He Loves Me?

17

*Not really a trigger warning but a 'panic attack' warning*

Nico thought back to what the day had become. It had been horrible. First, he'd been released from the infirmary, (not that he'd admit that he missed it to anyone) then at Pegasus training he'd had a hoof to the arm, after that he'd skipped lunch to get it treated, and on top of it all, he'd had some sort of attack. His mind flashed back to it.

He'd been surrounded by people, everything was normal until it wasn't. He felt hot, then cold, then hot again. Everything became unnaturally loud, and his head started to spin. Anxiety tightened around his chest like a spiral, infinite. His breath became short and he struggled to find air, the bright light of the sun hurt his eyes as he sunk to his knees, hands squeezed over his eyes. People were talking and it was too loud, too loud... And where was Bianca? Nico's mind reeled. Bianca? Bianca wasn't here. Where even was here? Right. Camp Half-Blood. Again, people's voices over-powered his senses as someone crouched over him. He was vaguely aware of someone asking him if he was alright, but was too tense and dazed to answer. His breath was uneven and coming in short gasps. He heard running, and the sun was momentarily blocked by a tall, tanned figure.

'Nico? Are you alright?"

The voice echoed around his head, and he tried to nod, to shake his head, to do anything but he was frozen. The person gently pulled Nico's arms off his side's and took both his hands. Nico tried to think, to grasp control of whatever was happening to him, so he concentrated on one thing. Whoever's hand he was holding happened to be extremely warm. He focused on the warmth as he was pushed against something rough.

I'm grounded. I'm grounded. I'm grounded, was all Nico could think of thinking as he saw his feet come back into focus, firmly planted on the ground. He slowly looked up into a pair of very concerned blue eyes.

"Nico. Are you alright?"

Nico nodded. But he didn't know if he was. He didn't know what to feel, so he concentrated on feeling Will's warm hands and slowly breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Will tilted his head and looked at the younger boy.

"Are you alright?" He repeated.

But it was more like a statement, as Nico was obviously not alright.

"Just... Give me a few more seconds." Nico whispered.

Will nodded.

-x-x-x-

As Nico recovered from whatever he'd experienced, Will observed him. The boy's eyes were wide and wild, his hair messy and his hands clenched. He let Nico recover for a few more minutes, before speaking again. 

"You're coming back to the infirmary." He stated. 

Nico pushed himself off the tree and shook his head. 

"I'm fine, Will." 

"Nico-" Will started. 

"I'm fine." 

He wobbled a few steps, then straightened up and walked into the pavilion. Will tentatively took a few steps after him but stopped. Nico needed space. 

As Nico walked into the pavilion, he felt eyes on him. He glared at the sky, then stalked into his cabin. He splashed his face with water from a basin and sat on his bed. Lifting a skeleton bone from walls embedded with them, he contorted it into different shapes to calm his mind. 

This hadn't happened in a long time.