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Nico knew that he had a tendency to be protective of his things. Growing up, he'd get attached to things very easily, whether they be objects or people.
When Nico was forced to leave his teddy behind at the mere age of 9 (the Lotus Casino didn't allow stuffed toys despite the claw machines that sat in the corners, filled with an assortment of stuffed animals), he'd turned to Mythomagic. It'd become a part of his soul, his identity, and they were just cards and figurines.
So of course Nico was going to get possessive over his potential boyfriend, especially when they'd been getting closer lately.
'Besides, it's not really possessive.' Nico reasoned with himself as he tried not to glare daggers at the brunette hanging off of Will's arm from across the room.
'I'm just... noticing what shouldn't happen.'
Nico tightened his grip on his glass and looked away before Will could catch him staring.
Against the voice in his head that screamed at him to take Will away from everyone, Nico stood his ground. Because, despite how much he felt possessive over Will, the last thing he wanted was for the blonde to actually find out about his feelings.
At least, not until he was sure that being with Will was a possibility. The blonde's sexuality was still a mystery to him, and the daughter of Aphrodite drooling all over Will wasn't helping Nico's doubt. Especially when Will didn't push her away.
Nico tried washing away the lump in his throat with a gulp of the fruity drink in his hand.
He was starting to regret attending the party. The sole reason of Nico's being there was thanks to Piper, who'd threatened to let her siblings sabotage his wardrobe if he didn't go.
Bloody Aphrodite kids.
"Hey Nico!"
Speak of the devil.
Nico turned to Piper, not bothering to filter the glare that he threw at her.
"McLean."
Annoyingly unbothered by his glare, Piper beamed at him.
"Enjoying the party?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Nico looked away from Piper, eyes flickering over Will momentarily before landing elsewhere. Of course, Piper didn't miss it, and looked in Will's direction in confusion before realisation dawned on her face.
"You know he's into guys too, right?" Piper said casually.
Nico tried not spitting out his drink, managing to instead choke on it.
"Why would I care, exactly?" Nico rasped after regaining control of his windpipe, Piper patting his back.
She raised an eyebrow at Nico, and he flushed.
"Okay, whatever. Regardless, he's busy not being interested in guys right now." Nico muttered, glancing at Will again.
The brunette was impossibly closer to Will now, practically laughing into his ear as they talked. Nico gritted his teeth.
Piper squinted her eyes in their direction before shaking her head with a smile.
"Don't worry about Vanessa. Will's clearly uncomfortable, and she's only using him to make Bailey jealous." Piper explained.
Nico vaguely remembered a couple's quarrel at the campfire the other night, and glancing back at Vanessa, sure enough, she was part of the fighting couple. Bailey was one of Will's siblings, which made Will seem like an odd choice to use to make Bailey jealous, but Nico usually never understood Aphrodite kids anyway.
Nico furrowed his eyebrows at Piper.
"How do you know all that?"
Piper crossed her arms, still looking in Will's direction.
"Their body language. One of the great powers I get with being a daughter of Aphrodite."
Nico deemed it believable enough (because really, if Piper could talk people into doing anything, reading body language was child's play), but presumed brooding.
Piper noticed and laughed, throwing her head back.
"Really Nico, you don't have anything to worry about. But if you don't trust me, just talk to Will. Actually, he kinda looks like he needs saving right about now."
Piper patted him on the back once more.
"Go get him."
With those encouraging words, she disappeared back into the crowd of people, leaving Nico with an irrational sense of confidence.
Bloody Aphrodite kids.
Sighing, Nico put his cup down and made his way over to Will. Up closer, Nico could tell that Will was struggling to not run away- he kept throwing reluctant smiles at Vanessa, constantly looking around for an escape. When his eyes landed on Nico, still a good ten meters away, he flashed an apolagetic smile at Vanessa and extracted himself from her grip, walking over to Nico with a relieved expression on his face.
"Neeks! How you doing?" He smiled at Nico, wide and genuine.
Nico's heart fluttered.
"Could be better. You?" He replied, trying to act like he hadn't been watching him for the last twenty minutes.
Will rubbed the back of his neck, his smile slanting.
"Yeah, I'm not really one for parties. Right now. Any other day, sure, but I just don't really feel up to it today. I don't even know who's birthday it is- I'm only here because Piper told me to come."
Nico's brain quickly connected the dots, and he nodded in understanding, silently cursing Piper in his head. He was so going to get her back for this.
Before Nico could think of something to say, Will grabbed his arm.
"Wanna escape with me?" He asked, blue eyes wide and pleading.
The possessive thing curled in Nico's chest again, and he twisted his arm so he could grab Will too, their hands connecting.
"Do you even have to ask?"
Nico led them to the nearest shadow, taking them away. Piper watched the two boys disappear with a knowing smile on her face.
The two boys stumbled out of the shadows in the front line of the forest, scaring a nymph when they appeared.
They shared a look and burst into giggles, high on the adrenaline of ditching the party as they made their way to Nico's cabin.
Their hands were still grabbing tightly onto each other, but neither boy made any moves to separate the contact.
Nico shoved the door open with one arm, closing it after they were both inside. In the small time it took to complete the action, he tried taking a few breaths to calm his racing heartbeat down. This wasn't something to get worked up over. It was just him and Will in his cabin... holding hands... alone...
Nico let go of Will's hand suddenly, the son of Apollo tilting his head slightly in question. Nico rubbed the back of his neck and avoided eye contact, walking over to plop himself down on the couch.
"Glad we got out of there." Nico finally said, if only to break the increasingly awkward silence.
Will walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the couch, facing Nico.
"Same. I don't know if you saw, but Vanessa wouldn't leave me alo-"
"Yeah, I saw plenty of it." Nico nearly growled before he could stop himself. Before Will could react, Nico cleared his throat and sat up straighter.
"I mean, it sucks when people don't leave you alone. Trust me, I've had plenty of experience in that area."
Will seemed to ponder over Nico's inital reaction for a few seconds with a frown on his face before his face cleared and he smiled.
"Well, I don't bug you too much, right?"
Nico let out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding as he shook his head, smiling.
"I'm pretty sure that even if you did, you'd find a way to bug me without me knowing."
Will smirked.
"Are you sure that's not what's happening right now?"
Nico snorted.
"Please. I know that's what's happening right now. There's no way I'd truly allow myself to mingle with a- a- peasant." Nico drawled dramatically.
Will laughed and nudged him with his foot.
"Are you kidding? I'm not the peasant, I'm the king. You'd better worship me."
"Yes sire." Nico said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Will threw his head back and laughed, and Nico's eyes were reluctantly drawn to his throat.
A thick silence filled the room, and Nico belatedly realised that Will had stopped laughing and was giving Nico a strange look.
'Probably wondering why I'm goggling his neck.'
Nico shifted in his seat and looked away from Will, trying not to let the engulfing blush on his neck take over his whole body. He could feel Will's eyes on him, and gods could he have made things any more awkward?
Maybe it wasn't the best idea to be in a room alone with Will when the possessive thing in his chest was still present. Of course, that only reminded him of the alternative- letting Vanessa drape herself over Will as she feels up his chest, and whether it was to make Bailey jealous or not, really, Nico couldn't be expected to sit around and let some clay on heels fawn over his friend-and-hopefully-some-time-his-boyfriend-
"So, did you actually talk to anyone while you were at the party?" Will's voice thankfully cut through Nico's increasingly ridiculous thoughts, and the son of Hades turned back to look at Will, loosening joints he hadn't realised seized up. Really, when did his hands clench?
Nico snorted at Will's question, doing his best to speak through the tightening of his throat.
"Who do you think I am, Solace? Of course I didn't talk to anyone. I had one conversation with Piper, unwilling on my part."
Will smiled nonchalantly, leaning back on the couch, eyes staying on Nico.
"Of course, sorry, stupid question. So did something else happen?"
Nico furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Something else? Not that I noticed. What are you on about?"
Will raised an eyebrow, and Nico shifted uncomfortably, despite not having any clue what the hell was going on.
"Neeks. You've been glaring at everything ever since we left the party-" Nico gave Will a pointed look. "-well, glaring more so than usual. Obviously something happened to put you in a bad mood. So what is it?"
Oh. Nico drew up his shoulders and looked away.
"Nothing happened, I just... generally don't like parties, okay?"
Staring insistently at the wall in front of him, Nico prayed to all the gods he knew that Will would drop it.
Thankfully, some deity must have heard his call, as he heard Will sigh before he started recounting his day in the infirmary.
Releasing a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding, Nico subtly slumped against the couch in relief.
If Nico told Will why he was in such a crappy mood, the son of Apollo probably would've made up some shoddy excuse and run away, and avoid Nico for the rest of his life. If Nico was in his shoes, he certainly would.
Relaxing further against the couch, Nico allowed a sense of contentment to surround him, to seep into his bones, to put the green eyed monster in him to sleep.
Nico really needed to get a grip on his jealousy.
~
"This is like, the third time it's happened this week! I'm so glad you're here to take care of me, Will!" Vanessa said enthusiastically, fluttering her eyelashes as she glanced in Bailey's direction, putting a hand on Will's arm.
Nico gritted his teeth as he dug his nails into the armrest of his chair, glaring daggers at the girl from the corner of the room.
Nico and Will were meant to be hanging out during his break in the infirmary, but they'd barely been talking for a minute before Vanessa had walked into the room with a scratch on her arm, insisting that Will be the one to heal her.
The only thing keeping Nico from sending an army of skeletons after the insufferable girl was the mournful look Will had given him when she dragged him away. It was soothing to know that Will felt just as exasperated by the situation as Nico did.
"Really, Vanessa, this scratch doesn't need much more than a bandaid. I don't see why you needed to come to the infirmary for thi-"
"OH, a scratch? Yes, it was very painful when I got it, and you said I'd need a bandaid? Oh no, that probably means it's going to scar!"
To Nico's utter disbelief, Vanessa was starting to glow a light pink, gaze locked onto an ignorant Bailey as she projected her words vehemently.
'Gods, she's really laying it on thick.' Nico thought as he continued to watch the dramatic display.
Will stood silently with a tired expression on his face, waiting for Vanessa to let go of his arm.
When Bailey continued to ignore her, Vanessa stuck her bottom lip out and stormed out of the infirmary, all complaints of her scratch and getting a bandaid abandoned.
Nico tried not laughing out loud, but knew he failed in containing his amusement when Will caught his eye and broke out in giggles.
Nico joined him in the laughter, partly out of relief.
'Maybe she'll finally leave him alone now.' Nico thought hopefully.
"That was the most intense one sided stare off I've ever witnessed." Will shook his head, still chuckling.
"Did you see her? She was glowing." Nico dissolved into giggles as he sat on the bed in front of Will.
"Quite a firm grip too." Will frowned down at his arm.
Nico followed his eyes to find that Will was right- Vanessa's grasp on Will's arm had been tight enough to leave blood-red indents from her nails on Will's freckled skin.
Irritation flared up in Nico. It was one thing to cling onto Will twenty four seven, but to leave marks on him?
She was going to pay.
"Guess you're the one needing bandaids now." Nico said dryly, still eyeing the marks and therefore missing the amused expression on Will's face as his eyes flickered between Nico and his arm.
"Would you like to do the honours of patching me up then?" Will said, grinning when Nico looked back up at his face.
Fighting a blush, Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed a few bandaids from the drawer next to the bed.
"What am I, your slave?" Nico muttered as he applied the bandaids gently to the worst of the nail marks.
"Nope, you're mY hERoo!" Will said in a falsetto voice, causing Nico to snort.
The bandaids were quickly all on, but Nico's hands continued to linger.
'Why the hell is his skin so warm?' Nico thought absentmindedly as he continued to run his hands over the bandaids, softly applying pressure to smooth them down.
Nico only realised what he was doing when Will audibly gulped. Flinching back, Nico chanced a glance at Will's slightly dazed confused face before looking away and clearing his throat.
"So, uh, how much of your break is left?" Nico asked as he rubbed his arm.
"Well, I think there's about twenty minutes left of it. What do you want to do?"
Nico thought of the one place Vanessa wouldn't be able to bother them.
"Wanna go to my cabin?" He suggested casually.
Nico tried not smiling when Will's face lit up, the sparkle in his eyes making Nico's stomach flutter.
"Sure!" Will said as he grabbed Nico's arm and started dragging him away.
The son of Hades found himself unable to stop staring at Will's hand on him, a soft warmth spreading from the point of contact.
Unknowing of Will's eyes on him, Nico let a small genuine smile slip onto his face.
Will was probably the only person Nico let touch him. Whenever anyone else did it, it always felt... off. Fake. Uncomfortable. Will's skin coming in contact with his always felt natural, welcoming, and made Nico struggle to act indifferent to it. Will was the one person Nico wanted to touch.
Perhaps that was another reason why watching Vanessa drape herself over Will like a maiden in distress set Nico off all the time- every second Vanessa spent clinging to Will was a second that Nico was unable to touch him.
Nico was only able to snap out of his daze when they were safely inside the Hades cabin, both reclined on the couch.
An easy conversation was started between them, talking about everything from the best strategy in Capture the Flag to why no one should live off of McDonald's everyday ('But you can't get the same flavours anywhere else William!' 'What flavours, grease and fat? No thanks Death Boy.'), and if Nico ended up idly playing with Will's scratched up arm, neither boy showed any notice.
~
Nico realised things were getting out of hand when he had to avoid getting hit by a heel.
"I'm sorry Vanessa, but I've moved on. I can love you as a friend, but no more than that." Bailey sounded tired as he stood in front of a quickly reddening Vanessa, everyone discretely watching the commotion at the campfire from the safety of their cabins.
Nico and Will were the only ones not at their cabins- they'd been walking with Bailey to the infirmary when Vanessa had stormed up to them with her shoes in hand.
"You're lying! I've seen the way you look at me when I'm with other guys! You're jealous, you just won't admit it!" Vanessa screeched as she pointed an accusing finger at Bailey.
Nico winced in sympathy when her nail jabbed Bailey- with the damage they caused on Will, getting poked by them couldn't have felt good.
"Vanessa, please. I'm telling you the truth. I'll tell you this one last time and then I'm never talking about this again." Bailey looked like he was close to dropping dead from exhaustion.
"I'm. Over. You. I'll gladly continue to be friends, but you need to understand that we won't be together romantically anymore. I'm not jealous of you being with other guys- in fact, I encourage you to be with other people. Find someone who can make you happy and can be happy with you, because I'm not that person."
Seemingly lost for words, Vanessa simply seethed on the spot before her eyes caught on Will.
Nico's stomach twisted, and he knew what was going to happen before it did.
Reaching out, Vanessa grabbed Will's arm ('The same one she scratched up before!') and pulled him towards her.
"You're right Bailey. And guess what? I have found someone else."
Vanessa tugged roughly at Will's arm as he tried to escape, and leaned forward to plant a kiss on Will's lips.
Nico could only watch in cold horror as they made contact.
Fortunately, they weren't in contact for long. In fact, only a split second had passed before Vanessa pulled back and shrieked, falling as the ground split suddenly beneath her feet.
She didn't fall all the way in, stopping at her waist as the ground sealed up around her.
Everyone stared in shock as Vanessa wailed and thrashed around to no avail- she was stuck.
"Well that was a random natural event." Nico drawled, not bothering to hide his glare at Vanessa as he grabbed a stunned Will by the hand (gently) and led him away.
Nico wasn't quite sure where he was leading him, still half blinded as the image of Will and Vanessa kissing played over in his head.
'I should've let her drop all the way to Tartarus.' Nico growled in his head.
Nico was only brought back to the present when Vanessa's screams had faded to a faint whisper, and realised that at some point Will had taken over leading them away- they were now deep within the forest, and they weren't showing any signs of slowing down.
They weren't walking particularly slowly, and Nico started to struggle to keep up with Will's long strides as he was distracted from his fury by Will's determination to get them... where?
Looking at Will's face wasn't any help, as his face held no emotion. However, when he glanced back at Nico, he smiled, and Nico found himself smiling back, albeit confused.
"Uh, Will? Where exactly are we going?" Nico finally asked when Will offered no words.
"Honestly?" Will huffed a short amused laugh as he pushed aside a low hanging branch. "I don't know. Where do you want to stop?"
Nico looked around for a bit before spotting a small clearing, shrouded by a few bushed and trees.
Instead of talking, Nico simply started walking in the direction of the clearing, their joint hands keeping Will with Nico.
When they got to the clearing, Nico sat heavily on the ground, unwilling to let go of Will and therefore bringing him ungracefully toppling down. On top of Nico.
Both boys yelped as Will fell on top of Nico, the son of Apollo's face landing on Nico's chest, arms caging Nico as he tried to break the fall.
They laid there like that for a minute, the only sounds their breathing and the movement of dryads further in the forest.
Finally, Will pushed himself far enough off Nico to look at him. Nico blushed at the close proximity, but found himself unable to look away from Will's eyes. Why would he look away? When he was this close, he was able to see all the pigments in Will's eyes. There were grey flecks all throughout his eyes, which was probably what made them so bright, but there was also a slightly dark blue that contrasted perfectly against the grey, and Nico was going to start drooling if he didn't stop looking. Luckily Will smirked, which distracted Nico sufficiently.
"Are you okay?" Will asked, breath fanning lightly over Nico's face, and suddenly Nico felt very close to fainting. He nodded regardless.
"You sure?" Will asked and continued smirking to Nico's confusion.
He tried asking why Will was acting weird, but with Will's face being right there, Nico found himself unable to muster more than a weak "Why?".
To Nico's increasingly frustrating confusion, Will's smirk only grew until he was chuckling softly, each heave of air causing Will's fringe to tickle Nico's face. He barely managed to stop from scrunching his nose in reaction to the sensation.
"I just... gotta say, you handled everything pretty well back there." Will said through his chuckles.
Nico blinked, brain struggling to catch up with everything. What had happened?
An image of Vanessa and Will kissing flashed through his mind, and Nico clenched his teeth as he grimaced in rememberance.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Whatever happened to Vanessa was surely a freak accident." Nico raised his eyebrows in innocence.
"Riiight." Will rolled his eyes before looking into Nico's eyes. "Well, Vanessa should be happy- she was able to at least make someone jealous."
Nico furrowed his brows. He was getting really sick and tired of being confused.
"What are you on about? Bailey wasn't actually jealous, was he?" Nico asked incredulously.
Will snorted.
"Hades no. I'm talking about the one who opened the ground beneath Vanessa's feet."
Nico opened his mouth to object, then promptly closed it when the meaning of Will's words sank in.
"I don't like Vanessa that way." Nico protested meekly, knowing what Will really meant.
"I know." Will's smirk grew again, his hair brushing against the tip of Nico's nose as he adjusted his position above. This time Nico was unable to stop himself from scrunching his nose.
Will laughed lightly and leaned even closer to Nico, eyes flashing with fondness.
"You look so cute when you do that." Will said, voice barely a whisper.
Will leaned in even closer... and then everything caught up to Nico at once and he shoved Will off of him.
"Hey!" Will complained as he sat up to face Nico, brushing leaves off his shirt.
Nico glared at Will, a red hot blush making its way up his neck and onto his face.
"You knew?" Nico asked angrily, hoping his mortification didn't show through.
Will glanced away and bit his lip.
"Look Nico, you weren't exactly subtle.. really, I was surprised you didn't turn green when Vanessa was in the infirmary."
Nico huffed and crossed his arms, embarrassment at being caught out causing the blush across his cheeks to burn particularly hot.
"And I suppose you had a good laugh at my expense?" Nico hissed, refusing to look at Will.
Will sighed, and Nico felt a warm hand caress his cheek, turning his head back to look at Will.
"No, I didn't laugh. Well, not in a bad way. You.. you just look adorable when you're jealous, which honestly made up for all the shit I had to put up with from Vanessa." Will shuffled closer to Nico and put his free hand on Nico's other cheek.
"I didn't let Vanessa flirt with me on purpose, I swear. I didn't even realise you felt the same way about me until the infirmary."
Will leaned forward until he was sharing the same air as Nico. Nico's breath hitched.
"If you'll have me, I'd love to be your boyfriend and have people stop using me to make others jealous." Will whispered the words, and Nico's heart thumped hard.
Unable to find his voice, Nico nodded and looped his hands around Will's neck, pulling him in the last few centimetres.
When their lips finally connected, Nico smiled. This was how it was supposed to be- natural, comfortable, welcoming, loving- everything Will gave everytime he touched Nico.
Sighing happily, Nico angled his head further and deepened the kiss, fiddling with the curls at Will's nape as the son of Apollo moved one of his hands to Nico's hair, the other going around his waist.
They eventually pulled apart enough to look at each other, both boy's eyes half lidded and foggy as they gazed at each other. A faint cry from Vanessa caused both boys to laugh, still clinging onto each other.
"Are you going to get her back out of the ground?" Will asked as he moved his hand through Nico's hair, tugging gently at a few strands and causing Nico to hum contentedly.
"Nah." Nico simply replied and pulled a giggling Will back in for another kiss.