Chapter Three

Please Enjoy!

*this one is all in Will's POV*

Day Two - early morning

I walk into the infirmary, toss my winter coat the rack, put on my white coat and am immediately greeted by Kayla, who just completed her night shift.

"Any troubles?" I ask her.

I walk over to her. She's standing behind the front desk reading a new book and a blanket draped over her shoulders. "None. I started a fire in the fireplace since it was getting cold." She told me. She closed her book and stood up.

"And Nico?" I asked her. "How about him?" I asked her worryingly.

She laughed. "Are you still worrying about what Annabeth said? Don't worry. And he's okay. I think he slept." She walked over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. "No need to worry."

I took a deep breath. "I hope not." I laughed. "Well you should get going. You had a long night, and others should be arriving soon and unless you want to be here once it gets busy, you should get going."

Kayla removes her hands and laughs. "Totally." She takes off her white coat and puts on her coat. "Bye Will!" She takes her leave.

After tending to the fire in the waiting room and greeting my siblings who will be helping in the infirmary today, about five others, I grab some blankets and bring them over to the dryer and toss them in for about ten minutes.

I turn on my heel, humming with satisfaction, and walk over to the room I've been waiting to go to. I knock on the door and step in. I stop and giggle under my breath. On the bed is Nico curled up with only is nose sticking out. "So cute!" I whisper to myself as I walk over and tuck him in.

I check the clock, and since the sun hasn't started to rise yet, I close the curtains, hoping that maybe Nico can get an extra few snoozes in. The other day when when Hazel visited, she said that Nico doesn't ever sleep, that he only pretends to sleep. She said she only knew because Reyna told her, She said she didn't even notice herself because she was asleep.

After closing the curtains, I tuck him in once again. I grab the sheets above his face and wrap them nicely around his head, keeping him warm. "Sleep tight." I kiss his forehead and step back.

I walk towards the door and step out. As I close the door, I hear one of my siblings call me over as the blankets have finished warmed up. "It's done!"

"Thank you!" I call back. I pick up the few blankets and start walking through the hallways, walking in and out, giving it to the patients. I take the old blankets and sing a few songs and take my leave. This goes on for a while before I return back to Nico's room.

I'm left with, just as planned, a pink blanket and a grey blanket. I walk in the room and Nico is still sleeping soundly on the bed. I place the blankets on the table and remove the old blankets carefully not to wake him up.

Nico moves around, not much, and also curls up more but that's it. After I get the last blanket off I grab the grey blanket and wrap Nico before I tuck him in. I stand up taking a long look at Nico; his messy hair, eyelashes, fingertips.

I grab the old blanket and toss it in the corner of the room, before grabbing the pink blanket and heading for the door.

"Will?"

I almost fall down as I turn around in the mostly dark room. Nicos morning voice is so sweet and slurry, it's almost as if he was hungover but better. "Nico? Are you awake?" I walk over to him and sit on the bed.

Nico reaches for my hand and holds it. "Yeah. Is it morning yet?" He asks me.

"Yeah. It should be sunlight now, if you want you can sleep in." I tell him.

Nico giggles. "I don't feel like it…" I feel his grip relax on my hand, until his hand lets go of mine. "Can we go somewhere today?" He asks me.

I blush. "You still seem sleepy." I tell him.

"Hmm… I'm also hungry." He laughs as he sits up slowly.

I laugh with him. "Do you want some bacon?"

Nico's eyes shoot open and he grins. "Yes please."

"Okay. I'll be right back with some." I stood up and left my pink blanket on the bed. Taking a step towards the door, I smoothed my hair back and waved bye to Nico.

Day Two -morning

I walked over to the mess hall to grab some bacon and some food for Nico, who was hopefully taking a nap. While walking out the mess hall, I was stopped by Piper and Annabeth who asked how Nico was, and after talking for a minute or two, we parted ways and I headed straight back to the infirmary.

Once I'm back in the infirmary, I head over to Nico's room and open the door. "Nico?" I whisper in.

The room is is lit from sunlight, the curtains are open and the window is open, letting in the morning breeze. "Hey." Nico is on the bed, already dressed in some jeans, and a black hoodie. "Welcome back."

"Nice to be back." I hand him his place which he takes with a 'thank you.' I grab a chair and sit at the desk next to the window. "Do you want to go anywhere today?"

I look over at Nico and he's holding back some laughter. "Why? Do you want to go out on a date or something?"

I blush. "No. Do you?" I ask him, a little too harshly than I meant too.

He blushes back. He hesitantly answers back. "Maybe…"

I don't answer back, with the thought of what Cecil and Annabeth told me the other day in my head, that Nico should make the first move. That I shouldn't push Nico to do anything.

So we sit in silence with our heads down. I look away and back out the window, looking at the beach.

"Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" Nico speaks up.

I look back at him, not saying anything.

Nico is still just sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and the plate on his lap. "Is that a yes or no?" His smile faded.

I still didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a no." He grabbed his plate and stood up.

I jump up from my seat with my plate and follow after him. "Oh wait. No!" I grab his hand.

He turns around and faces me, blushing. "No, as in you don't want to?" Nico looks as if he is on the verge of crying.

I grip his hand tighter. "No. I meant no I meant to say yes I want to go to the beach with you." I tell him, slowing letting my grip on his hand relax.

Nico smiles. "Okay. Do you have anything to do today here?" He asks me.

"Nope. I believe I can leave today." I tell him. I throw my plate in the trash and Nico lets go of my hand.

"Really? Aren't you needed here though?" He asks me.

I smile him and I think of something really sweet and cheesy to say to him. "You need me more." And immediately he blushes and buries his head in between his his hands before returning to the bed and laying down on his stomach.

"Augh!" Nico covers himself with the pink blanket. I walk over to him and lay down next to him. "Can we lay down and take a nap for a bit?" He asks me.

"Sure." I smile.

I take off my white coat and shoes and Nico takes of his shoes before we both snuggle under some blankets. "Hm?" I feel Nico's hands on my chest as he tries on get on me and lays down on my chest and uses me as a pillow. I smile and I wrap arms around Nico.

"Shouldn't we close the window?" Nico asks.

I look out the window. The sun is very bright with very few clouds today, and with a nice breeze. "Nah. It's nice out." I cuddle him closer, and start to hum 'Living on a Prayer' by Bon Jovi, which annoying was the first song to pop in my head, due to my siblings in the mornings having a little sing off.

Day Two - lunch

Nico woke me up by poking me in the side. "You awake?" He asks me.

I look down at him and at his messy hair. I grin at him "I am now."

Nico arms are still wrapped around me and so are my arms, so we unwrap ourselves and sit up. "Should we get going?" Nico asks me, hugging me from behind.

"Yeah. You can go wait in the waiting room. I need to get some stuff first. Okay?" I stand up from his hug.

"Sure." He stands up, and I hand him his shoes.

I put on my shoes, fold my coat, leaving it in the room and grabbing the old blanket to throw it in the washer.

I meet up with Nico in the waiting room where he is sitting down on the couch, talking with Austin and drinking some lemonade. "I'm back." I call towards them.

"Hey." Austin greets me.

Nico stands up. "Well, we're going to the beach now."

Austins eyes widen. "Oh? Will's gonna get some?"

Nico blushs. "Um… I'm not gonna respond to that. Goodbye." Nico speedwalks to the door, slamming it behind him, and leaving me behind.

I look back at Austin who's laughing. I slap him in the back of the head. "What was that for?" He asks me, rubbing the back of his head.

"I could ask you the same thing!" I tell him. "Why did you even say that?"

"Well, it's a date, right?"

"No. It's just a walk." I tell him. "He just wanted to go for a walk."

Austin apologizes. "Sorry. If i ruined any chances…" He looks down. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

I laugh it off and so does he. "Bye. I'll be back by night." I take my leave.

Once I'm outside, I find Nico sitting on a bench playing with some flowers growing on some huge bounder. I walk over to him and he looks up. "Sorry about that." I tell him.

"It's okay." He stands up. "Let's get going."

I'm half tempted to take his hand as he stand right next to me as we walk on the path to the beach but I don't take his hand. There is about a foot of space between us as we walk a very slow pace.

I look over at Nico and I hear something under his breath, humming the same song from earlier this morning. I giggle. Nico looks over and blushes. "Do you like that song?" I ask him.

Nico thinks for a second. "I guess I do… I think it when you sing it."

I smile. "Thank you. Do you sing?"

Nico laughs. "I don't think I have sung… Is it sung?"

I nod.

"I don't think I've sung for a long time, but I used to." Nico walks a little closer to me until we are a few inches apart.

"Really? I'd like to hear you sing?" I tell him.

"Maybe I will… One day." Nico tells me.

Up ahead, there is a large group of people about to pass so we walk on the right side, while the other group up on the other side so we don't get trapped up in the middle. I lift Nico up and sit him up on the fence and he helps me up so we both sit down until the crowd passes with their weapons and so.

"I wonder where they are going." Nico tells me.

"Annabeth told me something about harcore training with the romans before they left or something like that. It's really funny honestly." I tell him.

Nico laughs. "It does sound funny."

After the crowd passes, and there is only a few people left I jump down, and give Nico my hand. Nico takes my hand and jumps down, careful not to injure himself anymore than he is.

"We're almost there." I tell Nico.

We start walking and once the gravel starts to mix into sand Nico takes my hand. I look over at Nico and he's blushing like wild.

"I really like this." I break the silence.

Nico looks up at me. "What?"

I smile at him. "I like it when you hold my hand. It makes me feel-"

"Bubbly?" Nico interrupts, while laughing.

"Oh gosh." I let go of his hand. "Yeah."

Nico laughs. "Me too!"

We continue to walk while laughing until we reach the main beach and decide to play twenty questions to get to know each other better.

"Me first." Nico says. "What is your favorite color?"

"A sorta pastel yellow, like a sundress yellow." I tell Nico. "What is your favorite snack?"

Nico thinks about it for a second, before putting up his hoodie. "Hmm… Maybe Kit Kats or Milky Ways."

"Really?" We walked a little closer to the shore line, Nico the closer one to it.

"Yeah. That or peppermint bark. What is your favorite book?" Nico asks, taking off his shoes.

I sit down on the sand nearby. "I have a lot of favorites but if I have to choose one it probably has to be The Outsiders by Hinton. It's one of the best. I think it's a classic." I tell him.

Nico throws his shoes a few feet next to me, and starts roll his pants up. "Really? I think I've heard of it. I sorta want to read it."

I smile. "I'll lend it to you sometime."

Nico smiles back at me and stands up. "Okay."

I look up at him and the sight almost makes me want to just run up to him and just shower him with flowers. Nico's taking off his hoodie, but the shirt is coming off with it. His pants are rolled up and and some waves are rolling in. The breeze is making his hair messier than is was earlier. Nico pulls off the hoodie completely, and pulls down his shirt, tucking it in, making him look like a complete hot nerd.

"Will? Are you okay?" Nico walks over and leans down in front of me.

I fall backwards. "Huh? I'm totally fine. Nothing to worry about."

Nico laughs and throws his hoodie with the shoes. "Do you wanna go in the water with me?"

"Sure." I take off my shoes. "Okay. Your turn."

"Hmm..." Nico stands next to me, thinking of a question. "What's your favorite animal?"

"I don't know." I take my jacket off. "Is the water warm?" I ask him.

"How do you not know? And I guess it's pretty warm." He tells me.

I take my shirt off and I see Nico blush and turn around. "I don't really know what my favorite animal is, but I guess ducks are cute."

Nico giggles. "Ducks?"

I take his hand and lead him back to the water. "Yeah. Why not? They're cute. What are yours?" I ask Nico.

"A panda." Nico jumps right in the water, and splashes me.

"Hey!" I jump in after him and chase run down the shoreline for a while before we continue to splash each other. "Stop that!"

"Never!" Nico yells back, splashing me in the face.

We run deeper in the water, until we are almost knee deep in the water.

We stop once we are out of breath and we are laughing.

"So you like pandas?" I ask Nico, once we get back to the shore and sit down.

Nico looks at me, and rolls on his stomach. He lays his head on my lap, and closes his eyes. "They are so cute."

I check my watch. "We should get going back now." I tell Nico.

"What time is it?" Nico asks, not moving from my lap.

"About 2:00 o'clock." I grab Nicos things and my shoes.

Nico gets up from my lap. "This was fun. Can we just lay down until we dry off?" Nico laughs.

I nod my head. "Sure, why not?"

Nico lays back down, and half an hour later, I wake Nico, who has fallen asleep on my lap, and he gets up. "I'm hungry…" Nico tells me as soon as he opens his eyes.

I smile. "Well, we did skip lunch to take a walk on the beach." I tell him.

"Augh." Nico falls backwards. "Will you feed me?" I can tell Nico is joking but I answer anyway.

"Okay." I tell him, handing him his shoes and hoodie. "I'll feed you all your food." I give him my sweetest and sassiest smile.

Nico smiles fade, and he starts to blush. "What? I didn't actually mean that…"

I laughs and stands up to put on my shift with my hoodie and shoes. "Well too bad."

Nico laughs. "Okay then."

After Nico finished dressing up, we left for the mess hall, which would still hopefully be still serving food, and if not then the infirmary would have some canned food which I can make in the kitchen.

We walk in the mess hall barefooted, which is empty, except for some food. Nico grabs some fruits while I grab bread, jam, and some meat. We both head out the door and walk over to the infirmary.

"What is your favorite book?" I ask Nico.

"Huh?" Nico thinks for a second. "Oh, maybe Pride and Prejudice. I read it with Bianca and it used to be her favorite."

"Oh." I look over at Nico, and it looks like I've touched a private subject so I don't pry it anymore. "Sorry."

Nico lightly smiles at me. "Don't worry. Have you ever read it?"

"Yeah. It's a classic." I smile back at him.

Day Two - afternoon

Soon we reach the infirmary, and after struggling to open the door with the food in our hands, the door opens from the other side, and we step in, laughing and dropping some food in on the way in. We sit down before we drop any food and thank Austin, who was the one who open the door.

"Welcome back." He greets us. He hands us a towel before leaving while trying not to laugh but after he turns a corner, loud bursts of laughter can be heard.

"Here." I offer my hand towards Nico as I stand. "Let me help you with some of that."

Nico hands me a plate of glazed strawberries. "Thank you." He smiles as he stands up.

I start walking and take the lead as we walk towards his room but as we take the last turn Nico walks in front of me and opens the door for me. I walk in first and place the food on the desk while Nico closes the door and lays down on the bed.

"Dont lay down." I tell him as I take a seat on a chair.

Nico smiles. "Why not?" He sits up and sits on the edge of the bed.

I hand him a plate. "Nevermind. Just eat up."

Nico smiles and starts to eat up quickly. "Yes'sir." After taking one bite, he asks me a question. "So what's your favor food?"

"Huh?" I think about it for a second. "Maybe barbeque pork with pineapple on a stick or grilled shrimp." I tell him, taking another bite on my food.

Nico giggles. "That's very odding specific but I can very much see you eating that."

"Really? Hmm… Have you ever eaten it?" I ask him.

He swallows his food before answering. "Yeah. It's pretty good."

There's a few minutes of silence. I look out the window and the sun is still going down but if you look very closely and pay attention you can see the sun going down and a slope. I look over at Nico, and I realize it's one of those moments where anything can happen or nothing can happen, but it's like you will remember it forever.

"What is one of those moments that you won't ever forget?" I ask him, putting my plate down, and climbing into bed.

Nico seems started at first but he also places his plate down. "What do you mean?"

I get on my stomach and place my head on a pillow. "Ya know… Just a random moment… In life…" I tell him…

Nico leans back until his head is on the head board. "Well, don't laugh but there was this one time when me and Bianca went ice skating for our vacation."

I nodded my head.

Nico started to smile. "It's sorta funny now but before, my mom got really mad. So my mom was trying to pay for our hotel room when we leaving and while we were waiting in the waiting room, we made a friend. So we went outside to build a snowman."

I smiled. "Was it huge?" I asked.

"Definitely. So, the thing is, we rolled in three big balls." Nico was laughing now. "And my mother turns around, giving me wide eyes and yelling at me and my sister. The friends stacks me snowman and we all just laugh."

I giggle. "That sounds like a lot of fun."

Nico scoots down and gets under the blanket. "Yeah, it was definitely a 'moment.'"

Day Two -night

I look over Nico's head and out the window where the sun is going much faster down. "It's becoming nighttime." I tell Nico.

Nico leans in closer. "Can I ask you something?"

I blush. "Anything."

Nico wraps his arms around me. "Can you stay here? I don't exactly like it here…"

I laugh softly. "Even though I work here…"

Nico teasingly punches me in the shoulder before wrapping his arms around me again. "Not like that. It's just… This is the longest I've been here… It's different…"

I smile and hug him tightly. "That just because you're welcome here."

Nico smiles against my chest. "I guess thats so." Nico snuggles closer. "I like it when you're here. I actually feel like sleeping." Nico giggles.

"Hmm… I noticed." I tell him, lifting my arm out and tucking him in and then hugging him.

"Really? How'd you know?" Nico asked.

"Well, the other day when I left the bed you didn't move at all, or breath at all, which was much different by your standards." I tell him.

Nico blushes. "Sorry. I just couldn't sleep."

"No worries. You can sleep now."

Nico smiles. "Yeah. Now I can. Can you hum a song for me?" He asks me, closing his eyes, and leaning his head on my chest.

I place my head on top of his and think of a song for a second before I think of a perfect one. I start to hum the chorus of Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana and then continue with the rest of the song.

Nico giggles. "That's a good one."

I smile as I hum. Once I'm finished, Nico leans over and kisses me on the cheek. "Huh?" I stare into his eyes as he stays right there in front of me. He kisses me again on the cheek before he lays back down with a massive blush, radiating heat.

"Goodnight Will." Nico lays down with his back facing me and curled up.

So I do the only sensible thing in my mind. I pull him towards me, wrap my hands around him, and kiss him on the cheek.

"Goodnight." I kiss Nico again on the cheek, receiving no complain and we spend the rest of the night in splendid silence and sleep.