『〔Solangelo One Shots〕』

Love is When

What is love?

Nico doesn't know. Most of those who he's loved was either dead or distant.

Maybe he's in a crush phase?

Will Solace always gives him a warm smile. Is it because he's the son of the sun god? Or is it because it's just apart of his personality?

They were all sitting near the Big House. Chiron called on all the campers to gather in front of it, maybe a prophecy or something.

Will, evidently, sat next to Nico, much to his siblings dismay. "Gathering" means "stay with your family", but Nico had no family, so Will took it upon himself to sit next to Nico. Every single gathering. Of course, Nico would always thank him, but tell him it was best to sit with his siblings. Will always said that they're too noisy, and he liked being with Nico. This always brought a smile to his face.

Just like now. They were sharing a long stare into each other's eyes once more.

"Campers," Chiron interrupted their moment, their heads turning towards him. "Clarisse, has been given a quest. In 5 days will she be going to finish this deed, and she needs fellow campers with her. Therefore, Clarisse will be picking 2 others to go with her."

Clarisse exited the big house, people tensed. Many were scared of her, and she had such a massive aura to her.

"Will?" She looked at him. "Wanna save the world?"

Will pointed at himself. "Me? You sure?"

She frowned at him. "Yes or no."

"Well... sure, yeah, I would love to," Will gave her a large smile. He looked back at Nico, his face filled with excitement.

Nico gave him a smile back, not as large, or as excited as Will's. He's leaving. To the dangerous world out ahead, where death, monsters, and suffering roam at every crack and crevice.

As Clarisse was choosing the third person, Nico shadow traveled away. Will, who was both confused and upset, Nico wasn't supposed to use shadow travel for a while, but he did anyway. But what could he really do? Will was leaving the safety of the camp.
___
It was the last day Will would be in camp before the quest.

Nico sat on a bench after his training. He riddled with his skull shaped ring.

"May I sit?" Will asked him, causing the Italian to look up. He nodded, and Will sat down.

"Hey can I ask you something?" Nico looked at him.

Will looked confused, but replied with, "yes."

"Do you- no... what is love?" Nico asked.

Will thought for a second. Maybe a little too long, since Nico got a tad bit awkward.

"Hm...love is when... you get butterflies, when your happy around them, when all you want to do is be next to them and see them smile. Comfort them when they're angry, or sad, but most of all, just care about them," Will smiled at Nico. Nico stared longingly back at him. "Love is when you know that the person is someone that you trust. Someone who loves you. Forever. And... uh, coincidentally..."

His voice drifted off. Nico was about to say something when he felt the slight brush of Will's hand on his, he wrapped his hand around Nico's, intertwining their fingers. Nico looked down at their connected hands and looked back at Will, his stomach churning, floating?

Butterflies.

"...coincidentally," Will continued, his voice almost a breath, barely audible. A smile so small, Nico didn't catch it at first. His eyes soften, almost adoringly, "coincidentally, that's what I feel... when I'm next to you."

Nico's eyes widened, a smile breaking his stoic face, a small laugh, maybe a giggle(?) escaping. "I think I feel that way with you too."

Will's smile was even bigger now. He brought his free hand up to Nico's face, caressing his cheek. "Can...i?"

Nico nodded, Will leaned closer, their eyes slowly closing...

"WILL!" Clarisse yelled. "It's time to go!" They both jumped, Will turned his head towards her, giving her a nod.

Will looked back at Nico, "how about we save our first kiss until after I come back?"

Nico's smile faltered before giving him a kirt nod, "okay."

Will smiled and pecked his cheek. Nico looked at him in confusion. Didn't they just establish they wouldn't kiss until after his return?

Will must've read his mind because he answered, "that's the substitute. Not an actual kiss, right?"

Nico snorted and gave him one of his brightest smiles, "yeah."
___
Oh man, was Nico bored. It's been almost 2 weeks since Will left and Nico was so so bored. He just wanted to shadow travel to Will's location- but... a minor detail... he had no clue where he was.

He finished training early and was aimlessly wandering around. Usually, he would've dropped by the infirmary to say hello to Will then leave, since he knew how the injured would feel in the "death kid" who could see death auras were to be in the infirmary. Not so good.

Two campers ran past Nico in a hurry. What? Then more. Nico turned towards the up and coming hoard of people. What's going on?

"Sydney- what's going on?" Nico stopped a short Asian kid.

"What do you mean, what's going on? They're back," she replied and returned to her run towards the front.

They're back? They- as in Will? Will?!? WILL'S BACK?!?

Nico moved to a sprint, pushing people away to get to the front of the crowd. Out filed two people. But where's Will?

People started flooding Clarisse and the other guy, Nico didn't bother to know the name of. That's when he saw him. A little tattered, and a little bloody, but Nico didn't care. Will was back and that's all that mattered.

Will noticed Nico too. A smile broke out on his face and he ran towards the son of Hades. Nico sputtered out a laugh and also ran into the arms of the Texan.

Nico gripped Will, pressing his face into his chest. Will brought Nico closer. One hand pulling him in by his waist, the other roaming through Nico's hair.

Nico pulled them apart, cupping Will's face with his hands and analyzing every since feature, wiping some dried blood off his cheek. He looked at every eyelash, every freckle and looked back into Will's eyes.

"You're back," Nico gasped in disbelief.

"I'm back," Will repeated. He looked at Nico's lips then back at his eyes. "May I?"

"Why are you even asking? Of course," Nico laughed.

Will bent down slightly and connected their lips.

Was this heaven? If so, Will didn't care. He was kissing Nico di Angelo, and Nico was kissing him back. What more could he ask for?
__________________________________
Hi. I'm back.

Uh... happy Valentine's Day!

Happy reading!
-Tin~

Words: 1136