The demigods had decided to resume playing the game tomorrow, as it was almost time for dinner.
They all walked to the dining pavilion in little groups, Nico with Piper and Jason, Will with his abnormally cheery siblings. They averted each other’s eyes as much as possible, distracting themselves by the people that surrounded them, even though their thoughts were elsewhere. Jason was telling a story about eating a stapler, which earned him an eye roll from Piper. Nico just nodded his head since nothing really bothered him.
The group sat down at the Hades table, but no-one seemed to care, after offering some food to the gods, the majority going to Aphrodite. Dinner seemed to last a century, every minute seemingly endless. Nico had the urge to sneak a glance at Will, but restrained himself, hoping the previous events would be forgotten somehow.
Well actually he didn’t. He liked it, but had no idea what to do next. What had Will meant with feelings? Was he like him? Did he mean he wanted to be friends? (I swear Nico is as thick as a brick)
All the thoughts made him dizzy, his world spinning before his eyes. His heart began pounding in his chest again. His cheeks must’ve flamed since Piper rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, which startled him out of his trance.
“Do you want to talk?” she whispered so Jason couldn’t hear.
Nico just shrugged and stared absentmindedly ahead of him. Talk about what? Will? He tried blocking the blonde out of his head, forcing his mind to spin a web to keep him out.
It seemed to work for a second when he saw Katie enter the mess hall, her hair sticking out in odd angles, wearing a bright pink shirt that said ‘My boyfriend did this to me’. Her glassy green eyes scanned the room, looking for Travis. When she had finally found him, she walked up to him and gave him a punch in the shoulder. He looked up, feigning a hurt look.
“Katy-Kat, what was that for.”
She just gestured to herself, before Travis stood up and wrapped his arms around her, burying his hands in her hair. Her hair flattened itself immediately and shone brightly. The bright pink tshirt turned into a fine, silk dress. She looked up, stunned by what had happened.
“I’m not that awful then, am I?” he asked teasingly.
She pushed him away, punched him again and walked away, covering herself with her arms self-consciously. Travis looked hurt, but followed her reluctantly, like a sick puppy. The whole mess hall became quiet suddenly.
Nico played with his food as his thoughts drifted back to Will, but for not long. He heard a shout, probably from the Ares cabin.
“Hey McLean, your dad has nice abs.”
“Yeah, he’s just too hot for words.” Someone else shouted.
Jason clenched his fists, but Piper put her hand on them, muttering something about being strong enough to handle this herself.
The pair just ignored the rude remarks and the hysterical laughter that escaped Connor’s mouth and left soon enough, leaving Nico alone. He suddenly felt overwhelmed, as if everyone’s eyes were focused on him, glaring holes through him. He too left a little bit later, his head down while he exited the mess hall, making sure he was out of the Apollo’s table vision. He seemed to be doing a good job at avoiding Will, or so he thought, for when he reached his cabin the lanky boy was already leaning against his cabin door.
“Look, I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier, I wasn’t thinking straight and blurted a load of things and I’m sure you did to, otherwise you wouldn’t avoid me right?” he mused, his voice inheriting a teasing tone at the last part.
“Um, yeah, sure, whatever.” Nico muttered and pushed past him, slamming the door behind him. Once it was closed, he leaned against it and sank to the floor, head in hands. Will, on the other side, did the same.
If the two boys had paid attention to their surroundings, they would’ve noticed a sigh, followed by some cursing, come from a bush near them.
Piper and Jason were hiding the bush, binoculars in their hands, bickering about who got to hold them.
“Do you realize how much of an idiot Solace is?” Jason almost shouted, causing Piper to shush him.
“No, you don’t say” she replied, the sarcasm dripping from her tongue.
“What are we going to do? I am not letting another one of my OTP’s die. I mean come on Lazel, but Frazel and asdfghjkl.” Jason mused, making hand gestures that made no sense.
“No Jason, we will not let this ship sink, save you fangirl feels. You see, I still have to dare someone…”she beamed deviously.
“If you compare me to Drew, I will compare you to Connor. I swear that glint in your ey- Ouch, what was that for?”
“You’re and idiot Grace.”
“So what are you going to do, just dare him to kiss Nico? What if he chooses truth?”
“I will absolutely not force their relationship to start with a dared kiss. Imagine how offended Nico would feel if he found out. See, I’m a daughter of Aphrodite, I think things through.” she explained, patting her head dramatically. “And I’ve got a plan if he chooses truth. But an even better plan if he chooses dare.”
“What!?”
“Ah, see, it’s top secret.”
“Pipes, sometimes you scare the crap out of me.”
“I know.” She replied, her smile looking oddly similar to those of the Stoll’s.
The next day started with a beautiful sunrise, illuminating the trees around the Apollo cabin. Being the son of the sun god and all, Will was usually a morning person. But today he wasn’t in the mood. If he was honest with himself, he’d rather lie in bed all day and brood, but he had campers to heal. Instead he just buried his face in his pillow, cursing himself for being such an idiot. He heard his siblings shuffle around him, a yawn filling the silence of the room now and then. He was about to drift back to sleep, when he heard a slight knock on his door. He groaned rather loudly, slipped out of his bed and dragged himself to the door.
There stood the one and only Piper McLean, the sunlight dancing on her hair, her eyes gleaming more than usual.
“What do you want?” he asked groggily, attempting to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.
“Oh well, it’s my turn to truth or dare someone, so I chose you. And I’m doing it in private so I don’t embarrass you in front of everyone.
Wills cheeks redden, just a tiny bit, but it gave Piper all the satisfaction she needed.
He sighed.
“Can’t this wait till later?”
“No, it cannot. So William, truth or dare?”
He was taken aback by her use of his full name. If she said that she’d embarrass him in front of everyone, she probably meant a truth, because a dare was a dare, only to be done in public. He decided to steer from truth, even though something in him told him not to.
“Dare.” He breathed out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.
Piper smirked evilly and whispered something into his ear, which made him stiffen and rush back into the Apollo cabin without a word to Piper, throwing the door shut with a loud bang, waking all his siblings in the process.
“Will, who was that?” someone muttered sleepily.
“No-no-one important.” He replied, his nerves chewing him out from the inside.
Meanwhile, Piper ran to meet Jason and the pair high fived each other, victory written all over their faces.
For Will, the day flew by way too fast. The demigods agreed to continue their game after lunch and he had to fulfill his dare before that deadline. He was fidgeting with his shirt, his lip bitten and bruised, his stomach twisting into knots every five minutes.
He was tending a wounded camper who had fallen from the lava wall, a large gash on her knee, the blood oozing out of it. But he kept on dropping his tools because of his shaky hands, causing the girl to wince in pain. Will silently cursed himself for getting too distracted and finished tending the patient. He leaned back and sighed, letting his eyes close for just a second.
“You seem nervous.” The girl stated, eyeing him suspiciously.
Will began fidgeting again, dropping his gaze back to the ground.
“I am.” He replied blandly.
“Don’t be. I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.” The girl reassured him.
And somehow those words had calmed him down.
He was on his way to the mess hell, when he saw a mop of raven hair leaving the Hades cabin. He took a deep breath and walked over, mustering as much confidence as he could, mentally bracing himself.
He took his place in front of Nico, blocking the sunlight that cast soft rays onto his wavy hair.
“What do you want Solace?” he asked bored.
Will just closed his eyes and reached his hands out and cradled Nico’s face in them, before planting a gentle kiss on his forehead.
Nico stood there, dumbstruck by the action, while Will let go, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“Wha- What was that for?”
“Piper dared me to. He admitted quietly.
Things clicked in Nico’s mind. Of course Will wouldn’t do that by himself. It was just a stupid dare. His thoughts were interrupted by Will.
“I’m probably going to get a broken limb because of this, but fuck it.”
He leaned in and planted a kiss straight on Nico’s lips. His lips were gentle and soft. Nico didn’t respond at first, but soon enough he wrapped his arms around Will and kissed him back. Wills hands were tangled in the Italians hair as they withdrew for air.
“Was that a dare too?”
“Nope, just me” Will beamed. “Kiss me.”
“Why?”
“Doctors Orders.”
Once again they didn’t notice the whooping coming from a nearby bush.
Yay, two chaps in two days. Wohooo we rock. All rights go the amazing Rick Riordan.