Solangelo Rising

Chapter 10 (Will)

    For a few seconds all I could do was gape at Nico. He had actually come to talk to me!? Maybe there was hope after all. After looking at his expectant gaze my mind came back to the present. Right. Explaining things would be a good place to start. I didn't bother with 'sorry' -I knew that wouldn't work. So instead I just said "It was Charmspeak you know." My words seemed to hang in the air for a few moments before Nico seemed to recognize what I had said.

   "What was charmspeak?" he muttered suspiciously. "Drew. She forced me to do that." Nico glared at me darkly. "So you didn't want to make out with her? But she's pretty. And she told me you two were together." I shook my head. "Drew lies Nico. She told me that you were dating Jackson. And what does it matter that she's pretty, I think she's disgusting. I wanted to gag the whole time." I got a twinge of a smile for that.

    Nico responded after a moment "No. I'm definitely not dating Jackson. He's painfully straight, I don't really have a crush on him anymore. And... you're sure you're not with Drew?" Now it was my turn to smile "Definitely not dating Drew. Besides why would I want to be with her... or any other girl for that matter? I'm as straight as a circle." I could see the gears turning in his mind. "Straight as a circle? Will I don't understand... circles are round and certainly not- oh. Wait... you're gay?"  Finally we were getting somewhere. "Yes Nico, I'm very gay. And trust me, making out with Drew was NOT on the to do list."

    Both of our shoulders visibly relaxed. Nico looked like he was about to say something but he stopped when his face flickered. Oh no, the sun was almost all the way set! "Nico what did you do with your bandages!?" I asked frantically. He gave me a sheepish look "They got all sandy and gross so I took them off..." Just then the son of Hades passed out right in front of me. Great. What to do, what to do? My mind raced. C'mon Will you're a doctor, pull yourself together. The sunlight was quickly fading, along with Nico's dark form. The sunlight had been holding him together. DUH. I smacked myself in the forehead. He needed light. And I was a child of Apollo. 

    I concentrated. I hadn't tried to do this for years- hadn't needed to. When I looked down at myself I grinned. I was glowing. I tried grabbing Nico's arm and I made contact instead of passing through. Perfect. Now I just needed to get him back to his cabin. With a fair amount of effort I managed to pick up the swooning boy and hauled him back towards camp. I didn't forget to grab the Sunny D either. 

    I was thankful for the extra monster fighting classes we had been taking recently- I needed the extra stamina. How could a boy made up of shadows and darkness be so heavy? I finally made it back to cabin 13, still glowing. I grunted as I hefted the small boy into his bed. I was too tired to trek all the way to the infirmary to get more bandages and I was worried that he would completely fade by the time I got there and back. Looks like I was staying with my glow. I laid down next to the sleeping figure and wrapped my arms around him- for more direct light contact of course. It had nothing to do with me wanting to cuddle with him. Nothing at all. I grinned to myself and promptly fell asleep.