fix you - solangelo

Chapter 17

While the demigods waited for Frank and Hazel to arrive, which would be soon, an uncomfortabke silence engulfed the table. Piper and Jason were glaring at Leo. Calypso had her fingers intertwined with Leo's. Percy and Reyna looked a bit bored and Annabeth was watching Leo disapprovingly. And WIll...Nico looked at the son of Apollo, who was sitting beside him. The demigod's sky blue eyes were fixed on Nico, who blushed slightly. 

Nico looked away after a few seconds, uncomfortable, and brought his gaze back to the assembled demigods. He hoped Frank and Hazel would get here soon. Nico didn't dislike silence, he preferred it, actually, but this silence wasn't a calm silence, or a peaceful silence. It was awkward, oppressive, heavy. Nico shifted in his seat, restless.

As he was just about to get up and leave, Nico heard a whinny and the stomping of hooves from outside.  Percy's head snapped up at the whinny and he looked towards the door with a barely contained laugh. 

"Arion?" Nico asked, breaking the silence.

Percy nodded. "He's the only horse I know that can insult someone so badly."

Nico decided not to ask what the horse had said as Hazel and Frank walked in. Both of them had windblown hair, however, while Hazel had pink cheeks and a smile on her face, Frank was pale and frowning. Hazel glanced around until she saw Leo.

"Leo Valdez!" she almost yelled, walking over to the son of Hephaestus. Her face was red with anger. "You've been away for way too long! We almost thought you were actually dead!" 

"Wait, what?" Piper said, confused. "You guys knew he wasn't dead?"

Frank nodded, but only said "Let Leo explain."

Jason's chair scraped against the floor as he stood up. "Well, okay," he said, stepping from one foot to the other slightly. Chiron nodded at Jason, letting the demigods conduct their own meeting. Jason  looked towards Percy and Reyna, as if he wanted their consent to lead the meeting. Percy shrugged, uncaring, and Reyna nodded slightly. Nico knew that Percy and Leo had never been close, which was probably why Percy wasn't taking partial responsibility. Like Nico, Percy barely knew the son of Hephaestus. Reyna had no positive feelings towards Leo since he had fired on Camp Jupiter. He had been controlled by an eidolon, but Nico knew that Reyna still disliked Leo, partly because of his seeming inability to be serious.

"Okay," Jason continued. "So, Leo. You're back." He glanced around at the dmeigods. "I don't think I really have to say much else," he said, eyebrows raised. It was clear that what eveyone wanted was an explanation.

"Okay, okay," Leo muttered. He cleared his voice. "So, remember how we got the Physician's Cure? Well, I had Hazel create a false one out of Mist. That's what you had with you, Piper. I gave the actual Physician's Cure to Festus. When I died, he injected it and I came back to life."

"So what took so long?" Piper demanded.

"I told Calypso I would come back for her," Leo said, as if this explained anything.

Jason gave him a look. "That was the oath part of the prophecy," Leo said, exasperated. "'An oath to keep with a final breath.' I swore on the Styx that I would come back for Calypso, and I had to keep that oath, didn't I?"

Calypso squeezed Leo's hand. Piper smiled at the two of them, her Aphrodite side overtaking her angry side. "Aw, that's sweet." She looked at Jason. "You have to admit that's sweet."

Jaosn sighed. "Okay, okay, so it was part of the prophecy. But couldn't you at least have told us? Iris messaged or something? Its been weeks."

Leo winced. "I know, I know, I'm really sorry, guys. But I had priorities. Besides," he said, perking up slightly when he realized he had an actual excuse. "I had to fix Festus. When we landed on Ogygia, he broke a little. Then we had a run in with some wild pegasi, and repairs took a while."

"Still," Hazel said. "Really not cool."

The eleven of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Piper rose. "Well, if the meeting's over, maybe I could show Calypso the Aphrodite cabin? She could stay with us until we get another cabin built for her." The daughter of Aphrodite looked over at Leo and Calypso. "If you guys plan on staying, that is."

"Yeah," Leo said, looking at Calypso, who nodded. "I've been away long enough."

"Will that be alright?" Calypso asked Chiron, looking over towards the centaur, who had been silent up until this point.

"I don't see why not," he replied. "We can start building the new cabin tomorrow."

"Thank you," Calypso said, then she also stood up and followed Piper out of the Big House and towards the Aphrodite cabin.

"Um, I guess the meeting is adjourned, then?" Jason said, straightening his glasses.

Chiron nodded. "Yes. I'm very glad this ended as well as it did." Nico knew what he meant. They had lost too many people now in these stupid wars. It was good to not lose another.

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Later, Nico was sitting on the beach, a few ayrds away from the water, watching the sun set. It was calming, almost therapeutic. He knew he would need it later tonight. The whole "glad to not have another dead frined" conversation brought up bad memories of Bianca. Nico was sure he would have nightmares.

His thoughts were interrupted by Will Solace. The son of Apollo dropped down beside Nico, the sunlight illuminating his skin and making it seem to glow. Nico watched him as he gazed out to sea, memorizing the shape of his face, the curve of his lips, the clear blue color of his eyes. Nico finally admitted to himself that he had a crush on Will. A huge crush.

Will turned his head and met Nico's eyes. Nico immediately looked away.

"So, what did you think about the whole Leo thing?" WIll asked.

Nio shurgged. "I don't really know. I never knew him that well."

"I mean the whole oath thing."

"I don't know," Nico said again. "Love isn't really my area, you know."

Will didn't say anything, only returned his gaze to the water. He shifted his position to be a little closer to Nico, which made the son of Hades' heart pound. Will placed his hand on the ground beside Nico's, and their fingers touched slightly. Nico blushed, but kept his hand where it was. They had held hands before, but it had been a "we-should-stick-together-so-we-don't-get-killed" kind of thing. This was different. 

Will's hand was warm, and Nico wanted more than anything to lean his head against the son of Apollo's shoulder and be engulfed in his warmth. Nico slipped his hand tentatively under Will's. The son of Apollo looked at him, surprised, almost as if Nico's action was unexpected. It was, technically. Nico always put out that grumpy, leave-me-alone kind of vibe, so it made sense that Will would be surprised.

But the son of Apollo didn't take his hand away.

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Hello! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I really liked writing it, though the wording's a bit weird in the middle. I think this might be the second to last chapter, but I'm not really sure. Sorry for not updating earlier, I've had testing and school and dance and ew. Anyways, next(last?) update soon, enjoy this one!