"C'mon, Nico! Loosen up!"

Nico di Angelo did not want to "loosen up". He wanted to be at home, lounging around in sweat pants, and watching this week's newest episode of his favorite show. Nico di Angelo did not want to be in his high school's gymnasium for senior prom, dressed up in a suit and tie that looked absolutely ridiculous on him.

His dark eyes darted to the blue eyes of Jason Grace, his best friend who had dragged him to prom. Jason had a date, Piper McLean, but she had yet to arrive. Prom had only started about ten minutes ago, and couples were still flooding through the doors as the bass from the DJ's set up pounded.

Nico seethed. "How many times did I tell you that I didn't want to be here? Not having a date makes it three hundred times worse, you know." He paused and then reared his angry head towards the blond. "Oh, I'm sorry, but you wouldn't know, you've been dating the same girl for four years!"

Jason slung and arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and leaned over a bit, so that his face was level with Nico's. He looked out into the crowd.

"Sorry, alright? I just didn't want you spending this particular Friday night alone. Is that so bad?" He paused for a moment, and then continued. "There's someone else here tonight who doesn't have a date, and I'm sure they will find you, and you two will have a great time."

Nico's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, right." Unless Percy Jackson miraculously breaks up with his girlfriend of almost six years, then I'm shit out of luck, he thought, but quickly rid his mind of the thought. Even though he couldn't have the green eyed boy of his dreams, he was happy that Percy was in a good relationship, regardless of the fact that it was not with Nico himself.

"Fine, don't believe me," Jason said as he stood up straight again, removing his arm from Nico's shoulders. He glanced over his shoulder. "There's Piper. Gotta go, dude. See ya later." He ruffled Nico's dark hair before walking away.

Nico watched as Jason embraced Piper. He sighed and made his way over to one of the decorated tables that seemed abandoned. He took a seat at a table that was probably the furthest away from everyone. His dark eyes scanned the crowd.

First, he caught sight of his half sister, Hazel, with her boyfriend of two years, Frank. Frank had been to their house on multiple occasions, and Nico really liked the guy. He was smart and sensible, a little clumsy, but a nice guy all the same. Nico was happy that Hazel was with him tonight.

Not too far away from them was Leo Valdez, Jason's other best friend. His date, Calypso, was standing with him, and it looked like he was cracking jokes. The two of them hadn't been dating for very long, but Nico knew they would be together for a long time after this.

Finally, Nico's gaze landed on none other than the infamous Percy Jackson, and his girlfriend of almost six years, Annabeth Chase. The two of them were dancing slowly together, but a slow song was not playing. The blonde and the raven haired boy were practically inseparable since the day they had met, or so Nico had heard. Nico had moved to the school district three years after Annabeth and Percy had already been dating, and unfortunately for Nico, he had fell hard for the other boy. He knew it was entirely impossible for them to ever be together as long as he was with Annabeth. Nico was pretty sure they were going to end up married one day.

He tore his eyes away from the couple and stared straight ahead, not really focusing on one specific thing. Nico then laid his head down on the table muttered to himself. "This is fine. It's not like I would enjoy myself anyways."

"Go talk to him, then. What are you waiting for?"

Will Solace didn't exactly know what he was waiting for. Some confidence, perhaps? He sure as hell wasn't getting any from his two best friends starring him down.

He glanced over his shoulder at the lone boy sitting at a table closest to the wall. His dark head of hair dropped to the table and his hand played with the centerpiece in the middle of the table. Will frowned. Why on earth was he sitting alone? Why wasn't he dancing with some drop dead gorgeous date? The blond played with the ends of his jacket and turned around to face Lou Ellen and Cecil.

Lou Ellen stood there, hands on her hips, her foot tapping away impatiently. "Go. Talk. To him. Nothing's going to happen if you just sit here and stare at him."

"I know that," Will bit back. "It's just..."

"It's just nothing; you're just nervous," Cecil interrupted him. He gently pushed him in Nico di Angelo's direction. "Just walk up to him and say something. This is your last chance to talk to him before graduation tomorrow, I hope you know that."

Cecil was right, and Will knew it. He bit his bottom lip, exhaled deeply through his nose, and stiffly made his way over to the dark haired boy on the other side of the gym.

"Is this seat taken?"

Nico looked up to see a tall boy with blond locks framing his tan and freckled face. His eyes were startlingly blue in contrast with the pale blue dress shirt he wore under his plain black suit jacket. Nico sat up straight, suddenly aware of his terrible posture. He recognized this kid from a few of his classes from the past few years. Maybe they had gym class once-or was it health?-and he was pretty sure he had been in the same English class or two.

He realized he hadn't answered his question. Nico quickly shook his head instead of giving a verbal answer, fearing that it would come out as a squeak. The blond sat in the chair across from Nico and braved looking him square in the face.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about this, but what's your name again?" Nico tripped over his words as they spilled from his mouth. "I'm pretty sure we had a few classes together at some point, and I'm just really bad with names-"

"Will," the blond said. Was that a tone of disappointment in his voice? "Will Solace. I sat in the front in our health class this year?"

Nico blinked as he looked over Will again. A flash of a picture of Will came across his mind, but the blond had glasses and was in casual attire (a t-shirt and cargo pants), with his hair mused. It was a stark contrast to the Will standing before him.

"Oh, yeah, th-that's right," Nico stammered again. He then added in a much quieter tone, "Y-you clean up nice."

Shit, that was so fucking stupid, Nick scolded himself as he buried his face in his hands. He felt his face burn to the tips of his ears. Oh god, why did he say that?

Instead of hearing a weirded out response, Will Solace giggled. He fucking giggled. Nico dared to look up and drop his hands from his face.

Will smiled at him. "So do you."

Nico's breath hitched in his throat at the words. He covered his mouth with his hand to keep him from saying something stupid, and he dropped his gaze.

While Nico wasn't looking, Will turned around to facd where Lou Ellen and Cecil stood across the gym. He gave them his dorkiest smile and a thumbs up to let them know he was doing just fine. The blond turned around just in time to see Nico sit up straight again.

Before either of them could say something, the music coming from the DJ's booth slowed down. Nico recognized it from one of the songs from Hazel's playlist when she played it at home; he was pretty sure it was a Lana del Rey song, but he couldn't remember the name of it. He met Will's eyes.

The blond got to his feet and held out a hand for Nico. His eyes flitted between the dark haired boy and the floor, his face flushed.

"Would you like to dance with me?"

Nico looked back and forth between Will's face and his outstretched hand. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and took Will's hand.

Nico had gripped Will's hand tightly as the blond led the both of them to the dance floor. Couples around them were dancing slowly to the flowing tune. When the pair got to the edge of the floor, Nico gently placed his hands on Will's shoulders, uncertainty creeping into his dark blue-black eyes.

The blond placed his hands lightly on Nico's waist, as if reassuring him that this was fine. Will stepped closer to Nico, and the two of them started to get lost to the music.

The dark haired boy accidentally stepped on Will's toes. He jumped a but in surprise, and started to ramble off apologies. "Shit, my bad; I'm sorry-"

The blond pulled him slightly closer. "Calm down, you're so tense. You're doing fine."

The chorus of the song rolled from the speakers, and Nico then recognized the title of the song; Young and Beautiful, and it was definitely a Lana del Rey song. He looked up at the blond again, and almost forgot how to breathe.

His sky blue eyes had softened and he peered from behind his wavy blond bangs. His face had somehow been able to express every single ounce of affection and endearment in his body as they swayed to the music.

Nico wasn't all too sure how this had happened. One minute, he was moping about not being able to have Percy Jackson as his date, and the next thing he knew, he was thinking that Percy Jackson wasn't all that great anymore. He was thinking that a certain blond had taken over the place in his heart that had been reserved for the green eyed heart throb.

"You know," Will whispered as they turned again. "I've been...I've been wanting to ask you out for the longest time."

Nico looked up at him, as if what he said was a joke. But when he looked into his sky blue eyes, Nico knew it was nothing but a joke. "R-really? Wow, I...I feel like a real jerk then."

"Why's that?" Will asked, the chorus playing again in the background.

"I just...I never really took notice of you these past four years," Nico muttered. "And here you are, telling me you've been wanting to ask me out forever. That makes me feel like a really shitty person for not knowing that you looked at me in that way all this time."

Will chuckled a bit. "Honestly, those past four years are totally worth it. Because right now, this is probably the greatest day of my life."

Nico wasn't really sure how to respond to that, but he just smiled softly and continued to dance with the blond. He even found the courage to lean his head on Will's shoulder.

The song was coming to a close, and Nico felt Will's shoulders tense up. The dark haired boy looked up at him again and saw that the blond's face was flushed red.

"Is something wrong, Will?" Nico asked. Will bit his lower lip again.

"Can I," He stopped himself, and then tried again. "Can I kiss you?"

Nico stopped for a moment, dropping his hands to Will's chest. Panic settled in his blue eyes, as if he had said something wrong, but he didn't get to voice his worries. Nico gently cupped the sides of the blond's face, went up on his toes, and closed to space between their lips.

Will's lips were tense against Nico's, but after a moment, the blond relaxed against him, pulled him closer. He kissed Nico back, tentively at first, but grew more relaxed.

The song had ended, and some other slow song was playing now. But the odd thing Nico heard was clapping.

He stepped back from Will, but was still wrapped up on his arms. The two of them had somehow wormed their way into the middle of the dance floor during their dance. The other couples around them had noticed Will and Nico and stopped what they were doing.

Nico realized he just kissed Will Solace in front of his graduating class, and he brought his hand to his mouth again, blushing scarlet all the way up to his ears. Will chuckled again, slinging his arm around Nico's slighter shoulders, and kissed Nico on the side of his head, near his eyebrow. The dark haired boy started to giggle along with Will, and it was in that moment that he realized just how happy he was.

"I wish I had the confidence to ask you out sooner," Will said after a moment, and everyone had gone back to dancing again. "It's just a little too late now, huh? Well probably never really see each other after this."

"You mean you wouldn't want to be my boyfriend after this?" Nico asked innocently. "I thought you were better than that, Solace."

Nico smirked at him, and the blond blushed. "R-really? You'd really want to...to go out with me? Wow, that would just...today would probably just make my whole life, honestly."

The dark haired boy leaned his head on Will's chest, and smiled. "You're a dork, Will Solace. I would be honored to be your boyfriend."

Will put his hands on the other boy's shoulders, making Nico look up again. The blond placed a brief chaste kiss on Nico's lips and smiled at him again. "Thank you, Nico."