Solace, Solace

Chapter 12

"Will!" said Nico gasping as he wrapped his hands around the son of Apollo's cheeks.

 "Hey, Nico," said Will smiling. He looked paler than usual, still very tan but not for being a son of Apollo. 

"What happened?" Nico asked, not letting his eyes off the Will's.  

Will's smile broke and he let out a sigh, "I, uhm, had a panic attack..." he said, breaking eye contact with Nico. His eyes began to fill with tears, but he felt better when he felt the son of Hades' cool lips on his forehead.

"Hey, hey. It's okay" said Nico as he cradled Will's head in his arms. "Do you want to talk about it?" Nico whispered in his ear, but he Will shook his head. 

"I'm fine now" he sniffed. Nico didn't know what to do, so he just continued cradling the boy's head, gently running his fingers through Will's blond hair.

They stayed that way for a few minutes until a nurse came in. "Okay Will, you're all clear to leave. You just need to sign a form and we have medication for you at the front desk. You are to take it twice a day for the next week." 

Will pushed himself up on his elbows and Nico let go of his head. "Okay, thanks. I'll be down in a few minutes," said Will and the nurse nodded, leaving the two of them alone. 

"Nico," said Will turning to meet his eyes. "I'm scared," he continued, not leaving those eyes as black as night. Nico inched his face closer to Will's but didn't say anything. "I'm terrified actually," croaked Will. His voice cracked and he was on the verge of tears. 

"I'm scared because I'm fucking in love with you, Nico di Angelo." His voice was barely audible, but Nico was so close that he heard it perfectly. He saw a tear run down Will's cheek and decided to close the little remaining space between them. Their lips met sending a rush of energy through both of their bodies. 

Although his eyes were closed, Nico felt Will's mouth move into a smile between kisses. Will fought for dominance and pushed Nico onto the hospital bed. Nico eventually pressed his hands against Will's chest and panted out an "I love you too, Solace." 

Will got off of Nico and they sat next to each other on the bed. "And I'm afraid too," said Nico, locking fingers with Will.  

"Might as well be afraid together..." Nico said, his cheeks turning pink. Will smiled at the son of Hades and said: "It would be an honor."

With that, Will pecked Nico on the lips before they both got up and headed out of room 65b. Will got his medication and signed his form, and they got out of the infirmary into the beautiful June sunshine. 

"Jeez," said Nico, shielding his eyes with his free hand. "Tell your dad to turn down the brightness!" Will chuckled, but Nico was still wincing at the sun. 

They had walked about halfway across the strawberry fields when they both felt something wrapping around their shoulder. They turned around to see Leo, holding a pride flag the size of a blanket. 

"Hey, what's up guys? Will, I'm glad to see you're feeling better. I got this for you two, people like to wear it as like a cape or shall." Leo stopped talking to see the two boys looking at him: one annoyed, one thrilled. 

"You see! Will you know what I'm talking about!" he said handing the flag over to the blonde. Will was smiling, but then looked over to see Nico's look of extreme exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me?" said the son of Hades. 

"Oh come on," said someone from behind them. It was Piper, who was holding hands with Jason. "It would be so cute!"

Nico turned and saw that more of his friends were there: Percy, Annabeth, Rachel, Reyna, Frank, and even Hazel. He thought he might as well wear the dam flag because they would force him to anyway. He glanced at Hazel, she was smiling like a proud mother, egging him on.

He sighed and grabbed the opposite corner of the flag that Will wasn't holding. He looked at Will who smiled and gave him a wink, then they both threw the opposite ends of the flag over their shoulders in unison. Their friends cheered as Will wrapped his free hand around Nico's shoulder, pecking his cheek in doing so.

Nico felt himself blush but placed his own free hand around Will's waist.

"So," said Percy violently rubbing his hands together "What's the ship name?" He looked around and Leo was vigorously waving his hands in the air.

"Oh, I know! I know! Nill." Leo looked around with his eyebrows raised, searching for approval. However, Jason shook his head. 

"No, no, no! Nill sounds so dorky. Wico sounds way cooler." Jason didn't even have to look around for approval because his girlfriend was fake vomiting at the sound of that ship name. 

"Oh Gods!" said Piper shaking her head at Jason and Leo. "You guys suck at this! It's clearly Solangelo."  And with that, they all swooned (yes, all of them).

Will and Nico smiled at each other, and the son of Apollo wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him into a tight hug. Nico hugged back, squeezing him even closer.