Hello!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 4 - How Will finds out the truth (sort of)

Nico had fallen asleep shortly after his introduction, so Will was left to himself.

He took the box of Chinese Take-Away out of the fridge and heated it up in the microwave, then sat down on a chair at the table. He pulled his laptop towards him, followed by some of his medical books, ready to continue writing on his paper. He wrote down a whole of two sentences, before he looked over towards Nico.

He hadn't gotten anymore information out of him, other than his name, but Will was fine with that. He was glad he didn't have to call him 'the boy' anymore.

The food tasted delicious, even after warming it up, and Will made a mental note to go to the place more often.

Focusing back on his task, he wrote down another sentence, before his gaze and his thoughts traveled again. Will slapped himself against the forehead when he noticed his staring.

"Focus, Solace!", he muttered.

After another ten minutes of doing nothing, he gave up.

Instead he opened the search bar and typed in 'gang logos'. He went to pictures and scrolled through them for a bit, before changing his question to 'gang logos Manhattan'. There were noticeably less results and Will started searching for the one on Nico's bandana, just to make sure he was right. He found it after a few seconds and was ready to click on it, when his gaze fell on the picture next to it. There were two women in the picture, both taking mugshots. They looked completely different except for a little tattoo they shared. The had both a Omega sign, the woman on the left had it on her shoulder, peeking out from under her shirt, the woman on the right had hers on the back of the hand holding the sign.

Will scrolled down and found the Omega twice again. Yep, this was definitely a gang logo. He looked over at Nico, who was still sleeping. Same tattoo.

Will was confused. He had a tattoo of the logo of one gang, but was wearing the bandana of another. To which did he belong? Did he change loyalties? Was he a spy? Did he break into the base of the Titánio Kai Gígantes and used the bandana as a costume? Was he captured and forced to become a member?

Will hadn't even noticed he had started pacing until he slammed into his fridge.

The sound woke Nico up again, and the dark haired boy sat up, frowning slightly. Will blushed bright red and ducked his head in shame.

"Sorry for waking you", he muttered.

It was dark already outside and Will nearly cursed. He had lessons tomorrow and if he didn't go to bed soon he would be tired through the whole day.

"You should sleep, let your body rest", Will advised the other boy.

He went to clean up his food and after he got no response, he was ready to disappear behind his divider and go to sleep.

"Uh...Will?", came the quiet voice of his patient.

Will turned around to look at him in question.

"Can I...uh...take a shower?"

Will hadn't thought of that. Nico was still mostly covered in blood, grime and sweat, not exactly pleasant. He was also still wearing black skinny jeans, which must be pretty uncomfortable to sleep in.

"Sure", Will said, then he backtracked. "But I don't know if it is a good idea with the...you now"

Will made a vague gesture over his own shoulder, but apparently Nico understood. He looked down.

"Oh, right. Well, good night then", he muttered and laid back down.

Will felt bad, but there was nothing he could do. Nico wouldn't be able to take a shower until his stab wound had gotten better and they could take off the bandage. They way it was now, the force of the water would tear open the wound and he would start bleeding again. But, Will told himself, he could get Nico a wet washcloth tomorrow and some fresh clothes. And maybe he could wash his hair.

The next morning, Will followed up on his thought. After drinking a complete mug of coffee and eating some cereal. He placed an apple, some water and a slice of bread next to Nico, who was still sleeping, then he went into his bathroom. He picked out a fresh tooth brush, a towel and a washcloth, placing them all on the small stool under the window. Then he picked out some clothing and placed it next to it. Satisfied with the result, he returned to the main room and packed his bag.

Before leaving, he wrote a long note explaining everything and then he closed the door.

Walking into the Main Building of Olympus College, Will was swept into a hug.

"Hey there, Lou Ellen", he greeted the lively girl.

Lou Ellen had apparently dyed her hair again, because it was black now. Until two days ago it was bright red. Will sniffed slightly, the smell of fresh hair dye wafting into his nose. Ugh. He never understood why Lou Ellen ruined her hair like this. A lot of the products were better than the ones she was using and not nearly as damaging.

Lou Ellen pulled away and started dragging Will towards one of the benches in the entry hall. They sat down between two Greek style columns and Lou Ellen immediately launched into a story.

"So, we haven't really hung out together in a while, so I thought we could see a movie together or something?", she proposed, finishing her long rant.

Will opened his mouth ready to say 'Sounds good', when he thought back to what his priorities were at the moment.

Wait, since when is Nico a priority?

Since you dragged him home and committed your past two days to saving his life, a voice said in his head.

Oh, right.

"Sorry Lou, I have a lot to do at the moment", he said, not even lying this time.

Lou Ellen groaned.

"You always have a lot to do", she complained and huffed. "Fine, I'll hang out with Cecil, then"

Then she turned towards him. "By the way, when was the last time you took a shower?"

Will's eyes widened. Did he stink that much? Yeah, he really hadn't had any time to shower since that night two days ago, but he had washed himself.

"Don't worry, you don't stink, or anything, your shampoo smell is gone, is all", Lou Ellen said, snickering. Probably making fun of Will's horrified face.

"Anyway, what is on your mind at the moment? A certain someone, perhaps?", Lou Ellen teased.

Will blushed. Yes there was someone on his mind, just not for that reason.

Her eyes widened comically.

"Oh my god, there is someone on your mind!", she exclaimed.

A few heads turned in their direction and Will scowled at her.

"Can you keep your voice down!", he hissed.

He wanted to tell her that he didn't think about Nico like that, but he never got the chance, because in that moment another boy turned up in front of them.

"Hey, guys!", Cecil greeted.

Lou Ellen grinned and opened her mouth, probably to start telling her about his non existent crush. Will prevented that by clamping his hand over her mouth.

"We have to go to classes", he gritted out between clenched teeth, glaring at both Lou Ellen and Cecil. Apparently, they got the message and kept their mouths shut.

When he got home that evening, Nico was awake.

Will opened the door, ready to shed his jacket and his bag, when he slammed into a body, sending both of them to the floor. A quiet 'Ow' was heard and Will blinked, coming face to face with his patient. Realizing that he was lying on top of Nico, he quickly scrambled to his feet and then helped the other man up.

"Why are you walking around?", he asked.

He let his eyes travel over the other, checking for any new injuries. He noticed that Nico seemed to have gotten the message and had changed clothes. Also, the dirt and blood had disappeared from his hair.

"I need to go", Nico said urgently.

He tried to walk past Will, but the taller boy blocked his way and quickly closed the door.

"You are not going anywhere. It's a miracle that you can even stand up", Will said.

He took Nico's shoulders and gently pushed him back towards the sofa.

"You don't get it", Nico muttered.

Then, louder, he said: "It's really important that I go now. I'm thankful for your help, but I'm fine now"

Will noticed a small bead of sweat rolling down Nico's neck. The standing seemed to be a bit much for the injured boy. He was definitely not 'fine'.

Will told him as much. Nico looked really annoyed by that and rolled his eyes.

A bit more forceful than before, Will started pushing Nico backwards and guided him to the sofa. While the black haired man sat down and glared at him, the other ran to get the Ambrosia. According to the text written on the package it had to be applied every day until the scrapes disappeared. After he found the salve, he sat down next to Nico.

"Can I?", he asked, pointing to the t-shirt Nico was wearing.

It was one of Will's only dark colored ones – he figured Nico liked dark clothes – and a bit to big for the other. Nico huffed but nodded. If he could he would probably cross his arms.

Will gently lifted the shirt to see the scrapes, pleasantly surprised. The Ambrosia seemed to work well, some of the scrapes had a scab, which was good, the rest looked more pink then red. All in all, they were healing well. The bigger scratches were doing well, also, and Will was positive he could take out the threads tomorrow. After inspecting them, he told Nico to take the shirt off, so he could put the salve on without getting some on the clothing. He gently applied the salve, careful not to press too hard and cause the other pain.

"What did you do to get these?", he asked curiously.

Nico looked over at him and seemed to think of an appropriate answer to this question. It was silent for a while, Nico just staring at him and Will gave up the hope of receiving an answer.

"I jumped out of a car", Nico said, breaking the silence.

Will nearly chocked on air at that.

"What?!", he exclaimed.

Was he joking? He must be joking.

"It crashed into a house shortly after", Nico continued, ignoring Will's outburst.

"Wait, so you were involved in the crash two days ago? With the explosion?", Will asked.

Nico nodded. "Yeah, that was kind of my fault, but also the fault of somebody else."

Will stared at him with an open mouth. It was Nico's fault the car crashed? He knew that there was something off about the accident but he didn't think it was planned. Was it planned? It must be, why would anybody voluntarily crash a car into a house?

"Why did you do that?", Will asked. He barely noticed how hysterical he sounded.

Nico gave him a pained look, like he didn't want to talk about it.

"Long story", he said.

Will's eyes drifted to the tattoo on Nico's chest. He tapped it.

"Does it have anything to do with that?", he asked.

Will didn't want to admit it, but he feared the answer.

"Or with that?", he continued, nodding towards the green bandana lying on the table.

Nico's eyes flickered towards the piece of clothing and he pulled a face.

"Why do you still have that thing?", he muttered.

Apparently it wasn't meant for Will to be heard, so he pretended he didn't. Nico turned his gaze back towards Will's face. He looked angry but there was also an undertone of curiosity in his eyes.

"How do you know what that is?", he asked.

"I...uh...Google", Will stuttered. The look unnerved him a lot. Was he going to get stabbed now? "It's a gang logo, right?"

Nico sighed and nodded. He tore his gaze away from Will and looked at the hand in his lap.

"It has something to do with it and that's also why I really need to go", Nico said quietly.

Somehow, Will was disappointed. He really wanted to know more, but on the other hand he didn't. Will was a med student, a perfectly normal guy, he didn't want to get involved with anything that had to do with the dark side of New York. So, why was he disappointed? Sometimes Will didn't even make sense to himself.

"Why do you need to go? What is so important?", he asked, a last attempt at getting Nico to stay.

It was because he worried about his health, no other reasons.

"Because I killed two members of a rival gang and they are definitely searching for me. Also, there is something very important I have to tell somebody.", Nico said, voice completely devoid of any emotion.

"Oh", Will made.

He didn't expect that. He knew that these gangs were brutal and their members killed each other, but he couldn't imagine Nico to do that. He just didn't seem like the type to do something like that. It was probably because Will had seen Nico in such a vulnerable state that he couldn't imagine him harming anybody. Actually, just picturing Nico as a member of such a gang was hard. From what he had seen on TV and in the newspaper, gang members weren't exactly the most beautiful of people, covered in tattoos, bald and addicted to drugs. Nico was none of these things.

"I didn't even know gang members could be so handsome"

Nico's head snapped up and he stared at him in shock.

"What?", he asked, his voice high pitched.

Will blinked at him and then turned into a tomato.

"Did I just say that out loud?", he asked in a panicked whisper.

"Uh...yeah"

"Oh"

Will shifted uncomfortably and looked away. Just no eye contact and everything will turn out fine.

After a few awkward minutes, Nico started moving around, picking up the shirt and pulling it back on. He obviously struggled with it and it caused him pain, but Will was unwilling to help. If he did that he had to look at him and then he would turn red again and couldn't the earth just swallow him already?

Telling another guy that he was handsome just after said guy told him he had killed someone. How wrong was that? What was wrong with Will that he thought something like that? Not the part about Nico being a guy, Will knew that he was gay and he was totally fine with that, but the timing was just horrible. And yes, Nico was handsome, and yes Will was aware of that, but you don't just say that out loud.

He was ripped out of his thoughts by Nico standing up and taking a few wobbly steps towards the door. He didn't came far because his legs gave out and he had to hold on to the sofa or he would fall over.

Immediately, Will was by his side, helping him to stand.

"What do you think you're doing?", he hissed.

"Leaving", Nico responded. He scowled at Will, who glared right back.

"You can't even walk to the door without falling over and you plan to walk who knows how far through the city? Forget it!", he said.

"There is a little something called the subway", Nico responded.

"You are staying, doctor's orders"

Will picked Nico up and then sat him down on the sofa again, ignoring the man's protest of "You are not even a real doctor!"