Will's head was absolutely pounding. He wiggled his fingers and toes to make sure all of his extremities were still attached. Yes, good. Everything seemed to be functioning; his head just felt like it was slowly imploding…

And someone was stroking it. He tried opening his eyes. And quickly shut them again. The dim world was spinning nauseatingly quickly.

"Will?" the same someone whose hand was on his head asked quietly. "Are you awake?"

Nico, Will thought. What the hell happened? He squinted his eyes open a slit and peered at Nico's pale face hovering upside down above his own. It felt like his head was on Nico's lap.

"Hey, Sunshine," Nico smiled at him. "How you feeling?"

Will shook his head and winced. Bad idea. "Oh, super. Just great."

Nico chuckled. "Well, you don't look too bad. It was a bad knock to the head though. You really shouldn't have tried to take on Clarisse without backup."

"Oh no." Will breathed and closed his eyes again. His stupidity was coming back to him now. It was Friday night so they'd been playing capture the flag. He was on Annabeth's team with the remaining Greeks of the seven and Nico and their respective cabins. While Annabeth and Percy had each led a capturing team, Jason and Piper were guarding their flag and Will and Nico were running a wide perimeter around them to intercept the other team.

Clarisse was captain of the opposing team. And apparently she'd decided that going after the flag on her own was the best strategy. Will had met her sneaking through the woods and decided to confront her. Even though she was alone, Will knew now it was a mistake to think he could sneak up on her. What a stupid idea. Will had been able to deflect one strike from the huge daughter of Ares before he was, apparently, beamed unconscious… "I'm an idiot."

Nico shrugged, "It wasn't your best idea."

"So, did we lose? Was it my fault?" Will groaned.

"I imagine Clarisse has reached our flag by now and is attempting to capture it if she hasn't already. I saw her knock you out. I almost ran after her to make sure she wouldn't be able to knock anyone else out for a good, long while but I had to make sure you were ok first. I tried to wake you up for over five minutes." Nico was scowling now.

But Will was touched. His hothead boyfriend had stopped to make sure he was ok before exacting revenge.

"Why are you smiling like an idiot? Did you get brain damage?" Nico frowned with concern, "What are those questions you said you're supposed to ask concussed people?"

Will giggled (maybe he did have brain damage), but Nico was really cute when he was worried.

"Come on, Sunshine. Let's get you in bed." Nico got to his knees and helped Will sit up. "Do you think you can stand?" Will nodded and braced himself against Nico's forearms. He made it completely upright before his head spun wildly and his knees buckled. Nico caught him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I can get us back. Hang on."

Will yelped, "Nico, wait!" But Nico had already stepped into a shadow and was melting them away.

Will's feet hit solid ground and he fell to his knees groaning, "Nicooo!"

Nico put his shoulder under Will's arm and hoisted him to his feet. "Don't be a crybaby. Here, lay down." He deposited Will in a bed.

"Nico, this is your bed," said Will, looking around. "This is your cabin. We're going to get in trouble."

Nico smirked. "I should watch you to make sure you don't have a concussion. I thought this would be the best place; it's calmer than your cabin or the infirmary."

Will glared at him suspiciously through narrowed eyes, "Well, that's almost true. I probably shouldn't go to sleep for a while just to be safe though." He tried to sit up in the bed and winced, slumping back down. Nico's smug look melted into concern.

"So, your head is really bad, huh?" He walked across the room to the small bathroom in the corner. After fumbling around, he returned with a slightly squished looking tiny square of ambrosia and a damp cloth. "Here, eat this. It should help." Will smiled gratefully and ate the ambrosia; the familiar warm feeling of his mom's apple pie filled his throat. Ambrosia never failed to amaze him; he was feeling better already, if still a little tender.

Nico sat on the bed next to Will and raised the cloth to his forehead. He already felt a bit fevered from the ambrosia and the rag was cool and damp on his skin. He sighed, leaned back into the pillows, and closed his eyes. Nico chuckled and said softy, "Hey, you're not supposed to sleep remember?" he brushed Will's cheek with his fingertips. "You might have brain damage."

Will opened his eyes to see Nico's face only about a foot away from his own. He felt a blush creeping up his cheeks and he smiled shyly. "Well," he said, "I'm sure we could find something to do to, uh, keep me awake."

One corner of Nico's mouth twitched up in a half smile. His left hand was still tracing little patterns on Will's cheek; it was extremely distracting. "Do you think so?" He put the washcloth down and placed his other hand on the bed on the other side of Will effectively trapping him. Not that Will minded. Nico leaned forward slowly and Will wasn't sure if the warmth in his face was from the ambrosia or not.

Their mouths were and inch apart when Nico diverted to his right. Will had almost enough time to be disappointed before Nico brushed the tip of his nose along Will's cheek from the corner of his mouth to his earlobe. Will shivered slightly. "We could always play cards," Nico murmured.

Will's eyes widened and his heart did an uncomfortable skip-jump. "I, what, you. Why would you…?" Nico chuckled in Will's ear and then grasped the lobe between his lips. Will sucked in a quick breath and now his heart was doing something else altogether. He let out a whimper.

"What?" said Nico moving his lips from Will's ear to his jaw. "You don't like my suggestion?"

Will made a noise like "uhguh." And Nico chuckled again, kissing his way along Will's jaw towards his mouth. When Nico's lips finally met his, Will let a breath out his nose he hadn't known he'd been holding and hungrily sought out Nico's lips. He brought his arms up to wrap around Nico's waist and pull him all the way onto the bed. Will rolled so they lay facing each other, lips locked, hips touching, and legs intertwined. Will's arms remained locked around Nico's waist while Nico moved his right arm up Will's chest, past his neck, to cup his face. He brushed his thumb along Will's cheekbone and Will smiled and sighed in delight.

Nico pulled back slightly and said, "Aren't you injured? Shouldn't you be resting? You know, not exerting yourself so much?"

Will glared at Nico's sarcastic little smirk and muttered, "Shut up," before he brought his hand up to the back of Nico's head to press their mouths together again. Nico made a little noise of surprise before relenting to Will's probing tongue and opening his mouth. Will ran his tongue along Nico's bottom lip and was pleased to feel him shudder slightly.

Honestly, Will's head injury was all but forgotten in his sudden single-mindedness.