Eclipse (Willco Solangelo)

In which Nico finds a friend

Nico's P.O.V

"Thanks, Grace, but I think I can hang up the pictures myself."

Grace looked at me with uncertainty in her eyes. "You sure, you're looking a little pale."

"I'm sure." I nodded.

Grace put the pictures down on my side table before taking a seat on my bed. "Nico," she began, playing with a loose thread from my blanket, "I know this is awkward, but do you have feelings for my brother?"

Will. Just the thought of him made guilt slosh in my stomach. "What kind of feelings?" I wasn't sure if she'd talked to Will about our fight.

"Well... Do you have romantic feelings for him?" She ended up just coming out and saying it bluntly.

I was a little shocked. No one had ever been quite so blunt about my love life before. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. "Maybe a little."

All the colour drained from her face. "Will's going to be so upset..." She muttered to herself as she stood up.

I grabbed her wrist. "Why, does he not like me back? Is he disgusted with me? Does he really hate me that much?"

"What? What are you talking about? You just said that you had feelings for Brett!" She almost yelled the last bit.

My eyes grew in size. "No I didn't! I just admitted to liking Will, what are you talking about?"

"But you said-"

"Yes, I have feelings for your brother, which in case you've forgotten, applies to Will as well. I just assumed you meant Will." I cut her off.

Grace sat back down, looking relieved. "Thank the Gods! This is great news."

"What do you mean, does he like me back?" I asked, hope beginning to take root in my chest.

Grace put her finger on her lips before smiling. "I'm afraid that's classified information."

"C'mon, this isn't James Bond, this is serious!" I nudged her arm.

Grace began to laugh. "For a kid who hasn't read the books, you seem to make quite a few Harry Potter references."

"Harry who?" I asked, before getting back on topic. "Never-mind, please?"

Grace shook her head. "Sorry, a secret is a secret after all."

"Ugh! Fine." I rolled my eyes before getting up to hang my pictures up. I used a push pin to put up the first two of my family, before pausing to debate about where to put the last picture. It was my own artwork that Chiron had me make to work through my emotions a while back, and even though it was really bad compared to my newer pieces, it held sentimental value.

"Every time I came to your area of the infirmary, I wondered what that painting was of, but I never got around to asking." Grace gestured to the painting in my hand.

I passed it over to her. "Chiron made me do art therapy when I came back to camp after the war with Kronos. This is the result."

"I never knew you liked art." Grace raised her eyebrow.

At one point, I would have snapped back a snarky reply about how no one ever got close enough to really get to know me, but now I only shrugged. "Yeah, it helps with the grieving."

Grace switched topics, which I was grateful for. "What else do you like, besides art and my brother." Grace paused before adding. "I'm talking about Will, just to clarify."

I grinned. "Music is pretty cool, though all the latest songs that I know come from Will's iPod so my music knowledge may be a bit biased."

"Ooh, you two have been listening to music together? Does this happen often?" She dropped into her healer voice for a second.