What did Nico mean by that? "I'm not an idiot, Nico. I know that wasn't nothing."

"Well, if you're not an idiot, you should have figured it out by now," Nico says, trying to hide a smile.

"I...uh...I," I start, but I can't think of anything to retaliate with. Why was I so flustered?

"Like I said," Nico sighed, getting out of bed. "I'm fine. All I needed was a little rest."

"No, you-you can't be," I stutter as Nico gets closer. My heart speeds up a little.

"All I needed was a little rest, and all you need is to stop worrying. Okay?" Nico asks, pushing me out of the door and closing it.

"Wait a second, Nico!" I shout from behind a closed door. "I'm your doctor. You can't just do that!"

"La la la. Can't hear you over how healthy and fine I am," Nico taunted.

I hear snickers from behind me. Markus, Lou Ellen, and Cecil are watching me from around the corner.

"Piss off," I tell them. They start laughing even harder.

"Will. Honestly I'm fine. This happens sometimes. Please stop worrying about me," Nico says, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Fine. Promise me you're not hiding anything?" I ask him, crossing my arms.

"Alright, I promise," Nico sighs, closing the door in my face again.

"Dude, you're totally crushing on him," Cecil says, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, trying to hide the blush that has creeped onto my cheeks.

"Will, it's okay. Honestly, I think it's cute," Lou Ellen says, joining in our group hug.

"Shut up, guys," I mumble, hiding my face in my hands. Cecil continues to mock me and embarrass me until my shift ends.

"Guys, it's almost curfew. Go back to your cabins," I tell them, but mainly I wanted to talk to Nico alone.

"Hey Will," Nico says as I enter his room. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just tired," I say, sitting in the chair next to his bed.

"Why do you do this?" Nico asks, almost a whisper.

"What?" I ask, leaning closer to the bed.

"Why do you care? You're the only person in this camp that cares," Nico says, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you're not scared of me. You're so stubborn."

"I'm stubborn?" I ask with a laugh. "You're the one who is too bullheaded to see that you have so many people who care about you. I seriously thought you got over yourself. You had me and everyone else fooled."

Nico looks at me with a dumbstruck face. It suddenly changes to fury and rage.

"You don't understand. Have you ever been called a freak?" Nico asks, his face turning red.

"Yeah. Try having it be from the person you like!" I snap back. My mind wanders to Luke. After I confessed my feelings for him, he spat in my face and called me a freak.

Nico is speechless again.

"You want to talk about sucky lives? There are people dying who don't want to go. There are people with cancer who just pray for one more Christmas. People are thrown out of their houses because of their sexuality by their family. Some people are abused and some people are used for their bodies," I say, standing up quickly. "I'm sorry if I don't pity you because someone has called you a freak because I know others have had it worse."

Nico's stays mad, but his eyes show sadness.

"I don't know your story, but I want to get to know you, Nico. I want to help you feel better, both physically and mentally," I say, sitting back down.