Solar Flare (A Solangelo Fanfiction/ extension of The Sun and The Star)

Kiss it Better

The sunshine washed over Will's face, flooding him with warmth and happiness. Normally, he never slept this late, but with his sleepy, little ball of darkness laying across his chest, it was as though Will had the world's cutest weighted blanket. Will smiled at Nico's sleeping face, his lips quivering a bit like he was talking in his dreams. 

Will noticed Nico's bangs were plastered to his head with sweat and moved his hand to brush away his dark curls. Nico's face was flushed and his eyelids fluttered in his sleep. Nico turned over slightly, revealing the sheets beneath him were soaked. For a horrible moment, Will wondered if maybe there had been an accident...If there had been, he would, of course, have been sympathetic and taken care of Nico. Nightmares were an awful part of being a demigod and Nico's were worse than others so he would never shame him if such a thing were to happen, but upon closer inspection Will could tell that the wetness was from sweat. Nico was drenched from head to toes in sweat. Will pulled the blankets away and saw with surprise that Nico was still wearing his hoodie and pajama pants. He always complained that sleeping with Will was like having his own personal space heater and, as a result, rarely ever slept in more than a tank top and boxers. But, for the last few nights, he slept in long sleeves and pants. It seemed that, in the heat of the late morning sun and Will's body heat, Nico was overheating rapidly.

"Nico?" Will whispered, shaking his shoulders slightly. Nico mumbled and twitched, but otherwise did not move. Will wondered if he was uncomfortable and simply too sleepy to do anything about it. He hesitated for a moment, weighing the possible outcomes in his mind, and decided that he couldn't let Nico suffer, even if Will ended up suffering for waking his boyfriend up. He tugged his hoodie up off of Nico's torso before snaking a hand inside the shoulders, down the sleeves and pulling Nico's bent elbow out of the sleeve. When he repeated the step with the other arm, Will let out a quiet gasp. Nico's left arm was covered in cuts. Deep, angry slashes stood in stark contrast to his pale complexion. The hoodie was still looped around Nico's neck, which Will knew couldn't be comfortable, so he removed the last bit, pulling the hoodie over Nico's head.

Nico sighed in audible relief, rolling away from the warm, sweaty side of the bed he had previously occupied. On his pillow, there was a dark halo of sweat where his head had rested. Is this why Nico had decided to wear a hoodie to bed? Even though he was clearly on fire all night? What worried Will even more was Nico's choice in bottoms. If he had chosen a hoodie to hide the marks on one arm, he could have still worn only his boxers. Unless there was something else he felt he needed to hide.

Will hesitated longer on this one. He didn't want Nico to think he was undressing him in his sleep in a desirous way...Nico was pretty shy about those things and probably wouldn't appreciate the surprise attack. Besides which, Will wasn't sure he wanted to know what Nico was hiding under those pajamas. But nonetheless, after checking that Nico was indeed wearing something else under the pajamas, Will gently slid Nico's pants over his hips, down his thighs and to his ankles. More cuts covered Nico's thighs, just as Will had feared. Some of these looked worse, a few were still weeping, some coated in fuzz from the pajamas.

Will felt an overwhelming surge of sadness...and anger. He wanted to wake up Nico right now and demand an explanation. He also desperately wanted to treat the wounds properly, bandage them and cover Nico in kisses, telling him that he was loved.

But Nico was already awake.

He stared at Will, who was tracing his thighs with his brow furrowed in worry. Nico's cat-like eyes widened in surprise and then anger. He sat up, yanking on his pants with alarming speed.

"You couldn't have waited until I woke up?" He snarled. "I mean, really. I get being in the mood, but I do NOT like being woken up with my pants at my ankles." He glared at Will accusatorially.