Will was having a nice, uneventful day. There weren't too many patients to deal with in the infirmary, Nico hadn't had a dream about his mom in the past few days, there wasn't much to do. But he should've known better than to even think that. For this was before Cecil came bounding into the Apollo cabin.
Everyone else was out, Nico was talking with Rachel (his new best friend since Jason had left, apparently.) So it was just him.
"Will, I need to talk to you!" Cecil said, knocking the door open.
"Dude, I could have been changing." Will told him, not looking up from his notes.
"I'm sorry, but I just really decided I was ready to tell you. I mean, you know I've been denying it for a while, but you were really right the whole time."
Will set down his notebook and looked at Cecil. "I was right about what?"
"Are you really going to make me say it?" He said, blushing.
"Yes, because I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Breaking news, I have a big fat crush on Lou Ellen Blackstone." He said with jazz hands, and a desperate look in his eyes. "Please help me."
Soon, Will had Cecil sitting on the bed across from him. "Well that's great that you finally admitted it. What do you need help with, exactly?"
"You know, telling her when she gets back! Asking her out! I came to you because you're my friend, and you've kind of done this before! I mean, even Damien and Chiara are together!"
"Just because I'm dating Nico doesn't mean I know how in the Hades I did it." Will told him.
"It's still better than nothing! I mean, you were obsessed with Nico! At least I'm not obsessed!"
Will blushed. "I wouldn't say I was obsessed...."
Cecil laughed. "Oh, really?"
"Fine, maybe I was a little obsessed. How does this apply to what we're talking about again?"
"Because you had a crush on Nico and you were able to actually date him! Please help me, Will. You're my only hope."
Will pointed at Cecil. "Don't bring Star Wars into this."
"Fine. Just please help."
"Cecil, you don't have to ask me. I'm your friend, of course I'll help you."
"Thanks." Cecil smiled.
"Of course. So, first you're going to want to tell her how you feel."
"And how do I do that?!"
"Uh, I don't know. Just tell her that you have feelings for her, and that you want to know if she feels the same way."
"You didn't do that with Nico!"
"I tried! He's as oblivious as Percy Jackson, and that's saying something! Plus, with Nico it was entirely different circumstances. I didn't know if he liked guys, and he's literally from a time when it wasn't okay to be gay. I didn't want to scare him off! Not to mention he's got a lot of unresolved trauma and always tried to push people away!"
"Okay, okay, I get it! No more talking about Nico! You've talked about him enough for multiple lifetimes!"
"I could say the same thing about you talking about Lou!"
Cecil sighed. "I'm just nervous that she won't feel that way about me. I don't want to ruin our friendship by telling her."
"I know exactly how you feel. My advice? Tell her how you feel, but say that if she doesn't feel that way, that's okay. That you are friends before anything."
"I don't know if I'm prepared for her to turn me down."
Will shook his head softly. "You're playing a dangerous game, dude."
"You don't need to tell me twice." Cecil muttered. "Can't you just tell her for me?"
"No can do. This is in your hands."
"Okay, best case scenario, she says she does like me. Then what?"
"Then you go out with her. Isn't that what you want?"
"Of course it is. I really want to be with her. I'm just scared I'll screw it up. I've never been in a relationship before."
"I had never been in a relationship before Nico. I was pining over Anakin Skywalker, telling myself that he was my boyfriend."
Cecil laughed. "I remember that. That was your way of trying to not think about Nico, right?"
"Basically."
"Wasn't it him and Percy that made you realize you were bi?"
"Percy was my first real life crush on a guy, but that didn't even last very long. Anakin was the first. I had spent so many hours talking about him, watching the movies he was in, saying he was my favorite, and that I really wanted to be him. Turns out I wanted to be with him instead. Oh, what a realization that was when I figured that out. I thought it was a fluke, but once I thought Percy was hot, I was like nevermind. Boys are hot. Girls are hot."
"What girls have you had a crush on?"
"Well, I always have had a bit of a crush on Suki from Avatar: The Last Airbender."
"I've always liked Ty Lee." Cecil smiled.
"Of course you do." Will said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, I was scared to mess things up with Nico. I still am scared sometimes. But I think that you'd be a good boyfriend to Lou Ellen. Just try not to worry about that too much, and be yourself."
"Okay. Thanks, Will. You're the best." He got up to leave.
"Hey, go get Nico, will you? We're almost to season 2 of ATLA. Which means Ba Sing Se!"