Sunshine Through the Clouds

Will--A Kiss

Will was excited for the call this morning. The plan was simple: Iris Message Kayla and Nico to make sure everything was okay, and head for the airport. After spending all of yesterday at the water park, he was ready for the four hours of relaxation on the plane. His five days at home had come to a quick end.

He sat up out of bed earlier than the sunrise and barely had time to throw on a shirt before he got the IM from the Big House.

"Hey, Kayla," He said, a little startled by how quickly he got the message, "Where's Nico?" He observed the background behind her. It wasn't the Big House. The little painting of a tree on the wall...that was the infirmary, back room. That was where they kept people alone, for surgeries or extra care. Why the Hades would she have to be there?

"He's, uh..." Her voice didn't finish the sentence.

"Oh gods, is he--"

"No, Will, he's not dead. But, we found out what's been messing with the lava wall." Will breathed a slight sigh of relief, but was still worried.

"What is it?"

"One of our harpies, I don't know what got into her. Maybe somebody was telling her to, maybe she just didn't care, but she's been behind it. All of it," Kayla frowned, but looked a little relieved, at least.

"Well, thanks for telling me. Do I need to heal him when I get there, or...?" Kayla just nodded.

"Okay, okay, okay okay okay. I'll get there as soon as I can," He promised.

"Argus is gonna pick you up from the airport, 'kay?"

"Got it." Will waved good-bye as Kayla's face faded from before him and he was left alone in the room.

He packed up his things in a buzz, and decided to open the window to let in some fresh air. The smell of Texas, whatever that exactly was, wafted in. He grabbed his few t-shirts, which his mama had insisted on washing, from their laundry hamper and folded them into his suitcase half-hazardly. The same was done to his jeans. Then, he gently took the yellow flower crown Kamryn had made from him off of his desk and placed it on top of his clothes. He took it out, suddenly, and wrapped one of his shirts around it. Just to keep it safe. He put it back down in his suitcase and zipped it shut.

Will rubbed at his wrist where his missing bracelet used to be. He thought that maybe it had fallen off on the plane, as he wasn't able to find it in the house, but didn't really care. There were always other ones, anyway. Soft footsteps echoed outside of his room, and he perked up.

"Will?" His mama poked her head in the door and slid it open a crack.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I was just checkin' in, making sure you're ready to go." He nodded.

"Well, that's good," she moved to sit down on his bed in front of him, "Did you have fun here?"

"Yeah. I've really missed it," He looked around, getting in one last view of his old bedroom.

"You know you're always welcome to stay."

"I know, but Camp needs me." She rolled her eyes.

"Not as much as a mama needs her boy." He was brought into one of her signature breath-taking hugs and wrapped his arms around her in return. It felt so nice to be held for just a moment, and all of his worries washed away. Until he was let go. That's when reality started to settle back in. In reality, he'd have to make it back to Camp and pray that Nico would be okay. He was scared to ask Kayla about the extent of his injuries, and in the end, he didn't even have enough time to. Will wasn't about to let his mama catch onto that, though.

"I'll visit you again as soon as I can. Christmas, maybe?"
"You know I'd prefer sooner, but...fine. Just as long as you make it back in one piece," She hugged him again and whispered in his ear, "And come sooner if you're bringing a plus-one." He laughed.

"Yes ma'am."

She drove him to the airport without anyone else in the car. Tristan, James, and

Kamryn had all already said their good-byes, and it was too early for anyone else to bother waking up, anyway. It was just him and Naomi as they drove along the highway. Will soaked up the scenery, trying to press it into his memory forever. He'd miss it, for sure. It was hard to be so far from home, so far from the place he loved so much.

But he knew he couldn't stay forever.

Will's flight wasn't monster-infested this time, which he said a silent prayer of

thanks for. He was even able to get in a two-hour nap. Unfortunately, he didn't have a quiet business lady two seats away from him this time. Beside him were two ladies in their mid-twenties. They weren't disturbing, a couple on a trip, most likely, but they did take up the middle seat. Will was also jealous of them kissing and hugging the entire time. It only made him miss Nico more, which in turn made him worry even more.

The plane touched down without a hitch, and Will once again bolted out of there as soon as possible. Sure, he had different motivations this time, but he scared his fellow passengers all the same. His accent was still strong from being down south, so much so that Argus seemed...suspicious of him when he got in Camp Half-Blood's van.

"Sir, it's me. I told you, I just cain-t help it," He said.

When he finally made it to camp, Will made a beeline for the infirmary. He left his suitcase and cares for everything and anything else in the van. All he wanted was to make sure Nico was okay. He nearly busted down the door when he walked into the infirmary, brushing past all of the other cots. Nico wasn't in any of them.

"Will!" Kayla called from the door. He spun around.

"Yeah?" He leaned back as she sprinted forward to hug him, a gesture he wasn't

super used to coming from her. Even still, it was kind of nice.

"Okay," She said, leaning away, "Nico's in the back room, if you didn't know." Will didn't need to be told twice. He ran straight for it and flung the door open, then gently closed it behind him. Nico was laying on one of the two beds in there, his eyes closed. Will sat in the chair beside it and reached out his hand to place it on the other boy's.

Nico's eyes fluttered open and Will jerked his hand away.

"You okay?" He asked, brushing Nico's hair out of his face. Nico nodded weakly. All of the fear that had been circling through his mind at that moment, it almost went away entirely. Nico wasn't mad at him, Nico was okay, Nico was so cute. Kayla said something down in the main room, but he didn't care. Will only cared about Nico in that moment.

"I-yeah, I'm okay," Nico managed. He could tell Nico was tired, because a slight Italian accent started to rise up against his words. It only made Will melt a little more. Okay, it made him melt a lot more.

Nico went to say more. Will didn't mean to, but he cut Nico off by pressing his lips against the other's. He pulled away just as quickly, both of them now blushing.

"Sorry, I--" He wasn't able to get in another thought before Nico reached up and grabbed his face, kissing him fiercely. It didn't take long for Will to react. When they pulled apart, Will was about as red as a tomato, while Nico was grinning from ear to ear. A true, real smile, the kind that had always made Will want to swoop in and kiss him.

"I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to do that for," Nico said before leaning in to kiss Will again.

A/N: Welp, there's the end!  I really hope you guys have enjoyed it, it's been fun writing this.  Please check out my Tumblr if you want some other wack posts by yours truly, or if you wanna give me some fic recommendations or just chat.

Chapter title art is not my own: https://harmony-of-runaways.tumblr.com/post/177286603112/tol-smol-cause-im-way-up-and-i-aint-comin