"Uh… Will?" Jason asked. "Are you ok?"

Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth had just walked in to visit Nico again, only to find Will staring at Nico, shocked.

"He… woke up last night," Will mumbled in a daze.

"What? Really? What did he…?"

"He kissed me." Will put a hand to his lips. "And he told me to get some sleep." He sounded completely stunned.

"He- he kissed you?" Jason asked. Will only nodded in response, and the entire room was silent as smiles slowly spread on the four visitors' faces.

However, their attention was attracted by something new happening: Nico blinked hard several times as he half sat up.

"You're awake!" Piper exclaimed.

"Hi."

"Nico! How do you feel?" Percy asked, grinning.

"Why is it so bright…" He was still blinking hard, as if trying to make the sunshine go away. "Can you close the curtains…?"

While Annabeth fulfilled his request, Nico took a deep breath.

"I could… hear you."

"What?" Will leaned closer, a concerned look on his face.

"When I was asleep… I wasn't actually asleep the whole time… but when I woke up, I couldn't move. I couldn't even open my eyes. But I could hear you guys when I was awake. I mean, it was only for about 5 minutes every once in a while, but still… I could hear you talking" He glanced over at Will for millisecond "and stuff."

Will blushed, still vaguely in a trance. "You kissed me," he stated, almost accusatory.

Nico rolled his eyes, mumbling "You can't wait until we're alone?" even as a blush creeped up his cheeks and the corners of his mouth perked up. He tried to shift around to be on his knees so that he could talk to his friends more easily, but he winced as he moved, and Will lurched forward.

"Don't. You'll hurt yourself." He had put one hand on Nico's back, and the other hovered right in front of his stomach, where he'd been injured, as if to catch him if he fell.

"...I'm ok," Nico sat back down, giving Will a weird look. Even so, he could feel his heart rate speed up at Will's hand resting on his back.

"Oh!" Jason burst out suddenly. "Um… I think you and Will need some alone time," He grinned, and the four of them rushed out. In hindsight, they were no doubt listening through the door, but at the moment, it didn't occur to either Will or Nico.

"You kissed me," Will mumbled again. Gulping, Nico leaned back a little.

"I- I'm sorry," He began. "It's just that- you kept kissing my hands so I thought- I thought it'd be ok and- I'm sorry I was half asleep anyways- it- it wasn't even a real kiss- I'm sorry."

Will sunk down in his chair. "So you didn't… mean it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you thought it was… a fluke? You don't wanna kiss me again?" He looked down as he said the word fluke, as if he was fearing it was true.

"No no no, that's not what I- of course I want to kiss you again, I- I mean… do you?"

"Y-Yeah!" He laughed sheepishly. "I thought it was pretty obvious. I have been holding your hand for about three days."

"Well I took a blade for you! I thought that would be conformation enough that I… I-" The words caught in his throat.

"You don't have to say it. I know. I love you too."

"I know."

Nico once again cupped Will's cheek and pushed himself up to kiss him, but this time, it was a real kiss. As Nico pushed up, up, eventually getting on his knees to be on the same level as Will, he wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Leaning into Nico, Will pushed back, putting his hands on Nico's thighs to keep his balance. With Will sitting down and Nico on his knees on a bed, Nico was slightly taller than Will, which meant that it was Will's turn to push up, up, up, as if they would meld together if he strained upwards enough.

Eventually, though, they broke the kiss. Holding onto each other, panting, they grinned at each other. Nico was the first one to speak.

"You still have those bags under your eyes. Did you sleep like I told you to?"

Will laughed, but said "Well, I slept a little after you kissed me, but I stayed here in case you woke up again. So I could- so I could ask you about what happened. I mean, you don't just kiss someone and then not give them any answers!"

"Well, we just kissed again. So ask away." Will opened his mouth, but Nico covered it with his hand. "After a nap, that is." He scooted back in the bed and held up the covers. Will crawled in, too, burying his face into Nico's side.

A few hours later, Kayla stumbled in to find them sound asleep in each other's arms.