Nico's POV: 

"I like you, Solace." I said. Kissing him gently, I felt a warmth in my chest, as if some part of me that had been missing for so long had finally clicked into place. I felt whole again. Will pulled away and laughed at me. "So we're not just fuck buddies?" I flicked him in the nose and chuckled back. "Never." The quiet click of a camera caught my attention. Piper materialized in front of us, holding Annabeth's Yankees cap as if she'd just taken it off, which, of course, she had. "Jason is gonna pay big drachmas for this." And then she left. I blushed a crimson red while Will laughed quietly under his breath. "What's so funny!?" I demanded, my face flushed all the way to the tips of my ears. He laughed louder, which made skeletal butterflies flutter in my stomach. "It's just... you look so cute when you blush!!! I couldn't help but laugh!" I pouted at him, looking in the other direction to avoid his eyes. Oh, those eyes. I could get lost in them for days. Twenty different shades of blue in one ring around his pupils. I loved to stare at them, and not looking was hard. (A/N I  D A R E  you to try and look away from his eyes! It's hard, man!!!) But I avoided eye contact completely, looking up or down depending on how he tried to catch my gaze. Finally, he caved and said, "Okay, okay, I give. You're not cute." I looked at him triumphantly, just in time to feel his lips on mine. When we close the kiss, he said "You're adorable." I blushed even darker than before and buried my face in his chest. "Stoooooooop..." Will laughed again and ran his fingers through my hair in a comforting manner, causing me to loose tension in all my joints. I relaxed against him, humming contentedly at his warmth. "Will?" He lifted my chin to make me face him. "That's me." I stared at his irises. So blue you would think he had an ocean in his eyes. Snapping myself out of it, I whispered, "I love you..." My sunshine boy was taken aback by my words, his jaw dam near hitting his knees. I smiled at his cute, somewhat endearing expression. Other people saw him as the best medic in camp, hottest guy taboot, and many other things. All I saw was a blonde boy with a five foot three Italian emo in his lap, a blush on his cheeks, and a love in his eyes. A love that I was honored enough to say was for me. Will regained his composure and smiled back at me. "I love you too, Neeks."

That night, I fell asleep in Will's arms again, but I had a terrible nightmare, or, more accurately, a flashback.

---Warning: Contains Self Harm! If You Are Sensitive To This Topic, Do Not Read Further---

The boys circled me maliciously, fists up as if ready for a fight. "Weak fag!" One shouted. "Useless little shit!" Yelled another. I raised my hands readily, as I idiotically expected to take them on by myself. Suddenly, a broom-spear shot up from out of nowhere and impaled one of  my opposers, and a giant, no, a Titan, kicked down another one. The broom flew back to his hand like Mjolnir, and he quickly took out the other daimons. "No one hurts Bob's friends." I looked at him, and realized it was Bob the Titan, formerly known as Iapetus, who had come to my rescue. "Bob!" I shouted, surprised to see him. "Bob cannot stay. Floors to clean. Busts to dust. Must go." And he leaped away on his oversized feet. I stood, stunned at what had happened, and started to cry. I heard the Acheron calling out for me, telling me to give up like they had. I sobbed quietly, pulling out a small hunting dagger that I had been given by Bianca before her passing, and tested the blade on my finger. When I was sure that it could draw blood, I tightly shut my eyes and dug it into my forearm. 'Give up... die... you'll never make it out of here alive...' The voices confirmed the thoughts that I had kept locked away for so long. Suddenly, I saw my sister in my eyelids. She was reaching out for me, laughing and pulling me up from the ground where I had fallen off one of the motorcycle racing games at the Lotus Hotel And Casino. She was pretty, her green cap tilted sideways from bending over, her hair tucked behind her ear where it couldn't fall in my face. I remembered her promise to come back and see me after her first and last quest with the Hunters Of Artemis. My sister. What would she say if I gave up?  Letting loose a guttural sob, I pocketed the knife and stood, using a piece of my shirt to wrap the cut in my wrist. She would never give up now, when she'd gotten so far. So neither would I. 'She would hate you! Gay faggot that you are!' Screamed the voice in my head. "So be it. If she could never hate me more than I already hate myself." I said. I would survive Tartarus. I would see Percy again. And if I didn't... then I would reunite with Bianca and live out my afterlife in Elysium, or where ever I ended up.

---Safe Again---

I woke up with a sob and buried my head in my knees, crying from having to relive that experience. Will woke up next to me and jolted up when he saw the tears streaking my face. "Shhhh... It's okay, Neeks! It's just a dream." I sobbed louder. "No... it happened.. it was when I almost gave up in Tartarus!" Will hugged me tight and tried to calm me down, shushing me and saying I would be okay. "May I ask what it was about?" I sobbed some more and nodded my head timidly. I told him what happened and cried harder. "Um... can I see? The wound?" I nodded again and outstretched my arm for him to look. As he rolled up my sleeve, he let loose a sob of his own. The gash in my arm was still there, not entirely healed. I flinched as he touched the scab with cold hands. "Nico..." I looked at the dark wall on the other side of the room, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Will. I should've told you before..." "How did I mot see this before?" I blinked the tears from my eyes. "C-concealer..." He looked at me sternly. "Never again, Nico. I refuse to lose you to this. I-I refuse!" He started to cry, his face in my shoulder as I rubbed his back as comfortingly as possible. I didn't tell him about all the other times I'd done this. He couldn't take another stab in the heart like this...

I'm a terrible person, huh? Poor me. And Will... it was hard for me to write this. But it involves some true events. Please don't be mad. This is a special, and I wrote it in about an hour and a half. What do you think? Please leave comments on how I could improve my writing style. 

Word Count: 1239 (Including word count)