It was cold when Will awoke.

So...so cold.

And why...

Why did everything hurt so much?

It was dark too...really dark. Or maybe his eyes were just closed. He tried to blink a few times but he couldn't tell the difference between the darkness in front of him and the one behind his eyelids. What he did know, was that he still felt exhausted.

He didn't really have much choice when his eyelids slowly slipped shut and he drifted off.

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The next time Will woke up, he was a bit more coherent. He was able to recollect fuzzy memories of walking into the living room, falling through the floor and pain...so much pain. 

There still was pain. But not as bad as it had been before. Before it had been intense and overwhelming. A coppery taste in his mouth, sharp pangs every time he breathed in. Now it had died down to a dull throbbing, mostly in his leg and chest. He groaned softly, forcing himself to sit up despite the fact that his chest seemed to be squeezing in on itself as if he was the helpless prey of a python. He tried moving his leg but the jolt of pain it sent through him was so harsh that he quickly discarded that idea. Thankfully, his brain seemed to be in a well enough functioning order that he was able to recall what his father taught him about making splints.

One broken floorboard and several ripped shirt pieces later, the discomfort of Will's swollen ankle had eased up a bit. He grimaced slightly and started to weakly crab-walk off the pile of floorboards, trying to get to the normal ground a few feet away. It may have been hard and appeared to be made of concrete but it'd still be safer and more comfortable to lay on than the jagged pieces of wood. In Will's current state, however, the minor movement was excruciating, leaving him gasping for air once he was finally on the cold stone floor. He was so, so tired. He knew that he shouldn't let himself sleep. Not with the very probable risk of a concussion. That he was lucky to have even woke up at all the other times. His body didn't seem to agree. Black started to creep up around the edges of his vision despite his attempts to blink it away. 

Will ended up passing out once more, curled up on the cold cement beneath him. This time, he dreamt.

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It wasn't really a typical dream. Nothing like those times where your subconscious conjures up images of you wearing nothing but your undergarments as you leave the house or those dreams you have when you finally get together the person of your infatuation. Nor was Will's dream a single solid dream either. Bits and pieces of his memories flew past him, almost as if he was standing in front of a screen and watching as the past few days started to rewind.

"Do you want some?" Nico asked as he held the fork up to Will's lips. Will could feel his face burning in embarrassment, though he wasn't sure if it was because of Nico's offer to feed him or because of the fact he realized he had been shamelessly pining over the dark-haired prince. He hadn't meant to zone out and stare at Nico's food but Nico had already caught him practically admiring his features. If he ended up staring at Nico's face again, then his little infatuation to become painfully obvious, if it wasn't already. So Will had turned his attention to the food Nico was eating in an attempt to seem less suspicious. Now they ended up in this awkward position. 

Still, he couldn't pass up on the opportunity for such an intimate gesture. His heart was beating too wildly in his chest for him to be able to.

He smiled at Nico and wrapped his lips around the fork.

The memory still served to make Will blush but this time he barely even had a chance to react before a new memory was pushed into his face.

Will had pulled Nico onto his lap, wanting to bring the boy closer to him. He had just looked so small, vulnerable and...well, alone as he told Will about his past. He couldn't take it. Nico seemed to have gone through so much, Will had just wanted so badly to hold the boy and shield him from anything else that might want to cause him harm that he couldn't stop himself. 

Will continued to stay on this train of thought for the majority of Nico's retelling of his past. Only for it to suddenly become derailed when he heard Nico's last story. The one about Prince Perseus Jackson.

"You like boys?" He asked, fighting a losing battle against the goofy grin that threatened to display itself on his face. His spirit started to soar when he heard Nico's confirmation on the matter. He very nearly kissed the prince right there and then. Thank the gods for impulse control. He settled for smiling so much that his cheeks hurt, proudly giving his response to Nico.

"I like them too."

Will felt his heart flutter happily and yet the moment he blinked, the scene in front of him was gone entirely.

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It was in that moment that Will woke up again with a sharp inhale. He slowly uncurled himself from the position he was laying in, groaning softly as he felt his joints pop due to how stiff they were. It wasn't as dark now, wherever he was, a small bit of sunlight streaming in from the hole in the floor above him. How long had he even been here...? A few hours? A couple days? It couldn't be more than that otherwise he'd be nearly dead from starvation. Or maybe all his other pain was blocking out his hunger. Nevertheless, he still had to eat.

He slowly stretched out his limbs, uncoiling himself from the curled up position he had been in until he was spread-eagle on the floor, huffing a bit. The movement had taken a lot more out of him than he'd imagined it would have but Will was nothing if not stubborn. Bracing himself for what he was about to do next, he used his arms to push himself up into a sitting position, swallowing thickly as his ribs screamed with complaint and a wave of dizziness hit him now that his head was properly upright. Darkness started to creep at the edges of his visions though he ignored for the moment, determined to complete his task of either finding a way out of this place or of finding something to eat. Thankfully, he found success for the latter.

Pushed up against the far wall of the room he was in, were some wooden shelves. More importantly, sitting upon those wooden shelves, were tins of food. Fruits like berries and peaches being kept preserved in glass jars with cans of beans and other vegetables alongside them. They almost reminded Will of those creepy old cellars he read about in storybooks. Actually, now that he thought about it, that's probably where he was. A creepy old cellar underneath an abandoned, rundown house with rotting wood. If there were any deities up above in the heavens, Will could very clearly imagine them laughing at him. Maybe even writing ballads or haikus to warn other naive children to not follow in his idiotic footsteps.

Unfortunately, that train of thought brought on the realization of two more problems that Will had, concerning his new found food. The first was that he had no way to get over to that far wall. If he got dizzy from just sitting up then there's no way he'd be able to walk or even crawl to those shelves. The second was that considering just how old this house was, the food had probably gone bad before Will had even been born. Recalling his past error with the berries, he could only imagine what Nico's reaction would've been if he had known that Will had been considering eating old expired food.

Speaking of Nico, Will wondered how the other boy was faring now that Will hadn't been meeting him every day as usual. Then again, maybe he wasn't even affected. He had no idea how much time had passed after all. Maybe it had only been a day. Maybe Nico hadn't even thought once about him since they had last seen each other. Will tried his best to convince himself that that was a good thing.

All too soon, the dizziness started to overwhelm him and he laid back down again, thoughts of Nico briefly flitting through his head as he unintentionally drifted off once more.

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This time the memory wasn't as vivid as the others. Will couldn't hear the words that were spoken between him and Nico, only view everything that happened around them in small snippets.

The way Nico's brown, nearly black eyes looked down at him as if he could see who Will truly was beneath the curse.

The slightly predatory position Nico was in as he straddled Will's waist, just like a predator that had finally trapped its prey.

The flush on Nico's cheeks, the way his lips stretched out into the biggest smile Will had ever seen him wear as he clutched his sides and laughed.

The spark and crackling of rage Nico's eyes as he slammed Bryce Lawrence up against the wall, not because he had insulted Nico but because he had insulted Will.

As if Nico felt the need to defend Will's honour. Despite Will being nothing but a common face in the crowd.

The thought only crossed Will's mind for a second before a new setting was thrown in front of him.

Nico was pinning him to the ground, his boot pressing down firmly on his chest as Will stared up at him. A mixture of shock, confusion and fear coursed through his veins. Nico had never looked at him like this before.

As if Nico wanted to smack him for doing something stupid.
As if Nico wanted to prevent anything and everything from even laying a finger on him.

As if Nico wanted to kill him.

Will's heart pounded harder against his ribcage.

But then he noticed something. Something strange and a little bit unfamiliar to him but not entirely foreign. Because even though Nico's eyes held things like murder and anger and disapproval, Will could also see that those emotions were just a thin veil for Nico's true feelings. Things such as concern, worry and fear. Fear for Will. About what could've happened if Nico hadn't stopped him from eating the berries. Nico cared about him.

Suddenly Will's heart was pounding for an entirely new reason. A constant boom boom boom, against his ribcage, as if it was tired of being trapped in there and was now attempting to fight its way free. Everything that Will saw after that was a bit of a blur.

He felt Nico's small frame pressed against him as he hugged him for the first time. He watched as Nico's chocolate brown eyes blew wide, looking absolutely stunned when he declared they were friends. A part of Will felt saddened about the fact that Nico's strongest emotion seemed to be surprise when it came to someone wanting to be friends with him but he couldn't deny the giddiness that was also swelling up in his chest.

Boom.

Will watched as Nico crossed his arms in front of his chest, his eyes sparked dangerously with the promise of vengeance, his mouth twisted harshly into an ugly frown. However, not as ugly as his eggplant shoes. At the time, Will had seen Nico as someone to steer clear of, especially when he discovered he was royalty. Now that he had gotten to know him, he could see the truth in Nico's demeanour. The rigidness in his posture was just awkwardness from meeting someone new. The fire in his eyes was simply a defence, providing a cover for the uncertainty that lurked behind it. Even upon closer inspection, Nico's frown looked like more of a pout than anything else. Now that Will had gotten to know him, he saw Nico as someone absolutely endearing.

Boom.

Will could barely see anything. The dream memory was fuzzy and blurred, only allowing him to catch a few moments here and there. His mother's warm singing voice. His father's musical laughter. The treasured embrace of two loving parents. Suddenly the world became clear and quiet. Will looked up to the face of a woman he didn't know, a satisfied smile pulling at her lips.

"I bestow upon this boy, the gift of eternal happiness."

Boom. Boom. Boom.

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It was then that Will jolted awake, gasping for air on the stone floor like a man who had nearly drowned. He felt sharp hunger pangs in his stomach but he ignored them in favour of the two realizations that quickly came to the forefront of his mind.

The first discovery was Nico di Angelo. He was the warmth in Will's chest. He was the butterflies in Will's stomach. He was the pounding of Will's heart. He was one of Will's best friends. He was the one Will wanted to give his heart to. He was also the crown prince of the kingdom, destined to be married off to someone of a high status.

Will was just a commoner.

He couldn't even really get upset about that fact. As much as it crushed Will's heart, he knew it needed to happen. They needed alliances, resources, dammit, they barely even had enough food to survive off of in the village. They wouldn't get the things they needed if Will and Nico were together. Will was getting ahead of himself anyway. The only reason he and Nico would be together would be if Nico actually returned his feelings.

As it was, Nico most likely didn't. Even if he did, Will would probably starve to death in this death pit before he could find out.

Which brought him to his second realization.He could hear footsteps above him approaching the hole that Will had fallen through. They were light. Not too loud. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the only other noise was the sound of Will's breathing, he might've not even heard the quiet steps. Butin the silence of the house, they were deafening. Coming closer. Slowly. Cautiously.

As if whatever rescuer was approaching didn't want to fall through the floor as well. Or it was a predator who was trying to be as discreet as possible to avoid having its prey flee.

Will held his breath as the footsteps stopped at what seemed to be just the outer edge of the hole. There was a soft shuffling movement and out of the corner of his eye, Will could see a figure slowly peer over the edge of the hole, hurriedly turning his head to see what it was despite how much the movement made his world tilt.

Will has said this plenty of times before but he's never been so relieved to see chocolate brown eyes.

There's a moment of silence as he and Nico lock eyes. Then there's suddenly a large amount of-Italian?-swearing and the end of a rope collides with Will's face rather harshly. Despite all this, as Will clumsily tied the rope around his waist so Nico could pull him out, he could barely hold back a smile.

A/N: It's been almost a year but I did it!!! I updated!!! Success!!! Thank you all so much for your comments, I really appreciated them and especially the fact that I lot of you stuck with this fic despite the lack of updates. I'll try to be better about it from now on, but for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Happy reading!