Nico POV
"So, your boyfriend was stalking me today."
Monique says this to me as her, Hazel, and I begin to settle in for bed. Monique was nice enough to give her bed to Hazel and get herself a blow up mattress, though for a few moments was confused on the concept, assuming it would explode in the middle of the night.
I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
"We were at the park at the same time today and I'm giving him a hard time about it. No biggie." She answers as me and Hazel laugh.
"That's something you would do." I say.
"Yep." Hazel agrees. "So how has everything been so far?"
"Not too bad." I report. "How were things at camp?"
"We still send out groups to try and find Leo." She answers glumly. "Nothing yet." Monique and I nod at the information.
"And things with you and Frank?" Monique asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Hazel blushes with a smile. "We're doing good. He's doing amazing at being praetor. I'm really proud of him."
"And?" I ask, noticing some hesitation in her voice.
She looks up for a moment before looking back down shyly. "It's nothing, really. Just... I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm a little... boring."
I frown at her words. "You're like, the most interesting person in the world. What do you mean boring?"
She shakes her head slightly. "I guess just... Me being from the 1930s makes me less likely to... Do things, like, sexually." She says, trying to look anywhere but our faces.
I frown again, feeling my cheeks heat up, giving way to how awkward I feel about this. "Is Zhang pressuring you?" I ask, unintentionally deepening my voice, making Monique snort.
"No, of course not!" Hazel says, fanning her face slightly. "Some of the other girls at camp were just talking and I got to thinking maybe... Maybe we should be doing more."
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Haze." Monique chimes in gently. "Plus, Frank seems like he would be fine with anything you're fine with."
"He just wants you to be happy." I say, throwing her a friendly smile.
"Plus it helps that he's scared of Neeks." Monique adds.
"That too." I agree. "And Hazel, you're only thirteen. He's not going to make you do anything. And if he does, he knows the consequences."
"Oh, hush." She says with a smile. "Let's just go to bed."
"Ah, ah, ah," Monique tuts, turning around to face me. "What's up with you and Prince Charming?"
"Prince Charming?" I ask in incredulously.
"Well, yeah. He's white and basically sweeps you off your feet, so he's Prince Charming. Perfect Disney Prince material." Hazel and I laugh at her logic.
"Nothing really. A bit of a, ah, disagreement." I say kind of quietly.
"Sticking with the Disney theme of the conversation, I can't understand you when you mumble." I roll my eyes at Monique's words.
"We're just disagreeing." I say, this time a little louder. "Sort of. I'm okay with whatever he's okay with, you know? As long as he's comfortable, but I wish he'd stop tiptoeing around his mom so much and just talk with her. Not even come out, just talk."
"Then tell him that." Hazel offers.
"Yeah," Monique agrees. "Conversation and all that."
"I feel sort of pushy though." I argue.
"Nico," Hazel begins, "you're not being pushy. In a way it's unfair to you, isn't it? The way he's hiding who he is makes it so you have to do the same. You need to explain to him that this makes you uncomfortable and come to some sort of understand, a common ground."
"Hazel's right." Monique nods. "Will lo-" Monique cuts herself off with a string of abrupt and aggressively fake coughs. I roll my eyes and wait for her to finish with the dramatics. It was obvious what she'd planned to say, but I wasn't about to unpack all of that. Not yet at least.
"You done?" I deadpan when she finishes.
Monique narrows her eyes at me before continuing on with what she'd been saying. "Will... really cares about you, Nico. He'll be willing to come to some sort of compromise."
"Well, I guess I'll talk to him tomorrow morning." I nod as I lay down, pulling the covers over myself. I let out a yelp as I feel a crushing weight land on top of me. "What in the- get off of me Monique!"
"No! You're really gonna wait until tomorrow to talk to him? I say you should act now!"
"Okay, first, get off." She nods and rolls off to sit on the floor. I notice Hazel trying not to laugh on her bed. "Second, he's probably asleep." Monique rolls her eyes.
"No time like the present." Hazel shrugs.
"Alright fine." They mock applaud me as I walk across the hall to Will's room.
I slowly open the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. Will's bed is closest to the door, so I tiptoe my way over and quickly slap my hand over his mouth.
His eyes immediately snap open and he looks around wildly before relaxing, realizing it's only me. I jut my head to the side, signaling I want to leave to room and he nods before getting up and heading to the bathroom in the hall. Once I close the door behind us, he dives in. "Why?"
"I know the conversation is over and done with, but I think it would be a little bit of closure if we made a plan on how this was going to work."
"What do you mean?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We plan for now, that you tell your mom about us by the time we leave. But, if you're not ready by then, we can leave, go back to New York, and forget about the whole thing."
Will furrows his eyebrows. "But I thought you wanted me to come out while we were here? Isn't the whole trip for nothing then?"
"The whole trip is about seeing your mom again after all these years, Will. It doesn't matter if you come out or not. I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to do."
He smiles before encircling his arms around my waist. "How did I get so lucky?"
"Shut it." I say, leaning in to kiss him lightly.
He hums against my lips before pulling away and leaning his head against mine. "I still feel like this conversation could've waited until morning."
"Same here." I mutter. "We should get back to bed."
"Join me?" He mumbles almost huskily.
Oh, the things those two words are doing to me.
I take a few seconds to calm myself and make sure my voice won't come out in an embarrassingly shrill squeak. "Maybe another time. I kind of miss sharing a room with my sister."
He nods his head and kisses my temple. "I'll see you in the morning than, angel."
"Alright." I pull away from his comforting grasp and go to open the door when he grasps my hand quickly.
"Do you want to hear a joke?" He asks. I turn around to face him properly. He has this childlike grin fixed on his face so honestly, how can I say no?
"Sure, Solace."
"Okay, what do you call, five Siths piled on top of a light saber?" I shake my head to show I don't know the answer. "A sith-kebab!" He says and starts laughing.
"I have no idea what you just said." I say honestly.
"You know, like Siths." I blink at him. "Shish kebab, sith-kebab."
"I don't know what those words mean."
"You know, like Star Wars!" I shake my head, not understanding. His jaw drops. "Oh my gods. You don't know what Star Wars is, do you?" I shake my head again. "Oh, my poor angel." He says, moving forward to embrace me. I immediately blush and push him off harshly. "What a sad life you must be living."
"I'm going to bed and if you bring this up in the morning, I will kick you." I say before walking out of the bathroom. I hear him sigh behind me and I smile a little as I go to my door, seeing a flicker of movement to my side that's probably Will getting to his room.
Hazel and Monique are already passed out on their beds so I tuck myself in and get ready for a dreamless sleep.
***
A/N: I was editing with my friend who doesn't know the fandom and she asked me "Why Star Wars?" And literally when I revised this chapter I just finished watching Empire Strikes Back and I was like, "You know what? Will being a Star Wars fan for some reason just makes sense to me, so I'm going to put that in." And that's what I did✨