They didn't need to be dating long for Will to know, that Nico was someone with whom he could spend every minute of every day. He was a bit weirded out by this thought, at first. Because honestly - if they were able to be together all the time, wouldn't they need a break once in a while? Just to experience something on their own and then share it with each other later?

Yes, Will thought that'd probably be the case. Them being ok with staying apart when they chose to. But it was also where the problem laid – not being able to choose the "when" and "for how long". Even since the very beginning of two boys' relationship, it never seemed to be about "just them" for longer than a few moments stolen in between time spent on missions, Will's responsibilities in the infirmary, training new demigods and Nico helping Hazel out with problems in New Rome. Will was obviously proud of his significant other for being a hero amongst the "seven chosen ones", but he also couldn't ignore a tingling feeling of jealousy, that appeared every time Hades' son had been sent somewhere with them. He knew it was wrong. But the fact that they all got to spent more time with him than his own boyfriend wasn't quite right as well, was it?

Still, even despite those unpleasant thoughts Apollo's son was sometimes having, being with Nico had been the best thing that has ever happened to him. Any moment shared with the dark-haired boy lifted up his spirits like nothing else – whether it was a short glance from above a morning cup of coffee (the one that seemed to say "You know I feel even more like death this early, so don't try to talk to me, but I'm happy to see you"), short laughs caused by some of Will's jokes when they were in public, and belly loud ones they both experienced while curled up in blankets on the floor of Hades' cabin, with another weird movie no one heard about playing on the computer.

Obviously, not everything was always perfect. Any demigod's life isn't easy, but Nico went through so many awful things, that it couldn't have been justified even by being one of them. Getting abandoned by one parent and separated from the other, years spent in delirious dream of Hotel Lotos, constantly running away from monsters with his sister, and finally getting found by Percy and Annabeth - only to get his heart broken again, by Bianca's death... Those things left scars worse than any sword cuts Solace had ever seen. Will didn't blame Percy or Ann for anything that happened – and he knew Nico didn't really believe it was their fault either – but even trying to imagine what the boy felt at the time made him want to cry. And he couldn't. Not now. Because it was yet another thing that changed due to his feelings towards Nico – Apollo's son needed to be stronger. Stronger in ways he never imagined himself to be able to, due to his emotional and worrying nature. With Nic he couldn't always show how sorry he was for everything that happened to the other boy. He couldn't fall into this deep hole of trying to comprehend overcoming such terrible past every time they talked about something from that period. All simply because Hades' son didn't need it. At least not always.

It felt unnatural at first, not doing all of that – as if he wasn't acknowledging enough of the situation to call himself a good boyfriend. It had also caused most of the fights they had back then. They usually ended with Nico shouting at Will that he didn't need his pity, and the other boy not knowing what he had done wrong, since it seemed justified to show how much he cared, wanting to understand what di Angelo went through.

Despite those problems, they eventually came to an agreement. Step by step, slowly and steady, yet by raising voices more than once – two boys started to really see each other, eventually settling for a compromise of Nico being more open to the idea of being somewhat vulnerable around Will, and Will understanding Nico more than anything needed to be shown that it was going to be fine. Not perfect, not always easy – but normal, with a real idea of a bright future ahead of them.

Solace was surprised by just how much it felt right when he comforted the other boy not by saying only "That was awful, so it's okay to cry", but also adding "It's going to be better tomorrow", and with these few words not letting them dwell too much on the past, making it possible to move forward. He knew it wasn't even half of the strength Hades' son needed to make it through his life, and not fully disappear into the darkness surrounding him back then, but Solace felt proud of himself for not giving fully into his own emotions during hard times, making them a little less painful for his boyfriend.

But to say Will was the only one taking initiative in their relationship, would be a lie. When Apollo's son seemed to be the one to establish new boundaries of where they were standing with certain things, Nico has always been the one to fully explore and make them feel natural. For example – it took him no longer than a few days, after opening up to Will and showing a bit of his more vulnerable side, to start comforting his boyfriend after something stressful had happened to him, by approaching with the idea of sharing emotions – something he had never done before.

Finally, there were all those kisses young di Angelo placed on Will's lips goodnight, each time the healer got back late from a tiring shift. Short pecks acknowledging Solace's weary state seemed to cause wonders to his body – lifting all the weight of a tiring day from his shoulders. Somehow they felt more unique every time they became less special, by slowly becoming a ritual, and therefore something they both have secretly wanted for ages – stability. That sense of a permanence you can always come back to, from which the concept of a home is made entirely – it made those kisses different.

To be honest, all of them were. Each with its own purpose, filling up a part of this new space they built for themselves over the past three years. And Will loved every single one of them.

He loved the reassuring kisses placed on Nico's forehead anytime his boyfriend got self-conscious or doubtful. Adored to let his thoughts wander back to one time, when they were laying down by the lake, falling asleep in each other's arms - and di Angelo, almost subconsciously, took the other boy's hand to gently brush it with his lips. Or to the moment when Nic initiated to kiss him for the first time, instead of other way around. Hell, he even loved those sloppy, out of sync attempts at making out in the beginning of their relationship, that Nico hated to come back to for being awkward. But Will cherished them just as much as the soft, loving kisses shared in those rare moments when they both had been able to find themselves free of responsibilities for the evening – too tired to talk, or do anything more than let each other know how much they appreciated to just be there.

Because all of it played equally important part in letting them become what they're now, and held a special place in Will's heart – one that couldn't be replaced, no matter how good they started to be at making-out in infirmary's closet. Or in the woods. Or on the bed in cabin 13...

God, the thought of those times alone was making him feel abashed. With not much time for themselves, all they got was catching each other during breaks in between activities. Will definitely wasn't opposed to taking those small chances of being together in such way, even if the circumstances often made them hustle – both in case someone might walk on them and because they didn't have much time anyway – but it still seemed... not right. Not entirely anyway.

As much as Apollo's son liked the rush of adrenaline that accompanied their quick make-out sessions, and loving kisses shared between two tired boys in the evening, Will couldn't stop himself from wondering how would it feel to combine the two, and give Nico all the love and attention he deserved.

***

The sun was already setting, when Nico came back from a month-long mission in the Underworld. He had been checking on some shady dead characters for his father. It sounded almost laughable for the boy when he first heard about it, but after only a while in there, the idea didn't seem so ridiculous anymore – as it turned out, if you have enough time, even escaping Hell might be possible. Especially with all the chaos awakening of Gaea had caused.

Di Angelo found himself in a weird state of mind, since coming back to the living was quite a challenge. With every step he took, Hades' son started to realise how much he missed Will. The Underworld seemed like an illusion, a state impossible to be in – because gods, how could he not think about him for such a long time! Nico knew it wasn't his fault, his father told him that he probably wouldn't think about much while being down there for such a long time, but still... The only thing that allowed Nico not to dwell on it, was a faint memory of blue eyes, one that seemed to appear every time he had a hard time during his task.

Finding Will wasn't usually that difficult – he spent most of his time in the infirmary, cabinet 7, or wherever most of the demigods happened to be doing something "interesting" – which in their case was usually a synonym for "dangerous". Apollo's son always insisted he was doing it for fun, and while it probably being partially true, Nico knew Will was also worried about somebody getting hurt. And rightfully so – even one demigod having a crazy idea could mean trouble, let alone a whole camp of them!

Fortunately for Hades' son, this time it wasn't the case. No commotion was happening anywhere in sight, so Nico, with pace getting faster every step he took, headed towards the infirmary.

"Nico, you're finally back!" he was greeted enthusiastically by Kayla, who quickly reached out for a hug. Di Angelo accepted it, wrapping his hands around the girl, and catching himself wondering when such displays of affection became so natural. "We were worried sick! Even though we knew someone would let us know if something happened... you can never really be sure with all those greybeards sitting up there, not even knowing which century it is!"

Nico laughed at the sight of her nose wrinkling with anger, still surprised by how fast Apollo's children shifted from one emotion to another.

"No need to worry, I'm fine. And I'm sure someone would say something. At least to find a replacement for the mission." the boy laughed, breaking the hug and receiving a playful nudge in the chest. Not only he changed over the years and communicated better with Will's siblings – they learned to deal with his rather dark sense of humour as well.

"You better wait with joking like that around your boyfriend for a while" Kayla said in a more serious tone.

"Oh, right" Nico suddenly felt all the hidden stress from before come out. Combined with the suddenness of hearing the – still weirdly unreal – word boyfriend, it made his heart pound heavily in his chest. "Is he... w-was he, you know..." Kayla looked at di Angelo sympathetically, while he tried to find the right words "bothered because of my missing?"

Apollo's daughter could only sigh at the sight of younger boy's sad eyes. How could they both still be so oblivious?

"Listen. Of course he was worried, not only has he the biggest damn heart out of all of us, but he's also all head-over-hills for you" Nico blushed at the words, and tried to cut in, only to be quickly interrupted by the girl. "I know what you're gonna say, so save me from having to tell you this all over again – yes, that's true. No, no one is mad at you or wants anything in return. We love you. He probably the most. So just..." she stopped and squeezed his hand reassuringly. "...accept it and go. Be with him. Cause I'm sure that's all he wants right now."

"Thank you. I-I know it, of course, just... yeah. It's sometimes..."

"Hard, I know. Now stop wasting your time – he's in your cabin. Been going there to sleep for a while"

"Oh... okay" said Nico. He really needed to start controlling this stupid blush. "Thanks again. It's really great to see you!" di Angelo yelled on his way to the cabin, after quickly hugging Kayla for the second time. She only waved her hand in response, as in expressing how unimportant her help was... or maybe how stupid their problems sometimes were.

Stupid or not, showing up in front of his own door came faster than he expected. It caught Nico off guard, how unprepared he was for the next step. Hades' son usually liked to make up what he wanted to say before a confrontation of any sort, but this time the tiredness and longing to be with Will overcame that desire. He came inside without a thought, ready to finally see his boyfriend.

What he was not ready for, was the sight of Will sleeping cuddled in Nico's bed, with a freckled nose buried in one of his black hoodies. Demigod's breath hitched for a bit. He decided to blame it for the run, and not the fact, that the other boy's shirt was slightly lifted, showing a tanned hip.

***

First thing Will felt before waking up was the warmth. Has it always been this hot in Cabin 13? No, that's not it, the temperature seemed to be the same... why was it different then? More comfortable, more... calming.

Any further questions the boy might've asked disappeared the moment he opened his eyes, and faced di Angelo breathing steadily, inches from Will's nose.

Oh, so that's why.

"Nico!" he raised his voice subconsciously, realising that waking up his boyfriend by shouting in his ear might not be the best thing to do. Unfortunately, in that moment, the battle between "courteous Will" and "Will longing to be with Nico" had been won by the second one. Hades' son slowly opened his eyes.

"Wi... ll?" he asked sleepily, yawning in the middle of the name, and slightly moving forward, so that their foreheads were touching. Well – Apollo's son thought to himself – Maybe it's not so unfortunate.

"Ah, I'm so so so sorry Nic. Got too excited here... please come back to sleep. Which, knowing you, you probably haven't been doing, without me around to remind that you're also partially human..."

Instead of answering, di Angelo pulled himself closer, settling below his boyfriend's chin, quietly murmuring "Not... true. itsss cause you weren't there...", causing Will's poor heart to beat even faster.

He missed Nico so much, that he forgot how open his boyfriend has had recently become. It still made him feel just as warm inside as it did when he left. Maybe it'll always be like that? No matter the time, realising that this beautiful boy beside him felt even a little towards Will, like he towards him, would give him butterflies? Solace wrapped his hands around the person he loved, once again reminded the other boy felt the same, despite never expressing it verbally.

"Don't worry" he said to already falling asleep Hades' son. "I'll always be by your side".

***

Lack of time wasn't the only reason they hadn't moved beyond their quick make-out sessions. As two boys found out, shortly after they started dating, Chiron had a strict policy towards young couples, which among the other rules included curfew, and monsters peeking through the windows whenever they found themselves alone in the cabin.

These restrictions, while often being annoying, had a positive side that Will barely admitted to acknowledge. It gave him a reason not to start the conversation, he desperately felt they should have. It finally started to feel natural, settling in this comfortable place, after experiencing so much already. Both of them expanding boundaries, to finally be able to feel like what they were building was steady – he didn't want to ruin that.

And yet, sometimes he felt like shattering it all without a thought, if that only meant moving to this new, unexplored territory. After all, he was only a teenager, and having a cute boyfriend wasn't being easy on his self-restraint.

But Will liked to think not having sex wasn't a problem. They could work around it, if that wasn't what Nico wanted (even though he silently wished that wasn't the case), or was just too self-conscious for now. What bugged him the most was the unknown, this grey area, which was always somewhere in front of them, faded in the distance, and now decided to show up right in front of them. Will itched to take another step. Until now each one of those led them to something new – sometimes it was good, sometimes scary or difficult, but always allowed two boys to see deeper into each other. This sensation of understanding gave Will a thrill, making him excited and appalled at the same time.

Mixed emotions of desperately wanting to feel so much more, and being scared to make his boyfriend uncomfortable, left him standing in a corner, unable to do anything about the situation.

Which is exactly why, when he finally woke up again in the morning after Nico's return, and saw the boy sitting with a cup of coffee beside the bed, to hear a timid "I need to talk to you about something", spoken shyly and with slowly reddening ears, was the last thing he expected.

"Is something wrong?" Will asked the other boy, whose blush started to spread from his ears to the usually pale cheeks. Weird – he thought to himself - Nico hasn't been that awkward for a while now.

"No! No, it's fine, I'm sorry. I'm just tired, didn't really prepare for talking to you about... something. Everything's alright." younger boy paused for a second, and looked down on his coffee. Will knew Nico was judging whether he could say more. "E-except that I really missed you. Not only for the last month, to be honest I wasn't really mentally conscious during that time, but lately in general. It's weird and clingy, and... gods, now I'm starting to realise how fucking demanding too..." his boyfriend started to rumble, to which Solace listened with both worry and ease. Nico missed him too. That was... comforting, on some selfish level. Will took the cup out of Hades' son's hands, and put it on the bedside table.

"Stop worrying so much." he said calmly, gently pulling Nico by his wrist. "And come here, pretty boy. I missed you too."

"Shut up, Solace" his boyfriend responded teasingly, settling under the covers beside him. "We both know I'm not the pretty one."

Will was ready to respond with arguments against that statement, when Nico suddenly kissed him, and both of their appearances didn't matter anymore. It was sweet, slow, and tasted like black coffee mixed with month-long yearning to be with each other again. Every denied emotion, cramped inside Will during this time, was being brought to the surface.

His own "I missed you" expressed by gently teasing Nico's lower lip was answered by an eager "I know" with di Angelo's more and more impatient mouth. They wanted to dive into each other, lose themselves in the warmth. It spread from their lips and through touch-starved tongues, until slowly covered them both completely. There was no more Nico or Will now, everything became a blend of lips, short breaths, and wandering touches. Because now the blonde boy was reminded once again, what he wanted to do. It roared through him while sliding his hand in Nico's hair, grabbing his boyfriend's thigh to wrap their legs together, and touching his slim figure, lifting up the black t-shirt. Kissing Hades' son was like drinking a fine wine - enjoying every sip, each one leaving you wanting more, instead of satisfying the thirst. He wanted to get drunk on it.

"Will..." Nico sighed with a small whine and wrapped his fingers around the blonde's neck, pulling him closer. It was too much and not enough at the same time.

"Nic, I..." he started shakingly, trying to wrap his head around the right words, to express how that quiet sound set his world on fire. "Gods, I love you so fucking much."

Saying it out loud still gave him shivers, especially when his boyfriend's response was a shy "I know", followed by another kiss, causing his mind to wander even more than hands caressing pale skin. Their fastened breathing shifted into heaving, flattering hearts were now pounding, and the touch of their lips was slowly becoming more and more sloppy. Tired bodies weren't able to keep up with the growing want, causing it to fade, leaving them laying breathlessly on each side of the bed.

"Well" said Will after his respiration started working again. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Don't remember" Nico answered, equally exhausted. "What did I say?"

"I have no idea" the blonde chuckled, putting a string of black hair behind his boyfriend's ear. "You didn't make it easy to focus just now."

"Sorr..." started saying di Angelo, but hesitated before finishing. "You know, actually, I'm not going to apologize for that." Two boys smiled awkwardly, still affected by the rush of emotions they were caught in a moment earlier.

"Good. You shouldn't." Will answered truthfully, propping himself to sit. "I just realised, why did you even come back? Weren't you supposed to be there for a few more days?"

"It was just dad's predictions, we were able to get the job done sooner." said Nico, reaching for his mug. "So I got back yesterday."

The other boy answered with a nod. Surprises of that morning caught him so off guard, that he didn't even have time to think about how di Angelo's return put an end to his miserable evenings. Like yesterday, when he sneaked into Cabin 13, to fall asleep on one of the black hoodies, repeating to himself that his boyfriend's alright, and will be back in a few days...

"Oh no." said Will, recalling that memory.

"I kind of expected a bit more cheerful reaction, to be honest" murmured Nico from above his coffee in a serious tone. Will looked at him embarrassed, ready to explain his mistake, but the other boy's response was quicker. "I'm joking, I know you were thinking about something. What happened? Did you forget to fill out those medical reports again?"

"What? No. How come you still remember that? It was only once" said, always ready to protect his work's worth, Apollo's son. "I just realised that I kind of... you know. Invaded your space yesterday. So I'm sorry." Added the blonde, as Nico took a sip of coffee, taking time to let the memory of Will comfortably settled in his bed disappear from his mind.

"It's okay. I'm glad you're here" he finally answered. "But please don't let Chiron kill you when you'll be coming back to your cabin."

"Got it!" said Will happily, got out of bed, and placed a soft kiss on Nico's lips. "See you on breakfast. Now that you're here, I can finally resume 'Nico's healthy diet' programme."

"You're a hellish man, Solace" grunted Nico, laying back on a pillow.

"Actually, I'm in a relationship with one. And I'm not going to let him look like a skeleton" answered Will, closing the door, looking if anyone can see him leaving di Angelo's cabin, and then sprinted towards his own.

How can I be in love with such a dork? - thought Nico to himself, left alone with the remnant of his coffee, and convinced that regardless of the answer, the statement remained true.