Nico's POV

I was completely fine now. My powers were fully restored, as was my strength. But Will Solace refused to let me go.

"One more day." He commanded, eyes shining with laughter at my annoyance. "Doctor's orders." There was a hint of something in his smile, something I couldn't identify. A smile that made my heart pound a little faster. For the last two days, Will had been nagging me to eat, to stay in bed, to get some sunshine. And to everyone's surprise, including my own, all I did was grumble a bit under my breath in Italian, complying. Something of a friendship was forming between us. Will behaved towards me with a level of familiarity unrivaled by anyone except Percy and Hazel and maybe Jason.

"But I'm fine!" I protested. Only Will would argue with me, of course. Everyone else always kind of avoided me. I suppose I don't blame them. I wouldn't hang around the scary son of death either. I guess that Reyna, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank are okay with me. Percy was cooler than I thought he would be about finding out that I was gay and that I used to have a crush on him. He proposed that we could start over as friends. On another note,I often wondered why Will wasn't afraid of me like most people. Another matter weighing on mind was Leo Valdez. I needed to find out what really happened. His death was different than any other I'd encountered. So basically, I had a ton of stuff to think about, including my future here in Camp Half Blood.

But for now, I was busy with something (or should I say, someone) else.

"No, you're not. You may feel it, but you're not free until I say so." Will countered. I couldn't get over how strange it was to have someone that cared. I reminded myself that it was his job as a healer, dismissing any other ridiculous notions. We could have conversations and it wouldn't get awkward. He made me laugh, something that was a rare occurrence for me. And I wondered that if this was a crush, then what did I have with Percy? Obsessive respect?

"Fine, Golden Boy." I huffed.

"Now go sit in the sun. You're so pale. Death Boy."

"I'm supposed to be! Son of Hades, remember? You're the child of the sun god, of course the sun is all great for you!"

"Just do it, please." He beamed at me, as if he knew that he had already won.

My eyes dropped to the ground, and I trudged over to a bench that was bathed in sunlight. I sat down, watching some Ares kids spar. "Am I supposed to just sit here by myself like a creeper that watches people?" I challenged.

"You don't have to." He responded, sitting down next to me. I rolled my eyes. When Will was in the sun, his hair shone gold, and his blue eyes were as clear as day. I just looked even more pale.

"Fantabulous," I sighed, before realizing my odd word choice. I usually only thought things like that in my head. Will raised an eyebrow.

"Fantabulous?" He echoed.

"Just… whatever."

"So, when was the last time you were healed? You've taken many beatings, that I can tell." Will eyed me sympathetically. That spawn of Apollo and his evil doctor-powers.

I lowered my head, realizing that no one else really knew what I had gone through. Was I going to tell Will? Did I trust him? The words began to fall out of my mouth. "Well, as you were probably told, I traveled between camps a lot. I didn't really have a home and all that." Will nodded. "At one point, I tried to locate the Doors of Death from within the Underworld, after considering the prophecy, and was sucked into Tartarus." Will's eyes widened, and he unconsciously put his hand over mine, which was resting on the bench. I contemplated moving it but didn't. He could probably feel my pulse skyrocket on contact. "I barely even survived the trip down, and being son of Hades, I could see the true horrors of Tartarus and nearly went insane. Gaea's forces overwhelmed me there after a while, I couldn't tell if it was hours or days, and I was put in an airtight jar in a self induced coma, used as bait for the Seven to some find me. As with all stupid adventures, they were on a time limit, as I was only going to survive for as long as I ate pomegranate seeds from Persephone's garden, one per day. They managed to save me, and the rest you know of from Reyna's stories. I was pretty shredded up by Lycaon at one point."

Will stared at me for a moment. "I'm really sorry," He managed. "I could never imagine the psychological scarring you must have undergone." If only he knew the my life story.

"I'm fine now. I'm happy. And I think I've finally found a place where I belong." I stared pointedly at Camp Half Blood. From our vantage point on this hill, we could see the entire camp. The sun was starting to set, orange rays blooming from behind the strawberry fields. We watched the sun set in a companionable silence. When Will turned to look at me, I noticed that our faces were awfully close. I looked away shyly, biting my lip.

"You've always belonged here. And Nico?" Will whispered, face open and soft.

I turned back to him. "Yeah?" I asked nervously.

"I-" He was cut off when the campers started flooding down to the dining pavilion. "Let's go," He told me. The tension between us faded into nothing, and I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. We walked back down to join our friends, but did so with a certain distance between us.

I joined Jason and Percy at the Poseidon table, which we now called the Big Three table, a solution so that we didn't all have to sit alone. I was familiar with being alone, but if I wanted to change, to be the kid I once was, the one that was excitable and curious, I needed to connect with people again. We decided that Percy was the one who could most easily communicate with his father, so that Poseidon would cut Jason and I some slack. Besides, Poseidon didn't get as angry and wasn't such an obsessive rule-follower.

"Hey Nico," They both chorused.

"Hey," I greeted, trying to sound friendly while setting down my plate. "How's the shrine-building going?"

"Good so far. We really need a list of all the minor Gods and Goddesses, though." Jason answered.

"Annabeth could probably write the list," I suggested.

"Yeah, Wise Girl knows everything. Right, Annabeth?" Percy yelled the last sentence really loudly, causing Jason and I to snicker. Annabeth looked confused as she turned towards us.

"What?" She demanded, turning away from Malcolm, whom she was conversing with.

"Nothing!" We all replied simultaneously, bursting into laughter, mine half-hearted, as she frowned and turned back.

"We need to write that response down, as everything that comes out of her mouth is genius and genius mustn't be wasted." I declared uncharacteristically. This was how I used to act with Bianca.

We all started laughing again, Percy looking a bit sheepish as we poked fun at his girlfriend a bit. A few people turned to stare at me. Not many of them had seen me so much as grin before, except for the ones that were there when I first joined camp with Bianca.

Jason noticed me gaze around at the starers uncomfortably. "You're changing for the better, Nico. Someday they'll all see who you really are, not just how you act according to circumstance."

"I'm learning who I am myself," I admitted. Finishing my food, I stood up. "I'm going to bed now, I'm kind of tired."

"You don't want to join the campfire?" Percy questioned.

"Nah, if I sleep longer then Will is going to hopefully free me from captivity." I sighed. After acknowledging my friends, including Annabeth and Piper, with a nod, I headed back to my cabin. I usually slept in my regular clothes, but tonight I decided to wear some PJ's. Bianca had gotten them for me just before we were whisked away to CHB, but they were so big that I couldn't wear them and hadn't tried until today. I hadn't grown too much bigger. In my head, Will's voice went on a rant about the effects of malnutrition. What was wrong with me. Wait, I don't want that answered. I unfolded them from an old bag. Ugh, they were Batman. What had Bianca been thinking? I would never know. Whatever, it's not like anyone was going to see me.

I lay in my coffin-like bed, staring at the ceiling. I really needed to change the decor in here. It was so depressing. The theme may have fit me once upon a time, but I wanted to embrace the light. Crap, that could have a double meaning. The thought turned my mind to the subject of Will Solace. Again. Gods damn it. We were just friends, weren't we? I didn't even know if he was gay. But part of me knew that the reinforced barrier of my heart had been infiltrated once more. And maybe I didn't care.

A soft knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts, and I opened the door a crack, forgetting what I was wearing. Speak of the devil. Or angel, depending on how I was feeling. I honestly didn't know. Of course, it had to be Will.

"Um, Nico, I'll check you tomorrow morning and if you're good, then you're free to go summon skeletons or whatever." He informed me, looking a bit nervous until he saw what I was wearing. "Batman?"

"Never speak of this." I threatened, giving him my signature Death Glare, but when he started laughing, I couldn't help but smile just the tiniest bit.

"Okay, your dirty secrets are safe with me." He grinned. "If it's okay with you, I'll wake you up around seven if you aren't up already for your final check-up."

"Okay," I answered simply. I hesitated, unsure of what to say. Were we acquaintances, friends, good friends, or destined something more? "Goodnight," I said quietly.

"G'night, Nico." He turned and left, and I immediately banged my head on the wall a few times after he departed. Why wouldn't he get out of my head?

In Olympus...

Aphrodite slumped in disappointment. If both boys were too shy to try anything, then there would no reason for them to associate with each other anymore. If Nico was okay, then they wouldn't find true love in each other. In another universe, in which a single different choice was made, she would have found that she had greatly underestimated Will Solace. But this was not that universe. Pacing around, an idea popped into her head. This had worked before. It would only be for a few hours, until they confessed. Well, unless they got things out of the way quicker than she anticipated. She hoped so.

A/N: This was previously typed quite a while ago, and it is, to be truthful, not that great. I've been fixing it a bit though, so in the time between my updates, I'll be revising, not actually typing. I'm going to be busy during spring break, but I do promise to update within a week's time. The more reviews I get, the sooner. I will warn you, there isn't really a true plot until later on, and even then it skips around a bit. But if you liked this, then feel free to drop a review and remember that constructive criticism is always appreciated. As always, thanks for reading, and stay awesome ;)