Solangelo One Shots

Where's My Nico?

Request for @StopCallingMeDevi! I hope you like it! 

Will's POV

So far, my birthday was going perfectly. Outside the borders of the camp the sun beat down on the earth but inside the camp the it was about seventy degrees. Percy had made me a giant blue birthday cake and my friends had all given me gifts. There was only a single problem with the seemingly perfect day. That problem was that I couldn't find my boyfriend. I had expected to find him straggling to my cabin at ten in the morning, still in his pajamas and looking exhausted. He would give me a kiss on my cheek and we would spend the rest of the day on the side of the lake, watching the clouds drift lazily by as he held my hand. But none of that could happen without Nico, so I went looking.

The most obvious place to check was the Hades cabin. Perhaps Nico had accidentally slept five hours too long, or maybe he was summoning another pile of corpses against my direct instructions in the comfort of his cabin. I always knew he had some creepy altar to his father somewhere in there, I just couldn't find out quite where. But it was to my dismay when I pushed open the cabin door to see an empty Hades cabin, the sheets hastily shoved into a pile at the foot of his bed and his black jeans askew on the floor. Frowning I shut the door, worry beginning to seep into my heart. 

Percy and Annabeth sat out in the strawberry fields, nibbling on the huge juicy strawberries and laughing together. "Hey, Will!" Percy called out when he saw me. "Did you like my cake?" 

"I loved it," I responded. "Have you guys seen Nico?" The couple turned to each other, Annabeth arching her eyebrow. 

"No, sorry," she answered. "You've checked his cabin?" I nodded. 

"Sorry, brithday boy, I don't know what to tell you," Percy said. "Would a strawberry make you feel better?"  

"No thanks, Percy." I mustered a smile. Percy and Annabeth generally knew everything that happened at camp. If they didn't know where Nico was, I was in trouble. 

"Your loss," Percy shrugged, biting into the strawberry. A drop of juice rolled down his chin and Annabeth wiped it away. I sighed, searching the camp for anyone who could help me find my boyfriend. 

I spotted the Big House and began to make my way towards it, positive that Chiron would know where Nico was. Chiron seemed to know all of the going on's at camp, whether you wanted him to know or not. He knew when Percy snuck a baboon into the Poseidon cabin, stolen right from the zoo the moment Percy had crossed camp borders with it, although he gave Percy a few hours with the animal, allowing him a tiny bit of fun. If Chiron could know that, he could know anything. 

"I'm sorry, Will, I have no idea where he is," Chiron apologized. "Have you perhaps checked his cabin?" 

"Of course I checked his cabin!" I growled, starting to get annoyed. I wasn't that stupid, that I wouldn't check where my boyfriend lied for my boyfriend. "Are you sure you don't know where he is?" I sighed, reigning in my anger and taking a deep breath. 

"Perhaps he's gone and gotten himself killed," Mr. D mused, flipping though his pinochle cards and taking a long sip from a diet coke can, the sun glinting off of the metal. "Now, wouldn't that be a shame?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes, although I tried my best to keep it hidden from Mr. D. I wasn't interested in dying that morning. 

"Thank's for you help, Chiron," I said, ignoring Mr. D. 

"I hope you find him!" Chiron called behind me as I walked away, already searching for where Nico could be. 

I didn't know why Nico would be in Bunker 9 but that was where I ended up, in a steaming hot workhouse with Leo yelling at me over the sound of grinding metal. "Sorry, Will, haven't seen him!" Leo yelled. "Happy birthday, by the way!" 

"Thanks, Leo," I sighed. So far, it hadn't been a happy birthday. "Is there anywhere he would be?" 

"I don't know," Leo shrugged. "Hey, can you hold this for me for a second?" With his bare hands, he held out a huge, long metal rod, flames roaring on the silver surface. 

"Sorry, Leo, I have to go," I muttered, turning away from Leo before he asked me to hold anything else flame covered. 

Throughout the day I found myself in numerous places I knew Nico would never be but I made myself check anyway. The water nymphs apparently had no idea where he was, and neither did Grover when I found him in the forest. In a last hope of finding him I iris-messaged Camp Jupiter, hoping that Nico had shadow traveled there and was passed out on a bunk but Hazel hadn't seen him. Even the local McDonald's hadn't caught a glimpse of a thin, pale black haired boy buying happy meals with an army of the dead at his heals. 

Hopelessly I flopped down on my bunk in the Apollo cabin, my face buried two inches deep in my thick pillow. "Something wrong, Will?" I looked up to see Lou Ellen's face staring down at me, a badly concealed smile on her face. 

"I can't find Nico," I responded, pushing myself up with an arm. "Why, do you know something about where he is?" 

"I don't know, Will, do we?" Austin snickered. Austin, Cecil, Kayla and Lou Ellen were around me in a semicircle as I sat up on my bunk, wearing identical smirks. 

"The four of you had better spill everything you know right now or I'll make you regret it," I threatened. 

"Ooh, scary," Kayla snickered. "What are you going to do to us?" 

"Don't forget I'm still your head counselor. Stable duty, the next month if I don't find out what I want to know in the next five seconds." Kayla and Austin went twin shades of gray. 

"Infirmary," Austin squeaked. I wasted no time sprinting out the door as the four of them exploded into laughter behind me. 

Nico hated pink with a passion, I knew that for a fact. He also hated frills and ribbons so I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to be hogtied with pink ribbon on one of the infirmary beds, multicolored ribbon wrapped tightly around him and stuffed in his mouth and a giant pink bow atop his head completing the look. The ribbon must have been enchanted by Lou Ellen because he looked like he had stopped trying to break it hours ago. His face lit up with hope when he saw me and I crossed the room, my fingers fumbling as they untied the bows and I threw my arms around him when I was done. 

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" I gasped. "I can't believe they would do this, Neeks, I'm so sorry!" Nico squeezed me back and my heart soared. 

"It's fine," he promised. "I'm just worried that your birthday was ruined." 

"We've still got about half of the day," I said. "What do you want to do?" 

"Whatever you want," he responded. "Anything in mind?" I grinned. 

"Well, I had something," I said. 

We laid side by side on the bank of the lake, watching the clouds drift by. Nico's head rested on my chest, his black hair askew. "This is nice," he said, his fingers reaching for my hand. 

"Yeah," I sighed as I watched a cloud shaped like a heart drift by. "It really is." 

Hi guys! I hope you liked that one. Also, have any of you done NaNoWriMo because I was thinking of doing it but I want a little bit of advice so if you've done it I would love to know how it went for you!

Nina