the Crown of Edom {Solangelo Prince AU}

14. it's young love!

   The morning was eventful—the children all begged and tugged for Nico and Will to stay, and cried when they parted. Nico took a longer time while hugging Allistair, as he had never been able to hug his own father.

   After a few hours of being in the carriage, Nico leans his head onto Will's shoulder. "It must have been hard to be away from your family so much."

   "It was," Will whispers. "I saw them two days every two months for 4 years."

   Nico looks up at Will. "What was Lester like?"

   Will pops his knuckles nervously. "I hated him," he chuckles. "He was creepy."

   Nico furrows his eyebrows and sits up straight. "D-did he ever...I'll kill him if he even—"

   "No, no," Will smiles sadly and takes Nico's hands in his own. "He did not. But, I was only 12 when I first lived with him along with two other boys. I think he just enjoyed the power dynamic. He would say weird things. He would touch our thighs or the smalls of our back. He liked to see us cry, and then he would tell us boys don't cry. I got used to controlling my emotions, I suppose."

   Nico frowns. It explains why he seemed so reserved. "I'll still kill him."

   Will lightly nudges Nico with his shoulder, laughing slowly. "Will you ever get tired of hearing my tragic backstory?"

   "What? With mine? I think we're in this together," Nico laughs. "Your father is terrific. That must be where you get it from."

"I'm surprised you're not scared off."

"I'm jealous," Nico says. "My siblings and I mostly just sit in silence...or sat."

"I have taken a liking to Hazel," Will says.

"She always wanted to be queen. She always prepared for it...did what she was supposed to."

"And you must've hated that?"

"I hated that what I was supposed to do was hide who I am," he frowns.

"Rules must always be blended to become better rules."

Nico looks up at Will and kisses him lightly. "Since when did you start learning from me?"

   "Since the moment my eyes fell on yours," he smirks.

   After hours of sleeping, they had finally arrived back to the castle just before sundown. They stumbled in, giggling and dancing through the dining hall. Chiron shook his head in disbelief and Dionysus held a cup to them—the entire staff had already caught onto what was going on, and hiding it felt pointless.

   "Good evening!" Nico wraps his arms around Will and approaches Chiron.

   "You can not follow rules for the life of you."

   "Why so critical? It's young love!" Dionysus throws an arm Chiron's shoulders.

   Chiron nods slowly. "Speaking of young love, your blonde guest has invited another girl," he says. "I wanted to check—"

   "Annabeth can do as she pleases," Nico confirms.

   "And when Prince Percy found out, he also invited a friend from town."

   Nico smirks. "See? I'm not the only one having an affair."

   Chiron sighs with a nervous chuckle. "Would you go and hide somewhere then? You never know who's walking through the halls," he points a finger at Will. "And you better know what you're getting into."