fix you - solangelo

Chapter 2

Nico picked up the glass of water on his bedside table and took a sip to calm his nerves. Gods, I'm such a wreck, he thought. He hated his nightmares immensely. They seemed to sap his energy and leave him exhausted the next morning, no matter how late he slept in. He had lost his appetite, and was skinnier now than he had been before, if that was even possible.

Nico slowly got out of bed and threw on a black shirt and jeans. He picked up his sword from the floor and turned the blade over in his hands.

Memories of Tartarus flooded Nico's mind. Blades flashing, the teeth of monsters, his hands sticky with his own blood. Nico leaned against the wall, dropping the sword beside him.

He held his head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. It's over now. You're at camp. You're safe. Dammit, Nico, pull yourself together.

Nico stood up. He picked up his sword and left the cabin.

As soon as Nico entered the dining pavilion, his eyes, strangely, gravitated to Will Solace. Maybe it was the weirdneaa of not seeing him constantly for three days straight. Nico didn't know.

The son of Apollo sat at his table, golden hair shining in the sunlight, clear blue eyes closed as he laughed at something one of his brothers had said. Nico felt strangely calmed at the sight of him.

Nico shook his head to clear these thoughts. Will probably thought he was a creep, especially after the Octavian incident.

He slumped into his seat at the empty Hades table. A wind spirit set a plate of pancakes in front of him. Nico picked at them half heartedly. The food was quite good, he just wasn't in the mood. He hadn't been in the mood lately. The nightmares were getting worse. They had stopped during his stay in the infirmary, but they were back. Worse than ever. And Nico didn't know how to stop them. How could they be so bad already? It had only been a week since he left.

A few hours later, Nico sheathed his sword after a one-on-one fight with Percy, for practice. Percy had won, obviously. He was the best swordsman at camp, probably the best of all the demigods in the world. Nico felt proud of himself, though. He had done well for a long time.

"Nice job!" Percy said, capping Riptide and wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Thanks," Nico said.

Ever since he had confessed to Percy, they had become good friends. Brothers, almost. Since they both usually didn't have other cabinmates, they hung out during Capture the Flag and at the campfire.

Percy waved at him. "Well, bye, Nico!"

Percy walked over to Annabeth, who was waiting at the edge of the sword arena. Together, hand in hand, they walked across the grass to the dining pavilion.

Nico watched them go. He wasn't jealous of Annabeth anymore. Just a little sad. He hadn't thought about love for a while, but he kind of wished he could have something like that. Nightmares tend to erase that kind of thinking, though.

Nico pushed his hair back from his face and began walking to the Hades cabin. His hand was on the doorknob when he heard a voice behind him.

"Nico, what are you doing?" Nico turned and saw Will Solace standing behind him. The son of Apollo had a disappointed expression on his face, which made Nico feel strangely deflated.

"Um, going into my cabin?"

"No, you're not." Will walked forward and took Nico by the arm. He began to drag him back towards the dining pavilion, where a few demigods were still finishing their food.

"Will - stop - what are you doing?" Nico sputtered, trying to break away from Will's grip, which was warm and surpirsingly strong.

"You didn't eat lunch." The son of Apollo didn't look back at him.

"So?" Nico gave up trying to escape and walked after Will, only slightly reluctantly.

"So, you need to eat," Will said, pulling him over to the Hades table and pushing him into a seat.

"Solace," Nico growled. "I barely got out of your stupid infirmary a week ago and you're still treating me like your patient."

Will was unperturbed by Nico's attitude. "You're still my patient, whether you're in the infirmary or not. And, as a doctor, I say you need to eat."

"No."

"Yes," Will replied. He waved a hand, and a wind spirit left a sandwich in front of Nico. "I'm not leaving you alone until you finish that sandwich."

"What if I shadow-travel?" Nico smiled triumphantly, knowing he had won.

"Do you want to melt into a puddle of darkness?" Will replied.

"I won't," Nico replied, the smile fading from his face.

"You will," the son of Apollo retorted. "You've gotten weaker since you left the infirmary. And you couldn't even safely shadow-travel then."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm a doctor!" Will exclaimed. "And I could tell when I touched your arm."

Nico was suddenly aware that Will was still holding his arm. He pulled it out of the older boy's grasp and crossed his arms. "Fine. But you have to leave me alone after that."

Will looked slightly hurt. "But...okay."

Nico picked up the sandwich and took a bite. He realized he was actually hungry for the first time in days, and finished half of the sandwich.

Will nodded. "That's better. Now, finish it."

"But-" Nico protested. "I'm not hungry. Look, I promise I'll eat a whole plate of pancakes tomorrow."

"Fine," Will said. "But, since you didn't finish the sandwich, I don't have to leave you alone."

Nico was, surprisingly enough, happy about that. He almost smiled. The son of Apollo was annoying sometimes, but Nico didn't really want Will to leave him alone.

Nico tried his best to sound angry anyway. "Whatever." He did have a reputation to uphold. He couldn't break his "son of Hades" act as soon as one good-looking son of Apollo started talking to him. Did I just think of Will as good-looking? Nico thought. Well, he is, said another part of him.

Will grinned at him. "I saw that. You're not angry." He blinked at Nico with his sky blue eyes. "See you later, Death Boy." He stood up and walked out of the pavilion.

"Do not call me that!" Nico yelled after him. "Solace - come back here right now!"

The sound of Will's laugh floated back to Nico as he walked away. "No thanks, Death Boy!"

"Urgh," Nico said as he stood up. "I hate him so much."

Still, as Nico walked back to his cabin, he thought about how it had felt to have Will's skin against his, and, even if it was only for a second, how it had messed Nico up in a way he didn't really understand.