Will usually wakes up in the dark.
Head Counsellor â and Head Medic â duties, you see. And, moreso, representative of his father (or so the man claims). He must be up to greet the sun, and so he must be awake before it rises.
âDo you want to go look at the stars with me,â says the pair of eyes hovering above his bed, which Will assumes are attached to a face, and particularly the face of his best friend.
And Will blinks. And squints. And glances outside, where there is not even the barest hint of sunrise â he can feel, in his chest, that the sun is presently as physically far away from him as it can get at this point in the season.
âNico,â he croaks, eyes sliding shut again, âItâs two in the morning.â
His eyelids reflect the flash of Nicoâs grin. âYou sound like a cowboy.â
Willâs eyes pop open, and his face burns. He rockets straight up, shoving his best friend, who is laughing. Crosses his arms.
âI damn well do ââ He stops, catching himself. Nico snickers. He scowls, and enunciates his words carefully. âNo, I donât.â
âLike Johnny Cash,â Nico says sagely, because heâs a jerk. âDidja just roll in from town, pardner?â
Will scowls and goes back to sleep.
Except, he doesnât. Because Nicoâs laugh is low and raspy, and the mattress dips by Willâs hip, where he leans against it. Where he rubs his palm over Willâs blanket-covered arm, making him shiver. Where he presses in close. Where the warm puff of his toothpaste-scented breath tickles the curve of Willâs ear.
âCâmon,â he murmurs pleadingly, and without looking Will can see his pout, the roundness of his wide brown eyes. âPlease? Iâm trying to listen to you. You said Iâm not allowed out of camp by myself.â Nico lingers at the curve of Willâs wrist, pressing a cool finger deliberately on his pulse point. Will prays he doesnât feel it quicken, but he can tell by the smirk in Nicoâs voice that he does. âCâmon, Sunshine. I want to watch the stars with you.â
Will practically springs out of bed, he jumps away from that low voice so fast. Nico laughs, muffling it with his hands, and it does nothing for the burn of Willâs face, the writhing and churning in his stomach.
âNice boxers,â Nico observes, as Will bends over his dresser, muttering to himself. Will freezes, and Nico carries on, voice deliberately controlled. âThe Ninja Turtles is a really good look for you.â
Willâs face burns so hotly he ceases to feel anything but his own heartbeat in every square nanometer of skin, and then, to add insult to injury, he begins to glow. In his cheeks, at first, but it spreads quickly to the rest of his face, to his neck, down his chest.
Right down, humiliatingly, past his hips, where it shines through the worn-thin fabric.
âI didnât know I would have company,â Will hisses, stumbling into the first pair of bottoms he finds. He misses the leg holes four times. The glowing gets worse. âWhat kind of â sick bastard â drags a man from sleep â and then mocks his sleeping attire ââ
âBrave of you to call it attire,â says Nico, seeing as youâre covering much of nothing.â
Will misses the leg holes, again. This time he goes careening forward and lands flat on his face.
Heâs still glowing, by the time they finally make it out of the Apollo cabin, and Nico is still snickering. Will is still furious with him. Or trying to be. But he gives up, when Nico offers his hand, because the harpies donât avoid him like they do Nico, and he has suffered enough. No need for avoidable gauging.
Even if the icy cool of of Nicoâs sword-callused hands feels good rubbing against his own sweaty palms, and Nico smells, vaguely, like churned dirt and smoke and a little bit of something fresh, herbal. Something good.
âOkay,â Nico says, somewhere past a row of darkened cabins. Will blinks, dazed. Disoriented, in the pitch-black, except the sheen of Nicoâs eyes. âDonât get mad.â
âAbout what,â Will asks dumbly, a second too late, too quiet. Because Nicoâs teeth flash as he smiles, guilty and daring, and then he loses his footing, and the shadows swirl.
Will throws up the second his feet are on solid ground again.
âThere, there,â says Nico after a moment, sounding a little shakey himself. He pats Willâs back. âItâll fade, so long as you brought all your organs with you.â
âWhat,â Will croaks, and then after a brief, panicked check â âoh my godsâŚmy spleenâŚâ
âWell,â he says, and then is silent. He clears his throat. âWell, thatâs not an important one, right?â
Will wheezes instead of answering.
âItâs okay,â Nico assures quickly. âItâs fine. Iâll ask the shadows to be nice on the way back. They should let you keep up to ninety-nine point four percent of your organry this time so itâll all be fine and dandy.â
He pretends not to hear the mumbled I hope.
âWhere even are we,â he manages, finally. âStars not good enough in New York?â
âCorrect,â Nico says primly. But maybe he catches sight of Willâs still-green face, or maybe heâs just feeling benevolent. Because he smiles, and cups Willâs cheek. Strokes his thumb over Willâs cheekbone. Graciously ignores how Willâs throat closes. âToo polluted, azzurro. I wanted to bring you somewhere worth your time.â
Will feels his breath catch, his heart thump. Azzurro. He doesnât know that one. And for a moment there is a flash in Nicoâs eyes, something like panic, and his hand twitches â like he moves to snatch it away, but aborts at the last second. Draws it back slowly, instead. Lingers.
âAlways worth my time,â Will says, before he can stop himself. âYou, I mean.â
Nicoâs eyes crinkle as he smiles.
âYouâre such a cheeseball.â
He is. But Nico looks down as he says it. Kicks his shoe in the grass. Will exhales, and brings up a hand, wraps it around his wrist.
âHike,â Nico says when Will frowns. âUh, the best view around? Up high. Letâs move.â
He stalks off before Will can say anything, tripping over roots and rocks. Theyâre in a â forest, maybe, of some kind, a trail; Will stumbles over after him and snags the back of his hoodie, when his outstretched hand grasps it, trying to keep in sight.
âHey,â he says, quiet. âSlow down. I canât see like you can.â
Nico slows down, so Will can walk next to him. Swallows. Keeps pace, for a moment. Between them their knuckles brush.
After a moment, Nico turns his palm. Will exhales, long and shakey, and matches it, curling their fingers together.
They come to the top of a rocky hill and sit heavily. Nicoâs breath comes out in cool mist, and were Will not keeping his locked in his lungs, his would, too. Instead he watched the swirl of the steam, as he crosses Nicoâs full lips, traces the dark shape of him in the low light. In the thick, night-heavy air.
âYouâre not looking,â Nico says, eventually. He swallows heavy, eyes trained on the sky. âStargaze with me, Will. Look at the heavens.â
Will swallows, dry. Heâs not like Nico but his eyes have adjusted, in the dark, and he can see the dark on his cheeks, across the bridge of his nose. He can see the small, shy smile fighting onto his lips. Can see the careful shine of his hair, brushed, for once. The sheen of his silk dress shirt.
âYou planned this,â Will says, not a question. âBeing â here.â
âI canât ask my friend to appreciate space with me?â he defends, but it is halfhearted at best, and he picks at his fingernails. âJust âcause, I guess.â He shrugs. âWanted to sit with you.â
Itâs not the truth. Or at least not the full truth. Will can feel it like you can taste rain coming in the air, like you can smell the sea before you hear the waves.
âI thought ââ Itâs harder, than he imagined, to say it. To put the words, and all they imply, into the wavering space between them, above their still-joined hands. But he swallows, and makes himself. Voice quiet. Voice low. âI thought this might be a date.â
Nico doesnât say anything for a moment. And then he squeezes Willâs hand, and nods.
Nicoâs flush darkens in the starlight. âI did so.â He breathes. Quick. Inandout. âKind of.â
Will inches closer, a little. âWhen you ask,â he says, quiet. âThe word âdateâ. In involved.â
For a long moment Nico says nothing. Nods. Gnaws on his lip. Picks at a loose thread, and another.
âWill,â he says, looking away. âDo you want to go on a ââ he stumbles on his words â âdate. With me.â
Will nods, once, eyes not leaving his face.
âCool. Groovy.â Nico nods, once, and again. Willâs lips quirk up. âGood. Glad to hear it.â
Will leans closer, still. He can feel Nicoâs body heat, at this distance. Feel his breathing.
âIâm here,â he says. âWeâre under the starlight.â
He doesnât know how to say anymore. He stares, only, eyes half-lidded. Breathing slow. Close. Waiting, for Nico to look back.
âI want to kiss you,â he says, quiet. âBut Iâm nervous.â
Will nods. Squeezes his hand. Theyâre both sweaty, now, too warm.
Nico nods. Will does, too, and he bites his lip, because it is ridiculous, because there is a lot of nodding. But he doesnât know what else to do.
He slips his hand free. Wipes them on his jeans. And then, fingers shaking, breathing trembling, eyes drawn close together, he rests his palm on Willâs cheek. Slides his fingers in his hair, around the back of his neck. Angela his head down.
âStop me, if it isnât good.â
Will exhales, and nods again. Nico leans in close, and then closer. And there is the brush of his lips. Chapped. Gentle.
There is a spark, passing from his skin to Willâs. It makes them both jump.
Nico presses in, suddenly. Surges. Like live wire, like if he doesnât touch, he will die. Like he needs the taste of Willâs breath in his lungs.
âWill,â he sighs, and kisses him again. And again.
Will closes his eyes and sees stars.
@willsolaceweek day 4 â will in love