Safe with you

Chapter 4: Happy and Healthy

I very briefly mention a person named Eclipse, and just so you know, they are an oc I created specifically for this story because I don't know of any gender fluid cannon characters and I though it would be cool to create one. They are a child of Apollo and, obviously, gender fluid.

    After Will closed the door, Nico sat on the floor for a couple minutes. He couldn't believe Will hadn't freaked. Or called him a freak! 

    Nico started to remember the time he had spent at Westover Academy. All the kids had found out and relentlessly bullied him. Bianca and Grover had been really supportive and tried to help, but there wasn't much they could do. Sometimes he could still hear their voices taunting him in his dreams about Tartarus.

    The son of Hades snapped out of it and started to try and figure out the pads. GODS HE FELT HORRIBLE! He felt like his intestines were fighting eachother! Once he had figured out the pads and got changed, he walked outside where Will was. Will handed him a towel.

    "Ok! I'll help clean up! How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

    Nico thought Will was adorable when he was trying to be helpful. He got this expression that Nico couldn't figure out how to describe except adorable. "I'm fine." 

    They both got down and started to clean up. Will put the sheets in a laundry basket -making sure to hide it under the other laundry at Nico's insistence- and got another set of sheets. After everything was back to normal, the two boys sat down.

    Will yawned. "I'm tired! It's about 3 o'clock now! How are you not tired?" despite claiming he was tired, the son of Apollo was still his energetic, social self, much to Nico's surprise.

    "I guess I'm just used to being tired. I try not to sleep too much because of, you know, nightmares." Nico was surprised that he had been so ready to open up, even just that little bit, to Will. Maybe having a friend wouldn't be too bad. I mean, it's not like I have to worry about him finding out anymore, Nico thought, although he was still very insecure that Will would be mad about him being gay. Better to just keep it all inside.

    "I know what you mean. Still though! That isn't healthy! You NEED to sleep more!"

    "I guess" Nico mumbled.

    Will didn't seem to notice "Oh, also, before I force you to go back to sleep, I have a few things to check on you about to make sure you're ok -medically of course." He added the last part quickly and blushed slightly.

    Oh course, Nico thought, this was strictly professional. "Fine" he said, rolling his eyes. He wasn't actually as annoyed as he made it look, but he had a reputation to upkeep, and Nico's pride was very important to him.

    "Great! It won't take long at all!" Will started, getting up and pulling a clipboard out of a cabinet "First, how are you binding? I need to make sure it's safe."

    Great. Nico knew he wasn't being safe, and he was binding way too long. His ribs really hurt. He hadn't taken a break in a LONG time.

"Umm...soImightbebindingwithbandageswhichiknowisn'tsafebutIdidn'treallyhaveanoptionandwhilewe'reatitI'vealsonottakenitoffinacoupledays...."

    "WHAT!!!! Will shouted, then remembered that it was 3 in the morning and other patients were sleeping. He lowered his voice, and whisper-shouted "You can't do that!! You could damage your ribs! And ruin your chances at top surgery if that is something you might want in the future! And it's just generally a stupid idea! I'm going to go and get you a binder, and you had better take those things off right now! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!"

    Despite the circumstance, Nico felt himself giggle at the child of Apollo's face. Giggle! Since when did Nico giggle?! "Ok" he managed, his face red from embarrassment.

    Will's face was also red, he looked flustered. "It's not funny! I'm gonna go get the binder." He promptly left and Nico took off his shirt and started to unwrap the bandages. His ribs hurt, but Nico hadn't really noticed it until. He was used to having to deal with some kind of pain. Nico made the mistake of looking down. His dysphoria from the earlier mess tripled. Great, he thought, I forgot to add constant mental suffering to the list.

    Will cracked the door open in a way where he couldn't see Nico and threw in 3 binders that he said should be the right size and that he said Nico could keep. Nico put one on and was surprised in how much more comfortable it was. Before putting his shirt back on and calling Will, he looked in the mirror on the wall and was glad to finally see that he looked so much more like himself!

    When Will walked in, he immediately started asking questions. "How is it? It too tight? Too loose? You can put it on and take it off easily right? Oh, and your ribs must be so damaged from the bandages! That is the stupidest schist I've ever seen! NEVER, do that again, do you hear me? NEVER. We can fix that tomorrow. Maybe Eclipse has something, being gender fluid and constantly bypassing the 8 hour binding rules.  Never as stupidly long as you though."

    At this Nico tensed. "Everything's fine, but your not going to tell anybody right?" His voice was quiet and shaky, much less demanding than usual.

    "Of course! Not unless you want me to! I would never out you like that!"

    Nico relaxed slightly. He could tell Will wasn't lying. He blinked and yawned realizing for once he actually was kind of tired. Will noticed and immediately started insisting Nico rest. After a minute or so of Nico drowsily arguing against sleep, he eventually fell asleep thinking about Will, who, unbeknownst to Nico, had stayed for a little bit, then fallen asleep and stayed there until it was time for breakfast. That night, Nico had the longest sleep he had had in a long time, and didn't have a single nightmare.