At Last I See the Light.

New Year, New Nico.

A/N

Hey! This is a one-shot intended to give some insight into how Will and Nico got together in my Chaos 'verse that starts with 'The Missing Hero' - it can be read as part of that universe, or as a standalone piece - the only prior information you need to take in with you is that Leo didn't die at the end of BoO, with both himself and Nico being adopted by the Jackson-Blofis clan, and the Trials of Apollo series are non-existent, though it is a little self-explanatory.

As always, all rights go to Rick Riordan and the world he has created. This is strictly a work of fan-fiction.

Thank you for reading!

Once again, thank you to @-concrete-rose- for being a wonderful editor and soundboard for my ideas, and for not running away from me, yet.

☀️

Nico would swear to the high heavens of Olympus itself that he hadn't actually been avoiding making an appearance at Camp Half-Blood; he'd just been caught up with things like schoolwork, learning how to be a modern teenager, and whirlwind visits to see his father and the rest of godly side of the family. He honestly didn't know how Percy had managed to find the time to visit Camp - even if it had only been once or twice a month - but he certainly understood his motivation.

He'd felt the same sort of motivation when Percy had come home after his first weekend away, sheer delight on his face when he recounted the way Annabeth's face had lit up when he'd arrived. He'd felt a small pang of jealousy when he realised that he had nobody at Camp who would have that kind of reaction to a visit from him, before a small feeling of hope had reminded him that there was a possibility of a person waiting for him. He just needed to get over his own fears, his own doubts, and actually visit.

But, until now, he hadn't.

Nico had wanted to, there was no doubt about that. He'd wanted to ever since Percy had arrived back after his first weekend away and had cornered Nico after dinner so he could ask, with humour dancing in his eyes, why he'd had to correct the assumptions of a very indignant Will Solace that Nico hadn't actually made the Underworld his permanent residence. It was at that moment that Nico had realised that he'd never told the son of Apollo anything different, having assumed himself that he'd be moving down below after Percy's birthday that Sally had insisted he attend. And when Sally had insisted that he stay permanently... Well, nobody with half a brain said no to Sally Jackson and Nico considered himself to be quite smart, thank you very much.

Percy had called him an idiot when he'd refused to come with him on one of the few weekends he'd had free, chickening out at the last moment when he realised that he'd be unable to escape having to actually talk to Will. The son of Poseidon had been operating under the impression that Nico had Iris-Messaged the other boy at least once, and Nico didn't want to have to admit to that lie either. The fact that he had Percy Jackson teasing him over a boy was bad enough. He had just been lucky that Percy hadn't spilled the secret to Leo and their resident expert-mechanic was too oblivious to notice that there was a secret.

But now here he was, dragging his feet as he followed Percy and Leo up and over the crest of Half-Blood Hill, nodding to Thalia's tree and its resident guard-dragon as they passed. It was two days after Christmas - a Christmas that had been one Erebus of a day - and Sally had happily dropped them off just outside of the borders so they could spend New Year with the rest of their friends.