"Pleeeeaase?" Y/N smiled at him pleadingly.

Nico had to supress a groan as he took another bite of his apple, taking his time with an answer as he eyed them.

Apparently there'd be a shower of shooting stars tonight visible in camp, and Y/N really wanted to watch it with him. They'd been pestering him for the entirety of lunch now.

Only thing was, he found it a little silly. Why would anyone want to waste their sweet time on gazing upon the stars? He didn't quite understand that. It was stupid.

Then again, how could he say no to those dazzling E/C eyes?

"Fine... I guess."

"YES! Thank you!"

So here they were.

"Look, Nico! A shooting star!" Y/N whisper-shouted excitedly. The son of Hades raised his gaze to see a bright light fleeting across the night sky in the distant, for a split second illuminating everything. "Wish for something!"

Nico smiled slightly, closing his eyes and silently making a wish. He didn't really know which god was listening- Nyx maybe? Or Astraeus? - but he hoped they'd hear his pleas.

The two were sat on the roof of the Hades cabin, faces bathing in a greenish glow from the torches of greek fire below.

"What did you wish?"

"I'm not telling you." He teased.

Both of them laughed. Nico liked Y/N's laugh. He had already decided a few months ago that he'd do anything to see them smile and be happy.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the two could feel a spark between them as the night wore on. An invisible force bounding their hearts.

A string connecting them.

Stop.

He was the son of Hades, for the gods' sakes! The ghost king, powerful, feared by many.

He wasn't some lovestruck fool.

But the tug in his heart everytime he looked at the person next to him told him otherwise.

In reality, Y/N didn't have it much easier. All alone, stargazing with a friend of yours? Perfect! All alone, stargazing with your crush? Well... not so much. They felt much more queasy than they looked.

Yes, they know they were the one who arranged this in the first place. But it wouldn't have happened if some certain friends of theirs (*cough* Will *cough* Piper) hadn't convinced them, talking all excitedly about this being their biiig chance.

Of course they wanted to confess. But they were... scared. Of course. It didn't seem like Nico showed much reciprocation of their feelings.

So now what?

Y/N didn't know what it was. Maybe the stars seeming to gently mock them, the swirling of their friends' voices assuring them to confess in their head, or how their heart did a little flip at the realisation they were all alone with Nico. Or maybe it was the way his hand fit into theirs perfectly that drove them over the edge.

"Nico, I... I like you, like, a lot." They said, voice merely above a whisper.

Wait, rewind.

"What?"

There it is.

Y/N isn't sure if that reaction of his is good or not. "I just... you remember when I sometimes get all fidgety and nervous around you? Or when my siblings shove me into you at swordfighting? That's because I like you, in a crush way."

The son of Hades looks at them if an unreadable sparkle in his eyes and can almost feel his heart stop. And yet, he can't help the confusion rising up in him too. No, that's gotta be some sort of mistake. "You do?" He asks quietly. "You like- like me?" Him out of all people? That's gotta be the most absurd thing he ever heard.

"Yeah..." Y/N nodded, rubbing their wrist uncomfortably. They don't even look at him. Gods, that took a lot out of them. But they had to get that off their chest, and hope they didn't just make a fool out of themself.

"Oh."

"I... get if you don't like me. It's probably weird, you might not be looking for a partner at all. And if you just wanted to be friends, that is perfectly fine too!"

"Oh."

"Can you... please say anything else?" Y/N winces, sounding confused and tense.

And just like that, Nico's doubts are washed away. A multitude of feelings flutter in his stomach, but the most prominent one was excitement. He felt the corners of his lips hurl up into a smile.

"Well, I suppose that's good then.. I like you too."

Y/N's face lights up, first suprised, then with a newfound hope, and a smile. They quickly fling themself at him in a hug, almost knocking both of them to the ground.

Their laughter and hushed voices continued to ring through the camp, under the night sky were they felt most content.

It wasn't any sort of uncomfortable silence that the two sat in, no. They felt at peace, finally catching a break from the bustling demigod life. There, as both of them looked up to the stars in each other's arms, Nico realized they'd be okay, together.

And in the end, supposedly wishing upon shooting stars isn't as stupid as he thought. His wish to make Y/N his wasn't in vain.

(My gay mcdonalds boi)