This is what I always think football games are going to be like but they always suck because our team always loses and I can never talk to people hehe.

Nico's POV

He followed Percy though the stands listening to him babble, his words flying so fast Nico could barely catch them. Piper and Annabeth were chatting quietly on their cheerleading podiums and on the field he could barely make out Jason running drills, the captain yelling at the team to sprint faster, lift their legs higher. When he looked up at the sky leaves spiraled down from the trees waving their branches above him, blending into a single color flecked with all of the tones of fall. A gust of wind blew them to the side and he rubbed his hands on the wall of his hot chocolate cup in an effort to bring warmth back to his hands. His thin black sweatshirt did nothing to stop the fall chill from infiltrating his veins as temperatures dropped around him and he knew that by the end of the night, his body would be an icicle.

"-it's gonna be so much fun!" Percy whipped around to face him, a wide grin on his face. Nico's eyes widened and he nearly dropped his hot cocoa in shock, plastering a smile to his face.

"Uh, yeah. Totally." Percy frowned.

"Were you listening to me?"

"Um, yes?" Percy rolled his eyes, sitting down on an empty bench and patting for Nico to join him. The metal was freezing and with his back shoved against the crossed wire of the back of the stands he scooted around in an effort to warm his shivering body.

"I was saying, this season is going to be so much fun," he said. "We can watch Jason play, and get greasy food and talk to Piper and Annabeth during their breaks. Hey, we can be the cheerleaders for the cheerleaders, get it?"

"That's great for you," Nico muttered, taking a sip of his cocoa. The marshmallows had begun to melt and the burning liquid was creamier than before. "I think that after tonight, my ability for school spirit is going to be at maximum. This is the last football game for me."

"You say that every year, and you always come."

"Yeah, because you force me," Nico pointed out.

"Because I don't have anyone else to go with," Percy reminded him. "All of my other close friends are playing. You're all I've got, Nico. You can't skip out on me."

"Fine," Nico sighed, watching the other team parade onto the field, lining up in the center of the field. "But you're getting me unlimited hot chocolate."

"Deal," Percy grinned. "Hey, look, it's Clarisse! Let's go say hi!"

"Clarisse always tells me that she's gonna beat me up," Nico muttered as Percy pulled him up, following as he snaked through people's knees. "I'm scared of her."

"She's only joking," Percy said. "She's a nice person, actually. This is your chance to get to know her." It was only the promise of free hot chocolate that kept Nico following as they stepped over people's feet to reach Clarisse, chatting with Silena and Charles at the base of the stands. "Hey, guys!" Percy grinned, inserting himself into the conversation as if it was nothing. "How's it going?" As conversation ensued around them Nico sipped his hot chocolate quietly, watching the clock tick down.

Will's POV

"You have too much school spirit."

"You can't have too much school spirit," Cecil insisted, rolling his eyes. He was covered head to toe in purple and orange, his face streaked with paint and his hair hastily chalked. "It's the first game of the year, what do you expect?" A cheer rose up from the crowd as their team scored a touchdown and Cecil leapt up, waving his sign so high it scraped the edge of the moon. "Yeah Lou Ellen!" he screamed, jumping up and down. "She's better than all of them out there, don't you think?" A small grin appeared on Will's face as he watched her trot back to her teammates exchanging high-fives, tiny as ants so far away.

"Yeah, she really is."

"This is so much fun," Cecil gushed, his sign lingering in the air for a few more seconds before he dropped it down, folding it up so it was compact enough to fit into his jacket. "Hey, you want food? I could really go for some food right now. Nothing's happening, either. It's the fifteen minute break." Will glanced down at the field and sure enough the cheerleaders were waving their pompoms in the air, flipping around to an upbeat song with lyrics moving so quickly he could barely make them out. The team was jogging lightly around the field, Lou Ellen behind a Jason Grace in the long line of athletes.

"Yeah, sure," Will decided, standing up. The small act of movement brought a tiny bit of warmth into his body and he rubbed his arms up and down, greedy for a little bit more. "I've heard that the cheese fries are really good tonight. Also, I'd die for a hot drink."

"Come on," Cecil said, jumping up and pounding down the steps. "I'll pay."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm in a good mood tonight." They passed small throngs of their classmates, Percy Jackson talking to Clarisse La Rue, Silena Beaureguard and Charles Beckendorf as Nico Di Angelo sipped something out of a paper cup behind them. As he passed by he saw Nico tug on Percy's shirt sleeve, looking up at him with bored and tired eyes.

"You said you'd get me as much hot cocoa as I wanted, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Good, I'm out. Come on, social butterfly, let's go."

As Will stood bouncing up and down in the long line snaking from the window of the snack shack he glanced to his right to see Nico and Percy talking quietly as Nico shook the last drops of his hot cocoa into his mouth. "You wouldn't mind if I gave you money and left, would you?"Percy asked. "I wanted to talk to Annabeth during her break before she has to start cheering again."

"Go ahead." He watched as Nico waved his hand, taking the crumpled dollar bill from Percy's hand and Will watched as he darted off into the night, disappearing into the throngs of people moving down the thin sidewalk that looped around the field. Nico kicked at a rock with his hands shoved in the pocket of his sweatshirt, shivering lightly in the fall breeze running through their bodies. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Cecil observing him, his eyes darting between Will and Nico.

"I'm gonna get going," he told Will quietly. "See if I can catch Lou Ellen before she's back on."

"Are you sure?" Will asked, frowning. "Because a few minutes ago you were dying for some cheese fries."

"I'll get some later," Cecil grinned, backing away from him and winking. "Talk to him, I know you want to."

"What?" His mouth dropped open as Cecil was swallowed by the crowds of people moving past them, giving Will a last wink before disappearing. Will stood alone amid a chattering group of people with a tiny connection crackling between him and Nico, a tiny spark of electricity waiting to explode. He sidled out of line, slipping in next to Nico and giving him a small smile.

"Hey," he said, his voice cracking at the last syllable. He winced, clearing his throat and widening his smile. "You're friends abandoned you too?"

"Yeah," Nico said with a light, bitter chuckle. "Kinda sucks, too. Percy's the one who dragged me here in the first place."

"Yeah, I didn't think this was your scene," Will laughed. "You seem like the stay at home with a bad horror movie kind of guy."

"That sounds ten times better than this," he grinned, slipping up in the line without breaking eye contact with Will. "Maybe we can do next Friday night together. I've got a box of the worst horror movies ever made in a box underneath my bed." He handed the cashier the crumpled dollar bill that Percy had shoved into his hand and he sipped his drink, a light brown hot chocolate mustache staining his upper lip when he brought the cup down. Will took his gooey serving of cheese fries and his boiling cup of cider, warming his hands through the Styrofoam. "Hey, check it out in there." He nodded at the stands, the crevice underneath them bathed in darkness. "It looks like a horror movie. Like there's something hiding underneath, waiting to grab people by the ankles and drag them down." Will felt a shiver run up his spine, shadows in the darkness reaching out to greet him.

"You don't care about the game, do you?" he asked, staring at Nico.

"It's not like there's any doubt that we're gonna lose," Nico smirked. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before twin grins spread across their faces, excitement flashing in Nico's eyes.

"Come on," Will said, taking a few steps in the direction of the stands, maintaining steady eye contact with Nico. He looked hesitant for a split second before tightening his grip on his drink, his shoes kicking up gravel as he begins to sprint down the pathway, his shaggy black hair flying behind him.

"Race you!" he called out, throwing Will a grin over his shoulder.

"Hey, that's not fair." Will dumped the rest of his cheese fries into his mouth, tossing the empty carton into the trash as he ran down the path after Nico.

Nico's POV

Slivers of light trickled through the openings in the stand, slashing the dark ground with thin lines of illumination as if the ground had been split open, letting brightness pulse from inside of the Earth. Will shivered next to him, his arms wrapped around his body as his head tilted up to look at the bodies positioned above them, feet stamping on the metal and cheers rising up to the night sky. What their school lacked in athletic ability they seemed to make up for in school spirit. "It's so dark," Will whispered, his breath coming out in a small white puff.

"Hang on." Nico whipped his phone out of his back pocket, shining his flashlight on the ground. Embers of a dying cigarette glowed burnt orange between stalks of brown grass, soda bottles thrown carelessly over the ground. "It's weird down here," he commented. "Surreal, almost. Like there are so many people but we're all alone." The commentary was muted from where they stood, as if someone was speaking underwater and Will and Nico roved across the land, bending down to explore the treasures and trash hidden in plain sight, squinting as they made out the promises of love scrawled in black pen over the metal of the stands. Nico's measly phone light did its best to banish the darkness but when he turned it to the right where the stands stretched on for what seemed like miles it was swallowed up by the darkness, almost impenetrable.

"We don't have to go down there," Will whispered with a slight hint of fear tinging his voice. "Let's just stay here." He sat on the grass underneath the stands, his hands propping him up in the back and his legs stretching out towards the forest that reached for them. Nico sat next to him, the grass dewy underneath his fingertips. The air around him was frigid but he found himself warm next to Will, safe. The commentator was yelling something but he couldn't hear it over the beating of his heart. "It's weird that we've never really hung out before," Will said, his head tilted up to the stars. They were difficult to see from the fields, the lights blotting them out but underneath the stands they could just make out the faint imprint of the universe, glittering a million miles away. "We've always seen each other around, but we've never made a move to get to know each other. I'm glad we are now, though. I like hanging out with you."

"I like hanging out with you, too." He couldn't hear the commentator anymore, couldn't feel the cold as he stared into Will's eyes, brighter than all of the stars in the sky combined. He was smiling a soft smile and it made Nico's heart throb, pumping a strange emotion through his body. He wasn't sure what it was until he was tilting his head up, locking lips with Will's as his body filled with warmth. They broke apart, Will's finger brushing against Nico's cheek.

"I wish I had started hanging out with you a long time ago." Nico grinned, resting his head on Will's shoulder until he brought it quickly back up, frowning as the thunderous sound of footsteps surrounded him.

"What's going on?"

"Game must be over. I've got to go meet Cecil by the gate, he's my ride home." He pecked Nico on the cheek and he wasn't sure if the red on his cheeks was from the cold or a blush. "See you next Friday, alright?"

"Yeah, see you." Nico raised his hand in an awkward goodbye, his cheeks flushed bright red. When Will had been swallowed up by the crowds Nico slipped out, joining the herd of people pushing through the exit. He found Percy at the snack shack, leaning against the wooden panels chewing on a slice of pizza.

"Where'd you go?" he asked, smirking.

"Shut up, Percy," Nico blushed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Come on, let's just go back to your house." Percy pushed himself off of the shack, tearing into his pizza as his grin widened.

"Come on," he teased as Nico walked faster. "Tell me all the juicy details."

"Shut up, Percy!" Nico yelled over his shoulder as he began to jog toward the exit with Percy dancing after him with his head tilted toward the ground so that Percy wouldn't be able to see his grin.

Hey guys, I was exhausted last night and I finished it but just didn't click publish? Sorry about that, but I hope you liked it!

Nina