"This was fun. Thanks for coming with me," Nico says to Will in the elevator.

"Thanks for inviting me. I had fun too," says Will.

Nico takes a sip from his iced latte, careful to remember which one he's saving for Will. Their relationship is on the mend, but they're not quite at sharing drinks, Nico guesses.

"I'm sorry we lost touch," Will says. "I wish I stayed on good terms with you."

"I set the tone when I didn't even come to see you off. And I lost Annabeth too because of it," Nico says. He feels bad about that. He was a bad friend back then.

"Eh, she would've done it either way. She needed to get out of there. Annabeth isn't doing anything that she's exceptionally proud of, except maybe making the refrigerator sangria- shoot, we left that in the fridge- but she's figuring it out. She seems happy," says Will.

"Refrigerator sangria?" Nico has got to learn more about this.

"Yeah, she's a bartender so-"

"Annabeth Chase is a bartender?" Che due coglioni!

Will's face reddens. "You can't tell anyone I told you that."

"I won't," says Nico. "But I'm glad you trust me with that. Is she at least at a cool restaurant?"

"Um, depends on your definition of cool." Will steps out of the elevator as the doors open, and Nico follows.

They approach Nico's door about halfway down the hall. He holds both of the coffees and Will holds the Happy Meals by their golden arches.

"Shoot, I still have your keys," Nico realizes. "Is it weird if-? Do you want to just come in and figure this all out? You can stay and eat too if you want."

"Depends," Will says. "Are there puppy pictures involved?"

"Absolutely," Nico says.

Now the two of them are sitting in Nico's bed, legs dangling over the edge, eating cheeseburgers.

"Do you want to watch some television?" Nico asks.

"Sure," Will says.

Nico finds the remote in an otherwise empty drawer and turns on the television. There are only a few options: a football game, a soap opera, the local news, a Spanish cartoon channel, Antique Roadshow, a cartoon Nico doesn't recognize, a biblical game show, and then he's back to the football game. He settles on the game and puts the remote down between the two of them, just so that Will knows that he can change the channel if he wants.

He does not.

They sit in silence and watch the game. The Steelers are kicking the Ravens' butts, but Nico is completely indifferent. He doesn't know either of these teams. This is football americano, not Nico's kind of football.

"Non mi piace," he mutters to himself.

"Where are these teams from again?" Will asks.

Nico swallows a bite of his cheeseburger. "I'm not sure."

"What's a 'down'?" Will asks.

"I also don't know," Nico says. He picks up the remote and changes the channel to the soap opera.

"But, Lady Katherine, how will I ever live without you?" the man on screen asks.

Nico's invested immediately. He loves trash television.

"Lord Daniel! I cannot stay with you, for I love another!" a woman shouts back.

Nico tilts his head back and finishes his coffee. "I feel like this is a period drama, but why are they dressed in scrubs?"

"Screw that, why is there a puppet?" Will asks.

"Holy Hades. I did not notice the puppet."

Lady Katherine speaks again: "Lord Daniel! I'm leaving you! For Ernest!" She kisses the fuzzy puppet on the cheek and carries him (Her? Them?) away.

Nico wants to change the channel, but he's sucked in. This show is awful. Thankfully, Will takes the remote and changes the channel himself. The local eleven o'clock news is on. That's not so bad, right? Wrong.

The news anchor looks concerned: "The employee's body was found face-down in a dumpster. Olive Garden managers want the public to know that they were unaware this went on in their establishment."

"Turn that up," Nico says. He remembers Hazel saying that the girls were going to Piper's favorite restaurant tonight for her bachelorette party, and then to Piper's favorite club. Funny how it's Hazel's party, but they're doing Piper's favorite things.

The anchor continues: "Police say that anyone with information regarding the suspect or suspects should contact local police immediately. And now for the weather. Back to you, Carol."

Will squints as if doing a double-take. "That looks like an Amphisbaena in that dumpster," he says. "Remember Apollo saw one of those killed on an Amtrak?"

Nico remembers. "Interesting how the body is still there. First Drew's earrings-"

"And the Minotaur on the bus!" Will interrupts.

Will and Nico ask their next questions at the same time.

"What about Drew's earrings?"

"The Minotaur story wasn't a lie?"

The men swap stories as they pick at the remaining fries.

"Wow, that's..."

"Yeah."

"What should we do?" Will asks.

Nico shrugs. "Sleep on it, I guess."

"Oh, sorry. Did you want to go to bed? I can leave," Will stuffs his trash in the empty Happy Meal box and sets the MythoMagic toy on the nightstand. It's a cyclops. Nico has a bunch of those in his collection, but he doesn't object to another.

"You don't have to go!" Nico says a little too loud.

Will moves anyway.

"Hey, c'mon, I'm not that tired," Nico says.

"I was throwing my trash away..." Will looks at the ground.

That makes sense.

"Did you want to stay and watch television?" Nico asks finally.

Will sits back down on the bed. "No offense, but I don't want to watch anything. The hotel cable sucks."

"That's fair. I guess we can just talk," Nico says.

"What about?" asks Will. "Got something on your mind?"

"A lot of things. For starters, these sheets are ugly," Nico says. "Like, how do people hook up in hotels when the rooms are ugly and there's no good television?" They both turn red at the mention of hooking up. Maybe that was a little too much.

"I guess maybe it's the wedding atmosphere." Will picks at a stray thread hanging from the floral sheets. "There's romance in the air."

"Cheesy," says Nico.

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Nico's left to his thoughts. He hates brooding. He should think about the monsters that aren't disappearing. That would be a productive thing to do, solving a mystery. But alas, he doesn't.

His thoughts drift off to Will. Maybe Nico had come on too strong when he proposed an entire future for them together. That was a little bold, even for a romantic like Will. Nico supposes life isn't one big Hallmark movie.

Besides, there's violence and swearing in Nico's life. Granted, the swearing is primarily in Italian, but still. They don't do that in Hallmark movies.

Nico reaches out to touch Will, somehow seeing the man he fell in love with when he was a teenager.

His first love.

Does Nico still love Will? That's a problem for another day.

"Nico..." Will trails off.

Nico presses his trembling palm to Will's heated face. "Can I kiss you?"

Will nods. "Okay."

They kiss, and it's so much more amazing than any movie the hotel could offer. There's tongue in this kiss. There's never tongue in Hallmark movies.

Instead of battling for dominance, their tongues dance a beautiful routine. A ballet? No, ballet isn't quite like them. It's more of a foxtrot. Slow, quick, quick... Slow, quick, quick...

Will laces his hands in Nico's hair. There's a tug, and it feels so good. Nico deepens the kiss if that's even possible.

He feels his back hit the mattress. They certainly don't get horizontal in Hallmark movies.

They inch further up the bed so that their legs are no longer hanging off the side. Will moans a little, and Nico's pretty sure he does too, slowly at first, then quicker. It's overwhelming and underwhelming all at once. His senses are heightened; every touch sends a sharp sensation through his body, but it's not enough. Nico simply can't get enough of Will Solace.

"Wow, Dan! Nice chairs you've got there!" barks the television.

"Oops," says Will. "Foot must've hit the remote." He smiles sheepishly. It's adorably sexy.

"Shut that thing off and get back on me," says Nico, gasping for air.

"Are you sure? I don't want to make things weird just after we started to get along again," Will says.

"I'm sure if you are," says Nico. He ties his hair back with a rubber band.

"Alrighty then." Will takes off his shirt. His shoulders are dusted with freckles, just the way Nico remembers them. He smiles at his lover and beckons for him to come back into the bed.

Yep. This never happens in Hallmark movies. But this is Nico's life.

And the life of Nico di Angelo is no Hallmark movie.