Nico awoke to the ringing of an alarm clock, whining softly as he sat up. He didn't even have an alarm clock, he didn't ever really need to wake up early and the annoying noise they made irritated him.

He looked around for the source of the noise and only got more irritated as he couldn't seem to identify it. There wasn't a clock or watch anywhere in sight and yet the ringing was definitely coming from inside his cabin.

He stood up and walked around his cabin, and finally traced the noise to a small metal rectangle that was on the bedside table. Huh. He remembered Will bringing it yesterday and promising to show Nico how it worked today.

Nico poked it before hurriedly moving back as if afraid it would explode. When he deemed it safe, he slowly picked it up. It was black from all sides but it did have some buttons on the front and sides.

Oh. Perhaps this was some sort of miniature television. He hesitantly pressed the button on the front and watched in awe as the screen lit up, prompting him to shut off the alarm. He tried to press the buttons on the side and front again but no matter what he did, it wouldn't shut off.

How did this stupid thing work? It was really starting to give Nico a headache with its unending ringing. Why couldn't have Will closed the alarm before he left? Or why didn't he take this thing with him when he left to go back to his cabin at night?

Nico just shoved the device under all the pillows he had to try to quieten it as best as he could before he went to shower and get dressed.

Once he was dressed, he pulled the device out from under the pillows and used his powers to make a shadow void box around it so that the ringing would no longer be audible, carrying it outside.

It was a sunny day, which Nico actually enjoyed. Contrary to what most people thought about him because of his powers, he was still an Italian boy, and he adored the sun. It warmed his skin and always gave him a mild glowy tan, which he was grateful for. He was glad he wasn't like Jason, who turned as red as a lobster every time he stepped into the sun without sunscreen.

He headed to the dining pavilion, trying his best to not let the whispers and stares he heard and felt sting too much, quietly heading to the Apollo table. Rules had changed as of late, it wasn't considered fair for anyone to have to sit alone, so cabins with less than three people were allowed to join other cabins tables.

The Apollo cabin had three tables, being that it was one of the largest cabins. Nico spotted Will at one of them, sitting in between all of the youngest Apollo kids and feeding them.

Nico's lips twitched upwards for a moment. He couldn't deny how adorable Will looked making whooshing noises as he fed the little kids, who squealed in delight as Will fed them. Perhaps someday...

He shook the thought out of his head and went to tap Will on the shoulder. Will turned to look at him, beaming and pulling him down for a kiss on the cheek, at which Nico flushed scarlet and gently pushed Will away, getting rid of the shadow void box and holding the ringing device out to him.

Will beamed at Nico and pressed a button before tapping the screen, the ringing stopping. Nico stared at Will in disbelief, whispering quietly, "How...? You don't have electrical powers, you're not a Hephaestus kid... or even a Zeus kid..."

Will raised an eyebrow at him, chuckling, "So? It's just a cell phone, I kinda forgot it in your cabin. I was going to show you today, the Hephaestus cabin made it! Fully monster proof, though they're still working on monster proof Wi-Fi. For now, it uses Ethernet, but the apps all work, and you can still take awesome selfies."

Nico's eyebrows furrowed. "This is a telephone...? Not a tiny television..? How does it work without a cord, where does the power come from? And what are all those things you said? Ethernet and Wi-Fi and... selfies?"

Will stared at Nico in shock as if though he were insane, huffing as he got up, handing Kayla his spoon and leaving her in charge of feeding the little ones as he dragged Nico off to the strawberry fields.

"Nico di Angelo, how do you not know what a selfie is?" Will exclaimed, Nico shrugging.

"I grew up in the forties."

"But you've been in the modern world for what, five years now? And you've never heard of a selfie? All of the other stuff, go ask the Hephaestus cabin about, they can explain it better than me, but selfies? Sit your adorable butt down, we're taking a ton of selfies together."

Nico stared at Will in confusion though he sat down obediently as Will pressed a few areas on the phone screen before opening what seemed to be a mirror. Will held it up so both he and Nico were visible before beaming and pressing the screen once more.

There was a little clicking noise and Will beamed, looking proud of himself. Nico peered over his shoulder and couldn't help but to gasp softly. This thing was some sort of magical camera too, it had their picture on the screen, though Nico couldn't see where it would print out.

"And presto, there you go. Congrats, your first selfie and you look adorable." Will announced.

"...you wasted your phone on an ugly picture of us?"

Will looked offended. "Hmmph. First off, it isn't ugly, it's beautiful and I love it. Secondly, phones don't take only one picture, Neeks. I mean, even though we just got it yesterday, my entire cabin's taken hundreds of selfies on this."

Nico stared at Will in confusion, Will just smiling and showing Nico the pictures he had on his phone, most of them being of his siblings though a few of them were of everyone together. Only at the very end did Nico find two pictures, no- selfies, of Will with a toddler perched on his hip, both of them beaming at the camera.

Nico found himself smiling at that, whispering to Will, "Print this one. And the one of us. I wanna stick it on my wall. Please."

Will beamed widely at him and nodded, smooching Nico's cheek and pulling him close. Nico was starting to understand the appeal of selfies.

*((((I^o^I))))break time presented to you by raejax1((((I^o^I))))*

Nico was sitting with Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper and Jason on a picnic blanket by the lake. He smiled as he watched Hazel and Frank shyly hold hands as Hazel told them. He sighed softly.

He missed Will. Will had been sent out to get infirmary supplies two days ago, and while Nico knew that he was probably fine- the route was safe, they rarely had monster attacks and Will's scent as a demigod wasn't all that strong anyways and Kayla had gone with him- he couldn't help but worry anyways.

Still, Nico's hair had grown out to his shoulders and the cool wind whipping through his hair wasn't the most unpleasant. With the warm sun and cool wind and people he could tolerate near him, he was in a pretty good mood. His mood only improved as he saw Will running towards him with two giant shopping bags on his arms.

Nico laughed softly, expecting Will to only tackle him in a hug, but Will full on kissed him. Nico squeaked for a moment before melting into the kiss, turning bright red. He let Will kiss him for a few seconds before gently pushing him away, grinning widely at him.

"Hey. Missed you." Nico whispered quietly, Will grinning widely at him as well as he sat down, putting down his shopping bags.

"Missed you too, Neeks."

"Okay, I really didn't miss that awful nickname." Nico replied fondly.

Will chuckled, taking a McDonalds bag out of one of the shopping bags. "Aw come on. How could you hate the nickname someone who buys you McDonalds gives you, Neeks?"

Nico stared at him for a moment. He didn't think he'd ever loved his boyfriend as much as he did right now. He stared at Will utterly sappily, Will taking out two Happy Meals and a chocolate milkshake. He handed one Happy Meal to Hazel and the milkshake to Frank.

Frank looked at him in confusion before silently speaking up, "...thank you and all, but I'm lactose intolerant. I can't drink this. Haze, you want it?"

"Heavens, no. Nico bought me one once and it was far too sweet for me." Hazel replied as she began to eat her cheeseburger, feeding Frank her fries, "Brother, you want it?"

Nico smiled and took the milkshake from Hazel, humming in thought as he began eating his chicken nuggets, "Sure. Won't be able to finish it though. And I hate cherries. I'm not touching this until the cherry is off."

Will huffed and plucked the cherry off, putting it in his mouth, giving Nico a suggestive look as he took a perfectly tied cherry stem out of his mouth. Nico rolled his eyes fondly, but felt his face go red nonetheless.

He put a straw into the milkshake, starting to drink it, finishing a few sips before he put it back down, getting to work eating his fries.

Will took a few sips of the milkshake when Nico put it down. Nico didn't seem to mind until Will stole one of his fries to dip into the milkshake, which was when Nico went off into a dramatic rant about how nobody loved him, how this was the most disgraceful form of betrayal and how he was going to run away.

Will just rolled his eyes fondly and handed the milkshake back to his boyfriend, kissing his cheek gently. Nico relaxed and sipped happily at the milkshake. It wasn't until Will stole the milkshake again to sip at that Nico flopped over dramatically. Will laughed softly, smiling at him. His boyfriend was so beautiful. So beautiful.

Especially laying down like that with his hair spread out on the picnic blanket, the sunlight streaming down onto his face and making him look especially angelic. How some people managed to think that he was scary was beyond him. Nico was about as scary as a fluffy baby kitten.

Not that Nico wasn't tough. That was another thing Will adored about him. He was tough as old boots. He was thick skinned, he didn't care what anyone said about him. He could do anything, fight anyone who threatened him or someone he loved. It made Will feel utterly safe every time he was with him.

It was just that along with being tough, there was a certain tenderness to him, reserved for the people he loved and trusted, like his sister, Reyna, Frank and luckily, even Will. He still couldn't believe that Nico had chosen him to be his boyfriend. He really didn't feel qualified to be loved by the gorgeous boy in front of him.

Evidently, Nico had caught Will staring, blushing and pulling him down, hesitating for a second before taking Will's hand and kissing it gently.

"You're a sap, you know?" Nico declared quietly, "Buying me milkshakes and sharing them with me and looking at me like that."

"Looking at you like what?" Will asked curiously, his spirits having lifted a lot at the fact that Nico had taken his hand without being prompted to do so.

"Like... you know. Like I'm something special."

"You are something special though," Will replied without any hesitance, giving Nico the bright, radiant smile Nico missed whenever he couldn't see. Nico wondered why Will's eyes always looked brighter when he was happy.

Nico flushed an even darker shade of red, whining loudly and shoving Will gently, "Oh, shut up! You big freaking sap!"

Will grinned widely. Nico was adorable. So so adorable. Will really, really wasn't looking forward to having to leave him in a few minutes to go back to help out in the infirmary. He just wanted to stay here with Nico, trapped with him in this moment for all of eternity. He let out a happy sigh, closing his eyes, Nico turning to look at Will curiously again.

Will peeped an eye open, smiling at Nico, pulling him down for another gentle kiss before whispering, "You do realize that you've got an adorable little brown milk moustache, right?"

*((((I^o^I))))break time presented to you by raejax1((((I^o^I))))*

Will rose with the sun. Perhaps it was just a bonus feature of being a son of Apollo, perhaps it was just his nature, but Will always awoke when the sun peeked over the horizon.

He smiled as he looked over just to see a messy mop of brown, almost-black, hair peeking out from under the burrito he'd made around himself with the covers. Hmmph. Nico was such a blanket thief.

He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to waking up to this sight. He was sure he would never get tired of it. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows, only on Will's side of the bed. Nico didn't like the sun waking him up. He always complained that it was too harsh of an awakening.

It had taken them a lot of bed-moving when they'd first moved into their house together to find a spot that let the window stream in sunlight on only Will's side of the bed. Will remembered their first day in this house.

He'd been telling Nico that, for gods' sakes, they didn't need a house, they were just going to college and could stay in a dorm. But obviously, Nico being the son of the literal god of riches, just ignored him and told him to come pick out furniture from a catalog so he could send Jules Albert to go get them.

Now, Will couldn't imagine living without the luxuries of the house. He loved having a gaming room, a giant plasma TV, a huge terrace with a great view, the giant kitchen he and Nico would cook and bake in, the endless zombie staff and of course, waking up to his boyfriend lying next to him (and sometimes, Mrs. O Leary trying to smush herself into the bed as well).

He stood up and straightened out his pillows only for Nico to sleepily roll over and starfish out onto the whole bed as soon as Will was out of it. Will rolled his eyes fondly and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower before getting dressed and getting his med textbooks into his backpack.

Nico was still fast asleep. Will tossed a pillow at him, making Nico whine but make no attempt at getting up.

"Nicooooooooooo! Neek-Neeks, time to get up, sweetheart. You're gonna be late if you don't get up and get dressed soon," Will said as he went to gently shake Nico awake, "Nicoooooo, get up. I'll eat all your pancakes if you don't get up."

Nico whined petulantly, pressing his face into the pillow and trying to push Will away, "Shoo, lemme sleep, 'm tired...," he mumbled.

Will chuckled, standing up and deciding desperate times called for desperate measures, pulling the blanket off of him and throwing all the pillows onto the floor, Nico letting out a wail of despair before sitting up, pouting. His hair was standing straight up, giving him an uncanny resemblance to some sort of a small bird or disheveled kitten.

Will couldn't help but to giggle at Nico's appearance which only resulted in Nico pouting even more and standing up, going to get changed and dressed, even taking the time to line his eyes with black though he still seemed half asleep when he exited the bathroom.

He wrapped the blanket around himself before shuffling downstairs, where the zombie chefs had prepared breakfast for them. Will sat down at the table, eagerly shoveling his face full of blueberry pancakes with whipped cream, maple syrup and honey while Nico just sipped tiredly at a cup of coffee with milk and sugar in it.

He blinked sleepily, Will frowning when he saw him reach into the kitchen drawer to pull out a fag packet and a lighter, taking one cigarette out and lighting it up, taking a long smoke of it.

"Nico..." Will started quietly but stopped when he saw Nico's expression, just letting the topic drop.

They finished their breakfast in silence, Nico grabbing his art portfolio before he followed Will out the door, walking with him to their college. The air was cool and Will found himself shivering. He seriously hated the cold.

Nico sighed softly and put out the cigarette before he threw it away, wrapping his arm around Will and pulling him close to try and give him what little body heat he had. Will smiled gratefully at him.

The morning wind gently lapping against their skin, the sun shining down on them, his boyfriend's arm around his waist. Will couldn't really argue with the fact that he was pretty content in this moment.

He hadn't imagined when he was an eight year old, finding out his dad was a god who could have visited him any time but didn't bother to, knowing his mother was too busy to take care of such a high needs child and too poor to be able to afford to not work or to have someone else take care of him, that one day he'd be happy.

He'd always imagined he'd die young. In his head, he could never have survived alone outside of camp. And yet, here he was. He was happy. He had his boyfriend's arm around him as they walked to college together. He was safe. He was strong enough to protect himself, and Nico was more than enough backup protection just in case something happened to him.

The sun always seemed to shine just a tiny bit brighter when he was happy.

It wasn't long before they reached the science building, Nico kissing Will gently, speaking in a gentle voice "I'll see you after school, alright? I'll be here waiting at two. See you later, have a great day, love you."

Will just smiled at him, nodding and kissing him once more, hugging him tightly before he headed inside to his class. He was glad that everything that he had thought when he was a small child had all turned out to be wrong. He was glad he was happy.

*((((I^o^I))))break time presented to you by raejax1((((I^o^I))))*

What. The. Fuck.

When Nico walked into the bathroom in the morning, he had thought today was going to be a normal day of college. At least, until he went over to the sink to see his hair was dark red. He very nearly screamed.

He looked like a fucking MySpace emo from 2010. He absolutely hated it. Even more, he hated the fact that he wasn't even the one who dyed his own hair. When he had gone to sleep last night, he was utterly sure that his hair was its usual black, just how he liked it.

There was only one person who could have done this to him, and that person was currently sitting in Advanced Anatomy class, probably with a huge geeky grin on his face as the teacher praised him for knowing the right answer to all of the strange medical questions he was asked, or for getting a full score on one of his tests again.

Nico hurriedly got changed, getting dressed into some black jeans, a grey top and a black hoodie, pulling it down to cover as much of his hair as he possibly could before storming off to his own class. He hoped nobody would notice his hair, he really did.

If anyone in his class noticed his hair, they decided it was best to stay away from him and not mention it. That was a smart move. He was so not in the mood to explain anything to them. Though, to be fair, not many people talked to him as it was, so perhaps this really didn't have anything to do with the color of his hair.

The day passed, almost excruciatingly slowly. Nico couldn't wait to get out of class and find a way to punish Will for what he did. When he finally stepped out of class at precisely two, his boyfriend was standing outside the door, waiting for him and trying not to giggle. Nico glared at him, huffing as he passed by him.

He spoke in faux anger, trying to make himself sound intimidating, "Fuck you. No more kisses or cuddles for you. Rot in hell."

Will whined, pouting at Nico and running to follow him, "Nicooooo, you look adorable, come on. Don't be mad at me." Nico decided the best course of action would be to just utterly ignore Will.

How could Will possibly expect Nico not to be mad at him after what he had done to him? It was utterly ridiculous.

Will managed to last until dinner time. He tried his best to stay strong, but he needed boyfriend cuddles and kisses and love. He knew Nico wasn't mad at him, not really, since he did see Nico smiling as he looked at his hair in the mirror. Will honestly just needed some attention.

He tried his best to be as nice to Nico as humanly possible, but Nico was like some kind of robot, managing to completely ignore Will, even when he offered to drive Nico to McDonalds.

Now this was uncharted territory. In his four years of dating Nico, he had never said no to McDonalds. Never. Will was starting to worry, his dramatic side flaring up. What if Nico never let Will kiss him ever again? He couldn't do so forcefully. That would be molestation. Will had to do something, and fast.

As Nico headed to the dining hall for dinner, Will followed him, sitting down next to him once they had both gotten their food, resting his head on Nico's shoulder. Nico didn't push it off. That would be paying attention to Will, and Nico was trying to ignore him. Will had found a loophole.

He gently began tracing his fingers up and down Nico's thigh, first halfway up his thigh and then slowly, higher and higher until it was awfully close to reaching his groin. Nico let out a choked sort of whine and just filled his mouth with pizza to quieten himself.

A few people from Will's class joined their table for dinner, Will chatting happily with them, being sure to thicken up his southern accent just a tiny bit, feeling the fabric around Nico's groin stretch slightly. Will grinned. He was winning this game, he had started to realize that. Under the table, he moved his hand onto Nico's groin, getting to work gently massaging it, feeling him get harder and harder and his face get redder and redder the more he massaged.

Suddenly, Nico stood up, tying his jacket around his waist and mumbling something about having a bit of a fever before he hurried off to head back home.

Once Nico was back home, he ran to the bedroom, pulling his clothes off to free his length before he laid down on the bed and poured some lube onto his fingers. The room felt swelteringly hot, and the cool lube was a relief against his skin.

He spread his legs and got to work pushing one finger into himself, working it in and out until he felt ready to push another one in. That was about as far as he got before Will came into the room, grinning at Nico.

Nico didn't even care about what Will had done to his hair anymore, he didn't care enough to keep pretending to be mad or to refrain from touching or kissing Will. He didn't care. All he knew right now, in his hormonal, horny state, was that he needed Will everywhere, all over him, inside him. Will had won the game, and Nico didn't even care enough to be upset about this fact.

Will chuckled lowly as he walked over to Nico. Oh gods, he was in one of those moods. He was always so mean in this mood. Hot, yes, but mean. He gently took Nico's hands, pressing a small kiss to his nose.

"No touching yourself, love. You know the rules of the game. Tell me if you need me to stop, alright? Now roll over, sweetheart, let the fun begin."

*((((I^o^I))))break time presented to you by raejax1((((I^o^I))))*

Nico didn't really didn't think it was fair that he'd have to tutor Will at baking for Home Ec just to be able to make up all the absences he'd had last semester so he wouldn't have to retake any courses. How was it his fault that Will was utterly terrible at cooking?

"Ms. Hestia, c'mon, please? I'll be careful not to be absent this semester. You can't make me work with Solace. Especially not after school, he'll burn my house down!" Nico pleaded his teacher, who just shook her head, giving Nico a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, Nico," she said in a gentle voice, "I'm afraid you're the only student in this class I actually trust enough to keep him from burning someone's house down. Look, all I ask from you two is a B grade quality dessert. That's all. You're my star student, I'm sure you and Will could work together and make something that's at least B quality. Now, keep an eye on your steak or it's going to burn."

Nico just sighed softly, faintly aware of Will's eyes on him as he cooked his steak, being careful not to let it burn.

Will couldn't believe his luck. He'd been paired up with Nico di Angelo. The Nico di Angelo. As in star student Nico di Angelo that Ms. Hestia adored and the reason why Will was failing Home Ec miserably. Well, one of the reasons.

Will was utterly awful at cooking, he was aware of that, but most of the time, he could at last make something edible. In Home Ec, however, he was always far too distracted, watching Nico cook, his long hair tied back, his face scrunched in concentration. That boy was utterly gorgeous, and the distraction that led Will to burning most of his dishes.

Will could drool over him any day, all day long, but Nico was anything but friendly to him. Will really, really hoped that it was just shyness because this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get Nico to like him.

Home Ec was Will and Nico's sixth period class. Will knew Nico had a seventh period because Will's nest friend, Cecil, shared seventh period with Nico. Will, however, didn't have a seventh since he was in the school council which required he stay at school for two hours after sixth period from Monday to Wednesday. Today was Thursday, however, which meant this was Will's last period but Nico still had another period to go.

Nico had gotten Will's number at the end of sixth period. When he walked out of seventh period, he decided to text Will.

Nico: Do you want me to pick you up or do you want my address so you can get dropped over to my house when you're done with student council?

Will: Don't have student council today. Are you done with class? I'm waiting in the yearbook room.

Nico: You're still at school? Fucking hell, you waited an hour? Whatever. I'm waiting in the parking lot.

Nico went to stand in the parking lot, Will coming running out a moment later, his face red, only making his freckles even more pronounced.

"Hey," Will managed to say in between pants, "Are we walking back to your place or do you have a car?"

Nico raised an eyebrow at Will before speaking, "My chauffeur is here. His name is Jules Albert and he only speaks French and a little Italian, so there's no point trying to talk to him."

Will stared at him in shock as Nico led Will into a Bugatti Veyron. Damn. So the rumors were true. Nico really was loaded. Will knew from staring at car magazines with awe when he was a kid that this car must have cost at least a couple of million dollars.

Nico calmly put his backpack and gym bag up on the seat despite the bottom of his gym bag being covered in dirt and grass and sweat. He must even be richer than the rumors said, if he could afford to be so lax with his treatment of this gorgeous car.

Speaking of gorgeous... Nico leaned back against the seats, putting his muddy sneakers onto the center console of the car, closing his eyes and putting his earbuds in.

Will could hear the music Nico was listening to. It was so much softer than what Will had expected. With how punk Nico was with his piercings and long hair and eyeliner and dark clothes, Will had expected him to listen to metal. Like Marilyn Manson or something like that. Best case scenario, Fall Out Boy. Instead, the music Will could hear playing from Nico's phone was soft, gentle, kind, Italian.

Was his Italian really that good? Will had heard Nico swear in Italian a few times just so he wouldn't get in trouble for swearing, but he had no idea that Nico was fluent.

Will grew increasingly uncomfortable. He could feel himself sweating and he really didn't want to sweat all over these posh leather seats. Did he smell? He really hoped he hadn't sweat through his deodorant and started to smell. Damn dollar store deodorant.

He began to fidget, his ADHD starting to act up from anxiety and lack of stimulation. This was his one chance to talk to Nico di Angelo and yet he was completely ignoring him as if though he didn't even exist. Maybe Nico thought he was too good to talk to Will. He wasn't wrong. Nico was far far richer than Will was. Nico's car probably cost more than his Ma had ever made in her life.

And then, as the car turned in to a private housing complex, and into the driveway of a literal goddamn mansion (though it really looked more like a castle), Nico pulled out his earbuds and grabbed his bag, grinning as he spoke, "Finally. We're home. Come on inside, Will, I'll grab us a snack before we start work."