AN: So, uh, I got inspired by a one shot I saw on Ao3, and I felt like writing my own jealousy Solangelo fan fiction. Also, remember, jealousy may seem like something funny to an outsider, but to the person experiencing it, it's pretty...harsh. As someone with RSD, I can confirm this. 
Also, like, can we give some credit to this artist? I don't know who they are, but GODS THIS ART, I CANNOT-
Enjoy! 

Will

Usually, Will loved new campers. 

He loved the awestruck expressions on their faces as their learned about the gods, the camp,  and got shown around. 

Usually.

But new campers usually weren't stuck up, arrogant, jerks who kept staring at his boyfriend. 

It didn't start out that way. 

Precisely a week ago, one of the satyrs named Oliver had brought in a 15 year old boy who had a few minor injuries from what they later learned was a hell hound attack. They boy was, admittedly, pretty good looking, with olive skin, wavy brown hair, and startling green eyes the same shade as Percy's. 

Chiron assigned him and Nico to show him around camp and get him settled, and Will had been positively thrilled at the chance to get Nico another friend. 

So he'd kind of pushed Nico to do all the explaining and stuck to healing his injuries and doing some simple introductions. Smart? 

No. 

But Will hadn't really been thinking straight. At the time, it had simply been an opportunity. 

So Nico, after much grumbling, had agreed to get him settled in the Hermes cabin. 

After a week, the boy still hadn't been claimed by his godly parent, so Chiron had decided that they couldn't delay in training him until he got claimed, and asked Nico to personally train him. 

For the first two sessions, Will had joined them, watching from the sidelines, just in case the boy - who's name turned out to be Jack Sinclair -  got injured. 

Eventually, after he started getting the hang of it, Will let them be, instead returning to his duties in the infirmary. 

He was currently in the infirmary, arranging the medical supplies, when the door burst open and Nico came in, dragging someone else behind him. 

"You good?" Will asked, leaving the bandage rolls on the floor and getting up. 

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but this idiot isn't. Told him to slow down. Tried to kill the dummy and ended up stabbing himself." 

Will held back a laugh. "Alright. Put him over there." 

Nico did as he was told, and Will studied the younger demigod's wound. It wasn't too bad, though he had lost a lot of blood. He poured some nectar over the wound, and watched it close. 

After a moment, he risked a glance at Nico. "I mean, I guess something good came out of this."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what would that be?"

"You've finally found someone to match your stubbornness level." 

Nico pushed him. "Shut up. Besides," he added with a wink. "I've got you for that, haven't I?" 

Will wasn't proud to say that he stood there, stuttering like a complete idiot while Nico laughed at him. 

Thankfully for him, Jack woke up just at that moment. "Wha-?" 

"It's okay, you got injured while training. How are you feeling?" Nico asked, interrupting him. 

He blinked. "Fine. I feel great, actually."

Will grinned. "That would be thanks to me."

Nico snorted. "Right." 

"What? You can't deny it," he reminded, then turned back to Jack. "You should keep it down for a while. Do what Nico says, he's pretty stubborn, and usually right. Don't overexert yourself, though. See you around." Will kissed Nico's cheek, and headed back to the suppl cabinet, where Kayla was sorting through the pile of medical supplies he'd abandoned. 

"Woah, dude, what did you do?" She asked, amused. 

"What?" 

She gestured behind him. "He's giving you a death glare. As in, death death glare."

Will cast a look over his shoulder, and sure enough, Jack was glaring at him fiercely, like he'd done some sort of unforgivable sin. 

He quickly looked away once he realised that Will was watching him. 

Will shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe he's just embarrassed."

"I don't know, Will...Keep an eye on him, yeah?" 

. . .

He would like to say that nothing bad happened, nope, life was great, he had a wonderful boyfriend, he loved healing, and all in all life was amazing. 

But no. 

That wasn't really the way of the Fates. 

At first, Will couldn't see much of a change, minus the whole Nico-training-Jack thing. 

But after a couple days passed, more and more signs just kept popping up. 

It started when Will went to check up on Nico during one of their personal training sessions. 

He'd ducked into the arena, a little nervous, since he didn't come there often. He wasn't exactly the fighting type of guy. He was more of a 'whistle and hopefully they'll die' kind of person. 

Will hovered near the entry, watching Nico spar with Jack. He had to admit that the guy had gotten pretty good in less than 2 weeks. Eventually, however, Nico threw his sword down and moved to correct his stance, and Will could hear him saying something about balance and focus. He drifted closer, trying not to be noticed, since he didn't really want to distract the two of them, until he was close enough to hear everything they said. 

"How did you learn to fight like this?" Jack exclaimed, something like awe or frustration laced through his words. 

Nico laughed, a little awkward. "I mean, I kind of had to teach myself," he admitted, picking his sword back up and attacking without warning. 

Jack had clearly been taught to expect it, but even then, he struggled to hold off against Nico, who had him disarmed and pinned against the wall in under a minute. 

"Damn, you're hot," he blurted. Personally, Will wasn't going to disagree, although he had to narrow his eyes at his boyfriend being called 'hot' by another guy. 

Nico shot him a confused look. "Uh, thanks?" He said, a little flustered as he handed him back his sword. Nico noticed him, and immediately brightened up. 

"Hey. Wait- how long have you been watching?" 

"Long enough to know that you could kick my ass without even trying," Will said with a laugh. 

Nico grinned. "I'm glad you're aware of that." 

Jack was watching their exchange quietly. "Um, aren't you supposed to be teaching me to..." he waved the sword around, nearly impaling himself. 

"Right," Nico agreed. "I'll see you at the campfire tonight?" He added hopefully. 

Will rolled his eyes. "Of course."

That night at the campfire, Will had been waiting for almost half an hour, and Nico still hadn't arrived, and he was admittedly starting to get a little worried. When he finally couldn't bear it, Will got up to the Seven, hoping that they'd know where Nico was. 

He cleared his throat.

Annabeth saw him first. "Hey Will," she smiled warmly. "You good?" 

"Yeah, thanks Annabeth. You guys know where Nico is?" 

She frowned. "He was doing an extra practice session with Jack this afternoon, he was really tired the last I saw him, he's probably resting." 

Will nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

. . .

It got a lot worse over the following days, Will was amazed that no one else had noticed. 

He barely got to see Nico anymore, and when he did, all he did was talk about how amazing Jack was, and how good he was getting at fighting, and how he'd actually held up against Nico for more than 15 minutes. 

Will nodded with a fixed smile, and tried to listen, he really did, but it was getting kind of hard. It had been a month since Jack had arrived in camp, and he and Nico barely talked anymore. 

Nico had been saying something about defence techniques when Will blurted, "Can we go out this Saturday?" 

Nico froze and turned to stare at him, confused. 

"Sorry, I- I didn't mean- it was a slip- I meant to say-" Will stammered.

"Why are you apologising? Of course I'll go on a date with you, dumb ass," Nico said, grinning as he threw his arms around Will and kissed him. 

"Meet me at the canoe lake at 4.00," Will whispered, and Nico agreed. 

On Saturday, Will was pacing near the canoe lake. 

It was 4.15.

Nico had never been late before. 

Just when he was about to go search for him, he heard his name being called. 

"WILL!" It was Percy. "There's something you have to hear about! It's Nico." 

Will hurried over to meet him. "What is it?"

"He has twisted his ankle. I don't know how- but he said something about training," Percy gushed out. 

Will pursed his lips, trying to shove down a twinge of annoyance. "Where is he now?"

"Your sister took him to the infirmary," Percy told him. "She said she could take care of the ankle, and not to tell you, but, uh..." He trailed off. 

Will nodded. "Thanks, Percy. You guys go. I'll check on him." Percy nodded, clearly relieved, and went off in the direction of the cabins, no doubt to meet Annabeth.

Will started after him, and some distant part of his mind observed Annabeth throwing her arms around Percy and kissing him, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. Percy laughed and waved it away, picking Annabeth up by the waist and spinning her around. Even from a distance Will could see her laughing. 

Why couldn't he and Nico be like that? Why does love come so easily to some people, but not others? 

He shook himself inwardly. Was he really getting jealous of Percy and Annabeth? The thought was so ridiculous that Will laughed out loud to no one in particular, and spun around, walking in the direction of the infirmary. When he reached the entrance, Kayla was hovering nearing the door anxiously, clearly waiting for him.  

"Hey," she said quietly. Will nodded in greeting. 

"Hi."

She searched his face, like she was trying to fine the answers to all her questions there. Then Kayla looked down and sighed. "He's inside," she said, gesturing for him to come in. 

"Thanks," Will muttered, and he hurried off to the second floor of the infirmary, which was Nico's usual spot. (Ever since the war with Gaia, they's had to, ah, reserve a room for Nico. He tended to get into an appalling number of accidents.)

"Not that way," Kayla shouted at him, and Will froze, spinning on his heel. 

"What?" 

"I- Nico. He- He was moved...temporarily. That way," she added, pointing in the opposite direction. 

Will stared at her. "Did- did something happen?" He asked, not sure what to feel about the sudden change. 

Kayla pursed her lips. "I think you should ask Nico himself. And, Will? I know I've said this before, but...just...keep an eye on Nico, okay?"

Will nodded, feeling numb, but it had nothing to with the cold wind rushing through the open infirmary door. He shook himself, then walked purposefully to the furthest cot, hesitating when he came to the closed curtains. He could heard voices inside, too quite for him to make out what they were saying, but a knot had twisted in Will's stomach, and suddenly he knew who else was in there with Nico. 

Maybe it's Piper, or someone, Will thought, trying - and failing miserably - to cheer himself up. 

Finally, Will mustered up the courage, and opened the curtains slowly, peeking his head in. "Nico?" 

The person in question snapped his head up. He was sitting with his back to the bedpost, legs stretched out in front of him. But there was another person with him. The figure was sitting on the edge of the bed, close enough to Nico to put an arm around him. Will felt sick. 

It wasn't Piper.

Sitting there - sitting that close to Nico - was none other than Jack Sinclair. 

And Will felt - goddamn it, Will felt like screaming. Did that guy have to follow Nico every where like some lost puppy looking for an owner? 

"Will," Nico said nervously. "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching and I kind of...tripped?" He offered lamely. Will tried to focus on him, ignoring Jack's presence.

Will rolled his eyes. "Clearly, as you're in an infirmary cot unable to walk." 

"Well...it wasn't my fault?" 

"I see." Will was unimpressed. He turned to Jack, unable to ignore the glare he was receiving. "Is there a reason you're here?" He asked, voice unusually cold. Will winced, and softened his tone. "I mean, don't you have stuff to do...?" 

"What? Oh! Right. Yes. Yeah. I do. I just, um. Came to see Nico?" 

"I see," he repeated. "Well, can I have a minute with him?" 

Jack jumped to his feet, blushing. "No! I mean, I was leaving!" 

"Oh. Okay." There a moment of silence while he and Jack just stared at each other. After a minute, Will raised an eyebrow. "Well, the door's open. You're free to go."

Jack cleared his throat. "Right. Right. Um, bye Nico." He rushed out. 

"How-" Will started, but Nico lashed out at him before he could finish. 

"Why did you do that?" Nico's voice was sharp, sharper than Will had heard. There was anger in it. Genuine anger. At him. 

Will stared at him. "Sorry, but why did I do what?" He asked finally. 

"Talk to him like that!" Nico exploded. "You practically told him to fuck off!" 

Will was speechless. "What are you going on about, Nico?" 

"Don't you dare act like you don't know what I'm talking about," Nico growled, whipping the sheets off him in one fluid motion, and swinging his legs around the edge of the mattress so they were staring at each other. "You were treating him like shit, Will! You never talk to anyone like that, never even for a joke. He was fucking hurt- Couldn't you see that? What's happening to you? This isn't the Will Solace I know."

"Well, I'm sorry that you're completely oblivious to the way he's acting around you!" Will yelled, and he thought he heard the rest of the infirmary go silent. Will knew he was probably making a scene, but he couldn't care less at that moment, because he was so tired of pretending. "And I'm sorry that I'm naturally overprotective when someone can't take a damn hint! He's checking you out, Nico, did you ever notice that? You think I wouldn't notice the amount of times he's called you 'hot' or 'cute' or some other stupid nickname? Did you not notice any of this?" 

"He's new, Will! He probably doesn't even know that we're dating!" Nico screamed back. "And has it ever occurred to you that we might just be friends? That maybe he's trying to hang out? As in, the way friends usually do? Besides, you don't own me. I can do whatever I want. It's- It's not like we're in love or anything. We're just- dating."

Will felt like the world was spinning to a stop. Every single breath he took hurt, like a blade plunged repeatedly into his side. And Nico was staring at him with those brown eyes, and they were so fucking perfect that Will felt like he was drowning in them. 

"Is that really all we are to you?" He asked, keeping his voice steady, even though his heart was shattering to a thousand pieces. The previous anger he'd felt at Nico was gone now. "'Just dating?'" 

Nico expression shifted as he realised what he had said. "Oh, gods Will, I'm sorry, I- I didn't mean it like that-" 

"Really?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice. "Then what did you mean Nico? That I'm just a fling? That I'm just- just someone you can test on?" His voice broke. 

"What? No! Will-" Nico reached out desperately, and for the first time, Will was the one who pulled away. 

"You know what? Never mind. Rest your foot. You should be better in a day or two."

"Wait, Will-" 

"Goodnight, Nico." Will shut the curtain, and without turning, said to the room: "Get back to work, guys. Everything's fine."

When he turned around, only Kayla was there, hands around herself, lips pressed into a thin line. "Will-"

"I'm fine," Will said, cutting her off. "The medical cabinet has to be seen to. Can you cover that for me?"

She nodded, and Will forced a smile, to show his sister that he really was fine, before heading out. 

It was as if his feet had a mind of their own, because Will didn't know where he was going until he found himself facing Cabin 6. Will knocked. Malcolm Pace answered the door. 

"Oh, hey Will," he greeted, concealing his surprise pretty well. 

"Hi," he replied. "Is Annabeth here?"

Malcolm shook his head. "She'd at Cabin 3 with the others."

Will nodded. "Thanks, Malcolm," he found himself saying, then turned back around and walked up to the front of the Poseidon cabin. 

Will hesitated, then knocked. 

Once.

Twice.

The door swung open to reveal Percy Jackson's startling sea green eyes, which widened when he saw Will. "Hi, Will." His brow furrowed. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

No. 

I'm not okay. 

I'm breaking.

I'm shattering. 

I feel like I'm being torn apart, cell by cell.

I'm in love.

And I feel like it's the end of me.

Because Nico doesn't love me back.

I'm in love.

I'm in love.

I'm in love.

Will found himself nodding. "I'm okay. Um, is Annabeth here? I- I need to talk to her."

Percy looked concerned. "Yes, of course. Come in."

Will stepped into the comforting blue of his cabin, feeling a lot calmer. 

Clustered on the floor, around a mess of cards, was Annabeth, Piper, and Jason. They all looked pretty surprised to see him, in different amounts. Jason - well, a lot. Piper - not so much. And Annabeth - Well, she seemed to have known that this would happen eventually. 

"I, um, hi," Will's throat was closing up. The calm was gone, and suddenly a rush of heat overwhelmed him, and Will almost passed out. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but...could I talk to you, Annabeth?" 

"What? Of course." Her grey eyes took in his appearance, which probably didn't look too pleasant. "Will, is everything alright?" 

"I..." 

That's when he broke. 

Will didn't know what came over him, but the next thing that came out of his mouth was a choked, strangled sob, and he slid down the wall, tears falling, shaking his head in response to his question. 

"Will!" Annabeth was kneeling next to him in an instant, one arm around his shoulder in a fierce, yet sisterly overprotective way. She pressed a hand to his forehead, recoiling in shock. Her hand was oddly cool to the touch. "Oh gods. Oh gods. He's burning up. Guys, someone get Kayla. Piper, get some water, please," she commanded, and Jason immediately got up. Piper did too, and rushed to the bathroom with a plastic cup. 

She turned back to Will. "Okay, tell me what's wrong."

It was like a dam had broken. Will just talked. 

He didn't know how long he talked for, but all he knew was that by the time Jason had arrived with Kayla in tow, he'd told her everything: Jack, how close he was to Nico, how oblivious Nico seemed, and, worst of all, what Nico had said during there fight. 

"And he-" his voice cracked. "Gods, Annabeth, I don't what to do! I'm a complete mess, aren't I?" Will let out a shaky laugh. "And you know the worst part? The worst part is that I don't think I've ever loved someone the way I love him. I didn't even know the meaning of love until him." 

Then, much quieter: "I don't know what to do."

No one said anything. If Will didn't know better, he would've thought that Annabeth was the only one present. 

But he could sense that there were multiple others in the room apart from them. 

Annabeth said nothing about the matter, however. Instead, she raised the plastic cup to his lips and said, "Drink."

Will complied.

When he finished, he put it back on the floor, risking a glance up to meet his sister's blue eyes. 

He looked back down. 

Then again at Annabeth. 

"Thanks for listening," he told her. "I- I should go now. My shift isn't done yet." 

Will got up to leave, but Annabeth put a hand on his wrist to stop him. 

"Wait, Will." 

He turned back around, confused. "What?" 

Annabeth and Kayla shared a look. 

"I, um, asked Chiron to give you the rest of the day off," Kayla said quietly. "I think you deserve the break."

Will started to protest, then realised that it might seem like he was ungrateful. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thanks, Kayla." 

She smiled. "No problem, brother. I'm always the sensible one in a situation." 

There was a round for snickering after that, and Will shot her a grateful look for lightening the mood. 

Piper McLean killed that. 

She cleared her throat, and said, "What are we gonna do about it?" And, of course, the newly lightened atmosphere didn't last much longer after that. 

"Nico doesn't mean it," Percy started, and all eyes flickered towards him, but he sounded strangely confident about what he'd said, like he knew it was true, and just needed to prove it. "I know Nico...this...it isn't like him. He would never say something like that to anyone and make them feel unloved, because-" Percy hesitated. "-Because he's been through that himself, and he would never put anyone else through that." 

His sea green eyes settled on Will's. "And certainly not to Will." 

Will gulped, because suddenly everyone was looking at him again, like they wanted his opinion, and it was just easier to let Percy do the talking. 

"I...don't know," Will said lamely. 

"No, he's right, Will," Jason started, having been silent during the entire thing. His eyebrows furrowed. "I don't think...I don't think Nico would do that. I don't think he's physically capable of doing that." 

Will hesitated. "I guess. I, uh, thank you for everything, but I...I gotta go."

"Wait, Will-" Annabeth started, and it was exactly what Nico had said to him, and that fact was enough to make him whirl around and flee the cabin. 

The safety of the cabin. 

Stupid, yes, when there was a possibility that he could run into Nico or Jack again at any moment, but Will was feeling sick all over again, and gods he needed rest.

If Kayla had pulled some strings with Chiron to get him off his shift, then he would damn well put it to good use: 

Sleep. 

Maybe the Fates had been watching over him and decided, "Oh, look; he's feeling like shit right now. Hmm, maybe we should give him a break. Let's make him have a good night's sleep, then throw all hell at him again in the morning. HA HA HA."

Or maybe he was just lucky. 

Either way, Will managed to get to Cabin 7 without bumping into anyone - pleasant or unpleasant. 

(Not that Nico was unpleasant in any way, hell, but Will was a little upset about the prior conversation, so it seemed fair that he didn't want to talk to him, right?)

It was only once he got to his bunk that he bumped into a living soul. 

"Hey, dude." Austin frowned. "You don't look so good. You okay?"

Will nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

There was a pause. Then,

"I heard about the infirmary incident," Austin said quietly. "You wanna talk about it?"

Will shook his head. "No, I'm good. Just- gonna crash. Can you make sure everyone's in before curfew, just for today?"

Austin nodded, patted him on the back, and left the cabin, leaving Will alone in blissful silence. 

Will fell back on his bunk, not caring to change. It was just a nap, after all. Kayla and Austin would probably wake him up before lights out, anyways. Besides, with all that had just happened, Will wasn't sure that he'd be able to fall asleep. 

But apparently, not even the most intense argument in the history of arguments could prevent sleep. Either that, or the cup of water had been drugged. 

Somehow, Will found himself drifting into the dark realm of dreams. 

. . .

Will wasn't woken up. In fact, by the time he woke up, the sun was shining cheerfully at him twinkling merrily and glowing like a torch in his face, when really, all Will wanted was one more hour of sleep.

One.

More.

Hour.

Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently, yes, because Kayla decided to burst in at that exact moment, and beamed when she saw Will awake and glaring at the goddamn windows that were letting in the light. 

"Good, you're awake. It's nearly time for breakfast, seriously. I never thought you were a heavy sleeper, but that changes after today," she told him, then proceeded to poke and prod until he threw the blankets off and agreed to get up. 

"Good. Go get a shower and meet for breakfast. The kids are worried about you. They think you're dying. Please, hurry up. It's killing me."

Will nodded, and tumbled into the bathroom, groggy, then tumbled out 5 minutes later, still as groggy as before. 

Why was hot water only available during autumn and winter? 

"Finally!" Kayla shouted. "Hurry up, please, the dining bell rings in 5 minutes." 

Once they were outside, Will decided to ask the question he had decided not to ask but then decided to ask anyway: "Do you think Nico really meant what he said?" 

Kayla stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him. "Will," she whispered fiercely. "Listen to me, okay? If he meant a single word of what he said yesterday, then he doesn't deserve someone like you, and you don't deserve him, got it? Because if he really loves you, he would not say that. And if he meant it, well, dear gods help him, because he will not get out of this camp alive, unless it's over my dead body. Understood?" 

Will nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah. Thanks, Kayla."

"Good." She poked him again. "Now stop looking like a rain cloud and cheer up. The kids think you're dying, remember? You have to convince them otherwise, or we'll all die." 

Will groaned. "Did you just give me that heart warming speech so that I could save your sorry asses?" 

"Well, that's what siblings are for, aren't they?" 

"You are officially the worst," Will grumbled, and Kayla laughed, and it was too early to be this cheery. 

"Race you to the pavilion," Kayla shouted, then took off without waiting for him to reply, which was totally unfair, and that was cheating, and that was unacceptable, so of course Will ran after her, and of course she won, because she had an unfair head start, which he was complaining about for ages afterwards. (Read: For roughly 30 seconds before he was pounced on by his younger siblings, much to Austin's palpable relief.)

"I'm fine, guys, I swear. I was just feeling a little off yesterday, so I let Kayla let me have the afternoon off. That's all, I swear," Will assured them, and they turned back to their breakfast immediately, apparently satisfied with that answer.

Kayla started to say something, then snapped her mouth shut, her eyes hardening at something over Will's shoulder. She looked at him and jerked her head that direction, and Will twisted around in his seat to see what she was seeing. 

He blinked. 

Oh.

It was Nico.

And he was walking in the direction of the Apollo cabin. 

Will swallowed, and caught Austin and Kayla both staring at him not very subtly. 

"It's your call, dude," Austin said seriously. "You don't have to talk to him."

"Yeah," Kayla agreed, casting a worried glance at Will, which he decided to ignore. 

"No, it's fine. I'll just...go figure it out," Will muttered, and pushed himself up. Nico had paused near the exit of the dining pavilion, clearly waiting for him. Will shoved his hands deep into his pocket, not meeting Nico's eyes. 

"You have to say something?" He asked, a little awkward. A hush had fallen over the entire pavilion. Will could hear a couple campers whispering, probably about how they were acting. He couldn't really care, though. There was no way in hell that Nico could possibly expect him to talk to him in a civilised manner after the previous night's conversation. So, fuck what the rest of the campers thought. 

"Yeah, actually. Outside?" Nico breathed out, shoulders tense, like he was expecting Will to abandon him at any moment...

...which, admittedly, Will might've been considering. 

He nodded, and they both ducked out of the pavilion. Will let Nico lead him all the way to the canoe lake, which sent a pang through his chest, thinking of the date that would've happened...if Nico hadn't been out training almost 24/7. 

Will stopped, not willing to go any further. "What did you want to tell me?" He asked flatly, ignoring the tone of his voice. 

"I..." There was a long drag of silence, which was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath. Will risked a glance up, and saw Nico shaking with silent sobs. It was rare for Nico to be this vulnerable, especially in such an open environment where anyone could see him. 

Will hesitated, and swallowed down his pride. He put an arm around Nico, who leaned into his shoulder, letting out a choked sob. 

"I'm sorry. I- I wasn't in my right mind yesterday when I yelled at you. I'm sorry. I- I should've thought it through before saying anything, and I didn't mean it, I swear to gods. Oh, gods, Will, I've fucked up, haven't I?" 

Will didn't say anything, but threaded his fingers through Nico's dark, silky locks. "It- It was nothing, Nico. It wasn't your fault-" 

Nico pushed him away, bringing his arms around himself. "No, Will, it was, because if my goddamn mind had been strong enough to resist it never would've happened," Nico said, brushing the tears away furiously. 

Will was rather taken aback by this. "What do you mean, 'strong enough to resist'? You mean strong enough not to be honest?" Will asked, taking a shaky breath. His eyes were unusually wet. 

Nico closed his eyes. "No, no, no, gods, no Will. I- It's not that. It's..."Nico hesitated. "Promise to hear me out?"

Will nodded, and Nico continued. 

"It's about Jack." Will rolled his eyes, but Nico held up a hand to silence him. "No, please, it's important."

Nico reopened his eyes, and this time, when brown met blue, Will realised that he looked scared. 

"I think he's been charm speaking me," he said softly, and Will froze, mind swimming with this knowledge. 

"I...what?" 

"I know it's hard to believe...but...whenever I'm around him I get the weirdest feeling, like I don't want to do what he's saying, but I do it anyway, and it's like I couldn't tell anyone about it. Like the more time I spent with him, the more powerful and irresistible the charms became. But yesterday...after you left, I was really upset, and...I think it was enough to temporarily break the charms. When Kayla released me, Jack was waiting, but I told him to fuck off and give me space. I haven't spoken to him ever since. I think being away from him breaks the charm. It's the only way I could've possibly said any of this to you." 

"I..." Will's mouth had gone dry at this point. "Wait...so- you're saying that he's a child of Aphrodite?" 

"I mean...That's the only logical explanation, isn't it?" 

Will, nodded, trying to make sense of it all. "I- Right. Yes. You're right. We- We should tell Piper, or someone about this." 

Nico turned. "I'll go get them," he said simply, and re-entered the pavilion. 

Will took the opportunity to think of everything that Nico had just told him. Oh, gods, if he was really telling the truth - and Will was fairly certain that he was - then maybe the previous day's incident really was a...forced misunderstanding. 

But was it, really?

Wasn't charm speak meant to make you say or do things based on your true emotions and thoughts?

Will didn't get the chance to think about it further, because a second later Nico, Percy, Annabeth, and Piper were jogging over to where he was standing. 

"Hey, Will," Annabeth greeted, worrying her bottom lip. "Nico told me everything," she added, and he just nodded. 

Percy stood next to Annabeth, a little awkwardly, while Piper paced back and forth, fuming visibly. 

"I swear to gods," she growled. "If he really has been charm speaking you, well..." She left the sentence hanging. 

"Can't you detect charm speak?" Will asked, tilting his head slightly. "Like, you can sense when someone uses it, can't you?" 

Piper nodded in confirmation. 

"Well...why don't you just hang around Nico and Jack and see if that's really what's happening?" Will suggested. 

Piper - finally - stopped pacing, and swung around to look at him. Her kaleidoscopic eyes glittered dangerously in the sunlight. "Actually," she said, her voice deadly quiet. "I think I'll do just that." With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off to the Aphrodite cabin, and Will had a nervous feeling about her expression. 

Annabeth broke the silence that had settled over them after Piper's departure. "Well, then that's settled." She shot Percy a worried look. "But we have to have a discussion about Chiron about unclaimed demigods learning to use their power - especially something as powerful and manipulative as charm speak. Come on, let's go now."

Percy began to protest. "But Annabeth, what about food-"

"You can eat on the way there, Kelp Head, now stop whining and hurry up."

Their voices faded to white noise when Will realised that he and Nico were alone.

"So, um," Will began, taking a great interest in the woods that was visible in the distance. "That's that."

"That's that," Nico agreed, stepping closer, and Will tried to ignore the hammering of his heart. "Hopefully, Piper will be able to sense him using it, and no one will ever be bothered by it again."

"Nico," Will blurted, whipping around to stare the other dead in the eye. He immediately regretted the decision, however, since Nico's eyes were gorgeous and he realised that he couldn't think straight (ha ha pun intended) with Nico staring like that, so he quickly directed his gaze to his flip flops. "Did you mean it? What you said yesterday?" 

Nico was silent for so long that Will was half afraid that he'd abandoned him then and there. 

"Will."

"Yeah?"

"Look at me. Please." Nico was practically begging. Will stopped his case study about shoe materials, and very reluctantly brought his gaze back up to Nico's face. 

Nico hesitated, and stepped even closer, so that they would be kissing if Will moved forward, like, at all. 

"Yeah?" Will repeated, trying to focus on something other than Nico. 

"I want you to know that I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I- I never meant it, and I never will mean it, because I've never loved anyone like I've loved you, and I never will. So I hope you can forgive me, because I'm in love with you, and if you can't..." Nico dropped his gaze. "Well, it doesn't change the fact that I'm in love with you. It'll just hurt a lot more."

Will's gaze snapped up. Whatever he'd been expecting Nico to say, that was not it. 

Then Nico sighed. "It's...it's alright. I'll just...I'll go." He turned. 

Will grabbed his wrist before he could leave. "Wait." 

Nico turned back to face him. "Yeah?" 

Everything Will wanted to say was forgotten as soon as he met Nico's eyes. They were gorgeous. It just wasn't fair that Nico could make him feel like this just by looking at him. 

Will blamed what came next on Nico for distracting him. 

He yanked Nico forward by the collar of his jacket and kissed him. Nico stood frozen for an entire minute, and Will was about to pull away and apologise, when Nico's arms came around Will, and his lips were parting and Will lost track of time and his name and where he was, because Nico was kissing him back and there was absolutely no way that he could remember anything even if he wanted to, which, to be clear, he did not. 

"Hey, Will, Nico, Chiron wants to- " Piper cut off abruptly, and they leapt away from each other, blushing furiously. "Oh gods, I'm sorry," she apologised looking appropriately embarrassed at having caught them kissing, but Will waved it away, even though he was still very much red. 

Piper cleared her throat. "Um, right. So, uh, Chiron wants to talk to you...about, you know."

"Right," he agreed. "Thanks, Piper. We'll just, uh, go now." 

Piper nodded. "Make sure you go straight to the Big House, Solace! Don't get distracted." 

The blush that had faded from his cheeks now reappeared, blooming red spots on his face and neck. Nico smiled nervously and pulled him along, refusing to make eye contact until they were face to face with Chiron. 

"Piper said you wanted to talk to us?" Will asked, awkwardly watching Mr. D tossing some Cheetos into Seymour's mouth and failing completely. 

Chiron nodded and gestured for them to take a seat.

"Right, gentlemen. I apologise if I interrupted anything, but I thing it's best that I heard everything from your perspective before making any rash decisions."

He gestured for them to talk, and Will realised with a jolt that he was talking about Jack. So Will told him everything - the training sessions, the nicknames, lingering touches, the infirmary incident (he couldn't meet Nico's gaze during that one) and finally the charm speak. After him, Nico told Chiron pretty much the same things - How Jack had constantly been calling him nicknames, touching him in an annoying way, and how Nico could never seem to tell him to stop. (What Nico actually said was, "I just couldn't tell him to fuck off," at which Chiron proceeded to glare at him, and Nico had to repeat the entire phrase with PG-13 language.)

Once they were finished, Chiron nodded, apparently satisfied, and rose from his wheelchair in full equine form, stretching out his hind legs. "Thank you, demigods. You can get back to your activities. I'll take care of Mr. Sinclair." 

They both nodded and excused themselves before Dionysus could throw anymore Cheetos at them by accident.  

"So, um." Will started. "Got any plans for the day?"

"Procrastinating until I feel like doing something useful," Nico supplied, and Will laughed. 

"I meant, do you have anything useful to do as of now?" He amended.

Nico pretended to think for a while. "Hmm...now that you bring it up, I vaguely remember something about missing a date with my boyfriend...I think I should make it up to him, don't you?" Nico winked and held out a hand, which Will gladly accepted, feeling suddenly giddy and light headed. 

"Of course," he agreed, nodding solemnly. "It's your duty."

Nico grinned. 

"Well, come on, then. We have a date to finish."

AN: I. Am. Finally. Finally. FINALLY. Done. I am so proud of myself. Literally. I've been saying 'I will definitely post today', for the past 2 weeks, and it's FINALLY happening! I'm updating again! After, like, seven months. 
Yeesh. Time really does go fast.
I hope you're happy. And goddamn it tell me the name of your conditioner! I even googled it and nothing came up. This is exactly what I promised you - 6500 words. 
You will not hear the end of it from me tomorrow at school, be warned. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO READ THIS! It means a lot. I actually spent a lot of time in doing this...
I got inspired by this fic in ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/42058926
It's by Foxfire16, and if the link doesn't work, I'll put it in the comments. 
Thank you so much for reading, and hope you enjoyed!

Word count: 6663