Solangelo

Chapter Five

It was Nico's last day in the infirmary. That meant that Will would probably not see Nico for a while. That meant Nico could probably disappear now since he had no promised he made keeping him here.

Will tried to keep these thoughts out of his mind as he opened the door with his shoulder, bringing in a cold coffee for Nico, way too much sugar and whipped cream on top was how Nico liked it. Nico was sleeping and he looked . . . he looked peaceful. So Will didn't wake him up, instead taking his place on the chair and just being there if Nico needed him.

Nico had finally achieved dreamless sleep. A break from the nightmares when he didn't have to think. Nothing existed. Just darkness. And not the malicious darkness that choked you, the darkness that wrapped its arms around you when you needed a hug and gave you water when you were dehydrated. The kind of darkness people often mistook for light. It was strange the way every part of him relaxed, like he was safe. Because he felt safe.

Nico had been sleeping for a long time now, it was 10:00am. but Will didn't have the heart to wake him up so he just sipped on his tea, sorting through files upon files of demigods who had been in the infirmary.

He eventually left the room to get another mug of tea and when he came back, Nico was awake. "You slept well." Nico just nodded, tired and mussed. His hair fell in an adorable way onto his forehead.
"You're staring." His morning voice was scratchy and rough. Will was straight. He was.
"How are the stitches holding? I think i need to change them one last time before your three days runs out."
"I'm not sure, I didn't check."

So Nico pulled his shirt off so Will could see them and once again, Will saw the scars and once again, Nico couldn't meet his eyes, "It's okay, Nico." He did need to restitch them otherwise they wouldn't hold for very long.

When Will concentrated, his eyebrows furrowed and his nose flared a little. He would squint at one specific spot like a man in need of glasses and focus on it. Now that spot was Nico's chest, right above his heart. Everytime Will's hand came in contact with his chest, his heart skipped an embarrassing beat and he hoped Will didn't notice.

Today was his last day in the infirmary. At the start he had hated it. Really. But now he wanted more of it, he wanted more of Will. That's when it dawned on him, as Will sewed one of the last remaining stitched. He had fallen for another straight guy.

As Will sewed one of the last stitched, he couldn't help but feel Nico's skin under his hands. it was cold and pale and he wondered if Nico felt the cold. If he did, Will wanted to make him feel warmth. He never wanted Nico to feel cold again. Maybe he wasn't so straight after all. His mind joked. But as it echoed, something sparked in his heart. What if he wasn't straight?

He tried to ignore it but there was something in the back of his mind and it felt like it was stretching out in relief. Like a part of him was relieved. He looked up at Nico and met eyes with him and he knew he wasn't straight. But Nico was. Nico was straight. So he cleared his throat and got up, standing back from Nico and admiring his work. "That should do." Now what?

Will knew all about what the word queer meant. You don't not know when your father is a bisexual god so he knew immediately (after two hours of sitting with Nico who didn't talk much, just sketched in a book) that he liked girls and guys. And he knew all too well about bisexuality. His father was bi, Austin was bi and one of his ex-girlfriends had left him for a woman. He had been torn up about it, supporting her and hating her. 

He hated her for leaving him but supported her because that's what anyone with sense would do because
a) He supported queer rights (well, now he supported his own right, technically).
b) You don't want to piss a girl off, they're scary.

But now Will knew that he was the B in LGBTQ+ and he may have been having a slight crisis. His father had to support him, but his mom? He knew she was open to queers people but what about him? he'd have to figure that out later. And his crush on Nico? Nico was straight. He didn't know what to do and it felt like he was being pulled in so many different directions by his thoughts and- "Earth to Will." Nico said, looking at him, slightly concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah. I'm okay. I'm fine. Just thinking." Will was definitely not okay. He was a terrible liar and Nico saw through it.
"Are you sure?" Nico hated himself for it but he was concerned.
"Yeah, just thinking." He was distracted again and Nico decided to let it slide.

It was six, and Nico was getting ready to leave the infirmary, his bag with his sketchpad and clothes was packed. But he didn't want to leave. The infirmary or the camp. He wanted to stay.

"You know, Nico, you can drop by the infirmary whenever you like. You're always welcome." Will said and Nico knew he meant t. He just nodded and headed to his cabin. Three days over.