Sign of the Times

Chapter 6

Will took his time walking back to Percy's house. The town was dead, everyone at work or school, the sun shown and his shoes scraped against the pavement. In the midst of his war-torn mind, he could have sworn he heard those old church bells ringing.

Everything made sense. There weren't anymore secrets. That fuzzy veil over Frostford that had tricked him at first had finally been lifted.

Nico wasn't in love with him. He was in love with Percy. And he wasn't sure if he could get him out of it.

He kept walking. His shirt stuck to his back.

Would it be right to try to stop it? To try and take away love? It was painful, it would never be returned, it was only making Nico's life worse. But it was still the purest thing about life.

But Percy could never return it. He'd try, he'd be guilty until the grave, but he'd never be able to love Nico like Nico loved him.

Love was supposed to be good. It wasn't supposed to hurt so much.

"Will, what are you doing out of school?"

Will looked up at the shock out of his inner monologue and saw he had arrived at Percy's house. Sally was sitting on the porch, coffee beside her, her laptop open and on a blank document.

"I..." he looked down. "It's complicated."

"Anything I can help with?" she asked.

He shook his head.

She frowned. "Know you can always come to me with a problem, Will."

"I know. I just...need to lay in my room for awhile."

She raised an eyebrow but didn't object, instead moving her items so he could pass. Once he was in the house and out of her sight, he ran up the steps and to his room. The door was closed and the bathroom light was on, everything was normal, but it would be the first time he would be alone in a bedroom with a boy. And he knew it was a pretty shitty thing to be scared of, especially since him and Nico had already been intimate, but he couldn't help but freeze momentarily in that bathroom light, staring at the wood of the door.

Hesitation. A few seconds of it. Then he opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind him.

Nico was laying on his mattress, naked besides his boxers, fast asleep. His clothes were sitting beside the bed, and with them his phone, hairpin, and cigarettes were tucked into his boots. His key chain was still around his neck. His hair was in its normal braids.

Beautiful. Just the sight of him stopped all worry Will had on his way over.

Nico was beautiful, he was safe, and he was asleep in his bed.

Maybe Will should have thought before he acted. But before he knew it he was climbing in bed beside him, stripping down to his own boxers to escape the heat, his arms wrapping around Nico's torso and pulling him close, falling asleep to his breaths.

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Will jumped awake at the sound of the door opening. Through his haze of sleep, he sat up and blinked at the situation before him. He smelled cigarette smoke. And Sally Jackson was standing in front of him saying something.

He blinked again and rubbed his eyes. "What?"

Sally gave him a look. "Awake now?"

He shrugged before yawning. "What's going on?"