"Dashing through the - "

"No."

"In a one horse open - "

"Solace."

"O'er the fields we - "

"Will."

"Laughing all the - "

"Stop."

Will flung a pillow at his best friend's - and crush's - head, causing the small son of Hades to swear and assault him with pillows and stuffed animals.

"Die, Solace," grumbled Nico, whacking Will repeatedly with a cute dino stuffed animal.

Will's eyes caught on a black cat stuffed animal and he snatched it, grinning as he waved it in Nico's face. "Look, this one looks just like you!" he exclaimed.

Nico scowled and then rummaged through a huge pile of plushies before pulling out a frog. "This one looks like you," he declared, a mischievous smirk growing on his face.

"Haha," replied Will dryly, grabbing the frog and hurtling it at Nico's head. Suddenly, Nico yawned, and Will's senses went on alert. "Are you okay? Are you fading into shadows?" asked Will worriedly, grabbing Nico's hand with one of his own and touching the son of Hades' forehead.

Nico rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile on his face. "No, sunshine," he replied. "I'm just tired."

"Oh," Will said dumbly, grinning sheepishly. "I guess we should get to bed."

Nico nodded. "Santa won't come if we're awake," he said seriously.

Will cracked a smile at the small innocent boy. "No he will not," he said, standing up and turning off all of the lights except for the string of Christmas lights across the wall. "Goodnight, Death Boy."

Nico shifted beside him in the pile of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals. "Won't you get in trouble sleeping here?" he asked.

Will shrugged before remembering that Nico couldn't see him. "I doubt Chiron will mind," he said. "It's not like we're together." The word 'together' hung in the air like a cloud, causing a tense and awkward silence between the two. Will mentally cursed himself for bringing that up, praying to his father that Nico couldn't see the blush on his face.

"Uh, yeah," Nico replied finally, clearing his throat awkwardly and settling down on the blankets.

There was another long silence until both boys fell asleep.

-

"William Solace get your butt up - there are presents!" yelled Nico, waking Will up suddenly.

"Wha?" mumbled Will, peeking an eye open to see Nico assault him with stuffed animals like last night.

"Get up, sunshine!" hollered Nico, grabbing the semi - conscious Will's hand and dragging him to the tree, where both of their presents were sitting under the pine leaves.

"Alright, alright! I'm up," Will said, rubbing his eyes with one hand. Then he realized that he was still holding Nico's hand and immediately pulled it away, blushing.

There was a brief awkward silence again and Will cursed himself. He had to go and make everything awkward. Nice job, Solace.

"Presents," Nico yelled, breaking the silence and kneeling beside the tree, burying his face in the pile of gifts.

"Yours, yours, yours," called Nico, tossing them unceremoniously over his shoulder at the son of Apollo behind him. Will struggled but caught them all. "Ooh! Mine!" Nico practically squealed, pulling a blue present out and ripping the paper excitedly. Will's heart was doing flips at the sight of his crush so excited and happy, and Will was doing everything he could not to kiss him. "Its from Percy," Nico said, scanning the tag before opening the box. When he saw what was in the box, he flushed and groaned. Nico lifted the gift out - a navy blue shirt that said '#Percy'sNotMyType' on it. Will took one look at it and burst into laughter. Nico glared at him before glancing at the second gift in the box. The son of Hades pulled out a yellow shirt and scanned the words on it that Will couldn't see. Immediately, the pale boy's face went bright red and he slammed the box closed.

"What else was there?" asked Will curiously.

"Nothing," Nico replied quickly, but his face was red and his voice was higher than usual. "Open yours."

Will nodded and reached for one of the presents that Nico had tossed at him. According to the tag, it was from Jason. After quickly pulling the wrapping paper off, Will found a hoodie that said 'The Doctor is in' and a pack of-! Will immediately turned bright red as he read the message on the pack of - Will preferred not to say. 'Use protection ;)'

"Was that Jason's?" Nico asked, leaning over.

Will stuffed the package in his pocket before nodding. "Yeah, he got me a hoodie," Will said awkwardly.

Nico read the words and almost smiled. "Cool," he said, returning his focus to his presents. "I'm opening Jason's too." Will watched as Nico ripped the paper and pulled out a black shirt that said 'Ghost King' on it. Nico glanced back into the box and flushed bright red. "Wh-What is this?" he spluttered, holding up the same pack of somethings that Will had. "Non posso crederci! Oh io ti porterà indietro per questo, brutto stronzo!" Then, he threw the pack into the trash, swearing in Italian. Will grinned, trying not to laugh as Nico spluttered in Italian and glared at the Zeus cabin. Nico scowled at him, "It's not funny!"

"It kinda is," Will replied with a smile.

Nico stuck his tongue out at him before pulling out another gift. With a jolt, Will realized that it was his present to Nico. Instantly, the son of Apollo grew nervous. His hands were shaking and he was sweating anxiously as Nico tore open the packaging. What if Nico didn't like it? What if he thought it was lame? What if he thought Will was lame? "Oh, it's from you," Nico said. Will twisted his hands together and watched tensely as Nico pulled out the scrapbook. The son of Hades opened the scrapbook and flipped through the pages, examining the pictures Will put in them.

Oh gods, Will thought nervously. The first few pages had pictures of Nico and Bianca from a while ago that Will had found. The next pages were of an older Nico with Percy and Annabeth. Then came the pictures of him with the Seven. Then Nico and Reyna. Then Nico and Hazel. Finally, the pictures of Will and Nico. On the very last page, Will attached a Camp necklace, since Nico didn't have one.

Nico finally finished looking at the scrapbook and closed the book, staring at it. Then, he turned to Will and he had tears in his eyes. Will's gut twisted; Nico didn't like it. Then, Nico threw himself towards Will and wrapped his arms around his sitting figure. "Thank you, Will," Nico whispered, wiping his tears. "So much."

Will almost sighed out loud. Nico did like it! Will smiled down at him, meeting Nico's warm brown eyes with his own. Then, like a magnet, his eyes were drawn to Nico's mouth. Slightly parted, pale pink lips that were begging for Will's. He could hear his anxious breath. Will had heard in his mortal school that there was gravity between two objects, but the gravity to the center of the earth was stronger. Right now, Will was sure that the Earth's gravity was taking a break because gravity was definitely pulling his lips towards Nico's. Will saw Nico flutter his eyelids closed and lean in too. A thrill of excitement slivered up Will's spine, and he closed his eyes too. He could feel Nico's breath on his face. Then, he felt his lips. They touched lightly, as if unsure whether to continue or move back. Will, keeping his eyes closed, pushed his lips softly against Nico's, telling him it was okay. Nico sighed in relief and grabbed the back of Will's neck, crashing their mouths together. Will felt like one trillion butterflies were celebrating the fourth of July in his stomach. Nico and Will's mouths moved in perfect synchronization as they kissed slowly; Will's hands on Nico's waist and Nico's in Will's hair. After what seemed like hours, they pulled away, gasping for breath.

"Woah," Will breathed.

"Yeah," Nico murmured, cheeks pink.

Suddenly, the door swung open and the Seven plus Reyna piled in, talking amongst themselves. When they saw Nico and Will sitting silently, they stopped and stared.

Nico and Will exchanged anxious glances. Did they know what happened?

"Why aren't you opening presents?" Piper demanded.

Nico released the breath he was holding, actually laughing. "Sorry."

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Will said cheerfully, pulling another present over.

The group opened presents and chatted happily for hours, and when Will kissed Nico on the cheek, nobody freaked out because it was Christmas and the two deserved a break. But tomorrow was a different day.

The End

A/N: I started this a week ago and finished the end (end of kiss to here) at the airport (I'm going to the east coast), so sorry if it was rushed and bad. Anyways - MERRY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE!!!! Yay! Okay, Raspberry awkwardly signing off now! Ciao!