I Constantly Thank God For Solangelo

Hands

"I have a question," Nico stated, sitting opposite of Piper. She raises an eyebrow at him, a smile forming on her lips.

"Shoot," she said, crossing her legs. Nico took a deep breath, looking around the pink room of the empty Aphrodite cabin.

"How do you know if someone is being nice, or if they're flirting?" He mumbled, not looking at her. He heard her huff out a laugh.

"If you're talking about Will, one hundred percent yes. He likes you."

"What? I- no- why would you- What?" He spluttered, his red cheeks turning a couple shade darker. Piper laughed.

"Okay, is if it's not Will," she teases, "who is it?" Nico pouts, his ears heating, and he crosses his arms. Piper bites her lip to keep from smiling, but to no avail.

"Fine," Nico relents, "if Will happened to like me," he said, and blushes, "and if- and if I happened to like him," Piper gives him a knowing smile, silently encouraging him, "how would I go about-" he paused, searching for the right word, "it." She laughed.

"Well, I'm assuming you probably don't want to make the first move," Nico's quick to shake his head no, "so, you could imply that you like him, you know? Flirt with him."

"How?" Nico asked, frowning, "how do you flirt with someone?"

"Well," she said, thinking, "when he makes a joke, you could gently touch his arm or something," she said. Nico frowned, but mently took note, who was he to a question the daughter of love anyway?

"Okay," he said, "what else?" She smiles, then launches into an entire speech about flirting and how to make it 'subtle and smooth.'

When dinner time came around, Piper have him a wink, then shoved him over to the Apollo table, where Will was sitting.

"Hey," Will smiles after he hesitantly sat down. Nico gave an awkward smile, making Will raise an eyebrow.

He still felt awkward sitting at the Apollo table, even though Will said everyone wanted him there. He still felt like his siblings were looking at him when he wasn't looking.

The times when Will randomly glared at one of his siblings didn't help that, but he pushed that thought from his head. Right now, he was supposed to be flirting with Will.

"Hey," he said, then, "uh, what'd you do today?" Because he was supposed to start the conversation and he was supposed to be interested.

"Just the infirmary," he said, smiling as he ate, "sewed some people up, you know, the usual." Nico laughed, bumping his shoulder with Will, because physical touch can show someone you're interested.

Will raised a golden eyebrow at him, smiling, and Nico blushes.

"What?" He mumbles, and Will shakes his head, putting a fork full of food in his mouth. Looking in the other direction as he smiles.

Nico looks over at Piper, gay panic settling in his stomach, but she just gives him a thumbs up and an enormous smile. Nico bites his lip, looking down at his plate and racking his brain for something to say.

"Can we sit together at the fire tonight?" He asks, then instantly cringes. Who the heck said that? Who asked that? Lame people, that's who.

"Yeah," Will laughed, looking back over at his pink face, "of course." Nico silently nods, then moves his attention back to his food.

Nico thinks he's doing well. He's flirted with Will for weeks, he's sure he's made his point clear.

He thinks it's worked. Will and him were closer, it felt like they were anyways. He hangs out with Will more, at least, they talk more. They talk about different stuff then when they first met, more personal stuff.

One night, at the campfire, he even rested his head in Will's shoulder, eventually falling asleep.

Tonight's not really any different, except for that fact that they're closer. As in thighs pressed together, arms brushing together.

Nico yawns, resting his head on Will's shoulder with a sigh. He feels Will shift, but he only closed his eyes, not letting himself think about it to much. Then, he feels a hand hesitantly touch his. He lifts his head some, looking down to his hand, then looks up at Will.

He isn't looking at Nico, though he can see the red on his ears, even in the dark. Nico smiles, biting his lip as he puts his head back on his shoulder, gently sliding his hand to rest in Will's.

Will moves his fingers, intertwining them with Nico's, and Nico lets out a small, giddy giggle. Will laughs, and Nico buries his face in Will's shoulder.

When Will walks him back to his cabin that night, it's hand in hand. A smile spread wide against both of their red cheeks. They stop short at the door, Nico turning to face Will.

Will's smile widens, if possible, and he takes a step closer. Nico laughs, squeezes his hands.

"How was your night?" Will mumbles, leaning down a bit. Nico takes the opportunity to look at Will's face as he nods.

"It was nice," he said, "and, I-" he blushes, "I think this boy likes me."

"Oh?" Will smiles, and Nico nods, "tell me about him."

"Well," Nico starts, "he's tall. And blonde, lots of freckles."

"Yeah?" Will says. And Nico laughs, nodding.

"He's a kind of a nerd, but he's cute, so it's okay."

"That's a relief," Will comments, and Nico smiles at him.

"Soooo," Nico says, "what do you think? Do I have a chance with him?"

"You're a dork," Will snorts, "but, yeah. Definitely. If this guy doesn't like you, he's probably crazy." Nico bites his lip, and Will brushes some hair behind his ear, then cups his cheek.

He leans down painfully slow, and Nico ends up standing up on his tip toes to meet him half way. They're both smiling and laughing, and when Will starts to pull away, Nico wraps his arms around his neck to pull him back down.

When they do pull back, Nico's sure his cheeks are going to burn off, or break in half. From how hard he was, both, smiling and blushing.

"Goodnight, Neeks," Will mumbles.

"G'night," he replies, and with one last kiss, Will's on his way.

———

I wish it was that easy 😪
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