One Shots, Two Shots And A Dead Drew.

rocks.

A/N Not me wondering whose angst is whose in this chapter.

April brought with it some gorgeous weather and the hope of spring. Birds chirped louder, the breeze smelled fresher, and the sun shone brighter. But it might as well have been mid-December for Will, because he had barely spoken to Nico in a week.

Well, that's not true. Will had spoken to Nico repeatedly. But he was usually met with a glowering stare, a shrug, or–if he was lucky–an "I don't want to talk about it." He tried small talk, too. The weather, Pokemon Go, sword-fighting, music, even Mythomagic… but Nico wasn't interested. It's not like Will could blame him. Losing a fellow demigod would hit anyone pretty hard, but Nico… well, apparently he felt much closer to Jason than he ever let on. Will had it lucky–unlike the grass, flowers, and even bugs that crossed Nico's path, he had managed to stay alive.

Barely.

Watching someone he loves experience such intense grief and being completely useless can really take a toll on a guy. Will barely slept. He barely ate. He felt like he was in a constant state of fight-or-flight as helplessness threatened his very purpose for living. If he can't heal, what is he even good for?

The fight-or-flight instinct was about to take over one evening when Will couldn't find Nico anywhere around camp. Not seeing him for half the day had become commonplace, but this was different. He wasn't just holed up in his cabin. He wasn't anywhere. A couple hours into his thorough manhunt, Will had nearly reached the beach on the outskirts of camp, and there had been no sign of his boyfriend. Right before the anxiety coursing through Will's body escalated to a full panic, he heard a small splash.

When he followed the sound, he saw a familiar silhouette and remembered how to breathe again. Nico was skipping rocks over the water more aggressively than Will thought possible for such a lighthearted activity. Once there was air in his lungs again, he approached Nico, making sure his steps were loud enough so his voice wouldn't startle him.

“There you are,” Will said, unable to mask the relief in his voice.

Nico threw another rock with such force it looked like it could cut through metal.

“What're you doing?” Will asked hopefully.

“What does it look like,” Nico replied flatly, picking up another rock.

Will couldn't help but smile; this was the least miserable he had seen Nico since they realized what happened. “It looks like you found a healthy outlet,” he observed.

“Don't sound so surprised,” Nico muttered. Will quietly watched the next rock skip across the water before venturing another sentence.

“I'm just proud of you,” he admitted. “A few years ago, you'd be killing yourself trying to summon him or something, right?”

“Well I've given up on that,” Nico snapped. “If Bianca didn't want to talk to me, neither would Jason.” He threw another stone and let the sound of it skipping across the water muffle his next words. “If I wasn't enough for her, then…”

“What?” Will asked, taking a step closer.

“Forget it. Just… leave me alone,” Nico muttered, leaning over to pick up another rock.

“Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?” Will practically begged.

Nico turned around to face Will for the first time, throwing his arms out hopelessly. “Why would I want to talk about it?! There's nothing I can say to make this any better!” he yelled.

He had a point. Still, Will pressed on. “I know, but…” But what? It's the healthy thing to do? Sulking hasn't been helping? I miss hearing your voice? He didn't have a chance to decide what to say before Nico kept yelling.

“It's useless! It's all useless! Why does anyone even try?! No matter how hard we try to be happy and do some good, we end up dead anyways! WHAT'S THE POINT?!”

He was spiraling. And so was Will. “For a Hades kid, you're really fatalistic about death…” he murmured, smiling anxiously. He regretted it instantly.

“You think just because I'm a child of Hades I don't care when people die?!” Nico barked.

“No– no, of course not,” Will stammered. “I'm sorry… I just… y'know his soul is still out there somewhere, he's not really gone…”

It was a last ditch effort. He shouldn't have said it. He knew it wasn't helpful, but… he was running out of words.

“Then WHY DOES IT HURT SO DAMN BAD?!” Nico thundered, his voice cracking in despair.

Will was speechless this time.

“I don't know why I'm reacting this way!” Nico rambled. “We– we weren't even friends that long I just– he– he was there for me, and he helped me realize that it's okay to be who I am, and– and he CARED, he cared about me and he cared about EVERYONE and it's NOT FUCKING FAIR!!!”

He was standing in the water now, and Will couldn't help but notice the tiny dead fish floating to the surface of the water around his ankles. Nico didn't stop screaming.

“Why do good people have to die?! Why do the people who love and support me have to DIE?! NON È GIUSTO, NON È GIUSTO!”

This was not a good sign. When Nico slipped into Italian, it was too late for Will to help with words. Usually he could calm him down with a hug, but he had never tried it when Nico was angry before. He wasn't sure it would be received well. But when Nico spoke again, his voice was broken and soft.

“I don't know how I– Non so come affrontare questa cosa, non sono pronto per qualcosa di più, non posso, non posso, non posso…” Nico trailed off, falling to his knees in the water.

This was more Will's territory. He got on his knees next to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around him. Nico cried softly, digging his fingers into the sand. All the energy seemed to drain from his body. Will felt guilty for the feeling of relief that washed over him.

He felt the tide changing. Maybe Nico had gotten through the phase of rage and bitterness and shutting Will out. Maybe now he was ready to be loved and comforted. Maybe now Will could stop crumbling from the weight of being so useless.

“It's not fair,” Nico croaked.

“It… it's going to be okay…” Will whispered.

Which was the wrong thing to say.