”

“And that’s the only thing he does at your home, eat dinner?”

“He helps with the clean up too.”

“Alright,” Jeff says, resigned.

“Uh-huh. I actually invited him here.” Will swallows his food. “I was totally gonna ask you about it if he agreed but he said no so,” he shrugs.

Jeff takes a sip of his water. "Uh-huh, and how's Lily with the whole situation?" 

"She's good! She likes Nico. Sometimes she sits on Nico's lap."

"Oh, that's nice. Adorable. What does your ex look like again?"

“Oh!” Will takes his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. “I took pictures of them last night!” Will browses through his gallery and shows Amy and Jeff the picture he took of Lily and Nico last night while having a tea party with her dinosaurs and five G.I. Joes. The dinosaurs and G.I. Joes were Will’s childhood toys. They were still in acceptable conditions despite being more than a decade old so he thought, why not? “Cute, right?”

“Haha,” Amy laughs awkwardly, “That’s… cute, yeah.”

“I have more. Wait, lemme find 'em.” He scrolls up to a week back to the day when Nico brought spaghetti with meatballs for dinner. Lily had red sauce all over her face while Nico clutched his stomach from laughing too hard. He and Nico helped her after taking pictures, with Will wiping her face with wet wipes and Nico throwing away the said wipes. It was a fun day.

"How many times has he been over since that day Lily slept over?" Jeff stabs his chicken breast and takes a bite.

"I dunno. He's been over quite a lot. Maybe four times a week?"

"What?"

"Your ex has been over four times a week for the past three months?

Will thinks about it for a moment, "Yeah. Maybe? I don't know. I don’t think about it much,"

"Will!" Amy says exasperated. 

"Man, that's not– think about Lily!"

"Calm down, guys. We're just having dinner, we're not…" Will turns to the kids. They're not paying attention to them. "... rolling around the hay. You know what I mean,"

"Will,” Jeff says again. He’s been hearing his name quite a lot tonight, “Remember that time in college when you saw that shaggy-haired girl at that frat party that Arnie invited us to? The one wearing an aviator jacket and black skinny jeans?” Will bites the inside of his cheek. “You were drunk as hell and I had to take you back to our dorm because you were hyperventilating and it freaked out some of the girls outside.”

“They were dicks.”

“I know that. My point is, you were clearly hurt by your break-up. I don’t know what happened, but you were hurt. And now, seven years later you’re having dinner with him four times a week with your daughter? Dude, if you wanna ignore what happened to both of you the last time you were together, fine, but think about Lily. Kids get attached easily. What if he fucks off again? What then? You’re left to pick up the pieces again?”

"We're just having dinner at home! What do you want me to do, leave Lily to you every time we go out?”

“Yes!” Amy stretches out her hand to him. “Yes! That’s exactly what we want you to do, go out! Meet new people. Other people. Have fun! You’re young, Will. Just because you have a daughter doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about yourself. Go on a date, kiss people, go to the theater. Anything. We’re here to help if you need anything. We’re your family, Will. Don’t forget that.”

Will rubs the bridge of his nose with the pads of his index finger and thumb. Jeff was right, he was a mess the whole year after they broke up, especially the first few months. He wanted to apologize to Nico, to meet with him and beg for his forgiveness, but he wouldn't answer his Iris messages. He tried for six months, even sneaking out of his classes to find the nearest fountain (or in some cases make his own fountain by breaking pipes) to offer his drachma to the rainbow goddess, but nothing.

The day of the party was the day he spent his last drachma, and just like any other day of the past six months, Nico did not answer. He agreed to go with Jeff because he couldn't think of anything to do to take his mind off of Nico, and Jeff insisted he come because, in his words, he had been extra depressed. Jeff handed him a shot and less than an hour later, he was drunk and had taken permanent residence in the kitchen beside the drinks table.

The girl was wearing an aviator jacket and black pants; the clothes Nico was wearing the last time he saw him. Will, out of his damn mind, forgot that literally anybody could have an aviator jacket and black skinny jeans. So he followed her, frantically, shoving people out of his way and making a ruckus. Will pulled her in his arms and sobbed. She struggled, pushing him away, but he was clinging too hard. It was kind of hilarious remembering it. She finally freed herself after a few moments of struggle. Jeff apologized profusely for him and assured the girl that Will wasn’t a pervert. Will layed on the gravel and sobbed even more, then he started wheezing. The three girls by the plants made uncomfortable snorts and ordered Jeff to ‘get his drunk ass home’. Jeff yelled at them and sat with Will, holding him until he calmed down, then went back inside to give him some water.

“I–I get your point. I know you remember me telling you that I’d take him back if ever he wants to get back together, but you’re right. He hurt me, I hurt him. I should think about myself then Lily. Got it. But I don’t think he’s even interested in me anymore. We’re only having dinner as friends. When they started attending camp with us, they just moved to America, I think? I mean, I guess he already spent a year here, maybe two? 

“They?”

“He and his older sister. She died when she was out with these… couple of other girls from… a different camp?”

“Oh god,” Amy puts a hand on her chest.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Gods, fuck. That wasn’t my story to tell. But that’s what happened. He was eleven that time. He took it really hard. He ran away from camp and we basically didn’t see him for months? Years?”

“Did you report it to the police?”

“Er… yeah? Someone did, I think? I can't remember. He went back home to his dad. My point is, he didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. He tracked a couple of his friends from camp but they have their own lives now. I guess you could say I’m the only one he knows in this part of the country. His other sister is in Cali with her boyfriend.”

"I thought you said his sister died?"

"He found out he had a step-sister."

"Sheesh,"

"Poor guy,"

"Nope. No." He shakes his head, "Don't pity him. He didn't need it then, he doesn't need it now. He's come a long way in life. He's just a guy with problems, like me. He's doing his best and if having dinner with him four times a week will make him feel welcome, I'd gladly do it. My friendship with him comes first and my feelings second."

Will doesn't know if he's making any sense. He's rambling and he knows it. He only hopes his intentions are clear enough so Amy and Jeff would understand.

"Okay," says Amy, relenting. "Okay. Just… take care of yourself, honey, okay? We love you. We don't want you getting hurt again." Will nods.

"I will. I love you both, too." Will reaches out and holds his friends' hands.

Ever since his friends pointed it out, Will can't help but notice Nico's presence in their home. He sees Nico more now than he ever had when they were still dating, and Lily has adopted him as her friend. They watch TV, hold tea parties, and once, a karaoke party (Nico forgot that Will was only downstairs doing the laundry). And on the days Nico is busy with his schoolwork, Lily always demands a plate for him on the table. He doesn't have the heart to tell her that Nico might one day disappear again.

"Papa, papa! Take picture of me! Take picture of me!" Lily demands. She's holding the plastic flower crown Amy gave her from their visit the other day.

"Okay, baby," he pulls out his phone and takes several pictures of his daughter posing and making silly faces.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Will gives her his phone. "Papa! Show dis to Nico! Dis too!"

What? Will hovers over her daughter to see what picture she's talking about. It's the blurry one with her mouth open and her hair all over her face. "You want me to send this to Nico?"

"Yah! Dis too!" A picture of her squinting and smiling widely at the camera. That'll be his next wallpaper. Gods, she looks so much like Lilian.

"But, baby, I don't have Nico's number."

"Why?"

"I…" he doesn't have anything. Why haven't they exchanged numbers yet? They can use technology now, it's not like monsters are gonna pop up in the corner when we use phones. "I just don't."

Lily pouts and pulls one of her pigtails. "How can I talk to Neeko?" Oh my gods, she looks so sad. Will is going to have a heart attack at 27. He needs to have Nico's number ASAP.

"Okay, how about this," Will crouches in front of her daughter so they're eye to eye. He takes his phone and shakes it in front of her. "When Nico gets here later this evening, I'll ask for his number so you can talk whenever Nico is not busy, okay?"

Lily smiles again, relieved about what Will said. "Okay!"

"Alright. Are you ready to go? Miss Dottie and Miss Olivia are waiting for you at the daycare."

"Okay!"

"Do you wanna walk on your own or do you want me to carry you?"

"Walk!"

Will hands her a small sling bag. "Okay. Wear your small bag, please." Lily takes it and wears it proudly. It's got some nickels and pennies inside so it makes a sound whenever she runs. “Don’t run, okay? We don’t want you tripping on your own feet.”

“Uh-huh!”

“Let’s go!” Will grabs Lily’s bags and ushers her to go out first. He locks the door, pockets his keys, and takes Lily’s hand. They’re almost at the stairs when they see Nico climbing up.

“Neeko!” Lily screams and shakes Will’s hand off of her to run to him.

“Oh, hey Lily!” Nico says, catching her when she jumps in his arms. He lifts her up and lets her sit on his arm. She giggles and grabs Nico’s hair. “Hi, Will,” Nico greets him softly, tiredness around his eyes.

“Hey, Nico. What brings you here so…” Will looks at his watch, it’s eight o’clock, “... early.”

Nico blushes, “Ah, I was just… around the neighborhood. I’m on my way to school when I saw your building, thought I’d drop by to see if you need a ride?”

Lily gasps. “Can we papa? Can we go wid Neeko to school? Please please please please please please!” She bounces on Nico’s arms, rocking her body back and forth to emphasize her pleading. She gasps again, “Papa! Get Nico him number! Show Neeko my picture! Papa, show Neeko my picture!”

"Alright, alright," Will lets out a chuckle and fishes his phone out. He unlocks it, opens the gallery, and gives his phone to Lily who accepts it enthusiastically. She picks a picture and shows it to Nico by shoving the phone in his face. He rears his head back comically, which makes Lily giggle, and squints at the phone.

"You look really cute here, Lily. What is that on your head?"

"Flower! Auntie Amy gave dem to me! Look at dis! Look at dis!" She clicks another picture, the blurry one, and shows it to Nico.

"Bit blurry, eh? But you look cute," Nico grins at her and pinches her cheek.

She giggles again. "Fank you!"

Will can't help but warm at the sight of their interaction. He's so fucking happy that Lily likes Nico and he's always ecstatic just to have Nico around him. Even back at the camp when Nico didn't even know his name, he was always looking out for the sole Hades kid, always watching out for his dark brown aviator jacket in the sea of orange t-shirts of Camp Half-Blood kids.

“Papa!” Lily calls him, pulling him out of his memories of Camp Half-Blood, “Geeb your number to Neeeeko!”

“Alright, alright, baby, sheesh.” He takes his phone back from Lily and hands his phone to Nico. “She’s the boss of me,” and smiles at Nico.

Nico’s cheeks give a slight shade of pink and takes the phone. He enters his number and gives it back to him. Their fingers brush. Will feels, cheesy as it might sound, a spark. Will pockets his phone, his face warm and he’s fighting tooth and nail to keep the huge grin off his face.

“What were you saying earlier? You’re on your way to school?”

“Ah, yeah,” he bounces Lily once in his arms. “I was wondering if you wanna take a ride?”

“Oh, uh, Jeff is on his way, you see,” Jeff is their designated driver since their apartment, the daycare and hospital, is on Jeff’s way to their hardware store. It’s easier for Lily and Will to carpool instead of taking the bus. Will gives Jeff gas money every week because of it. Jeff initially refused his payment so Will started inserting money in every nook and cranny he found to help pay for gas. Eventually, maybe Jeff got tired of pulling out bills in his car seat, he started accepting the money.

“Papa! I wanna go wid Neeko! Let’s go wid Neeko please please please!” Lily is clinging hard on Nico’s neck that he starts to grunt from exertion.

“Fine. I’ll text uncle Jeff that we’re going with Nico today. Stop choking Uncle Nico,”

“Unca Nico?”

“Yes, baby. You should call him uncle Nico.”

“Like Unca Jeff?”

“Yes, baby, like uncle Jeff.” Will texts Jeff about their current situation. Jeff replies with a squint emoji and ‘ok’.

“Uncle Jeff says okay.”

“Yay!” Lily shrieks. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Lily bounces again in Nico’s arms.

The three of them descend the creaky stairs, Nico and Lily in front of Will while he holds all her bags and his own. Will can’t help but think they look like a family on their way to start their day.

“Don’t worry about Jules-Albert. I told him to put the partition up so Lily won’t see him.”

“Thanks. I think she’s already forgotten about Jules-Albert so I hope she doesn’t see him today.”

“Yeah. What do you think the Mist lets people see when they meet him?” Nico asks.

“Right? I was also wondering about that.”

“They scream a little when they see him, so maybe a little dead?”

“Maybe?”

“Gah, I really wanna know.”

“Can’t you ask him?”

“I never thought of that. I’ll do that.”

They’re already in front of Nico’s car when Will realizes they’re walking side by side. Will bites his lip and opens the door to let Nico and Lily in. When Nico and Lily are safe inside, Jules-Albert gets out of the car to help him with his bags. Will startles a little and gives Jules-Albert their stuff without a fuss. He rounds the car and gets in.

Nico’s car is quite fancy and spacious, obviously customized for Nico’s needs. The partition is already up and there's no way Lily can see Jules-Albert anymore, so Will takes Lily from Nico and lets her sit on his lap. 

“Gods, I forgot her car seat at home.”

“Don’t worry about it. I've had Jules-Albert install a car seat here. Wait," Nico presses something on his side and a seat lifts, revealing a yellow-colored car seat, a striking difference from the car's all-black interior.

"Woah,"

Lily shrieks and bounces on his lap. 

“Oh, uh, thank you. For this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nico winks. 

Confidence is a good look on Nico. He’s always been confident, but there’s a certain charm to it now that Will cannot point out. It makes him look even more handsome and frankly, hot.

The ride to the daycare is fine, Will is quiet but Lily is obviously having fun playing with Nico in her fancy car seat. 

Nico's relationship with Lily has changed dramatically ever since his first visit almost three months ago. Before he was awkward and reserved, now it's like he was allowed to be a kid again. He plays Lily's dolls with her, often giving silly voices to Lily's stuffed dinosaurs and old Looney Tunes characters, bringing her snacks (fries and chicken nuggets) that Will doesn't really approve of but relents because Nico swears it's only this time but he does it almost every visit, and takes Lily on an ice cream run in the new 7/11 in front of their building.

It's the kind of behavior Will sees in new fathers or step-fathers when they visit the hospital.

Will doesn't want to expect anything since this is probably the longest time Nico has been on his own, doing regular things he wants to do, and not dictated or influenced in any way by his immortal father and/or step-mother. He lost his family way too young and was forced to grow up and explore his growing powers as a child of God of the Underworld alone or with the influence of a malignant spirit, so if this is Nico's way to somehow reclaim his childhood, then he'd be happy to be a part of it.

The car slows down and Will hears a faint grumble. It must be Jules-Albert informing them that they have arrived. Lily hears Jules-Albert's groaning and looks at him. "Papa?" She asks.

"We're here baby,"

"Aw. Bye-bye, Unca Neeko!" She leans forward to hug him. She kisses his cheek and turns to Will, silently asking to be released from her seat. Will unbuckles his seat belt then hers. He gets out, takes her, and goes to the trunk.

"Go, you have your hands full. Let me," Nico offers.

"Uh, sure. Thanks," he should say something else, ‘uh, sure, thanks’ is quickly becoming his catchphrase. “Nico, I really appreciate the ride today. I know this isn’t your usual route.”

“No, it’s fine. There's construction going on at Copley Ley so Jules-Albert had to take a U-turn. It happened to be just two streets away from your building so I told him to just stop by.” 

“Still. Thank you.” Will gives him his most sincere smile. Nico blushes deep and takes all the bags.

“After you,” he says.

“Miss Dottieeeee!” Lily screams and squirms in Will’s arms. He puts her on the ground and she runs full speed to Dottie whose arms are outstretched to her. She picks her up and tosses her in the air once.

“Good morning Wi– hi!” Dottie says. Her eyes don't hide her surprise when she sees Nico. 

“Good morning, Miss Dottie," Will greets, giving her a shy wave.

"You're early today, Little Miss Lovely Lily!" She bops Lily's nose that makes her giggle. "That's not a jab at you, by the way." She winks at Will.

Will laughs. "I know,"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Here, let me take those." She holds her hands out, asking for Lily's bags from Nico. Nico hands it to her without saying anything. "Thank you. I'm Dorothy Ueda, but you can call me Dottie, everybody does.” She holds out her hand for a shake.

Nico smiles at her and takes her hand. “Nico di Angelo. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” says Nico, like a stakeholder greeting an investor for the first time.

There’s a glint in Dottie’s eyes that screams ‘this person is strange’ as she looks at Nico, but she seems amused by his overtly formal greeting instead of being weirded out by it. “And I, you,” she answers, then chuckles.

They shake twice then Nico drops her hand. Suddenly, Will has the strangest realization that this is the first time he’s seen Nico interact with a stranger, a 100% human stranger.

More kids arrive and they all jump at her, wrapping their chubby little arms around her, wanting to be included in the hug that Lily initiated. She calls Olivia for help when the kids around her become seven. “Okay, Lily. It’s time to go inside with your classmates now. Say goodbye to Papa and uncle Nico,”

Lily instantly lets go and runs to him and Nico, raising her little arms so Will would take the hint and carry her, and he does. He kisses her on the cheek, but Lily has other ideas. She reaches to Nico as well and wraps an arm around his neck, squishing his and Nico’s heads together with her. “Bye-bye, Papa! Bye-bye Unca Nico!” She kisses both their cheeks then squirms to be let down again.

He and Nico wave at her goodbye and they walk back to the parking lot where Jules-Albert is waiting. Nico gets in the car first and waits for Will to come in, but Will hesitates, Amy and Jeff’s words ringing in his mind. If he gets in, this’ll be the second time he’s alone with Nico, and based on what happened the last time, being alone with Nico proved to be slightly detrimental for his emotional well-being. But there’s no alcohol right now so… today might be better?

But fuck, he wants to get in and sit with him. He wants to savor their few minutes together, ask about his plans for the day, what classes he’s going to teach today, what’s his worst class, what did he have for breakfast, anything , just so they can talk before he has to go to work. But his friends were right, he has to take care of himself and Lily. He can’t get too attached to Nico. Lily has done that plenty enough for them, so he has to be the one to pull back the reins. If Nico finally leaves, Lily will forget about him in a matter of weeks. If he gets attached and Nico leaves again, he will shatter and he will not be able to pick up the pieces ever again.

Gods, that’s too much of a crisis at 8 AM on a Tuesday at the parking lot of his daughter’s daycare.

“You coming, sunshine?” Nico asks, smiling up at him, patting the space next to him.

Will gives him a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I think I’m gonna take the bus,”

“Huh? Why? It’s fine, I told you we’re passing by the hospital.”

“No, really, it’s quite alright, Nico.”

“Will, I insist.”

Will sucks a breath. “I need to buy something before I get to the hospital,”

“We can go to the store on the way, Jules-Albert won’t mind,”

“Nico, I need to be alone,” Will says firmly, his voice rising a little. 

Nico closes his mouth instantly and nods. “Okay,” He leans forward a little. “Jules-Albert,”

Will pinches the bridge of his nose. Shit, that was too harsh. “Wait, Nico, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I really just wanna go to work alone,”

“I understand.”

“I’m not mad, okay?”

“Uh-huh,”

“... are you still gonna come later?”

“If you still want me to, then yeah.”

“I always want you to. See you later, okay?”

“Uh-huh,” He gives Will a weak smile. Will closes the door and Jules-Albert takes off.

What he did to Nico was rude, but he needs to think. He needs to come up with a solution from… this. He needs to come up with a solution that would not only make his heart safe but also his daughter. What he had experienced seven years ago was too emotionally taxing, and he doesn’t want to experience it again.

Will watches Nico’s car turn several blocks ahead, and when it’s out of sight, he sighs and walks across the street to wait for his bus to the hospital.

Later that day he would find out that there was no construction at Copley Ley.

✾✾✾✾

"Sir, are you alright? Your hand is bleeding," Stephanie, one of his students, asks, snapping Nico out of his thoughts. He looks down at his pulsing hand, and sure enough, his knuckles are stained with crimson.

Nico hums and shakes his hand once, finally feeling the sting of his scraped knuckle. "Let's take five, shall we?" He leaves his dummy alone and walks straight to where his duffel bag is sitting. He unzips it and grabs his water bottle. His eighth graders scatter to their respective groups, taking the opportunity to drink their waters and gossip about why he's so distracted. He can hear them all and they’re not exactly subtle about it.

It’s been four days since that day at Lily’s daycare’s parking lot. Nico still has no idea what happened but he’s suspecting Will finally found out about what he’s doing. Well, he’s not doing anything, he just wants to be nice to Will and Lily. He wants to be Will’s friend again and that’s it. Any feelings he might still have for Will do not play any role in his attitude towards his ex and his daughter.

Ah, what the fuck. Yes! Fuck, yes. He’s trying to win Will back. Fuck, why is he still censoring himself in his own brain? Fuck that shit, he wasn’t outed by the monstrous God of Love just so he could crawl back in the closet in his mind. Yes, he’s trying to win Will back. He’s worming his way back in Will’s life again. But if Will doesn’t want to be with him anymore, he is going to be fine with it. It will hurt like a motherfucker, but he’ll live. As long as Will’s back in his life again, he will cope with his unreturned feelings.

He had dinner with the Solaces that day but he hasn't been back in 3 days. Normally, he would've had dinner with them again yesterday, but he's letting Will cool down from what happened at the parking lot. He came in very strong, he was sure of it. He was pretty confident that Will would let him pick them up every morning after that day. Will probably finally realize how much of a creep he is and had to put his feet down to put Nico in his place.

He tosses his water bottle hard in his duffel bag. “Girls, back to your partners!” A few of the girls groan but they all stand up and pair up. 

After Will drunkenly suggested he teach his students self-defense, he immediately changed the old gym teacher’s lesson plan. He still didn’t know how to make a lesson plan so he called Mina for help. He must’ve been in Tyche’s good graces because Mina was free that day and she invited him over. They discussed the basics and modified the lesson plan so Nico can finish softball and then go straight to teaching them how to fight back or martial arts as Mina called it (“It’s too violent to call it ‘fighting back’, don’t you think?” “No, not really. I grew up fighting for my life. I got mauled by a wolf once but I fought back, so no, I don’t think calling self-defense ‘fighting back’ is violent.”), and not touch volleyball or basketball ever again.

Nico continues with his training of the girls, hitting his dummy extra hard every time that the sting in his knuckles evolves into a sharp pain.

"For your exam," Nico says after the last of the dummies has been kept in storage, the students all groan, "Let me finish. For your exam, we'll have a practicum. All you need to do is pin me down on the mat using the techniques I taught you."

“No!”

“Sir we’ve seen you knock that six feet something drunk guy on his ass a few weeks ago with just two moves! You can’t do that to us! That’s illegal!”

"Sir, that's unfair!"

"We're all gonna fail,"

"There's no fucking way we can pin you down!"

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna go full strength on you. I’m only gonna charge at you and it’s up to you to strategize how to flip me over.”

A student raises her hand. “Lindsey, what?”

“Can we pair up?”

“No. Nika,”

“Are we allowed to bring one item on the mat?”

“No. Jessica, what’s that?”

“Um… nothing. Sorry,”

“Uh-huh. You cannot bring anything to hit me with, pair up with anyone, or distract me. Only you and I will be on the mat, everybody gets to look. You will be graded based on how fast and how creative you are to pin me down.”

The girls groan again. Nico rolls his eyes. “Oh shush it, I’m only a hundred and seventy centimeters tall. I only weigh sixty-six kilograms. How hard can that be?”

“We have no idea how much those are.”

“Learn the metric system,” Nico smirks.

”Sir!” A student groans.

“Do well in practicum and we’ll learn sword fighting next grading,” an eruption of cheers echoes through the gymnasium. Nico dismisses his class a few moments later, reminding everyone to work on their core strength, legs, and footwork. He also gives tips to some shy kids with little to almost no upper body strength. 

Teaching the self-defense class to the girls constantly proves to be the perfect distraction to Nico. Whenever he finds himself thinking about what happened at the parking lot, moving around and punching stuff, and teaching the girls the footwork and the correct stance takes his mind off of it. But once the class is over, it's back to wishing for the ground to open up and eat him alive. 

Will hasn't texted him too. Not that he's expecting anything, but Will asked for his number. He's allowed to think that Will's gonna text him, right? No, this is getting ridiculous.

 

"It's been a week. Are we still not talking about it?" Mina asks a week after the parking lot incident.

"Talking 'bout what?" Will answers with a question, stabbing his overcooked green beans and shoving them in his mouth. It makes a squeaky sound when he bites into it that makes him cringe.

"You. You've been grumpy the whole week. More than usual."

"I'm not grumpy. That's just my face, I can't change it."

"Remember when you split your knuckle open that miraculously healed itself overnight?"

He didn't eat ambrosia for that. "I told you I have high metabolism!"

"That's not metabolism, Nico."

"Whatever. Those were just scrapes, I did not split my knuckles open," he says in a mocking voice.

"Something's bothering you! You have to let that out! I swear to god you'll feel better," Nico scoffs at her choice of words. Gods don’t make you feel better, they make you feel worse, way, way worse. If only she knew what she's talking about.

"C'mon, spill."

Nico throws his hands up in exasperation. Goddamn, this woman is nosey! "It's about my personal life, okay?!"

A few students around them stop talking to look at him, curious about his sudden rise in voice. They continue with their own conversations when he doesn't elaborate.

“Is it a… girl problem?”

He closes his eyes shut and ruffles his hair irritatedly. “Fuck! Yes.”

“Oh! That’s cool. What happened,”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Your problem isn’t gonna solve itself, Nico.”

“It will if I leave it alone. Or I die. Either way, it’s gonna solve itself.”

“You’re so dramatic. But oh my god! This is the first time I’ve ever heard something about you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I told you stuff about myself.”

“Hm,” she shows him her closed fist and starts counting off, “Your family is in the funeral industry, you’re insanely rich, you’re terrifyingly good at fighting, and you got mauled by a wolf when you were a kid. Four things, that’s it. That’s literally all I know about you. Oh no, five things: you have a crush on a girl.”

“I wasn’t a kid, I was fifteen. And Crush sounds juvenile as fuck. She’s my ex.”

“Wow, would you look at that! Eight things!”

“That’s six,”

“Aha!” She throws him finger guns like she’s got him, “So you do admit you’ve only told me six things about your life,”

Nico rolls his eyes, “Whatever,”

“Eight things ‘cuz five, you still have a crush on your ex, six, you have an ex, ergo, seven: you dated someone, and EIGHT! Your ex lives here in La Nysta, or close!”

“She lives in La Nysta.”

“So,” she wiggles in her seat and leans forward, her lunch box ignored despite bringing her favorite food today. “Did you come here to win her back?” She asks with a grin.

That is exactly what Nico did, is doing, only he doesn’t want to frame it that way because it sounded creepy. It is creepy, but he’s choosing to ignore that fact and continue with what he’s doing until he can tell the truth to Will.

Nico grimaces and barks out a "No," too defensively.

"Aw! That's so romantic!"

Nico can feel warmth in his face now, "Shut up!"

"This is too juicy for me to shut up! I love it, what's her name?"

"Nanaya,"

"Oooh! Is she Japanese?"

"Nanaya business,"

"Okay, okay, uh-huh," she nods her head slowly, "too forward. I deserved that one. Let's call her Tiffany because you're rich. You look like a guy who would date a Tiffany."

"Just leave it, okay?"

"I can't! I love it when my friends find love!"

"Who says we're friends?"

"Oh shut up, we're friends. I declared it the moment you talked to me first," she swats her arm. He looks at the spot where her arm landed. "What does she look like?"

"Blond hair, blue eyes," Nico surprises himself for speaking the truth 

"Wow, I didn't peg you for a blond enthusiast,"

"I'm not,"

"Alright. What does she do,"

"I'm not telling you that,"

“Is she a teacher too?” She gasps, “Did you take this teaching job to impress her?! Aw, Nico!”

“No!” He protests, “She’s in the medical industry,”

“That’s amazing! What does she do? Doctor? Nurse? Radiologist? Medical technologist? Therapist?”

“No,” Nico stabs a sausage and shoves it in his mouth. He chews with his mouth open to gross her out.

“Gross. Chew with your mouth closed. Anyway, how did you two break up?”

“Why are you invested in this?”

“Because I’m your friend, and you’re my friend! And this is the first time you’re letting me into your life!”

Nico considers what she just said. True, he’s been here for more than three months now, and he does treat her as a close acquaintance. Calling her a ‘friend' is too much of a stretch. Nico di Angelo doesn’t do ‘friends’. There are people he would like to see often, like Will, of course, and Annabeth and Percy, but they were never really friends. One, because he isolated himself, and… yeah, that’s about it. “We broke up because I moved away,”

“Oh god. I’m so sorry,”

“Don’t be dramatic, that was seven years ago.”

“But you’re obviously still into her. You’re here, right?”

Nico plays with the tiny sausages on his plate, moving them around with his fork with no intention of eating them anymore. He shrugs, “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Did you already apologize for leaving?”

Nico snorts, “Why would I?”

“Maybe she never wanted to break up,”

“That’s bullshit. I was getting busy and she did too. She made me choose, Min. He made me choose between him and my father and sister! We weren’t on good terms, but that’s not the point.”

There’s a curious look on Mina’s face that he ignores to go back to playing with his food. “Just leave it alone, alright?”

She sighs, “Alright, I will. I still think you should go to their workplace to make your intention known.”

“Finish your food. Lunch is about to end,”

Nico runs up the stairs before he chickens out, the rickety stairs groaning under his weight. “Fucking stairs. If I die here, I will haunt this fucking place, I don’t fucking care.”

“Stop running, then. Goddamn kids,” A deep voice from the top of the stairs boom. It’s Will’s landlord, Mister McFuckface.

Nico runs even faster.

“Your staircase is a fucking health hazard.” He says, stomping his feet twice to get the rust and dirt on the soles of his shoes. McFuckface glances down then back on his face again.

“You don’t live here, why’re you complaining?”

“That’s exactly why I don’t live here.”

“No one’s forcing you to come here,”

“No, but my friend and his daughter do so,” he pokes his tongue out and blows a raspberry. He starts to ascend the stairs to the third floor when McFuckface speaks again.

“You leave those two alone. I know your kind,” he points an accusatory finger at him. “Boys like you are nothing but trouble.”

“What the fuck does that supposed to mean?”

“You heard me,” The old man puffs his chest and folds his arms, trying to intimidate him.

“Are you trying to intimidate me?” Nico scoffs. “You? With your frail bones and stretchy, saggy skin?”

“Watch your mouth, boy. Don’t test me.”

“Oh yeah? What’re you gonna do, hit me?”

The old man says nothing, just tips his chin up, trying to look bigger than what he really is. And Nico admits, he would get intimidated if he were younger and a mortal, but he’s neither so the display does fuck all to him. But this man is insulting him. He can’t let that pass.

“You think I’d get threatened by you, huh? You think you’re tough shit just because you’re bigger, older, and taller than me. You’re a fucking meathead, that’s what you are.

“You little—” McFuckface swings his fist but Nico dodges it quickly, moving to his left, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The man’s defense is shit, he observes, there are plenty of open areas where he can easily stab or punch. Aside from training his students, this is the most action he’s had since he killed his last monster several months ago, so he wants to savor it. He wants to feel the thrill in his veins. He wants his pulse in his ear. He wants the strain in his calves, the sweat on the back of his neck, the pressure on his fists.

He touches the hilt of his sword, not planning on using it but merely acknowledging its presence.

“Hey, Bi– oh fuck. Amy, stay there!” Will screams down the stairs. He rushes in the middle of them, holding his arms out to stop the two men from fighting. “Shit, shit, shit Nico. Nico, stop. Please look at me. Nico, he’s not one of them, okay?. He’s a regular human guy. Nico,”

“What’s wrong, Will?! Is it serious? Do we have to call the police?” A lady screams back.

“No, just… stay there!”

Nico can hear Will perfectly, but there’s only one thing echoing in Nico’s mind: don’t take your eyes off your opponent. He did it once, he nearly died. He’s never gonna make that same mistake ever again.

Will touches his shoulder and he feels the tension ebb away from him. He takes a deep breath and relaxes, though his eyes still train on the man in front of him.

“There we go. You alright?” Will asks, relief and gentleness in his voice. He turns to his landlord and asks the same. His dick of a landlord nods.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“What happened?”

“Will! We’re coming up!” The lady screams again from down below.

Nico doesn’t answer. Will turns to his landlord. “What happened?”

The man looks at Will, then back at him. He chews on his lip then shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says in a gruff voice. “Nothing.”

“Yeah, nothing.” Nico echoes, still eyeing him.

Will pursed his lips, obviously sensing the animosity from the two of them, he doesn’t comment, instead, he holds Nico’s elbow and pulls him gently to the stairs.

A brunette lady comes up the stairs holding Lily who screams when she sees him. “Neeko!”

The lady’s eyes widened. “Ah,”

“Hi,” Nico gives her a strained smile. Will pulls him up the stairs, Lily and the brunette lady following behind them.

Lily leans away from the lady and to Nico, grabbing his neck and holding on tight that the lady has no choice but to let her go. Nico positions her in his arms and forces himself to smile for her sake.

“Neeko! Why are you here?” She asks gleefully.

Okay, that stings, but that is expected of her. Kids are blunt. “Um, I thought I’d visit you.”

She rocks her head side to side and plays with the lapels of Nico’s button-up. “You not busy anymore?”

“Busy?”

“Uh-huh, papa said you was busy, that’s why you didn’t visit,”

“You were busy,” Will corrects her daughter. She ignores him.

“Oh, um, yeah I was busy, but not anymore.”

“You will eat dinner wid us tonight?” She looks at him with her big green eyes screaming ‘please!’

Nico looks at Will who’s unlocking the door, and the brunette who’s looking at him funny, and… is that Will’s other friend holding a car seat? “Uh,”

“Pleeeeeease!”

There’s sweat forming on the back of Nico’s neck and his hands are starting to get cold and clammy. Will turns to him once the door has been unlocked and the lady and (oh shit!) Will’s friend (Jordan? Jensen?) excuse themselves. She takes the plastic bag in Will’s hand and goes inside with Jackson (Joe? Julian?).

“Um, you and your dad have company, Lily. I don’t wanna impose,”

“You’re not. I mean, imposing. It’s our bi-monthly dinner. You’re welcome to join if you want,” Will answers for Lily.

Nico looks at him, then to Lily, then down to the two pairs of shoes by the door. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, the more the merrier. We’ve got plenty of food.”

Nico runs his tongue throughout his mouth, feeling the ridges on the roof of his mouth and the back of his molars. Lily wants him there, and Will doesn’t seem too opposed to the idea of him being there, while the jury is still out for his friends. Ah, fuck it. He almost just got into a fight with Will’s landlord because he’s a homophobic piece of shit, so he’s gonna fucking stay out of spite. And also for Lily and Will.

“Okay.”

 

Lily cheers. 

Will smiles.

Notes:

i am always on tumblr.

 

comments and kudos are always appreciated 💖💖

Chapter 6: everything that i need is right here with me

Summary:

Never in a hundred years that Will thought his ‘normal’ and ‘demigod’ life would meet in real life. He turned his back away from all the hero and end-of-the-world shit when he left Camp Half-Blood for good at twenty-six. Now, Nico, a significant part of his former life, and Amy and Jeff and Lily, the best parts of his life now, are sitting together at his dining table, like some mishmashed multiverse shit he only read in comics before. It’s surreal, and a little unnerving, especially with what happened on the second floor with Bill.

Notes:

yeah, happy birthday Nico! this chapter has been sitting on my drafts since late last year. i normally don't post a chapter yet unless i have the first half the next chapter written already, but today is a special day!!!! so i'm not gonna do that today.

 

happy birthday, nico <3333

 

title of this chapter is from good goodbye by one ok rock

Never in a hundred years that Will think his ‘normal’ and ‘demigod’ life would meet in real life. He turned his back away from all the hero and end-of-the-world shit when he left Camp Half-Blood for good at twenty-six. Now, Nico, a significant part of his former life, and Amy and Jeff and Lily, the best parts of his life now, are sitting together at his dining table, like some mishmashed multiverse shit he only read in comics before. It’s surreal, and a little unnerving, especially with what happened on the second floor with Bill.

Will wasn’t sure what happened but he was so fucking glad he caught them before anything bad could happen. And it almost did, since Nico’s hand is already at the hilt of his sword. Bill couldn’t see it but Nico’s sword was already faintly glowing black and purple. Sinister. Deadly. Perfect for the son of the God of the Underworld.

Will couldn’t be sure if he was planning on using it on Bill, or if Bill deserved to meet his end at the hands of one of the most powerful demigods he knew. But Nico wouldn’t just brandish his sword to anyone or anything who doesn’t deserve it. Bill must have really pissed Nico off for him to even merit the idea of using his Stygian iron on a mortal.

He would have to talk to him after this dinner—if they all survive this dinner.

 

To say that the atmosphere around the dinner table is tense is an understatement. It is downright awkward and uncomfortable. Will tries to salvage the mood multiple times by offering snacks to everyone, no one but one takes them (Jeff takes a couple of the savory pretzels and nothing else) Every now and so, Amy leans on Jeff’s ear, whispers something, and Jeff nods his head. Then Amy huffs a laugh and waves her hand in front of her face a little bit, then back to eating the food she bought earlier.

Lily, ever the angel, eats her food with no fuss. She offers some of her food to her Grandfather, then places a spoonful of her food on his and Nico’s plates. She asks if Jeff and Amy want a piece of her chicken too and the two decline, saying she needs to eat it to become big and strong.

It’s obvious that his friends don’t like Nico very much. From the bits and pieces he shared of their relationship and the trainwreck he’s been in for a year after they broke up, he’s positive he accidentally painted a bad picture of Nico. But neither of his friends is reacting negatively about Nico’s presence, they’re probably just ‘subtly’ letting him know they know what happened to him and Nico.

“Hi, um, I’m Nico,” Nico surprises Will when he speaks.

“We know,” Amy curtly answers. “I’m Amy. That’s my husband, Jeff.”

“Oh?” Nico looks at Will and then back at Amy. “He mentioned me to you?”

“A couple of times. We’ve known each other since we were eighteen.”

“That’s… nice.” Then Nico promptly goes back to twirling his pasta and shoving it in his mouth, sneaking glances at Will as if he wants to say something else. Will wipes some red sauce off of his daughter’s face.

“Does anybody want cake? I have some in the fridge.”

“We’re having dinner, Will,” Amy says. Will shuts up. 

Nobody speaks again until Nico stands up to get a glass of water. “Excuse me for a moment.”

“Will, what the fork?” Amy hisses at him, glancing at Lily to make sure she's not listening. Nico can still hear them, he’s sure of it.

“What?”

“What’s he doing here? I thought you already talked to him?!”

“No, not really. But I thought about what you said—”

“And?!”

“—and I dunno,” he shrugs.

“What do you mean ’I dunno’?”

“This is his first visit in a week. You saw how excited she was when she saw him.” He points this thumb at Lily. “She squirmed away from you. From you, Ames.”

"Yeah, that stung a little. You said you were gonna think about yourself!"

"Yeah man, what happened to 'thinking about yourself'?" Jeff adds, effectively ganging up on him. They always do this, but Will isn't complaining. Well, just a tad.

"I am! I am thinking about myself! But—” Nico comes back with a pitcher, condensation already starting to form around it. Shit, was he actively listening to their conversation?

“I think I’m gonna head out,” Nico says, placing the pitcher on the glass with a soft clink. He wipes his hands on his pants.

Will wipes his mouth with a napkin. “What? But you haven’t finished your food yet. Nico, you barely ate your food. I know you’re not eating much. If you’re eating anything at all,

“No, but uh, I remembered I have something at home. My,” his eyes turn to Jeff and Amy for a moment, then at Lily, then back at him. “My uh, stepmom… visited earlier. She left something… food for me.” His mouth quirks into a smile.

“Nico, no. Sit down, please?” Will pleads. Lily has stopped eating too and is watching their interaction. “At least finish your food,”

“It’s fine, Will. I really have to go. I have my 7th graders tomorrow at eight.” A lie. He won’t even meet his 7th graders until Thursday after lunch. Nico takes his plate and dumps its contents into the garbage disposal. “Thanks for having me. It’s nice to meet you two, Amy, Jeff.”

Jeff shoots Nico an uncomfortable smile. “Nice to meet you too, man. See you around,”

“See you. Thanks for the food. It was good.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Will wipes Lily’s mouth with a napkin and balls it up.

“No, no. It’s fine. Eat, don’t mind me. I’ll show myself out,” Will’s further protests die on his lips, so he nods.

“Unca Neeko, bye-bye!” Lily reaches her hands up so Nico will notice her. He plants a small kiss on her forehead and then wipes it off with his thumb.

Will watches him go, wanting desperately to ask him to stay, to have dinner with his new family. He hasn’t seen him in a week and he missed him terribly. 

Ah, fuck it. Nico can leave, but he can’t force Will to stay in his seat.

“Nico,” he calls out. Nico is already descending the stairs, phone in his hand, and talking quietly. He ends the call abruptly when he sees Will trailing behind him.

“Will, what are you doing here? Go back to your guests!”

“I’m walking you out,”

“I said it’s fine, Jules-Albert is across the street.”

“Stop convincing me to go back up, I’m walking you to your bougie car.”

“It’s not bougie, it’s a perfectly normal car.”

“Your car is customized. Your chauffeur is French.”

“And he’s dead. He’s literally doing his service for Hades.”

“Whatever. Let me walk you to your damn car.”

“Fine. But I still think you should go back to your friends and I’m gonna make it your problem.”

“Do your worst, di Angelo.”

They walk in silence, the scuff of their shoes on the pavement the only noise to break the tension. The back of his hand brushes over Nico’s as they walk, and he has to clench his fist a couple of times to dampen the desire to lace their fingers together and sit under the stairs until it’s time for Nico to go back home and for him to go back up with his daughter.

A groan from a few meters ahead makes Will snap his head back up. Jules-Albert’s window is rolled down, his hands on the steering wheel as he regards his master and Will. Another groan and Nico pinches his eyebrows together and clicks his tongue.

“What?”

“Persephone. She wants me to take care of some monsters in Saint Point before I go home.”

“It’s late. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

He sighs, “It can, but someone will tell.”

“Can’t you tell him to shut up about it?”

“I can but I only do that sometimes now. We’re friends. Right, buddy?” he asks Jules-Albert sarcastically. Jules-Albert groans and nods his head slightly.

"Will you be okay?" Will asks.

"I’m always okay." 

"If anything happens, I mean anything, you come straight to me, okay? I don't care if it's late, just come here."

Nico rolls his eyes and rubs the back of his neck. Will can't quite see his face but he's smiling so Will guesses Nico's taking his suggestion just fine. "Psh, yeah. Whatever. Thanks. Although I promise you I won't get hurt. It'll be a piece of cake!"

"Still. I want you to know you can always come to me, just like in the old days." Will reaches out to squeeze his shoulder once, then shoves his hands in his pockets before he can pull Nico in for a hug, or a kiss.

"Yeah. I know. Thanks."

"No problem."

Nico shifts his weight on his other leg, then kicks gravel under him. It hits a can with a faint plink. "So, I gotta go now."

"Oh yeah, sure." Will steps back. "Goodnight, Nico. Take care. Kill those monsters for me and Lily."

"Will do. Thanks. I'll… see you around?"

"Please."

Nico smiles up at him, his hair falling in front of his face. Will hesitates for a moment then reaches out to tuck it behind his ear. Nico steps forward then stops. Will figures out what Nico’s about to do and he desperately wants it too, so he hugs him. Will hugs him tight, tighter than all the times he was allowed to do this. He hugs him tighter than the last time they saw each other, young and brave and in love, right before the real world dragged them away from each other screaming and crying until they were hoarse and tired and were forced to move on.

Nico hugs just as tightly, seemingly scared to let go.

He wants to kiss Nico, even just his hair, but he doesn't know if he's allowed.

They stay like that for a while, silent, breathing each other’s scent, feeling each other’s warmth, reveling in each other’s presence, neither of them wanting to break the embrace.

But eventually, Nico lets go.

With a small smile full of promise, Will watches him get inside his car. Jules-Albert rolls up his tinted window and then they're pulling away from the curb and into the dead of night. Will raises an arm for a last goodbye and the taillights blink twice before turning on a corner and disappearing from his sight.

✾✾✾✾

The week has been a blur of monster fighting, shadow traveling, taking naps, eating when the circumstances permit, and tending his wounds. He rolled away too late from an attack so now he has a claw mark on his leg that has finally keloid over, an addition to his collection of literal battle scars. He waited to find a safe place to hide so he can have a few nectar and ambrosia that it took him half a day, and the monster's poison has time to develop into gangrene. But he's fine now, so there's no need to worry about it.

Nico inserts his key and twists, unlocking his front door with a soft click. He opens the door blearily and throws his stuff, including his sword, on the couch (or the floor, he can’t know for sure). He shuffles into his unlocked room and plops down on his bed with a thud. He should change soon, he thinks, he's covered in blood and sweat and monster viscera and his pants are shredded. He should change and call his stepmother to bring her the 'good news', but fuuuuck his bed is so comfortable. Maybe he can close his eyes for a moment, just for a moment then he'll call Persephone. There's a drachma inside the small bowl by the mini fountain so no need to scour for one in a moment.

"Nico D'Angelo, are you there?! Hello?! Nico D'Angelo, are you there?!"

The insistent pounding on his door and the yell of a grown man wake Nico up. Who the fuck is knocking on his door at this goddamn hour?!

Nico stretches and screams for the people behind his door to wait a goddamn minute. He rubs his face in his hands and combs his hair with his fingers to look more presentable and heads for the door.

"Che cos' é?" He asks the men at his door. He glares at them.

"Sir? We've been called to do a wellness check. Are you Nico D'Angelo?"

"Yes, I am. What is this for again?" He asks again, squinting at the light from a flashlight shining on his face.

"Your colleague, Mina Hale, hasn't been able to locate or contact you for about ten days now, sir."

Ten days? Did he hear that correctly? "Ten days? What do you mean, ten days? What date is it now?"

"Twenty-second, sir. Are you okay?" The man, police? shines the flashlight again on his face, this time tracking his eye movements. He shoves the man's hand with the flashlight away from his face.

Shit. He's been asleep for three fucking days?! "Fuck off, I'm fine. I lost my phone somewhere and I couldn’t get another one." He answers, and it’s the truth. He must’ve dropped it while escaping. The officer who’s already talking to his radio, no doubt calling the emergency services, stops.

"Are you sure?" He asks again. "You don't look fine. Is that blood on your face?" He attempts to touch Nico's face but he slaps it away. "Are you in some kind of trouble? Do you need to file a complaint?"

"No, stop. I'm fine. You did your wellness check. I'm well. Now, kindly fuck off. I was sleeping."

"Alright. If you're sure."

"I am sure. Thank you, officer. Now, with all due respect, fuck off." He shuts the door in their faces. "Fuck." He whispers to himself.

Nico runs to his tiny fountain and throws the golden coin in it along with his intention. There's a shifting of rainbow colors then the flowery gardens of his immortal stepmother appear.

"Nicholas! What a pleasant surprise! I thought you were already dead!" She exclaims in a shrill voice. Nico winces away from the sound.

"I bet you’d like that. Well, still living and breathing." 

Persephone hums. “Shame,” 

"I'm done with your task. The strays are dead. You can fuck off now."

Persephone hums again. "You called me, you fuck off first." She says 'fuck off' weirdly like someone trying to speak a dead language for the first time. 

Nico rolls his eyes, "Whatever," and drops the call.

Now that he's done updating his ‘parents’ (or rather, 'parent') about the situation, he can finally shower, then go visit Lily and Will. There's throbbing going on in his torso but that can wait.

Nico knocks eagerly on the Solace's door with a huge grin on his face. He can't wait to see them both. He brought ice cream, pasta carbonara, and pizza from the diner across from his fancy apartment for dinner. They have the best, artery-clogging pizza he's ever tasted. He and Will can share the pizza while Lily can have the pasta all by herself. He won't risk giving her anything that can make her sick permanently.

"He--" the greeting dies on his lips when a person with blue streaks in their hair opens the door.

"Oh shit, it's the ex!" 

Nico feels his face fall. A rib throbs in his side.

"Oh, uh, can you give this to Will, please?" He hands the takeout bags and pizza without letting them answer.

“You okay, man? You’ve got bruises and you’re too pale to be standing here.”

“I’m fine.”

"You don't wanna wait inside? I can call Will. I feel like I should call Will." They mime a phone but Nico is already shaking his head.

"That's not necessary. Thank you." He leaves without saying another word, power walking to the stairs like his life depends on it. He runs down, making the rusty old thing rattle, and gets inside his car. "Can we go to Mina, please?" Jules-Albert nods and they're pulling away from the curb.

Mina's apartment is located in the middle of the business district of La Nysta. It's a tiny little thing, even compared to what he and his family lived in the late ’30s when they just moved to America. He knows it's rude to even compare it considering his maternal grandfather was the consulate of Italy to the United States, and his father is the literal God of Riches who has a huge ass fuck mansion in the Underworld, but he's a rude motherfucker who compares anything he has in his head.

He presses the doorbell incessantly, waiting for the only acquaintance he tolerates to open the door. The lock clicks open and then he's face to face with a brunette, probably Asian but could also be a Latina, with a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth. She's wearing multiple rings on each finger except for one.

"Who the fuck are you? I thought this was Mina's place?" He asks before he can even filter his mouth.

"This is Mina's place. The one she shares with me." The girl frowns at him, "who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Mina's co-worker."

"Oh, well in that case, come on in." She steps aside so Nico can come in. "She's out but she's almost home. Just sit wherever you like." She points at the available chairs around the room then leaves for the toilet. Nico sits on the dining table, slinking back and suppressing his presence to make him as small and unnoticeable as possible.

Mina arrives half an hour later and by then, Nico is done with his mini freak out and just waiting for his colleague to share the news of his 'ex' finally dating someone new after his 10-day absence. She comes in with a bag of groceries, and another bag for produce and—

Mina kissed the lady on the lips. 

She hugged her and kissed the lady on the lips.

Wha— wait, is she cheating on her husband with this woman?

Oh… the ring. She is the husband.

Nico bites his lip and straightens up in his seat, easing the shroud around him to open up a small hole in his defense so his presence can be perceived. It's a talent he's developed over the years, the Shroud. It's a more sinister Mist, developed to conceal one's presence from mortals, demigods, monsters, and even Gods (8 out of 10). Handy on covert missions and infiltrating lairs and such, and pretty annoying when one wants to be known. He was always ignored even when he was literally inside a room so he thought, why not develop this into something? And after months of willing and manipulating the Mist, he finally succeeded. It's trickier to activate unlike the Mist who's always there, but the payoff is exquisite so he takes his time. Nico reckons he'll master it as he did with shadow traveling soon.

"Oh fuck! Jesus Christ, Nico! What are you doing here?! How long have you been there?!"

"Shit, I'm sorry, baby. I totally forgot he was there.  Seriously, dude! I thought you were gone! Were you there the whole time?!"

"Yeah. About half an hour,"

"So you saw everything?"

"Uh-huh,"

"N-Nico, it's not what you think it is, a-alright?" Mina stammers, "she's my… we're French, you see?"

"Yeah, we're French. This is… normal!"

"Io sono Italiano. Your point being?"

"The, um, the kiss?"

"I don't kiss my sister on the mouth." He shrugs. "Well, she's American so I reckon that'd be weird for her."

"Alright, fine!" Mina exclaims, spreading her arms in defeat. She fiddles with her hands, picking on her cuticles until it's slightly bleeding. "She's my wife, okay? We're married."

"Mhm, I know." He doesn't. "I saw her ring, it's the same as yours."

"How did you--" Mina's wife glances down at her hand. "Baby, your co-worker is weird."

"Thank you."

"How did you know? I don't even wear my ring at school."

"Saw it once or twice. Your chain is only about 50 centimeters. You should get something longer, like 76 centimeters. Or not. It's not up to me."

Mina bites her fingernail, tearing the nail to its bed and spitting it out. "Okay. Please, please, please Nico, please don't tell the school I'm married to a woman. I need this job, we're planning to adopt a child next year and we won't stand a chance if I don't have a stable job." She looks so worried, Nico notes, and he would've started laughing if she didn't look like she's about to shit her pants.

Nico sighs and drums his fingers on the edge of the table. "Of course not. I'm not a monster."

There are a lot of things Nico has already accepted in his second life; Bianca's death, her eventual rebirth, Will breaking up with him, his sexuality, and his power and responsibilities of being a child of Hades. There are a few things he can probably change but most of those are pretty cut and dry.

Mina's case is different, however. Nico has no idea (yet) what sort of footing the school has with being in a same-sex relationship. He wants to believe Hades and Persephone whammied school administrators with positive attitudes to queer people because he is one of the queer people. He's gay. It's not a secret anymore. Well, at least to people closest to him. Other people tend to be surprised when they find out he likes dick.

The bottom line is he's not a monster. No matter how monstrous he used to think his powers were, he was not a monster. He won't out Mina. He's not Cupid. Cupid can go fuck himself.

"I'm not outing you to admin," Nico admits and Mina sighs in relief. "Wait, are they okay with like, people like us? That's ten things now."

"I'm hoping they're fine with it but— wait, did you just say 'like us'?"

"I'm not repeating myself."

"Oh my gosh, Nico!" She claps her hand together so loud it echoes throughout the apartment. That must've hurt. "Finally! Thank you for telling me." She runs to his place at the dinner table and holds his hand.

"Now, settle down. You didn't win a million dollars, no need to be that excited… what do you mean finally?!"

"Shut up and let me hug you." She pulls Nico in a surprisingly bone-crushing hug. "I really appreciate you, you know that, right? And I know you don't like to be touched but let me have this for now, alright? And you slipped once."

Ah.

"Mhm," his face is smushed between Mina's soft chest. He admits boobs are pretty nice. They're soft and aesthetically pleasing, like those pillows on furniture shops in some parts of Asia where you can't test any product unless they say you can touch 'em. Mina's wife joins in the hug a moment later.

"I don't know what's going on but you're pretty excited so I'm doing the same." She says to Mina.

He's a taaaaad uncomfortable with Mina's wife's touch but he can stay still for another moment or two.

Take that everyone who says he's rude.

They release him after a few more beats, Mina's wife clearing her throat and smoothing her shirt. Mina pinches his cheek. He should really stop calling her 'Mina's wife'.

"I'm Nico di Angelo," Nico says, looking up at her.

"Jo-Ann," she answers and holds out her hand.

Mina shakes her head. "He doesn't do handshakes."

"Oh,"

"I mean he does, but he reached his quota of physical touches today," Mina explains. Nico smiles, pleased with her. She gets him.

"Well then. I'm Jo-Anne Santo Domingo-Hale. Nice to meet you, Nico di Angelo." She gives a wave. "We have awfully long names, don't we?"

"We kind of do."

Jo-Anne hums, “I guess you're here for a reason. I'm gonna make something and let you two talk."

"Thanks, sweetheart." Mina rises on her tiptoes and kisses her wife on the lips. Nico looks away embarrassed, like a kid seeing his parents kiss in front of him for the first time.

Mina sits in front of him when Jo-Anne is gone. "Come on, tell momma what's up."

"Ew. Don't say that."

"Well?"

"My ex-boyfriend is dating someone else." He says with a sigh.

Mina sighs back, propping her elbow on the table to rest her chin on her open palm. "Exes tend to do that, honey."

Nico frowns. "That wasn’t the case ten days ago."

"Hm, speaking of which, where were you? I called a wellness check on you this morning. I had to harass the admin for your address."

"Yeah, they woke me up." He rolls his eyes.

"You were sleeping for ten days?!"

"No, I came back three days ago."

"You slept for three days?!"

Nico curls his toes in his shoes, squirming slightly in his seat. He starts playing with his ring. He's not exactly used to people asking where and why he's gone. "Uh-huh,"

"Where did you go?"

"Home,"

"Where? The Arctic?!"

"No. Just… there."

"Where is there?"

Nico slinks back into his chair. "I don't wanna talk about it."

The pinch on Mina's eyebrows eases and she sits back on the chair, her body language relaxed. Not that Nico's threatened by her but it's always nice to talk to someone without being on guard all the time. "A-are you safe? You're not in trouble, are you?" Concern flashes on her face like a teacher who just found out one of her students is getting bullied in the playground. Which in a way, she was. The last time Nico saw her ten days ago, she was yelling at a student for shoving a kid in their locker.

Nico almost rolls his eyes. "Psh, no. I just don't like talking about my family is all."

"Okay. If you're sure." She bites a hangnail. “Let’s go back to your ex. You said he’s dating again?”

“Er… yeah. I suppose.”

“You saw someone at his place, didn't you?”

“Yeah.”

“Ever think they might be friends? Or a co-worker?”

“He only has two friends,” Nico answers, fiddling with his cuticles this time.

Mina snickers. “Maybe, but that doesn't mean he doesn’t have coworkers. What does he do?”

Nico narrows his eyes at her. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” He sighs. He’s been doing that quite a lot. “He’s a nurse.”

Mina raises an eyebrow. She’s impressed. “Oh? That’s awesome.”

“Yeah. He’s always been a talented healer.”

“I bet,” she winks.

“Not like that. I used to get injured a lot as a kid. He always patched me up.” Nico removes his hoodie and shows Mina his scarred arm. She lets out a small gasp and covers her mouth.

She reaches out to touch him but hesitates. “Nico…”

“I told you I got mauled by a wolf. Well, not exactly mauled, but I got scratched deep."

“Yeah, and… the scarring.”

He hums. “I got this in Évora,” When Mina stays quiet, Nico continues. “In Portugal.”

“Long way from home.” Nico nods.

“What were you doing in Portugal? Were you alone?”

A decade has passed since he got the scars and he has a jacket on most days so he never really notices it anymore. He’d forget about it if he couldn’t see it every time he took his shirt off for a shower. But the universe isn’t that kind. Still, this scar proved they survived, that he did his duty to unite both camps (almost) peacefully. He helped save the demigods on both sides, made some honest-to-gods friends, and started hanging out with the love of his life.

“No, I was with friends. They stitched me up, but she wasn’t a healer like Will. But she did her best and she saved me. If it weren’t for her I would’ve died in that town.”

“You were lucky to have them.” She smiles at him warmly making him think of Bianca.

“Truly, I was.”

He loves Reyna. He was positive he would’ve died in Portugal if it weren’t for her. He should visit her soon, let her know that he’s back.

Jo-Anne emerges from the kitchen a moment later with a pitcher of lemonade and food that he hasn’t seen before. He carefully eyes the plate, deciding if he wants to eat it or let the two women enjoy their food. Mina must’ve seen him contemplating because she says, “It’s made with rice flour, water, a pinch of salt, roasted sesame seeds, and sugar. It’s quite tasty. Here,” she places a small plate in front of Nico and places three pieces of the white unfamiliar food in the middle. She gives him a fork. “Here you go.”

Nico looks at Mina and Jo-Anne as he cuts one of the circular food in half with his fork. It’s firm and kind of sticky. “You have to dip it in the sugar,” Mina says, and he does. He takes a small bite, enough to taste the food. It’s good. A little chewy and a little bland, but the roasted sesame seeds give it a smokey taste, and the sugar with sweetness, of course.

“Good, right?” Mina beams at him.

He nods and stabs the other half of the food to dip in sugar.

“This is really good.”

Jo-Anne smiles. “Thank you. It’s food from where my mom lived.”

“Will you teach me how to do this? I think I know a kid who’d like this.”

“Yeah, man, sure! It’s pretty easy to make.”

“What do I have to buy?”

“Don’t worry about it, we have plenty in the kitchen. We can give you some.”

“Really? Thanks!”

“You have a niece? I’m assuming it’s a niece.”

“I don’t. But Will has a daughter. Her name is Lily.”

Mina’s eyebrows raise so high her forehead almost looks like little waves from kids’ drawings. “Really? I am loving this day. I’m learning so much about you!”

“Don’t get used to it. It’s only for today.”

“Whatever. I’ll treasure this day as long as I live.”

The three of them talk until Nico starts to feel he’s overstayed his welcome, so he takes the last bite of the rice flour dessert and thanks the couple for taking him in for a few hours. Jo-Anne gives him a plastic container of rice flour to practice making his dessert with Lily (and with extras, in case they waste a few cups of it), along with instructions on how to make it. Nico leaves with a huge grin on his face, excited to share the activity with Lily.

He contemplates going back to Will’s apartment but decides against it. Instead, he brings the rice flour home and tries to make it himself first. He fails miserably on the first and second tries and somewhat succeeds on his third attempt. His flour is running low so he brings the container with him to show the nice ladies at the Asian grocery store so they can help him. He brings home five kilograms of the stuff.

By the end of the day, he has five containers of stuff. He decides to shadow travel to Hazel and Frank to give them some of it, and the rest to Percy and Annabeth, who is overjoyed to smell the nutty scent of the toasted rice flour and sesame seeds. He doesn’t linger long, the moment he hands the container, he’s slipping into the shadows back to his place. 

(Hazel and Percy, separately for that matter, attempted to rope him into a conversation about his cuts and bruises but he waves them off, saying he’s alright and nectar and ambrosia healed him just fine. He doesn’t show him his new scars.)

He saves the best batch for tomorrow, for Lily and Will. He’s proud of it, thinks that it almost tastes the same as Jo-Anne’s cooking, and he’s hoping he can have an afternoon with Lily and Will tomorrow, free from anxieties, demigod duties, and demanding immortal stepmothers.

 

Notes:

let me know in the comments what you think! ;)

 

 

i'm always on tumblr!!!

Chapter 7: i still smell my longing, inducing me to dream

Summary:

Will pulls Nico closer to inspect him, brushing his hair out of his face to look at the faint new pink scar on his temple, the dark circles around his eyes, his arms. He crouches down to touch Nico’s legs, cataloguing the size of his calves and remembering his estimated size ten days ago to see if he lost weight and got thinner. He did, by about eleven pounds. A huge amount to lose in ten days.

Notes:

almost a year in the making lol i got preoccupied with irl stuff. this chapter is only will's pov since i'm still warming up on the idea of continuing this, and i had will's pov mostly written so i rolled with it and now here it is, at least 2k longer than the usual chapter. hope you enjoy this chapter! thank you for those who are still subscribed to this fic! <3333

still, this fic is not beta read 😜

 

chapter title is a translated lyric from palmy's ซ่อนกลิ่น (saun glin). it's a gorgeous song with so much raw emotion on it. i've been thinking about how i could make it a fic or incorporate it in a destiel or solangelo fic for literal years now. you can watch the video heree.

“Shit, Nico,” Will whispers when he opens the door. Will pulls him in his chest without any question. He almost pushes Nico away when he finally realized what he has done.

Nico scratches the back of his head with one hand as he holds a plastic container with another, trying not to spill what’s inside. “Ah, this? It’s… no big deal,” 

Will releases Nico sooner than he would’ve liked. “Come on in,” Will moves to the side to let him in. Nico smiles at him and mutters thanks before coming in. Will takes the plastic container and puts it on the chair next to the door.

Will pulls Nico closer to inspect him, brushing his hair out of his face to look at the faint new pink scar on his temple, the dark circles around his eyes, his arms. He crouches down to touch Nico’s legs, cataloguing the size of his calves and remembering his estimated size ten days ago to see if he lost weight and got thinner. He did, by about eleven pounds. A huge amount to lose in ten days.

“Are you hurt? Are you safe?” He asks, touching Nico’s arms again, his chest, the back of his neck, sensing something broken, a hairline fracture, everything. He had seven years to develop his healing gift, and he’s using all that he’s learned to make him safe. Make him well.

“Yeah, I am now,” Nico answers with a warm smile on his face. Will finds himself instantly calming down, easing his hands that are digging quite hard into Nico’s skin. His breathing settles down as well, and he drops to his knees in exhaustion. He’s been worried sick for the majority of the days that Nico was gone. He was so stressed that Amy suggested they take Lily for a few days so Will could relax and catch up on some sleep. Will was reluctant about it but gave in eventually.

That was two days ago. 

Nico crouches down beside him. “Hey, Sunshine. You okay?” Nico tucks a stray hair behind his ear and touches his forehead. His hand is cold.

“Yeah. Yeah, just exhausted.” He offers a tired smile,

“Why?” Nico asks. His eyes are puffy and his complexion paler than before. There are vitamin D pills left in their pill drawer, he should give Nico some.

Will rubs his forehead before answering. “Nothing, I’m— just swamped at work.”

“Oh, well, I brought something. My… friend taught me how to make it.”

“Yeah?” Will stands up, brushing dust on his ass. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, I forgot to ask. It’s some kind of rice cake thing? It’s good,” Nico picks up the container by the door and opens it. It smells nutty and smokey.

Will peers over it, “That looks good,”

Nico smiles wide, his eyes shining with pride, “It is! Where’s Lily? Is she still sleeping?”

Will bites his lip, “Ah, she’s with Amy and Jeff. A little sleepover.”

“Ah,” Nico’s face falls a little but he recovers, “that’s alright,”

“Do you want me to get her?”

“No, that’s fine. I– I don’t know your arrangement with your friends.”

“Um, basically Amy and Jeff take Lily for a few days when they think I’m too stressed. I often am, but Amy thought I needed some time for myself since… you know,” he waves his hand in the air before shoving it inside his pocket.

Nico tilts his head slightly to the right, “Know what?”

Oh god, is Nico asking him to say out loud how stressed he was when he was missing for ten days?? “Um, you were gone,”

“Oh,” Nico looks away, faint pink on his cheeks, “I’m here now. No need to be stressed,”

“Yeah,” Will ruffles his hair to ease the urge to pull him in and hold him for an hour, “come on, let’s bring you and your food on the table.”

He takes the container from Nico’s hands and brings it to the kitchen. He brings out two small plates, glasses, and a couple of forks then places them in front of Nico who’s already on the spot where he sat at dinner ten days ago. 

Nico looks rested. A little stressed but he looks like he’s had enough sleep (for once). Will wants to run him a bath. Nico spaces out a bit, face going a little blank and his presence dulls so much that Will suddenly gets a little worried he might disappear when he isn’t looking.

Will badly wants to ask Nico about the ten days he was gone, what he did, what he ate, how he got the scar on his temple. He wants to, but for some reason, he can’t. Instead, he does the next natural thing he can.

“Neeks, are you there? Your presence is fading a little bit,”

Nico snaps from his trance and shakes his head slightly, “What?”

“Your presence, it’s fading,”

“Ah. Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Nico hesitates before continuing, “it’s a new… thing I discovered a few years ago. I can suppress my presence. Hide in plain sight and all that,” Nico waves his hand in front of him dismissively, as if it’s not one of the most awesome things Will has ever heard in his life.

“So you mean you can be standing in the middle of a room and nobody can see you?”

“Pretty much. They look through me or their instincts have them look away,”

“Dude, that’s awesome,”

“It is, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Snuck to some restricted places to test that gift,”

“Like what?”

“First place I tried was a museum during closing time. I deactivated it too early so a few guards noticed me, but I pulled it off eventually. The last ‘restricted’ mortal place I visited was Buckingham Palace,”

“Oh shit. Really?”

“Yeah, but it got boring real fast, and dad sent me back to Camp Jupiter for a Pluto thing,”

“When was this?”

“Five… six years ago?”

“That’s incredible. I always believed you were a genius but man, you’re more impressive than I remember!”

A deep blush creeps on Nico’s cheeks staining his cheeks dark pink. He looks so adorable that Will has to look away and do something else lest he’ll plant a kiss on Nico’s forehead.

“It’s no big deal. I had plenty of time to spare. What about you? I can see that big brain of yours grinding its gears whenever you look at me. You’re using your Apollo gift, are you?”

It’s Will’s turn to blush this time. Good thing he has his back on Nico so he wouldn’t notice his face warm up. “Uh, yeah. I’ve had… a few improvements on my gift as well. I can now uh, feel hairline fractures and such by touch. No, that’s not it. I can now assess a patient for any changes or know if they have breaks and stuff… you know, inside, with just a look and a slight touch,”

“So you were assessing me for breaks and stuff,”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. Force of habit,” Will faces him again with another plate and fork and places them on the table.

“I don’t mind. You’ve been doing it to me since we were kids. I… kinda miss it, to be honest.” Nico is busy looking down at the food that he made, but Will can see the tips of his ears tinged with pink.

Is… is Nico talking about the medical assessment or Will touching him? Because though they did both as teens, they shared touches that never meant to assess if Nico had broken bones or internal bleeding.

Silence blankets the kitchen for a few moments, Will doesn’t know what to tell Nico, and Nico seems extra interested in the food that he’s serving. He’s about to clear his throat to break the silence when his own phone decides to do that itself. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and looks back up at Nico who’s watching him.

“It’s Ames… I gotta,” he brings the phone to his ear. Nico nods and goes back to serving his rice cake.

Will goes to the living room to answer it. He hits receive, “Hey Ames, everythin’ alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s good. You sound peachy, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” he huffs a laugh, “I’m just good,” Will can’t help the smile on his face as he talks to his friend. He looks behind his shoulder to see Nico filling up the glasses with the sweet tea from the fridge. Nico, sensing Will’s eyes on him, meets his gaze and gives him a smirk. Will nearly drops his phone.

“...artment for a few days now, why don’t you come up here! We’ll have dinner and watch Totally Spies! or some shit like that,”

“Uh… no, I’m good, Ames. Thanks,”

“Wait… Nico’s there, isn’t he?” Will looks back at Nico again. He’s wiping something on the table, his brows pinched together and his lips in a small pout. Will wants to bite his fingers off like a fresh carrot.

“Uh, yeah, he is,”

The silence on the other line becomes unbearably and alarmingly long. Will is supposed to ask them if he can come over when she speaks again. “Take care of yourself, Will, okay? I mean it. I love you. Jeff and I love you. We can’t protect you from him, especially if you don’t want to be protected. Just promise me you’ll be okay?”  

“I promise, nothing bad will happen to me. I’m sure he’s only here because his friends are on the other side of the country. His dad lives near Central Park so that’s probably why he’s here. I’m sure he’s not interested in me like that anymore. I’m just…” Will takes a sigh, “savoring the fact that he’s here,”

“Oh, Will,”

“No, it’s fine, Ames. I’m fine. This is good. Maybe the reason why I still feel so strongly for him is that we never had closure. If we keep hanging out, maybe my brain will finally realize we’re better off as friends,”

“That’s not… I don’t even know what to say,”

“Then don’t. I’m fine, Amy. I can take care of myself,”

Another beat of silence, “If you’re sure,”

“I am, now give my daughter back,”

“Nope. Not yet. Catch up on sleep first. I’m assuming Nico just got there so you haven’t had a good night’s rest yet. I’ll drop her off tomorrow after your shift,”

“She’s been staying over for a couple of days now, are you sure it’s alright? She’s been eating a lot lately so I know she’s slowly getting through your pantry,”

“Are you kidding me, Will?! She’s a doll and it is our pleasure to have her here! Now, leave us be and sleep for ten hours or something. You need it. And tell your boy if he ever does something like he did years ago, I’m gonna hunt his ass down,”

Will chuckles at her friend’s determination. “I’m not gonna do that, but thanks Ames,”

A faint voice in the background calls out for Amy, Jeff, from the way Amy's voice perks when she answers. “That’s Jeff. Dinner’s ready,”

“Alright, go. We’re about to eat anyway,”

“Say bye-bye to papa!” Amy says on the other side, then his daughter replies, “Bye-bye, papa!”  

Warmth fills Will’s chest. Gods, he loves his daughter so much. “Bye, baby. I love you. Papa misses you. See you tomorrow, alright?”

“See you, papa!”

“Is that Lily?” Nico speaks behind him. Will turns to him and nods. “Can I talk to her?” Will hands him the phone. He immediately brings it to his ear. “Hi, Lily!”

Lily says something on the other line. “Yeah, I just got back… from work. Uh-huh,” he looks reluctantly at Will. “Um, I can be here, if your… dad says it’s fine,”

Will’s heart aches. Christian hell would freeze over before he’d stop letting Nico stay over for dinner with him and his daughter. He gives Nico a nod in assurance.

Will’s stomach swoops when Nico gives him a thankful smile. 

“Your dad says it’s fine, so I can come. Yes, uh-huh, I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily. Bye,” Nico hands Will the phone, his eyes widening the moment he realizes he ended Lily’s call without letting Will say goodbye to his daughter.

“It’s alright, I’ll see her tomorrow anyway,” Will says reassuringly.

“Good, sorry,” Nico breathes a sigh of relief.

Will looks at the food in front of them, “This smells really good. Can we eat now?”

“Y-yeah, sure,” Will sits down while Nico serves him a piece.

“How do I eat it? Should I break it in pieces or stab it and shove it in my mouth?” Will mimes stabbing the dish.

Nico grins, “I’ve seen my friend eat it whole, so we can do that,” and Will does.

The rice cake is good. It’s smokey and almost nutty despite not having any nuts in it. “There’s no nut in here, right?”

“No, just sesame seeds,”

“It tastes nutty,”

“Sure is. You have to roll it around the sugar like this,” Nico takes one and demonstrates. He places it on Will’s plate right after. “Try that,”

Sweetness bursts inside his mouth combined with the smokey, nutty taste of the sesame seeds. He can’t describe it but they taste perfect together. “Gods, what’s in these?!”

“Toasted rice flour, a little salt, and water,”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Nico smiles and eats another.

Will maybe eats fifteen of the stuff before he starts to get full. “I think I’m full,” he says to Nico, dropping his fork on his plate and tapping his stomach.

“No shit. You ate like twenty,”

“I did not!”

“Did too! I was looking at you the whole time—” Nico stops mid sentence, realizing what he just said. Will can’t help but feel a little light-headed. “Um…”

“So you were watching me?” Will can’t help but tease. Nico blushes a bright pink.

“Shut up,” he says without a bite.

Will helps him clear the table while Nico insists on doing the dishes. Nico seems determined to do it so Will lets him on the condition that he dries them. Nico doesn’t object.

Nico tells him Persephone’s mission with great caution (Nico seems to be telling everything for the untrained ear, but he knows Nico or at least knew him from before so he knows the mission is more serious than Nico implies), the places he’s visited (when he’s running away from monsters, Will wants to say), and what he did in those ten days he’s gone (again, with great caution). Not everything was him running away, though. He got to spend a few hours with Hazel on the third day and he dropped by Percy and Annabeth on the sixth day. He said Annabeth and Percy helped him dispose of a problem when he was there. Codename for Annabeth and Percy killing a monster, of course. Maybe he was too weak to fight? Will has to make sure to give him his special nectar concoction before he leaves.

“Hey, mind if I take some of the rice cakes you made?” Will asks while wiping the counter off. Nico is drinking one of Lily’s blueberry juice boxes.

“Hm? Sure. I already left some for Lily,” he lets out a small ‘ah’ and continues sipping. Cute.

“No, I mean I want to share them with my work friend, Ydith,”

Nico’s face flashes something too quick for Will to discern. Maybe it’s… Will has no idea.

“Sure,” Nico shrugs, “I don’t mind,”

Will grins wide, “Thanks, you’re the best! They like stuff like these,”

“I can give you the recipe if you want,” Nico offers.

“No, it’s fine,” anything to make Nico visit him and Lily again, “I have ice cream in the fridge, want some?”

“If you don’t mind,”

“Not at all,” Will hurries to the fridge for the ice cream. He grabs two bowls, the ice cream, and the old ice cream scoop he inherited from his mom.

“Hey, I love this!” Nico says, receiving the bowl from Will and digging in. Will had this flavor in his fridge for over a week now. It has been inside the freezer for over a week now. Waiting for Nico before busting it open so he and Lily could share it with him, but shit happened.

“I know,” Will says, smiling.

Nico stops before shoving a spoonful in his mouth, like what Will said caught him off guard. His cheeks turn pink and ducks his head, hiding behind his overgrown hair to eat his ice cream.

Will clears the used dishes and loads them up in the dishwasher. Nico is still eating his ice cream, scooping heaps into his bowl. Will sits beside him and takes a few scoops of his own. It is a damn good ice cream flavor.

Will has calmed down enough to remember that Nico will be out the door in two hours tops if they don’t do something soon. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Will isn’t ready to let go of this feeling yet, this euphoria of knowing that one of the people you care about most in the world is safe and back in your arms after missing for over a week—after missing for seven years.

“Hey, you wanna watch a movie?” Will asks.

“Sure,”

They move to the couch, Nico still holding his bowl of ice cream, and Will still holding the container.

“Can we watch last week’s episode of Abbott Elementary? I missed it when I was away,”

“Okay. Let me look it up,” Will types in the title and clicks the latest episode. Nico settles in on his seat and eats another spoonful.

“Who made you watch this show?”

“Mina. Quite similar things have happened in school at one point.”

“So this is like a documentary for you?”

“Something like that. The show is funnier, of course.” Nico goes quiet after answering Will, watching intently and laughing at the jokes. He almost chokes on his ice cream once. He looks so adorable and soft.

Will yawns.

“Oh. You’re tired. Do you want me to go,” Nico says, attempting to stand up and take his bowl back to the kitchen. 

No no no, not yet. Don’t leave yet.

“Dude, no. I’m fine. I just saw one of the kids yawn in the background. You know how yawns are,” he chuckles and lets out another yawn, and Nico yawns back.

“I see what you mean,” He gives Will a grin.

They finish the episode and Will clicks on a new show. Nico yawns again.

Not yet. A voice—his voice—whispers in his mind. He asks nonetheless. “Do… you wanna go home? It’s late.”

Another yawn. “No. I’m fine. I’m not even tired.” 

“You’re yawning nonstop,” Will smiles, then yawns again.

“Because keep saying yawn!” Nico insists. He has a huge grin on his face, his eyes bright but tired. Will’s breath skips.

“Why… don’t you stay the night?” He asks suddenly, biting the inside of his cheek the moment the words were out of his mouth. Nico won’t accept his offer that’s for sure, that was just for

“Okay,”

his peace of mind. “Oh, uh…”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were serious,” Nico starts, moving away from Will to back himself on the seat’s armrest. “You’re right, I should just go,” he points to the door with his thumb.

“No no, I was totally serious,” Will reaches for Nico to pull him back down on the couch. “I wasn’t expecting you’d accept it, that’s all.”

“I’m actually pretty tired. If you didn’t offer, I probably would’ve fallen asleep here after the third episode,”

“So does that mean you’re ready to hit the hay?”

“If you want to stay up, I can join you,” 

Will isn’t that tired yet, but he can see that Nico is about five minutes away from propping up toothpicks on his eyelids Tom-and-Jerry style to keep himself awake. And Will has a 9 AM shift tomorrow so he should definitely go to bed now.

“Nah. I have a 9 AM shift tomorrow. I want to be fully rested before I stand for ten hours straight and get yelled at by strangers for not doing my job right ,”

“I do not envy you at all,”

“You shouldn’t.” Will stands up and stretches, cracking his back deliciously, and goes to the kitchen cabinet for a spare toothbrush. He takes the grey one (designated for Jeff) and hands it to Nico which he accepts without a fuss. “I’ll look for something you can change into,”

“Thanks.”

Will takes one of the old shirts that he uses as pyjamas and a pair of cotton shorts that he uses during the summer. “Here you go. If you want to wash up, towels are under the sink.” Nico doesn’t say anything, probably too tired to make too much noise. He takes the clothes and heads to the toilet and locks the door.

Nico emerges with damp hair around the edges of his face and in Will’s clothes. Will’s chest hurts from his heart pounding so hard he nearly doubles over, but he covers it up with a well-timed cough and by scratching his knee.

“You ready for bed?”

“Uh-huh,”

“Okay. So obviously, you can’t fit on Lily’s bed. The only option is to either sleep on my bed or the couch—”

“I’ll take the couch,”

“—but it’s too narrow. Wait, it’s too narrow even for you,” Nico pouts and slightly glares at Will. He grins, ready to laugh, but continues talking. “I thought you’d say that so I say you sleep on my bed and I sleep on the floor. Sounds good?”

Will almost had a short breakdown deciding where he could let Nico sleep. Lily’s bed is too small (a Vanellope candy cart bed courtesy of Jeff and Amy) for him, and the couch is too narrow. He had fallen asleep many times on his couch and he regretted it every single morning after. Sleeping on the floor with a sack for a blanket was better than falling asleep on his couch. But if he asked Nico to sleep on the bed with him… wouldn’t it be too weird? They’re exes, and though they’ve fallen asleep together so many times when they were still dating, that was back then. They have only fallen asleep together once in recent memory, but that was unintentional as they were both drunk.

“No. If anything I should be on the floor. It’s your bed,”

“But you’re my guest. Please don’t fight me on this. It’s southern hospitality and all that jazz,” Will takes Nico’s shoulders and turns him around, gently guiding him onto the bed. He takes the pillows and duvet he stacked at the edge of the bed and spreads them on the floor.

“What if we share and just put the duvet between us so there’s division?” Nico suggests. Will thought of that but he was not sure if Nico would like it if he suggested that.

“What do you mean?” Will asked. He understood what he meant but he’s fishing for more rules Nico might want to apply to their situation.

“I sleep on the right, you sleep on the left and we either put pillows or the duvet in the middle so you have your own space and I have mine,”

Simple enough. Will is not a spreader or a blanket hog, and he can stay perfectly still in bed. “Okay,” Will rolls the duvet and tosses it on the bed. Nico arranges it in the middle. When all is set, Nico crawls on his side and Will gets into his. Nico sighs delightedly.

“Comfy?” Will asks, grinning.

“Yeah,” Nico admits. He turns on his side to look at Will and Will faces him in return. “Been long since I…,” he sighs again and blinks blearily at Will. It must be taking his all to still be conscious.

“Go to sleep, Neeks. I’ll be here when you wake up,” Will assures him. Nico lifts a hand and places it on the rolled-up duvet between them, seemingly reaching out for Will. He’s asleep not even a moment later.

Will scoots closer, his face mere centimeters away from the tips of Nico’s fingers, aching to reach out and wrap his arms around the other man.

He studies Nico’s face once more, convinced that he’ll disappear when he blinks. Will nudges his face gently on Nico’s hand to feel he’s real. 

“I’ll always be here,” he whispers and closes his eyes, dreaming of brown eyes and soft smiles.

Notes:

i'm always on tumblr!

Chapter 8: this feels right and i'm letting it

Notes:

yeah, it's been a long time lol sorry about that. life is being a bitch and a half.

as usual, this chapter is unbeta'd. sorry about the errors and all

 

title of this chapter is from Keaton Henson's 10am Gare du Nord

Nico wakes up to a drying drool and a mouthful of hair. He spits the slimy strands out of his mouth, even taking time to pick every single one from his tongue and rub the dried spit in the corner of his mouth.

His hair is officially too long. He needs a haircut.

Sleep has dulled his senses a little bit and it takes him quite some time to figure out where he is.

“What?” He asks, then groans quietly and slaps his forehead when it dawns on him, “Oh. Fuck,”

“Hngr wah?” Will’s head immediately snaps up like someone just poked him on the side.

“What?” Nico asks. Will’s eyes are still closed but puffy from sleep.

“Yuh said somethin’ ‘bout frog,” his head drops on Nico’s shoulder, and nuzzles his neck, breathing him in. Nico sighs in relief. 

“It’s morning,” Nico says.

“Y’ve somewhere to be?” Will asks, his eyes still closed.

“Weekend. No,” he answers.

“Good,” Will snuggles him up some more.

Nico closes his eyes and relishes the warmth that is Will’s skin on his.

Nico wakes up again a few minutes, maybe hours later, with Will still in the crook of his neck, his arms wrapped around him as if he’s afraid of letting Nico go even in his sleep. Nico wishes that were true. He shakes his head gently to dismiss the thought but the action wakes up Will instead.

“Hey,” Will croaks. Nico hears him inhale deeply and pushes himself off of Nico, the spot where he just was cooling instantly. Nico hates it, he wants to pull Will down back on top of him.

“Good morning,” Will gives him a sleepy smile and plops down beside him with a grunt, covering his eyes with an arm. “D’you sleep well?”

Nico nods his head, hoping that Will can see him. He doesn’t want to talk yet. He doesn’t trust himself to talk yet, not here on Will’s bed where everything, including himself, smells like his ex-lover.

If only Will’s bed were the shadows, he could melt into them and never resurface ever again.

Nico gets off the bed before he can do something insane, like lean over and go back to sleep on Will’s chest.

“Will you stay over for breakfast?” Will asks, his voice laced with something—hope Nico would recall later. 

Nico looks over his shoulder to give him a weak smile. Hopefully, Will interprets it as him as ‘not being a morning person.’

“I’ll take that as a yes. What do you want, eggs or bacon? Don’t answer that, I’ll just make whatever we have,” Will rolls to the edge of the bed and sits up. “Oh, we dropped the duvet last night,” he says, lifting the material and hauling it to bed.

Will leaves a moment later, muttering something about thawing bacon before placing them in the skillet. Nico, because he was raised right and actually lived for a moment in a boarding school as a kid, arranged the bed neatly, even taking the time to smooth out the edges and insert them into the underside of the bed. After he is satisfied with his work, he heads to the toilet to freshen up, remove the evidence of sleep in his eyes and his breath. He helps himself with Will’s mouthwash and the gray toothbrush from last night.

He emerges from the ensuite bathroom a little more human than when he went in about fifteen minutes ago. He puts on his clothes from last night and places the pajamas Will lent him in the hamper, neatly folded along with the towel he used in wiping his face.

A soft knock startles him a little bit. The day has been peaceful so far that he unintentionally let his guard down.

“Neeks? Breakfast is ready,” Will says from the other side.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” Nico replies. He rushes back to the bathroom to comb his long hair with his fingers and checks himself out one more time to make sure everything is okay-ish (he is not preening for Will) before following him out.

Will prepared a lot of food, Nico isn’t even sure how they can finish everything.

“Wow, you made a lot,” he says, eyeing the stack of chicken nuggets in the middle.

Will rubs the back of his neck bashfully. It’s cute. “You think so?” Nico nods. “Aw, I guess I got excited. I wanted to make bacon and eggs then I remembered the chicken nuggets I made the other day. Then I saw the hashbrowns and waffle mix about to expire tomorrow. It’s fine, just eat what you want, I’ll just drop Bill some of these. He likes breakfast food so I don’t think he minds if I give him leftovers.”

Aw hell no. Fuck that old man. Will prepared this food for him, he’ll be damned if he lets this go to waste, more so give them to fucking Bill?! Who threatened him? Mm nuh-uh. No. 

“It’s no problem at all. I can finish these,” Nico sits down and starts putting food on his plate and shoving them in his mouth. The eggs are perfectly made, crispy edges with soft yolks that burst with flavor in his mouth, the hashbrowns are too flavorful to be store-bought, and the chicken nuggets are divine. He can taste a hint of cardamom and olive oil in it. Everything that Will prepared in this table was made from scratch. Will does love his daughter very much. Well, Will has always been a caring person. Even to campers he did not know, to Camp Jupiter kids when they attacked Camp Half-Blood all those years ago. There is no one nobler than William Solace, not even Percy Jackson himself.

On this breakfast table, shoving a piece of everything WIll prepared in his mouth, a boulder crumbles in his fortress, plunging into the depths of his being. And for the first time in seven years, the golden sunlight graces the inside of Nico’s heart.

I never stopped loving you. I don’t think I ever will.

✾✾✾✾

Will has overdone it. 

Nico slept over willingly, and he was so excited to cook something for him that he almost emptied his fridge to offer him breakfast.

Provide. Make him comfortable. Keep him safe.

Like a caveman dragging a woman by the hair to his cave, giving her everything that she needs to convince her to stay.

Was it obvious that that’s exactly what he was trying to do? Was his desperation to make Nico stay bleeding out of him? That duvet divider that Nico placed between them, he woke up in the middle of the night and practically threw it off the bed so he could snuggle up with Nico. Did Nico notice how he wasn’t surprised to see it on the floor? Nico didn’t react when he saw Will pick it up so… maybe it was fine with him?

Gods, he really should stop projecting what he feels onto Nico. Just because he never reacted to it did not mean he wasn’t comfortable with it.

Stop it, Will. You love him, he doesn’t love you back. Stop being so desperate and just be thankful that he’s back in your life again. Stop being creepy. Stop being needy. This is why you broke up in the first place. You were too controlling. You wanted him to be with you all the time when he obviously didn’t like that. You blew your chances with him. For fucking once, be thankful to all the gods that he’s here, he’s back, and he’s healthy.

“I’m really full,” Nico declares, tapping his stomach for emphasis. Of all the years he’s known Nico, this is the first time he’s seen him eat that many. He hopes that continues.

“You finished almost everything,” Will starts stacking up the plates. Nico stands up to help him.

Nico shrugs. “You made them for us. Only polite to eat them,” he doesn’t meet Will’s eyes but he can see that the tips of his ears are tinged with pink.

“I know you don’t eat much in the morning so I really appreciate you scarfing ‘em down. You should eat every morning—not that many though, but you should eat every morning,”

“I’ll try my best,” Will lets Nico help him load up the dishwasher and clean the table. After that, he shoos Nico away to shower if he wants to.

“I reckon you’d like to get cleaned up,”

“You say I stink?” Nico asks playfully.

“No, but it’s gonna be hot today so I thought you’d want to get started with your day refreshed is all,”

“Oh, so you’re a weather boy now? Predicting the sun eh, weather boy?”

“I am the sun god’s son, so yeah,”

“Fair enough. Fine. You don’t have to be passive-aggressive about me being stinky. I can smell myself,” he says and locks the door behind him.

“That’s not what I—you know what, yeah, you stink,” Will hears a chuckle inside his room and he leaves Nico alone to do chores before Lily comes back. It’s a bit challenging doing chores when a toddler is running around all over the place.

 

Nico emerges from his room all flushed pink and with hair dripping. He doesn’t look Will in the eye as he packs the pajamas Will lent him last night in some paper bag. 

“Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes,” he says.

“No problem. Just leave it there. I’m doing laundry later,”

“N-no, it’s fine. I don’t want you cleaning up after me,”

“Neeks, it’s not a problem. You wanna waste quarters on a couple of clothes? Leave it there. I’m doing the laundry after I’m done here. Just a few more minutes if you really can’t stand wearing my clothes for the rest of the day,”

“That’s not it. I—I’m not used to people doing my chores,”

“Just for today, okay? Your body is still recovering from your mission. Let me do this for you. You brought food yesterday after all,”

Nico’s face goes through several stages of contemplation; his mouth pouts, his eyebrows scrunch up together, and his cheeks puff up like a chipmunk. It’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen since Lily’s angry pout, which looks quite the same as Nico’s contemplation pout.

“I’m going with you later. And I’m doing my own laundry.”

“Ugh, fine. What’s wrong with my clothes anyway? You only slept in it last night,”

Nico’s face turns crimson again. Maybe an accident happened inside the bathroom?

“Did something happen in the bathroom?” Will asks. Nico turns to Will so fast he hears his neck crack, then he grabs the paper bag with his clothes from last night and Will’s hamper from his en suit and takes off.

“Oh shit, Nico!” Will immediately sets the dishwasher and runs after Nico. 

Nico is nowhere to be seen when Will steps out of his apartment. “Dammit, he must’ve shadow traveled,” he runs down the rickety stairs, the old material rocking like crazy under his feet. “NICO, I TOLD YOU TO STOP SHADOW TRAVELING WHEN IT’S UNNECESSARY!”

Nico just started the wash cycle when Will enters the laundromat. He almost collapses on the seat next to the door while Nico smirks at him.

“Don’t do that! Don’t—” he looks at the people around the place, they’re all minding their own business, even Lorraine, the daughter of the owner, on the counter is on her phone, “—shadow travel again when it’s not an emergency,” he hisses.

Nico shrugs. “Relax. I’ve had plenty of rest, and I don’t get tired that easily anymore. I can handle a couple of mindless shadow travels,”

Will scratches his head irritably, but he can already feel his mood easing up from worrying over nothing. “Why’d you even do that?” 

Nico smiles ever so slightly, leaning back on the vibrating machine. “Just felt like giving you a mini heart attack is all,”

“Like the old times, yeah,” he answers back. Will can’t help but smile. Nico used to do this all the time when Will had gotten a little too strict with him about his habits (not eating enough, not sleeping enough, shadow traveling way more than necessary).

“That was fun and all, but please don’t do that again. It’s way too soon,” Will pleads.

“Sure. I’ll give it maybe six months before doing that again,”

Will presses his lips together, ineffectively concealing a grin. So he plans on staying for at least half a year. That’s good. Will likes that.

 

After doing the laundry, they bring the clothes upstairs, Nico noticeably happier than he was earlier. Will doesn’t think much of it, telling himself that maybe Nico was feeling a bit cooped up and needed release of his pent-up energy from sleeping for three days. Nico helps him with the rest of the chores and by noon, they’re sitting in the living room watching TV. Nico picks the show and that’s where Amy, Jeff, and Lily find them a few hours later.

“Neeko!” Lily shrieks. She wiggles out of Jeff’s arms until he puts her down and rushes to Nico. She climbs in his lap and leans her tiny body back and looks up at him to grin, and Nico grins back. Will nearly weeps.

“Where did you go, Neeko? I wash really sad, Papa wash sad. I mishu, papa mishu, auntie Amy mishu, and unca Jeff mishu. ” she asks, her voice tiny and a little sad.

Will can feel Amy’s eyes on him. Yes, he was lonely and distraught the whole time Nico was gone but he made sure not to let Lily see how affected he was. Good to know his efforts were futile and that he has to up his pretending the next time Nico’s gone so Lily doesn’t perceive him.

Nico looks up nervously at Will, then at Amy and Jeff, seemingly needing help. He lets out a huff and faces Lily again. “Sorry about that, Lily. My papa needed my help so I had to go home. I got really busy and then I was really tired that’s why I forgot to call,”

“You have papa too Neeko?”

“Yes, I do. He lives far away from here,” Nico answers. He’s twirling Lily’s pigtails. Amy likes wearing her hair in pigtails.

Lily turns to Will. “Papa, do you have papa?”

“Yes, baby. That’s your Grandpa Apollo.” He hears Jeff snicker. It was an endless amusement for Jeff to know that his dad’s name was Apollo. God knows the countless jokes he made during their Mythology class back in college.

“Where is he?”

“He’s… gone,” he says, making his face as somber as possible.

“Gone? Like the food when they get to the cwack in the sink?”

“Yeah,”

Lily turns her attention back to Nico. “You’re busy jush like papa?”

Will’s breath hitches and his heart almost thumps so hard in his chest it hurts. Is that really what his daughter thinks whenever she stays a few hours longer at Jeff and Amy’s during his 12-hour work shift? Gods, this sucks. 

He turns away from his daughter and Nico so he can wipe the pooling tears in his eyes. Amy reaches out and rubs his shoulder for comfort. He looks up at her, eternally grateful that he has a great support system for his daughter. Gods, he loves his friends so much.

“Not so much anymore,” Nico smiles. “Do you want to go to the zoo?”

Lily’s eyes light up. “Yeah!” She crawls to Will’s lap and holds her gaze. “Papa, can we go to zoo?”

“You wanna go to the zoo, Lils?” Will wipes his nose. She nods frantically. “Okay.” Lily squeals in delight.

“Can we go tomorrow?” She turns to Nico, then to her dad.

“Sure,” Nico answers, and she screams delightedly.

“That settles it then,” Will groans as he stands up, Lily automatically moves from his lap to Nico’s.

“You don’t have work tomorrow?” Nico asks.

“I’ll call in sick,” he pulls out his phone from his pocket and dials the head nurse. She says it’s okay and Will ends the call with a smile on his face.

Notes:

tbh i'm still thinking if i'm going to up this fic's rating to explicit or not, but i'm also considering making a separate chapter that's explicit so i don't ruin this fic's reputation lmao

 

I'm always on tumblr!!!

Chapter 9: when we see eye to eye

Summary:

Will is tired, incredibly so, but he wants to savour this precious quiet where two of the people he loves most are all here with him.

Notes:

this is only Will's POV because i'm still finishing Nico's lol

 

btw, i love the PJO show so much im obsessed i love the changes they're making so far <3 shame we have to wait seven days to have one episode. wish they made it two episodes per week

 

anyway, there are grammar problems but that's grammarly's free version's fault and not mine 😜

The ride back to their place is quiet, with Lily slumped on Will's shoulder, passed out for close to an hour now. The zoo trip wiped her out of her toddler energy and Will couldn't be more thankful for all the running and squealing that she did since nine in the morning. Nico is leaning on his shoulder, also sleeping. The division between them and Jules-Albert has been up the whole day so Lily hasn't seen the zombie at all. 

Will is tired, incredibly so, but he wants to savour this precious quiet where two of the people he loves most are all here with him. He sighs in contentment.

Soon, Jules-Albert is groaning, loud enough to let Will hear him through the partition but not enough to wake up the sleeping child and his master. He must've fallen asleep as well.

Will squeezes Nico's hand gently, "Neeks, we're home,"

Nico stirs up beside him, hiding his face between Will's shoulder and the car seat, yawning.

Nico gets off the car first, opening the car door for Will who still has the sleeping toddler on him. Will clicks the door gently to not wake his daughter while Nico talks to Jules-Albert in Italian, or maybe French, in a hushed voice. A few moments later, the car takes off. Jules-Albert only revving the engine when he's about a hundred metres away.

Nico insists on carrying all their (Lily's) bags, saying "you have Lily, I can carry the rest" when Will attempts to wear one on his other shoulder.

Nico’s hand flies to the light switch but Will immediately covers Nico’s hand with his, taking it away. “Bright,” he mouths, miming a burst with the fingers of his free hand. Nico nods, understanding that the harsh fluorescent light might wake up the sleeping child. Nico places the bags on the floor while Will carries Lily into her room. Will kisses his daughter on the forehead, watching her as she sighs in content and reaches for her ladybug plush.

“Still sleeping?” Nico asks.

“Soundly,” Will replies, closing the door quietly behind him. “Today really knocked her out. It’s the first time I’ve seen her enjoy herself like a vibrating chihuahua.”

Nico smiles. “That’s good to hear,” Nico’s eyes are almost drooping and his speech slurs a little bit as he unloads the dirty clothes and various sippy cups from Lily’s bags.

“You’re tired, you should rest. Lemme do that,” he tries to take the red sippy cup from Nico but he pulls it away.

“No, it’s fine. You’re tired. You’ve been carrying her the whole day.”

“I got two years of practice and counting. I’m fine. You, on the other hand, are not used to running around with kids.”

“I’ve had practice too!”

“Middle schoolers are not toddlers,”

“But they’re kids,”

“Well, yeah, but older kids,”

“Don’t reason with me on this, Will. You’re not gonna win,”

“Fine, fine,” Will giggles, helping Nico with the rest of Lily’s things.

They make a great team. They have always been a great team. Even after seven years of separation, nothing has changed in their dynamics; Will never has to tell Nico what to do, and Nico doesn’t have to ask Will for anything. The two of them work like a well-oiled machine.

“I’ll get something for you to change into,” Will says a few moments after they finished with the chore. He’s assuming things again. Maybe Nico will change his mind about leaving if Will offers him a pair.

“Actually…” Will stops in his tracks. “I think I’m gonna head out now,” Nico says sheepishly.

“Oh,” disappointment fills his insides. “Okay, um, is Jules-Albert outside already?”

“Yeah, just five minutes ago,” 

“Um,” Will looks around, looking for… anything to give Nico as a ‘thank you’ for today, but nothing’s good enough. Fuck.

“Goodnight, Will. Thank you for today,” Nico smiles sweetly at him.

Fuck it. 

Will steps in and kisses him on the cheek. He watches in real time as Nico’s cheeks and the tips of his ears turn pink.

“Um,” Nico starts, his hand automatically shoots to the spot where Will kissed. His face turns even redder. Will can feel his heart pounding.

“Thanks for today,” He parrots Nico, because he can’t think of anything more pathetic than ‘please stay the night again, please don’t leave me ever again.’

“Um, yeah, no problem,” Nico walks past him, murmuring a quiet ‘excuse me’ before heading to the door. He looks back, mouth open to say something but seems to have changed his mind. Instead, Nico smiles, gives what it looks like a quick bow, and closes it gently behind him.

That was a normal reaction, right?

He wonders when he’ll see Nico again.

The next time turns out to be a week later. Frankly, Will had gotten so busy with work and Lily that he never noticed the date. Jeff and Amy still took care of Lily in the afternoon during Will’s shifts. 

“Will,” the head nurse interrupts the quiet that is the nurse’s station in the pediatrics department. 

“Yes, ma’am,”

“Someone asked for you,”

Ydith peeps from the open door of the break room. “Is it Jeff?”

“I know who Jeff is, Ydith.”

They gasp, shit-eating grin on their face, “Is it Nico?”

“Who’s Nico?”

They jerk their head at him, “His—”

“— what does he look like?” Will interrupts, dismissing Ydith.

“Pale—” Will stands abruptly and runs.

 

“Hey, um,” Nico stares at him with wide eyes.

“Oh, good. Finally, a nurse,” a chubby blonde lady says. “Sir, my friend sliced his palm open and I had to drag him here for stitches. Will you please tell him he needs stitches,”

“I had it under control, geez,” Nico glares at the blonde lady while holding his hand up. Oh, Nico’s wearing a tight muscle tank and loose black sweatpants. It doesn’t look like a uniform. Good gods, he looks good.

Nico gives him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry about this. I had it under control. Look, it stopped bleeding,” he shows his blood-covered ‘stump’ at Will. It looks like somebody tourniqueted Nico’s hand using a bunch of towels and shirts.

Will gently takes Nico’s injured hand to look at the homemade bandages; three towels and a damp shirt (a used one, he is sure). “What happened?”

“He brought a butterfly knife. Can you believe it? What the fuck were you doing with a butterfly knife, Nico?!” She yells at Nico. He flinches.

“It’s a self-defense class. It won’t be self-defense if they have nothing to defend themselves from,”

“Can’t you just hit them with a stick or something?”

“It’s not pointy enough,”

“They’re fourteen, Nico. They can pretend!”

“It’s not as fun as using the real thing,”

“And now you have a real stab,”

“It’s hardly a gash,”

“Well, the good thing is the tourniquet, and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word, stopped the bleeding,” Will says.

“Oh thank god,” the lady sighs, her hand on her chest.

“However, the towels looked used and the shirt is damp,”

“It’s the kids’,” Nico reasons.

“I gathered that, thank you.” The lady looks intently at him, listening to every word he’s saying. It’s nice to know that someone cares and makes a fuss about Nico as much as he does. “So, I just have to clean the wound and give him bandages,”

“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you with the patient? Yeah, you’re gonna have to fill in the information for him,” one of Will’s colleagues says. 

“Mina, go. He got this. He works here,”

Oh, so that’s Mina. Nico has only mentioned her once but it’s good to put a face on the person who recommended Nico Abbott Elementary.

“You know I got this, right? I got injured way worse than this before,” Nico tells him when Mina is out of earshot.

“Yeah, but if I don’t give you something she’s gonna wanna take a look at your gash,”

“She’s squeamish, she won’t look, I swear. You can just tell her nobody should remove the bandage or some bullshit like that. It’s no big deal, Will.”

“Oh, I know. I used to heal your cuts and scrapes,”

“Can’t you just superglue it?”

“Absolutely not. Did you superglue a cut before?!” He shakes his head. “Nevermind. Come on, follow me. It’s an easy fix. I don’t even have to use my thing,”

Will grabs some butterfly stitches from the nurse’s station. He brings Nico to one of the beds and asks him to sit. Nico hops on it with ease.

“Good news is the bleeding has stopped because of your students’ questionable clothes. I’m just gonna clean it and slap these on,” he shakes the box of butterfly stitches.

“I was handling it, but then the kids saw me bleeding and immediately called her,” Nico reasons.

“I know,” Will gently puts on the bandages and taps Nico’s arm. The wound is shallow enough that he can heal it, but Nico’s (work) friend, not to mention the kids, already saw his gash so he can’t heal him anymore. Instead, Will pulls his hand close and instinctively kisses Nico’s wound.

Shit.

He used to do it all the time for Nico. It just felt natural.

Will looks up at Nico to gauge his reaction and apologize for his impulsivity but… is Nico blushing?

“Oh gods, I’m—”

Nico looks down so his bangs are covering his face. “It’s okay,” he replies.

Will can’t help but smile. He bites his lip to keep himself from smiling further. “You’re done, by the way. You can go back to your friend,”

Nico jumps off the gurney with ease. “Thanks,” he says, still blushing.

“Don’t wash your hands yet. Do it after you’ve had something,” 

“Yeah. Sorry to bother you again,”

“You know I don’t mind, and I got thrown at the pediatrics, so all I’ve been doing is monitoring babies. Extremely difficult,” he rolls his eyes

The curtain around them opens abruptly, making the two of them jump a little. “Nico! Did you get stitches?”

“I didn’t give him one. The wound is too shallow so I just gave him these,” Will shakes the box of butterfly bandages again. “Speaking of which, here,” he hands them to Mina. “In case he gets knifed by his students again. He’s always been a little klutz so he might need these again,”

“‘Always been?’” Mina’s eyebrows scrunch together, then her eyes light up for some reason. Her head whips to Nico who’s looking away, ears a wonderful shade of crimson.

Will can see the delight in her eyes when she looks back at him to ask, “Are you allowed to give me these?”

“Yeah. We have a bunch of ‘em,” 

“Alright,”

“You probably don’t need any of those for him tomorrow. His gash has clotted nicely because of the makeshift bandages. The butterflies are only there to secure ‘em,”

“Riiiight. So, Nico, are you ready to go?” She asks. If Will were any socially inept and hadn’t had the wonderful experience of hanging out with his half-siblings every summer for literal years, he wouldn’t have noticed the teasing in her voice.

Nico glares at her. He follows her out nonetheless.

Will shoots out his hand to touch Nico’s shoulder. “Neeks. Take care, alright? And, um, let’s have dinner again tomorrow? Lily’s been asking for you,”

Nico’s brown eyes linger on his face, his mouth slightly agape. Mina is looking at them intensely.  “Uh, sure, I’ll tell Jules-Albert,”

Will flashes him his 5-megawatt smile. Someone in the emergency room groans. “Good! I’ll prepare something,”

“Uh-huh. Um, I think we have to go,”

“Yeah, sure, sure. Sorry,”

“It’s no problem at all,” Mina says, slapping Nico’s shoulder.

Will watches the two of them leave. Mina asks ‘who’s Jules-Albert?’ He doesn’t hear what Nico tells her but Will reckons he tells her the truth. That he’s Nico’s chauffeur, that is, not the zombie part.

He has invited Nico for dinner again. He should tell Lily the news and ask her what to make. She always seem to know what Nico likes.

Notes:

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Notes:

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