Hi, High!

Will

"If the harpies find us, I'm sacrificing you and shadow-traveling to China."

Will laughed and watched as Nico rummaged through his backpack, huffing and blowing a piece of his hair out of his face. The moon highlighted his silhouette perfectly, so much so that his pale skin looked like it was glowing. You could see the blue lines of his veins running through his arms, becoming more prominent each time he flexed. Not that Will was looking hard enough to notice. Obviously.

Nico's squeal of excitement broke Will's trance. "I found it!"

Nico pulled out a black lighter with a skull etched into the side of it. He flicked it on and off, making sure that it worked. He smirked triumphantly while he spun it with his fingers before handing it to Will, meeting his gaze with a wink.

"Now light it up, baby."

Will's cheeks flushed. His fingers brushed against Nico's as he took the lighter, instantly making his heart beat quicken. Will was glad that it was nighttime, otherwise he for sure would've gotten shit for being a flustered idiot.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Will managed to get out. He mentally cursed himself for not saying something cooler. Alas, he picked up the joint Nico had rolled earlier in the day in the safety of his vacant cabin. He held the lighter against the end of it, waiting until he saw the orange embers appear beneath the flame.

He held out the other end for Nico to take a hit first. Nico leaned forward, locking eyes with Will. He put the joint to his lips while Will held it, inhaling the smoke. Nico continued to stare at Will as he held in the smoke for a few seconds. He then tilted his head and blew the smoke upwards, making sure their clothes didn't reek of weed the next day.

Nico grinned and laid back, propping himself up on his elbows with the blanket we had set down beneath him. Tonight was the only night this year that all the constellations could be seen from one spot, which just happens to be on the roof of cabin 13. Okay, yes – Will had to spend weeks convincing the moon goddess, Selene, to make the stars in this arrangement, but it was worth it. Will would do it all over again just to see Nico's face light up at the view.

"What's going on in that head of yours, William?" Nico asked, tapping Will's knee and looking up at him curiously.

Will stayed silent and took a long drag, then laid down fully so he wouldn't have to meet Nico's piercing gaze. He stared up at the sky, hoping the other wouldn't see his cheeks with ten shades of crimson. He twirled the joint between his fingers.

"Nothing, why do you ask?" He tried desperately to hide the quiver in his voice. Nico took the joint from Will, turning to look at him. Will felt his gaze burning a hole in the side of his face.

Nico shrugged. "You just seem off, is all. Did something happen today in the infirmary?" His voice grew with concern. Why was he worried about me? Why was he asking so many questions?

"No, just the usual. Clarissa came in and knocked over a tray of tools trying to fight Connor Stoll, that's the most exciting thing that happened today."

Nico nodded and turned back to look at the sky. "Figures." Nico snuffed out the joint on the shingles of the roof and simply held it in his hands.

"Do you think things would be different if I left?"

Will was shocked. Nico asked the question so matter of factly, almost like he was still planning on leaving. Still, he didn't miss a beat.

"Yes, of course," He hesitated, speaking softly as if that would make his confession any easier. "I don't think I would be here if you had left."

Nico propped himself up and turned to look at Will, who was still laying down and twiddling with his thumbs.

"What do you mean, wouldn't be here?"

It was barely a whisper, now.

"You know what I mean."

Nico made a strangled sound in his throat and sat up fully, turning his full body toward the other boy, who was full of pain. It took a second, but he reached out his hand and stilled Will's nervous fingers. Will's eyes widened, but then relaxed. It wasn't bad, the feeling. The feeling of Nico's fingers against his, calloused with rings on every other fingers. It calmed his mind in a way Will didn't know was possible. It was like his brain was dumped in a bowl of ice water – shocking at first, but then numbing all the hurt.

Will took a deep breath. "After Lee and Michael, I couldn't see the point anymore. I thought I was useless, a healer that couldn't even save his own brothers," He twisted around one of Nico's skull rings on his index finger.

"Of course, I always wanted to be like them, to follow in their footsteps, to be head counselor," He felt a hot tear fall down his cheek. "But not like that."

Nico stayed silent, intently staring at Will in a way that should've been unnerving, but wasn't. It felt like all of Nico's energy was directed towards him, like he was drinking up his words, desperate to listen. Will closed his eyes, fearful for what would come next.

"I look up to you."

Will opened his eyes, and jumped slightly when he discovered his face was about two inches from Nicos. He felt his warm breath on his face, smelling of smoke. He's probably just really high, Will thought. He doesn't know what he's saying.

Nico continued, just whispering into Will's shocked, open mouth. "I stayed because of you, Solace. Because of you and your stupid eyes and hair and... and everything that makes you, you."

Nico removed his hands from the other, sliding them up to cup his face.

"You're the farthest thing from useless, Will," He searched Will's now tear-filled eyes. "You're... you're..."

Nico glanced back up at the sky. Orion's belt, Cassiopeia, new patterns that weren't even discovered yet. His mouth turned upward in a grin, and he peered down at the Apollo boy beneath him.

"You're a sky full of stars."

Will threw his head back in laughter, the tears of sorrow streaming down his cheeks as happy, joyous tears. "Did you just quote Coldplay at me?"

Nico followed suit in his laughter. "Yes, I did in fact use that silly excuse of a rock band to tell you I love you."

Will stopped laughing, but still held his grin. What?! Nico? Love?

Nico clamped a hand over his mouth. "Fuck. Fuck, shit, I'm not sober. Fuck." He raked his hands through his hair, looking anywhere but the Apollo boy, who started to glow. "Fucking gods."

Will's grin turned into a warm smile, and he tilted his head at the blushing boy. He scooted closer and reached out, hooking his index finger under Nico's chin. He brought his head up to meet his gaze.

"I don't have to be sober to know that I love you, too," He whispered.

Nico's widened eyes turned up into a grin. He cupped Will's face with his hands, and did what he's wanted to do for years. He placed a soft kiss on Will's lips, then another. And another. And another.

Will didn't care that his lips were icy cold, or that his glow brightened so much so that the harpies definitely knew they were up here. He didn't care, because his crush was kissing him. Kissing him.

They pulled away, gasping for air and grinning like a bunch of high idiots.

"Thank you, weed and Coldplay."

"Thank you, weed and Coldplay."