Nico's POV

It's been about a year since the Giants War ended, the Romans returned to Camp Jupiter and would come visit us sometimes, Will and I started dating, Percy and Annabeth got their happy ending and are now in college, camp is camp and everything is peaceful.

It's really fucking boring.

I guess not almost dying every five seconds is nice and all, but it's still boring.

Today was especially unentertaining. Will was in the infirmary all day because someone *cough* Mr. D *cough* thought it would be a good idea to let Sherman Yang from the Ares cabin and Butch from the Iris cabin to have a sparring match. Bets were placed and let's say the losing side was very angry. Luckily nobody got too injured, that means nobody died or lost an arm.

I looked at the time. yay lunch time! I usually don't eat lunch, but Will said if I don't eat he'll drag me to the infirmary himself for three more days, also lunch is another opportunity to see Will.

I walked to the dining pavilion and scanned the place, looking for those beautiful eyes that were the perfect shade of ocean blue. I frowned, my eyebrows furrowing together, 'why isn't he here?' I thought to myself.

"Nico!" I heard my name being called and my shoulders tensed, I turned around slowly, 'oh, it's only Piper' I thought and relaxed my shoulders. "Hi Piper", she grinned at me, 'why is she grinning at me? Did I do something wrong?'. "Will is still in the infirmary if you're looking for him" she said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Oh. thanks" i tried mustering a smile, I bet it looked more like a grimace.

I took two apples and a slice of bread. "Yep, that should be enough" I muttered to myself.

I walked to the infirmary, bumping into Kayla on the way in. "sorry" I mumbled, she chuckled, 'is she laughing at me?'. "It's all good Nico, Will's in the backroom by the way. He's reorganising the supplies." I nodded. "ok, thanks Kayla".

I hurried away towards the back of the infirmary and away from this awkward conversation between me and Kayla.

I walked into the backroom. "Will? Are you here? I brought you an apple and a piece of bread, gods that sounds like such a depressing meal." I muttered to myself the last part.

"I'm here!" I heard him yell across the room. I peeked behind a pile of boxes, catching a glimpse of golden-like curls. He stood up and dusted himself off. I shot him a small grin and he smiled brightly at me, revealing his pearly white teeth.

"Neeks!" He comes in for a hug but stops and scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, no physical content, almost forgot." he chuckled nervously and my expression softened. "It's ok, I think I'd like a hug." The smile that spread across his face was the most adorable thing on earth.

He wrapped his arms around my torso and I wrapped mine around his shoulders. "I brought you food since you weren't at lunch today." I said softly. his grin widened, if it were even possible. "You're being awfully nice today Neeks." I chuckled softly, enjoying the feeling of his arms around me. "Can't I be nice to my boyfriend?" his eyes widened at the word i used and he kissed my cheek affectionately. "Of course you can Death Boy."

I pulled away from his embrace. "Food?" he grinned at me, nodding in an enthusiastic way. "What did you bring?" he asked and I started fiddling with my hands. He took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers. "I brought an apple and some bread, I know it sounds depressing but-" he cut me off. "It's fine Neeks, I'm not that hungry anyway, what are you planning to eat?" I fiddled with his hand, humming. "Nico... you are planning on eating lunch today, right?" he asked and I gulped nervously, my Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Y- yeah, I brought myself an apple, see?." I held up the apple, he let out a small sigh of relief and acceptance. "Ok, good, umm, let's eat?" he asked and i nodded, passing him the piece of bread and another apple.

We ate in silence with Will occasionally commenting about his day, I'm not proud to say I zoned out, but I did.

"... and may the Gods help him because if Sherman Yang comes to the infirmary one more time I'll have to kill him myself!" he sighed and rubbed his temples as if trying to pray the headache away. "But I have you here with me so it's all worth it." I smiled and maybe even blushed lightly at his sweet words.

He brushed a strand of hair out of my face and grinned at me mischievously. "What got you all pinkish Death Boy?" I kissed his cheek, a small smile forming on my lips. "Don't you dare sunshine." he nuzzled his nose into my cheek, laughing.

"I love you"

I froze and then I ran. I didn't even think about shadow travelling, I just ran. I bolted out of the room with Will yelling my name, it hurt, why did it hurt? I didn't even know why I ran away, all I knew was that I had to get away, to get away from Will and his stupid feelings, to get away from my own feelings, to just get away. I ran all the way to Zeus's fist and then I started climbing. When I got to the top I finally stopped and sat down to catch my breath and calm down. I stared at the forest, observing.

To be utterly and completely honest... I was scared. I am scared. Will doesn't deserve that, he doesn't deserve a stupid cowardly son of Hades who can't even hold his own boyfriend's hand in public, because what if people notice?

The way he said those words, it was so carefree, like he didn't just take a huge step in our relationship, like the little bubble we lived in for the past year didn't just blow up in our faces. Do I love him back? Honestly, I don't know, it's all going too fast, I don't think I love him just yet. I know I can grow to love him, but not just yet.

"Will loves me." I said to the woods. "That stupid, idiot, sunshiny son of Apollo loves me." I sat there on Zeus's fist, those words running through my head.

I heard a rustling in between the trees and my name being called. "Nico? Are you here? I'm sorry! Nico?!"

"I'm here." I saw a mop of blonde, slightly curly hair and big blue eyes. "Hey Will." he climbed and sat beside me. "Can I give you a hug?" he asked and I nodded. He wrapped his arms around me and I returned the hug. "I'm sorry for running away when you said... that." he hugged me a bit tighter. "No, it's okay, I'm sorry for saying that out of the blue, and... I want you to know that, umm, it's okay if you don't feel the same way, take your time."

"Thank you." I whispered. "I don't deserve you." he kissed my cheek which left a warm sensation in me which I couldn't explain. "That's not true. You deserve the world Nico, you deserve so much more than what I can give you."

I looked him in the eyes, and saw... him. No bad intentions, so secret messages, just pure love and slight concern. And so I kissed him.

It wasn't magical, I didn't see fireworks, but I did feel complete and... happy. So in a weird twisted way I guess it was kind of... magical?

He pulled away first.

"Wow." he whispered, his breath hot against my skin, like fire. "yeah, wow." I agreed. Suddenly he started laughing, was he laughing at me? Was I bad at... that? "I can't believe it! We kissed! On the lips! Our first kiss!" he kept giggling like a madman and I smiled at him. "You are ridiculous Sunshine."

"May I kiss you?" he asked and I nodded. He pressed our lips together, it was short and sweet and we both couldn't stop smiling. "Awesome!" he exclaimed when I pulled away. "Awesome? Really Will? Gods you are such a dork." his grin widened. "I may be a dork but I'm your dork." I smiled and started to climb down from Zeus's fist. "Whatever you say, Sunshine."

"Hey Nico! Wait for me!" He quickly climbed down. "Isn't it 4 p.m.?" I looked at him confused. "It's also a Wednesday." I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?" he sighed and shook his head in amusement. "You have a sparring practice with Percy." my eyes widened. "How do you know that?" he looked a bit embarrassed." I, umm, I may have memorised your schedule... for medical reasons of course, not because I had a huge crush on you, I'm babbling aren't i? I should shut up before I say something stupid, okay I'm shutting up now."

I let out a small chuckle at his babbles and at the blush that crept up his neck. "I guess I should go now." he nodded quickly, still looking embarrassed. "Yeah, see you later."

We parted ways and I walked to the training arena, swinging my sword in my hand and whistling quietly. "Hey Percy, ready to get your ass beat?" I asked as soon as I saw him. "You wish, Death Breath." we got into position and he flashed his famous smile at me. I charged.

A/N: 

so... what do you think?

tell me if you have anything to add. I don't mind a bit criticism, thank you for being so patient with me.

word count: 1609

bi babes, love ya and stay safe.