Inconvenient Love

Chapter 6

Nico kicked his feet up onto the dashboard as he dialed Will's number, thankful he had gotten it the night before. The last thing he wanted was to go on a manhunt for him.

"Hello?!" Will answered the phone with a near scream, causing Nico to pull away in pain.

"Tone it down a bit," Nico instructed, putting it back to his ear. "Are you dressed and stuff?"

"It's after noon, of course I'm dressed-"

"Okay, sunshine, not all of us are morning people," Nico cut in. "Just be ready. Percy and I are coming to pick you up to go eat."

"Percy?" Will asked. "Is he your friend?"

"Yeah, we're on our way. Percy's driving." Nico stuck his hand out the window. "I'm hanging up, now."

"Then hang up," Will teased. "What, don't want to stop hearing my voice?"

"Be out front and ready, Solace." Nico hung up as a blush spread over his cheeks. "Shut up, Percy."

Percy didn't stop his chuckling. "This is going to be great."

"And why's that?"

Percy shrugged. "You two go good together. Too bad his mom sucks."

Nico nodded in agreement. "Don't embarrass me, Percy."

"I definitely can't promise that." Percy drove down the familiar roads leading to Nico's house, the old truck bouncing over the potholes. "And Leo won't be able to, either."

Nico put his head in his hands. "Great."

"You'll be fine." Percy pulled in front of Nico's house, eyeing Will as he walked up to the truck. "Move into the middle, Nico."

Nico grumbled but did as he was told, Will climbing into the truck beside him. The two boys stared at each other for a minute before Will pulled the door closed, Percy taking off almost immediately. "So...what's going on?"

"Will, this is Percy Jackson," Nico introduced. "He's a childhood friend. We're going to eat. He wanted to meet you."

"So you...told him about...us?" Will asked.

Nico nodded. "Yep."

"Nico doesn't keep secrets from me," Percy inputted. "It's nice to meet you."

"You, too." Will looked out the window as they drove. "I had to lie to mom about where I was going."

"She questions you every time you leave the house?" Nico asked. "How am I not surprised?"

"You don't know the half of it yet." Will moved uncomfortably. "She likes to rule me, you know? It's not even just being overprotective anymore. I don't think it ever was, actually. She just thinks that since I'm hers, I'm literally hers. She rules me, in her mind."

Percy shook his head in exasperation. "Sounds like hell."

"It is," Will agreed. He looked to Nico. "You're quiet."

"I'm aggravated." Nico corrected. "We have to deal with your devil of a mother and my satanic father. The first time I ever have a boyfriend and I can't even be with him."

Will glanced at Percy before kissing Nico's cheek, causing the smaller boy to blush. "Yeah, but we're still together. That's something, right?"

Nico wiped away any residue Will left on his cheek. "I guess, you idiot."

"Okay, no more of that in my truck." Percy looked back to the road after glancing at them. "And Will, you should know Nico isn't big on that stuff in front of other people, even if we aren't really in public."

"I can talk to him myself, Percy," Nico grumbled.

"I was just saying," Percy defended. "You two don't know each other well. You both know that. You went romantic before you even became friends."

"Is that not allowed?" Nico asked. "Because you're not one to spell out the rules of relationships, Percy. It took you how long to get with Annabeth?"

"That's beside the point, and I'm not trying to dictate your relationship." Percy looked to his phone as it buzzed before looking back to the road. "I was just telling Will here something before he made a mess at the restaurant."

"You two fight like you're brothers," Will commented.

"We might as well be." Percy pulled into the parking lot and parked. "Let's head in and surprise Leo."

"And Leo is...?"

"Our friend." Nico pushed Will out of the truck before getting out himself. "His family owns this place so we'll get a discount."

Percy got out and locked the truck before leading them into the restaurant. Immediately, they saw their friend running between the tables, his hair singed from one of the many fires that always started around him. Accident prone, officials called him. Schools kept him under close watch.

"Smells good," Will commented, keeping close to Nico's side. They stayed back as Percy requested a table. "So...Percy just wants to meet me, right? It isn't gonna be too many questions?"

Nico shrugged. "We'll just have to see. Percy cares about people he knows, and me and him have been really close for a while. He's going to make sure that he trusts you."

"But he seems so...carefree..." Will commented.

"That's just Percy." Nico looked up at Will before looking away. "And he was right. We became boyfriends before we became friends. We have a lot to figure out about each other."

"We'll do it," Will promised.

Nico sighed. "I hope so."