Solangelo Highschool Au - People

31: Talk

"Nico, where's Will?" Piper asked come lunch time.

"I don't know. He disappeared after class. I'll go check Knittel's classroom, he might be hiding there. He usually tells me when he goes there, though." Nico picked up his stuff, heading to Mr. Knittel's classroom.

When he walked in, Will seemed to be teaching a class along with Mr. Knittel. They had a fairly small group of kids of varying ages in front of them, some listening intently and some not seeming to care.

"Nico! Love, hi, I found a few demigods with some help of Mr. Knittel, along with a protector. There's more than I think anyone expected, but we're near camp, so that might mean somethin'." Will explained to Nico quickly.

"I didn't know you were doing this. You just disappeared after class." Nico stated.

"Sorry, forgot to mention that. I'm thinking that if we find all that we can, and like, get it so that they go to camp soon as possible, I can get outta this hell of a school quicker without anyone judging me for quitting a quest." Will told him.

"I believe that another point of this quest was to get a chance at a normal life, Will. And exposing these kids takes away their chance at the same thing." Nico said, a bit surprised at Will's actions.

"Half of 'em have been attacked already. Getting them to camp gives them a chance to learn how to fight back." Will argued.

"And what about you? Don't you want to live a normal life, Will?" Nico questioned.

"Can we talk about this later, actually? I'll answer all your questions later, at the apartment." Will offered. Nico sighed.

"Fine. Later. I'm going back to our friends." Nico told him, a bit bitterly, before walking out.

The school day ended. Will got into the apartment a bit before Nico did, so he sat on the couch, working.

"So, Will, you said you wanted a normal life. And here we have a chance at it, and you're throwing it away? Why?" Nico asked him, already seeming a bit mad.

"I want a normal mortal life. One where I don't have to know about monsters, and I can live in blissful ignorance. But now I'm attacked by monsters weekly. So why be out in public where I can be attacked when I could be safe at camp?"

"Because this is the closest to a normal life as you'll get. We're at a perfectly fine highschool-" Nico started. Will stopped what he was doing.

"Don't bring up this school specifically, Nico, because I seem to have it different from you. Because I made the mistake of kissing a guy in public one time and people noticed, so now I'm the faggot of the school. And I'm blonde with blue eyes, this perfect-seeming twink, which doesn't help. And I'm not always around or protected by a gang of bodyguards, and sure I am sometimes, but I'm also not as in the group and-I'm rambling, I'll stop." Will took a deep breath, getting back to the work on his laptop.

"They're nothing but bullies, Will, you could fight them off easily, don't act like you can't."

"No, you're right. I can fight them off, and I do. And that's great, So now I get to consistently dread the day that there's an even larger group than ever before after me, and I can't do anything."

"Then the demigod group can be more sure to protect you better, be with you more often." Nico offered.

"And then there's the fact that I have both of my exes here, both of which still seem to want me for some fucking reason, one of which does everything she can do to make me uncomfortable just for the sake of manipulation, and then I freeze because memories come flooding back, and so I'm even more of an open target to her. If I was at camp, that wouldn't be happening. I could go back to blocking out the memories at all times except my sleep, because of course I can't just fucking-and yet again, I'm rambling, and I'm whining, and you've gone through so much worse, so I'm sorry." Will looked incredibly guilty, and upset to the point of tears, but of course he just stared at the computer screen.

"Will, I didn't know this school was so bad to you. Why didn't you say something? I would have done the most I could to help you."

"Didn't wanna be whiny." Will said shortly, seeming afraid of rambling again.

"You aren't being whiny. These things were bothering you, we can fix shit."

"You've gone through so much worse, and you don't say shit about it. You... you don't whine, and if you talk about it, you aren't annoying, and the fact that I'm so rambly after all this time is so stupid... I just... I'm sorry." Will sighed, covering his face as he sunk back against the couch. Nico sat next to him, taking Will's hand.

"Will. You can talk to me about things that are bothering you. Do not compare our experiences. They are different and we are different people. You bottling things up and then bursting like you are now isn't good for you." Nico told him seriously. Will moved his laptop from his lap and pulled Nico into a tight hug, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Thank you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be."