Nico winced in pain, his fingers twitching where they clenched his knees tightly. Will smiled apologetically, gently prodding bruises on Nico's thin chest with skilled and experienced hands.

"I'm sorry if I'm inflicting more pain on you," Will said quietly, gently easing Nico's arms above his head. "But I need to check for internal bleeding- you had a rather large, aggressive animal press two paws to your chest, also knocking you off your feet, so I'm worried you might have a fracture somewhere within your body."

Nico didn't quite understand what Will was talking about- he spoke in such rapid- fire English Nico was sure that even if he wasn't a foreigner, he still would not have been able to understand Will's words. As it was, Nico wished Annabeth was back in the tent with them, as she would be able to translate for them. But Nico had firmly willed everyone out of the tent, as his tongue had felt thick in his mouth at the thought of multiple people seeing him shirtless. It wasn't that he was insecure about his body, but he was modest- and yes, he had a thin chest and shoulders that were too broad for his height and weight. Plus, next to Will, Nico was very pale, despite being from a nation where one was in the sun for long hours of the day.

Will was very pretty. Nico couldn't get this thought out of his head, though he supposed he ought to feel a bit disturbed by his thoughts. Boys did not call other boys pretty. But that was exactly what Will was- when Nico could look at him up close like this, he could see Will's pale eyelashes were very thick and his lips full. His hair was silkier than it first appeared, corn-silk blond, locks falling around his face in curled ribbons and tied at the base of his neck. He was also not white, which made Nico like him even more. It was never black people who spat discriminatory remarks at him. He was very pretty indeed.

Nico hissed when Will began wrapping a bandage around his chest. He looked up at Will reproachfully, and Will grimaced in apology. He did not seem to enjoy Nico's pain, for which Nico was grateful. It would have been extremely humiliating if he were to be laughed at due to his pain.

"You don't speak much English?" Will asked, and Nico frowned, wondering where the topic came from. He decided to go with it anyway.

"No- English is… not my first language." Nico said. Will nodded in understanding, picking up a pair of scissors.

"I know what you mean- my mother is from the Pacific Islands, near Australia, and came to the USA. She didn't know much English and it was very frustrating for her." Will shook his head. "My father apparently taught her some English, but not much."

Nico felt as if Will was closing off now, not wanting to talk anymore. He could respect that- fathers were not a welcomed topic for him either. And he didn't exactly know where Australia was either.

"You speak very good English." He said, pulling a face at his own slurred words. Will smiled, taping the bandage together with a pin.

"Thank you, but I was born in New Jersey." He said, amusement colouring his voice. He pointed at Nico's arm. "Would you also like some ointment for those scars on your upper arm?"

Nico startled, and craned his head to see his arm. He had nearly forgotten about the deep scars on his arm. It had been so long since he had received them. "A dog pounced me when I was young."

Will looked troubled. "That must've hurt."

He walked over to box and began rummaging through it. He then came back, holding a small container filled with a thick, questionable white liquid. "This should heal the scar tissue a bit."

Nico took the container gingerly. "Thank you."

Will waved a hand and smiled. "No need to thank me, I'm a doctor, I like to help people."

Nico thought about that. It did not sound like the worst thing in the world, enjoying helping people. It sounded very gratifying, in fact.

"Are you guys finished in here?"

It was Percy, who pulled back the curtain to the tent. Immediately, Nico felt awkward, and he reached for his shirt, pulling it on and buttoning the front. Will looked back at him and smiled.

"Yeah." He gave Nico a once over, which caused a strange blush to creep up Nico's chest. What on earth? Why was Will affecting him this way?

"You have to be careful not to do too much lifting or exercise," Will continued. "It'll upset your injury and make it worse, so don't put any stress on it, okay?"

Nico nodded and glanced at Percy, then looked back at Will. He fidgeted slightly in his seat, unsure of what to do.

"Thank you," He said. It was the only thing he could think of. Will smiled brightly.

"No problem, it's what I'm here for." He paused and then ruffled Nico's hair. Nico frowned and quickly patted his hair back down. "Just make sure you don't have to come here again- I'd hate to have to patch you up a second time."

Nico smiled slightly. "Right."

He stood and walked over to Percy, who was watching their interaction with amusement and interest. Nico tried not to read too much into that. Being friendly wasn't something that was unusual, was it? Will didn't seem to think so, but Nico was suddenly unsure. He was still getting used to this country, what if the customs he followed were different to those here?

Nico looked back at Will, who smiled at him in an almost sweet way. Nico smiled back, unable to help himself, and then followed Percy out of the tent.

/\

"Well, it was lovely having you, Nico." Percy said, smiling widely. Nico smiled back with a small blush, ducking his head.

"You're welcome," He said in Italian, glad Annabeth was once again there to translate. "I appreciate your hospitality, thank you for allowing me to see the show."

Percy nodded along as Annabeth spoke, and then grinned at Nico. "It's no problem at all!"

Bianca adjusted her cap. "It's time to go now, Nico. Mama is going to be worried if we're not home soon."

Nico nodded and sighed, thanking Percy again. He grinned and said. "You can come here for free anytime, you're an honoured guest, alright?"

Nico blushed, he simply couldn't help it. No one had ever called him an honoured guest before, and it made him very happy.

As he and Bianca walked away, he wondered at what point he'd be able to see this circus again. They were leaving soon, said the sign out the front, and unless Nico visited tomorrow, he would not be able to see them for a very long time.

He would just have to wait and see.

15/12/15

Author's Note (Generic): I'M BACK YAY!

My hiatus was a lot shorter than I thought it'd be, to be honest. I've just started my six week holidays, and I'm hoping to finish a few of my stories in that time! I'm really unhappy with my writing right now, though. I'm kind of rusty at the moment. I've only been writing essays and study notes for so long now aha!

Once these six weeks are up, I probably won't update as frequently again, though. I've started my last year of high school, and I've got a scholarship for university, but if I want to obtain the $20 000 for the tuition, I need to receive an ATAR of 90+ (which is like, the hardest to get and only like, 2 people a year in the state get it .). So i'll need to study loads next year, but for now I'm work free so YAY!

Author's Note (for this fic):

I feel like this might be one of my more challenging fics to come back to, because I had to research a lot about the time period and I had to really look into Nico's brain, and I didn't really get much reception for this one, but I absolutely love the idea still, so I'm definitely going to continue, don't worry about that!

This story was one that I was most eager to get back to, because I had wanted to write a circus AU a long time before I actually did! I had spoken to a couple of friends like, 8 months before I began writing Big Top, and I was telling them I had an idea for a circus fanfiction and then I finally wrote it- and then I stopped writing all together -.- Good going, me. You're awesome.

Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think!