Solangelo 1

Part 28

NICO

I wake up before Will. His head is on my arm and our legs are tangled, so I have to stay still to make sure not to wake him.
My head is pounding from my dreams, memories still going through my head, but not as bad as they usually are. Something about sleeping close to Will calms me down; maybe it's something to do with him being the child of Apollo, or maybe it could just be him.
I watch him sleep for a while, heavy breathing and his chest rising and falling gently. I realise that he's still completely out of it.
I have no idea what time it is when someone knocks on my door. I concider leaving it, but no one ever knocks on my door and I doubt someone would start if it weren't something serious. I gently slide out of bed and Will readjusts, curling up and facing the wall.
I open the door and Percy stands there, looking relatively hassled.
'Hey, something wrong?' I ask, careful to keep the door closed enough so that he can't see Will in my bed.
'Yeah, uh, did you just wake up?' He asks, distracted.
'Yeah, why?'
'No, sorry, I just don't remember the last time you slept in longer than me.' He says, smiling and shaking his head, 'I came because the Apollo kids are starting to worry, apparently Will didn't come home last night and they haven't seen him this morning. Figured you might know where he is.'
'What? They're, what?' I ask, flustered. I can feel myself going red.
'Yeah, did you see him last night at all?' He asks, not noticing.
'I...he, uh...he sort of, he...' I start to stutter over my words and Percy notices. I look up at him and see him repressing a smile.
'Wake him up, get dressed and get out of there. I'll keep them distracted and he can make up some lie about wandering off in some sleep deprived delirium.' Percy says, shaking his head and laughing, 'you owe me, Kid.'
'Thank you.' Is all I can manage, completely embarrassed and caught off guard. Percy loiters a moment, still smiling to himself, then turns and jogs off.
'Will.' I say, moving over to him, 'Will, wake up!'
'What? Hey, what?' He says, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and leaning up on his elbows.
'Your siblings are looking for you. They think you're lost. You need to get changed so we can sneak out of here.' I say quickly and quietly.
'Shit.' He says, sitting up and grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it on.
'Back to front.' I say, getting changed myself, and he turns his shirt round. It takes us about two minutes to get ready.
I open the door and I instantly close it again. 'People will see us.' I say.
'Well, what else can we do?' He asks, panicked. I look around for an idea and it hits me. I smile a little and look at him, 'Nico, no. Absolutely not. I'd rather we get caught.'
'Not on my watch.' I say, grabbing his waist and shadow travelling to the edge of the forest. I stumble slightly and Will grabs me.
'Nico, I can't believe you did that. After everything, it could have killed you.' He says, raising his voice. He seems genuinely angry.
'Will, look, I'm fine. I feel fine.' I say, reassuring him, 'it was a short jump, I'd just rested. I'm fine. Wouldn't you rather me try it out now rather than in a life-threatening scenario?'
'How many life-threatening scenarios do you plan on getting yourself into?' He asks, vaguely sarcastic. But I can tell he understands my reasoning.
'At least thirteen more.' I say. He kisses me lightly and we only break apart when we hear voices, 'alright, just say you don't remember anything, you woke up outside, sleepwalked or something.'
'What about you?'
'I'm going to get breakfast.' I say, kissing him quickly, 'come join me in a couple minutes.'
'See you then.' He says as I hurry off round the back of the cabins and to the dining area.