Who knew Nico di Angelo was a cuddler?
Will woke up with his boyfriend's head against his chest and his arm flung over his shoulder. He looked like he was relaxed.
Will brushed the hair out of Nico's face and kissed him on the head. "Time to wake up."
"Hmm?"
"Wow! You woke up quickly!" Will commented.
He shrugged. He seemed to notice how close he was to Will, and he started blushing. He didn't pull away, though.
"Do you want breakfast? My mom makes the best waffles."
"Okay."
Neither of them made any move to get up. Will certainly didn't want to. It was nice to wake up next to Nico, the morning sun shining through the window. He hoped he wasn't dreaming.
Nico looked like he didn't know what to do, either. So he lifted his head and kissed Will on the cheek. "You're cute in the morning." Nico whispered.
"So are you."
Eventually, they had to get up. They came down the stairs in their pajamas, with Will wearing a floppy sweatshirt that covered his hands.
Naomi was in the kitchen cooking Will's favorite breakfast, waffles. When she noticed them, she waved.
"Morning. How'd ya sleep?"
"Good." Nico said.
They ate breakfast and small-talked. Afterwards, Nico excused himself which left Will and his mom alone.
"He seems nice. Real polite. I can see why you like him. I think you work well together."
Will rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "The contrast?"
She laughed. "I take it you've heard that before."
"Definitely." He took a bite out of his 3rd serving of waffles. "Nico's amazing. He's strong, and I don't mean just physically, but that, too. He's hot, and he's kind when you get to know him. When I had fantasies of dating him when I was younger, those couldn't compare to how amazing it is being with him. I can't even put Nico in words, he's just so amazing. Every time I look at him, the more I can't believe that we're really together."
"That's so sweet."
"Also, he's adorable with kids." Will blushed. He thought about how gentle and kind Nico was with Lincoln. How understanding and sweet he was with Rosemary.
Will leaned in towards his mom's direction and whispered to her. "Mom, I think I'm in love with him."
Naomi smiled. "Oh, like that was ever in question. Of course you are." She sighed. "I don't have to give you The Talk, do I? I know I gave it to you when you were younger, but now you're actually in a relationship."
Will felt himself blush. "No! It's fine! Listen, just because we slept in the same bed doesn't mean we're going to do anything like what you're referring to for a long time! Probably not until we get married!"
"'When', huh?"
Will stared at his plate. "I shouldn't assume. Maybe we....maybe we won't be together when that's an option. I know it's years down the road. It's just nice to think about sometimes. Helps make the pain go away, thinking about a happy ending."
Naomi placed her hand over his. "You and the other demigods deserve to imagine a happy ending for yourselves. You deserve it more than anybody."
She kissed the top of his head. "I bet you have a lot to tell me."
"I do! You don't even know about Camp Jupiter yet!"
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Seeing Will and Naomi made Nico miss his mom a bit. She was so kind and welcoming. No wonder Will was so nice and amazing. He got it from his mom.
After getting dressed and getting ready for the day, he came back downstairs. He helped Will and Naomi clean up, and as they passed the fridge, Will looked at something on it, his face solemn but a little hopeful.
"Mom? Have you heard anything from Grandma and Grandpa?"
Naomi's face was sad. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
Will sighed, turned away from the fridge, and kept walking. Nico wanted to ask what they were talking about, but he didn't. Once Will left the room to go take a shower and get ready for the day, Naomi sat down across from Nico at the dining table.
She tapped her nails against the wood of the table. "When Will came out of the closet a couple years back, he was really nervous. He told me, and of course I was accepting. Then he told my parents, his grandparents. They....they weren't so accepting. It was worse because he told them in person. At first, they tried to ignore him. Will never liked to be ignored. He managed to get them to stop ignoring him, but they yelled at him instead. Ridiculed him. Said he was disgusting, and that he had a sickness. An illness in the head. That they wouldn't accept him as their grandson if he identified that way. It was horrible. I had no idea my parents were homophobic because we never talked about it.
"My parents then whirled on me and blamed me for raising my son in an accepting environment. Called me some names, and that was the last time we talked to them. They said they would refuse to accept us as family, refuse to do anything for us or even see us at all unless I 'force the sin out of him' by sending him to Conversion camp or something, or Will realizes that he was wrong. Will was so close to his grandparents, too. They had such a big hand in raising him. He was really torn up about it. And that was right after Lee had died."
"Why would Will even want to talk to them after everything?"
She smiled. "I'm sure you realize by now that my Will is very forgiving and very kind."
Nico nodded. "Yeah. That's something really great about your son. You raised him well."
"Thank you. I tried my best."
"Will never told me about any of this."
"I'm not surprised. He doesn't want to be a burden. That's what he told me before. No matter what I try to tell him, he won't talk about his hurt if other people are hurting. Especially if it's someone he really cares about. He's always putting other people before himself. While that can be a good thing, it could also mean that he doesn't focus on himself. While Will is a really good kid, I do worry sometimes. About that specifically."
She looked off into the distance.
"He focuses on me a lot. As you probably know, I have a lot of mental issues. I don't know what I would do without him, to be honest. But I really want him to focus on himself, as well. I know he isn't as mentally healthy as he says he is." Nico told her.
"The only time I really got him to put himself first and open up about things that upset him was the summer after the Battle of Manhattan. I pulled him out of Camp for a while, 3 or 4 months in the school year after he IM'd me after the war. His face was pale, and he could barely form a sentence. He was only 12 years old and in the middle of a war. He was the main medic, so he saw a lot of people die those days. So many horrific injuries, so many times he watched people as they died, not being able to do anything. When all those kids were brought in half dead, the responsibility of the lives of those kids were thrust onto his shoulders. He was in charge of making sure they lived. And some of them didn't. And he always blamed himself. Even through all of that, he had to fight, too. And to pretend that he was fine. He felt like he had to hold it together, especially after he became Cabin Counselor. Yet he never complained."
Naomi wiped a couple of tears from her eyes. "When I brought him home, he was a mess. He didn't talk for a bit, and every loud noise scared him. He was always shaking and crying. He would wake up from nightmares almost every night and scream and cry. He would barely eat, barely sleep, barely do anything but sit on the couch and watch Star Wars. He was so little, he didn't deserve to go through all of that. I don't think he was ever really the same after that. He wasn't as....innocent. I mean, who would be? He'd seen war and violence and death. He wasn't as child-like, he kind of grew up. Wasn't as care-free."
She sniffled. "I still remember the Iris-Message he sent to me. The one right after the war. He was shaking and crying and his eyes seemed like they were elsewhere. He cried. He said, 'Mommy, they're all dead. Only five of my siblings are still here. The rest are gone. I can still hear the screams, mommy. I can still see the light fading from their eyes when I couldn't save my friends. I can still smell all the blood and feel the spots where I got hurt, even though they've been healed for days. I couldn't save everyone. All of the healing techniques weren't enough. I wasn't enough. I see it every time I close my eyes. It won't go away, help me!'
"I think that he mostly healed from that. From the trauma. I did the best I could. Slowly, he started to get better. I was worried that he wasn't going to, that he might develop permanent PTSD. But he didn't. Tough one he is, he got better. I don't think he's ever truly gotten over the deaths of his sisters and brothers. I don't think he ever will, like I never got over the death of my childhood best friend. The wounds close, but the scars are still there. He's healed, but he'll always be sad sometimes. I'm just lucky that he's mostly okay. The only lasting thing he developed from that was anxiety and a fear of bridges. And trauma, of course."
Bridges? Will took Nico to a bridge. He didn't tell him that he was scared. Now that Nico thought about it, Will did glance around a lot and looked a little nervous when they were on the bridge. Why hadn't Nico noticed?
"That happened to me, as well. The personality change. Though luckily I think Will's change in personality wasn't as drastic as mine. I just, I didn't know that he struggled so much. I wish he told me." Nico said quietly.
"Nico, I am so very sorry about everything that has happened to you. I can't imagine."
"It's alright."
"Did you know that I got to meet all of Will's siblings? Well, all the ones that were there when he was 11? I got to meet them on an Iris Message while Will and Brooke actually came to visit. We all talked for a while. Most of the ones I met died. They were all so sweet. Though all cabin's lost people, I think Apollo lost the most." She looked off into the distance again, her eyes misty. She was clearly done with that conversation.
"Miss Solace?" Nico asked.
"Just call me Naomi, dear."
"So, back when I was from, a lot of people would ask for a blessing when they started dating someone's son or daughter. Um, I was wondering if I could get your blessing to date Will? If that's okay. I understand if not."
She put her hand over Nico's. "Of course you can have my blessing. I couldn't be happier with who my son chose to date. You really make him happy."
Nico smiled at her. "Thank you. And don't worry, I'll make sure that Will is okay. I care about him very much, and that's what I want. For him to be happy."
Naomi smiled back. "Thank you, Nico. I appreciate that. I hope you're happy, too."
Nico nodded. "I really am happy. For the first time in a long time. He makes me happy, and you should know that that's really rare. You should be impressed with him."
Little did Nico and Naomi know, Will had heard the last part of their conversation, and he was trying not to squeal about Nico getting his mom's blessing.