Solangelo one shots

Late Nights

Nico loved the darkness, craved it even. As a child of Hades, he spent most of his life in the shadows—waiting, watching. The shadows loved him just as much as he loved them. As the sun set upon Camp Half Blood and the sky faded from its once vibrant colors into the pitch-black of the night, Nico felt a wave of calm wash over him. No longer burdened by the stresses of the day, he could flop onto his bed, letting his thoughts flow from his brain like a stream into the ocean, disappearing into the waves and slowly fading into the distance. Nico didn't expect to fall asleep; it wasn't really his thing. His dreams were often plagued with nightmares.

He had the kind of dreams that would tear a person up from the inside out. The kind of dreams that made him shoot up in a cold sweat, clutching his chest—the kind that made him think about the past.

He often thought about his sisters, Bianca and Hazel. He thought about what could've happened if Bianca hadn't died. He thought of the smiles on their faces if they ever got to meet, knowing that even though they never would, they could've been great friends. He thought about his mother too—how much he missed her voice, and how, as time passed, he was beginning to forget her. Even though he tried hard to recall her features, they slowly eluded him. Starting with her height, then her hair, her eyes, her face. The one thing he could never forget was her smile. It gave him comfort to think about the way her smile could brighten any room, the way it could always put all of his broken pieces together. Her smile reminded him a lot of Will in a sense. It was lively and almost perfect. It wasn't too toothy, and at the same time, it wasn't stiff like a fake smile—the type of smile he put on when he was forced to talk to campers, the type he used when he lied about how he was.

As Nico began to drift further into his thoughts, he began to hear a faint knocking at his cabin door. It wasn't rushed knocking like Percy's when he was trying to wake Nico up for breakfast early in the morning, but it wasn't the slow, lazy knocking that Clovis did as he always seemed perpetually sleepy.

The knock was quiet and respectful; it was also quite rhythmic. If he wanted to, Nico could sit there and just listen to the knocking until he fell asleep. But he had to see who was at the door.

Getting up from his elevated bunk, Nico stumbled to the door, his feet feeling like jelly from lack of use.

Slowly pulling at the door, he was faced with a man.

A blond, to be more specific.

It was his sunshine. Nico was never fond of the sun, not until he met Will. He always thought it was too bright, too forceful; it was always everywhere, all the time. And when Apollo inevitably became human again, it was like he was being followed around by the living embodiment of the sun. He hated it.

What he didn't hate was his sun. Will was bright, but he wasn't vain. He shined, but he wasn't blinding. He brought light into Nico's darkness without trying to force him out of it. Instead, he matched Nico's darkness, being his opposite and his anchor.

"Hey," Will finally spoke into the silent air.

"Hi," was all Nico could say. He automatically leaned back from the door, letting his guest enter. Giving Will a once-over, Nico glanced down, seeing something Will grasped in his hands.

As if already knowing what Nico was going to say, Will answered, "I saw this when I was out, and I thought of you." Nico shut the door, letting it slowly click into place. "Do you want to see?"

Nico, letting his curiosity get the best of him, nodded, following Will. he took a seat on Nico's black quilted sheet. Nico followed suit, crossing his legs, as he looked at Will expectantly.

Will grinned back at Nico, making his face flush at the blond's cute expressions. Will quickly set the object down on the nightstand before grabbing Nico, dragging him down onto the bedsheets. As they lay down in the room, a comforting silence fell over them both, Will wrapping his arms around Nico, snuggling his nose into the black mop Nico called hair. Nico turned around to get more comfortable, tucking his head into the crest of Will's neck, slowly breathing in the scent of Will. Placing his hand upon Will's chest slowly drawing the design Will had permanently inked into his skin.

He smelled like sunshine. Or at least whatever scent was close enough to sunshine. To Nico, Will smelled of warmth and sunny days lying on the sands of Camp Half Blood, watching the other campers row along in their boats and enjoying each other's company. He smelled faintly of citrus, as if he was in the fields of an orange patch, lazily walking around picking out the best fruit.

Nico slowly leaned in closer to Will, wrapping his arms around the taller boy's shoulders, getting comfortable. As they settled in, Will crossed his lanky arms over Nico, reaching out towards the object he brought. Nico didn't even bother looking up to see what Will was doing, instead opting to move with Will.

He heard a light click before the darkness of the room was soon encompassed with a flurry of golden stars—they ranged in different sizes, growing from larger than Nico's fist to as small as his pinky.

All Nico could do was gawk at the sight; in the center of the star formations lay a crescent moon, curled alongside the sun, as if they were holding onto each other and basking in the stars.

Will glanced down at Nico, watching his face morph from confusion to pure awe. Slowly placing a gentle kiss on Nico's forehead, he spoke, "When I saw it, all I could do was think about you."

"This is beautiful, Will," was all Nico could stammer, staring up into the sky.

They spent more time watching the stars swirl around the room, encircling them with bright light. Nico slowly began to drift off, lessening his grip on Will, trying to keep his eyes open to relish in Will's company before he drifted off.

"Sleep," was all Will said, placing slow kisses on the tips of Nico's eyelashes, then to his temple, simultaneously running his fingers through the black mess of Nico's hair, gently combing out each knot that he found.

Nico slowly closed his eyes, letting his vision blur as his once clear sight faded to black, enveloped by the warmth emanating from Will. Before falling fully asleep, he faintly mumbled, "I love you, sunshine."

As he drifted into the land of Hypnos, he could faintly hear, "I love you too, my star."