A quick warning for some of my younger readers that there will be sex stuff in this series. No graphic descriptions but the story will be happening while it's going on if that makes sense. That said, enjoy!

Nico's POV

The ice cream drips its way down his hand, his skin coated in brown chocolate sludge. It's disgusting and he knows from experience that it'll dry sticky but in the heat of the summer it feels good, cooling the burn from the sun as he licks it. "Can I have some?" 

"You've already had, like, half of it." 

"Yeah, but it's hot up here. You get to go into the pool whenever you want, I only get to go if someone's drowning." 

"Better hope one of those kid's floaties starts to fail because you're not getting any more." 

"Come on," Percy whines, kicking his legs at the stakes of his lifeguard chair. "I'm hot." 

"You knew what you were signing up for when you chose to be a lifeguard." Percy lets out a sigh, his face flushing even more than it already is in the burning heat and Nico grins, half his mouth wrapping around the cone, slurping it up. The cone is beginning to crumble in his hand so he shoves the better part of the ice cream into his mouth, the cold burning his teeth as he waits for it to melt. He wipes his mouth with his hand as he listens to Percy yelling at a kid for running on the deck, blowing his whistle in short, sporadic bursts that makes Nico's head hurt. He leans against Percy's lifeguard chair, pieces of his crumbling cone still in his hands. The deck is wet underneath his feet and as a kid does a cannonball into the water, droplets splashing onto his bare chest. They're cold as ice and he shivers, despite the sunburn he can feel blossoming across his shoulders. 

"Why are you here, anyway? You're always here." 

"You know you're one of my only friends, right?" 

"You have other friends." 

"They're all busy. It's either this or spend all day in my room on my phone. Also, Tyson gives me unlimited free ice cream." Percy frowns, his eyebrows furrowing. 

"What? Tyson doesn't even give me free ice cream, and I work here." Nico grins, taking a lick of the remaining ice cream and shrugging. 

"Guess he just likes me better." Percy reaches down, snatching the ice cream out of Nico's hand. 

"Give me that." He hears crunching and the ice cream cone practically explodes in his hand, drenching him in soupy chocolate ice cream but he licks it off, moaning.

"Disgusting." Percy smirks down at Nico, biting into the ice cream as if he hasn't eaten for a year. Nico rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his sweaty chest and staring out across the water. Bodies bounce and a beach ball moves from hand to hand, skipping across the pool. Drops of water fly up from the people packed in like sardines, and laughter rings out into the air. He can make out the faces of some of the people in his school; he had already said hello to Jason and Piper, lounging by the poolside soaking up the rays of the sun. There's a group of the soccer kids, too, laughing as the prop themselves up on the deep end, tanned arms resting on the deck and toned bodies dripping with water. Nico sees one of them looking at him, too, sweeping his body up and down. Nico feels his face flush. His biceps bulge as they hold up his body, and he can see the shadow of abs underneath the water. 

Will raises his eyebrows and Nico glances down, tugging at the waist of his swim shorts to pretend that he's doing something so he doesn't have to return eye contact. When he looks back up Will is still looking, and he tilts his head, ever so slightly, towards the bathroom. Nico shakes his head and Will tilts his head more forcefully. When Nico shakes his head Will pulls himself out of the water, his muscles moving underneath his skin. Nico doesn't know many people who could pull off neon yellow swim trunks but Will does it so effortlessly and for a few seconds, as Will walks towards him, he can't breathe correctly. As he makes his way towards the bathroom, Nico pretends to busy himself with a bug bite on his arm but Will leans in as he passes, his breath tickling Nico's ear. "Your move." Nico bites his lip as he watches Will walk into the bathroom, water dripping from the hem of his swim shorts, his hair slicked down in the back. He can hear his heart pound in his chest and he's too aware of the time ticking, that every second he stands there, his chance is slipping away. 

When Percy is preoccupied watching a dog pad across the deck Nico slips away, the floor slick underneath his feet. The locker room is cold and despite the ninety-degree temperature he shivers, crossing his arms over his chest as he rounds the corner. He could have just been imagining everything. There could have just been mixed signals and he could walk in on Will peeing and make a total fool of himself. But when he finds Will leaning against the very back wall of the locker room, arms crossed over his chest with a cocky grin on his face, he knows he was right. "I really didn't think you'd come this time." 

"Yeah, neither did I. You were the one who said the last one was the last time, you know." 

"Well, we were both here, and I just thought..." He trails off. "Just take off your shorts." 

Within seconds Will is pressing Nico into the wall of one of the showers, the blue wave-patterned curtain the only thing blocking them from the rest of the world. The tiles of the shower are hard on his body but Will's skin is so soft he doesn't even care, and the feeling of Will's arms around him, their fingertips brushing together, feels better than Nico ever could have imagined. He can feel Will's breaths on the back of his head, the feeling of his lips on his neck and Nico shudders. At that moment they are one entity, bound together, flesh on flesh, body on body. When they're done Nico whirls around, one hand wrapping around Will's head, his fingers in his hair as he kisses him with passion sparking between them. They stay like that for what feels like only seconds before Will breaks apart, pulling back on the yellow swim shorts. "I thought you said last time was the last time," Nico says teasingly, a grin playing across his face.

"What, are you saying you regret it?" 

"No, I'm just saying that you always say it's going to be the last time, and it's never the last time." 

"It's not my fault you look so good in a bathing suit." He gives Nico's hand a light squeeze and his heart flutters. "I would say this is the last time, but we both know it won't be. See you later." 

"Yeah. See you later." He sighs, watching as Will spins on his heel, walking out of the locker room with his chin held high. Nico listens to the wet slap of his feet on the tiled floor, watches as his tanned shoulders disappear around a bend. Nico doesn't leave for a few minutes, staring at the place where Will vanished, listening to the beat of his own heart, begging Will to reappear. He doesn't understand how Will can act so nonchalant about their flings, while with every single one, Nico's heart hurts more and more every time Will doesn't stay.

"Where did you just go?" Percy asks, glancing down at Nico as he leans against the post of the lifeguard chair again, tilting his head to the side. "And when did you get wet? You haven't been in the water yet." 

"Oh." He scratches the back of his head, drawing circles in the water underneath his feet. The water on his skin is the only reminder of the passion between him and Will of a few minutes ago. "I took a shower." 

"Why?" 

"I was hot." 

"You do know there's a pool right there." 

"It's too crowded." 

"Why are you at the public pool if you think it's too crowded?" 

"Fine, if you don't want me here, I'll just leave." He crosses his arms over his chest, storming out off of the pool deck before Percy can say another word. 

His sneakers are only half on as he puts up the kickstand, pushing himself off and starting wobbly before his bike steadies underneath him. There's a soft burn in his stomach as he passes the cars, glistening in the summer sun. He sees Will's 2003 Toyota corolla parked at the very end of the lot. It's not the prettiest car but the seats are soft, and they go all the way back. Nico could never afford a car, not with his ten hours a week job flipping burgers. So he turns out of the parking lot, his bike boiling underneath him as he pedals home.

------

He finds a book that he hasn't read and spends the rest of the hot afternoon curled up in his beanbag chair by the window, the sun just barely managing to make it through the thick grass. When he looks up maybe it's just by chance, just a crazy coincidence. Or maybe he had a sort of a sixth sense because when he glances up Will is jogging past his house, his hair blowing behind him. He stops just short of Nico's doorway, his hands on his hips as he stares up at Nico's window, gesturing for Nico to open it. He does, wincing at the painful squeak of metal on metal. Even a floor above, Nico can see the redness of Will's face and for some reason, it makes Nico's heart skip a beat. "What?" 

"Are your parents home?" 

"My sister's in the kitchen." 

"And is your kitchen at all close to your bedroom?" Nico almost doesn't answer, because he knows that if he answers, he'll come up, and they'll have sex, and then Will won't call Nico again until he's horny again. But his running shirt is tight, the muscles on his legs taught, and Nico can't resist. 

"No." He bites his lip, glancing down at the floor. The mix of lust and shame in his chest is still a strange one, even though he feels it every single time he's with Will. He'll never get used to it. "Come around the back so Hazel doesn't see you." He's still staring at the floor of his room and when he looks back up, Will is gone. 

He hears his door open and when he turns around, Will's shirt is already half off. His face is still flushed from his run and the way his chest rises and falls makes Nico glad that he told Will to come up. "Do you have condoms?" 

"Not even a hello?" Nico says, smiling tightly as he reaches into the box underneath his bed, pulling one out and falling onto his mattress, kicking off his pants. 

"Fine, hi. We've never been very good at talking. You wanna be on top or bottom?" 

"Bottom. When you show up at my house, you can do the work." Will rolls his eyes but soon he's on Nico's back, arms at Nico's side, his body slightly sweaty against Nico's. Nico sighs, propping his head upon his hands, staring at the wall as Will moans. When he's done he rolls over, his head on Nico's pillow, his bare skin on Nico's bed. They've never been in Nico's bed like this, both naked, both breathing just slightly heavier than usual. It feels almost more intimate than the sex, both of them laying in silence in Nico's bed. He almost likes it better than the sex. "How many more times are we going to do this?" 

"Are you saying you don't like it?" 

"No, I like it, it's just that we've had sex twice today, doesn't that seem like something a little more serious than a casual fling?" Will opens his mouth before shutting it again, staring up at Nico's ceiling without making anything that could be called eye contact. 

"I'm happy with just the fling." He side-eyes Nico but when Nico notices, Will's eyes flit back up to the ceiling. Nico chews on his nails, ripping off the white part and wincing. "Are you?" 

"Yeah, of course." Nico gives him a tight smile as Will rolls out of bed, pulling on his boxers, lacing up his running shorts. "Just thought I'd mention it." 

"Cool." Will nods and suddenly there's tension in the room, a tension that he's never felt before after any of their flings, tension that makes his chest burn like it's on fire. He pulls his sheet up to his chest, covering every inch of his skin until he reaches his neck. "See you." 

"Call me again when you're horny," Nico mutters underneath his breath. He thought he was quiet but when Will turns around, his eyebrows knitting together in the middle. 

"What?" 

"Nothing. I just said see you later." His heart is thudding in his chest but Will doesn't seem to know what Nico said, and that offers some relief. Will smiles at him but it's tight, doesn't reach his eyes and Nico watches him go, listens to the pounding of his chest with a smile plastered on his face that doesn't reach his heart.

Hi guys, so this wasn't quite as long as I had hoped to make it but I really hope you liked it! Just remember that this series goes up every Wednesday night and I'm not sure how many parts it's going to be yet but once I know I'll let you know and thank you so much for 300k!

Nina