Sign of the Times

Chapter 5

Will got a text halfway through first period from Leo's phone. He pulled it up beneath his desk and took a quick look, his eyes still fuzzy from the night but his heart full. All he wanted to do was go sleep with Nico by his side, deep in the Burrow.

It's Nico. I'm heading to your place now. See you when you get out

Will smiled down at it before putting his phone away and looking back to his notes. Knowing Nico was safe and comfortable made his day all the more better, even if he didn't have Nico at his side.

"I was playing the new Call of Duty game all last night," Percy chatted away. "Mom finally made me go to bed around three, four."

Will ignored him like usual and took notes. His black pen ran out and he had to replace it with red ink.
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When Will sat down for lunch, the friend group seemed more normal than ever. Percy wasn't talking about nonsense, Leo wasn't building anything. Jason and Reyna were both sitting with them.

"Will, thank god you're here," Jason greeted. "You have to be part of the planning."

"The planning of…?"

"Nico's surprise party," Reyna answered. "You two are close. He would want you there."

Leo leaned forward. "We'll have it at the bunker. I've been working on installing air conditioning. It should be done by Saturday. That way we can have all the drinks we want."

Piper high-fived him.

Will picked at his lunch as he listened to them debate, but also listened to how much they really cared about Nico. They wanted to make him happy. Jason was worried that he wouldn't be comfortable. Leo was worried Will would have too much work to make it.

(All of them seemed to now think of Will and Nico as the same person, or Will as Nico's source of happiness, or maybe even that they actually were together. It wasn't spoken but the reality of how close they were was known)

"Where is he now?" Reyna asked, looking over her shoulder to see if he was anywhere near.

"Skipped," Leo supplied.

Percy put a hand to his chest. "And he didn't ask me to come with him?"

"You're not friends," Leo and Annabeth said at once.

Will looked to his cousin and frowned at the hurt in his eyes. "Why is that? Aren't you all friends?"

The table went silent at the question. Leo's face was disturbingly red.

"I'd like to know that, too." Percy said, his voice deadly serious.

Annabeth put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "It's not personal."

"It feels pretty damn personal to me." Percy shrugged her hand off. "I thought maybe it was just me, maybe I was just missing something. But Will's just as lost as I am."