HEY GUYS!!! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter done. Its the last chapter (sorry) and i wanted it to be good. And i really think it is. you guys are going to love it. Especially its...over 4500 words XD

have fun!!!

NICOS POV

I slowly woke up, trying not to move or open my eyes, last thing I remembered Will had wrapped his arm around me and I had fallen asleep...that was a dream, I told myself, you're going to wake up and Will will be sitting on the chair next to your bed,

Will groaned in his sleep next to me, and slowly I forced my eyes open...Will laying next to me and my head in the crook of his shoulder, I flinched in surprise as Wills's arm pulled me in a little closer as he mumbled something in his dream-like state. slowly, I smiled, nuzzling in closer to him.

After a while, another hour maybe, the sun was just starting to poke up over the horizon. wow...Apollo kids really did wake up at sunrise. I chuckled a bit as Will stirred, rubbing his eyes and yawning, then looking down at me. he smiled too,

"hey sunshine...what's so funny?" I froze. looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"you had all the nicknames in the underworld to choose from and you choose...sunshine?" this time Will chuckled, shrugging.

"I think it fits, even if you don't see it. Now, what's so funny?" I rolled my eyes. then laughed a little.

"I didn't think you actually got up at sunrise," I said, and Will rolled his eyes back at me, taking back his arm from around me and stretching out, looking up at the sky. I didn't even realize his arm was still there until he lifted it, it had felt so strangely natural, I felt the absence of it way more than I think I should have.

"How are you feeling?" Will said, and I blinked, looking back up at him, gods his hair was a complete nightmare. Though to be fair, mine was most likely worse, he had the poster boy picture of 'hell yeah I just crawled out of bed sue me', but it looked good on him. His eyes glittered in the rising sun and his whole body seemed to literally give off a soft glow. I realized I was just sitting there staring and I mentally shook my head, sitting up and brushing back the hair from my face.

"better, a lot...better," I said a bit reluctantly. But it was true, I was in misery for so long I barely even noticed it myself. After eating for just the past few days it was like my brain finally woke up and realized 'holy fuck we haven't eaten in like a week we should do this more often'. I noticed that it didn't hurt to walk after a while and my head stopped making the world spin. I actually felt great. Will smiled and shook his head, standing up and holding out a hand like some Disney movie. I raised an eyebrow.

"where are we going..." Will smiled, holy schist I hope I didn't blush.

"we're going somewhere, its a surprise."

"I don't do well with surprises," I said, hesitating a bit. debating on whether to take his hand or just die on the spot. Will was probably just as stubborn as me though.

"come on Neeks, I'm giving you a day out of the infirmary, your telling me you'd rather stay here?" ...touche...this was going to be a very interesting day.

I bit my lip then slowly took his hand. Praying to every love goddess and god I knew (reluctantly to Eros too, though I still don't forgive him in the slightest) that I wasn't blushing as much as I felt I was. Will led me down to the ground, and we started walking. Not going to lie, I was starting to get curious about what Will was talking about, so the only question I asked was when we started towards the normal way to the mess hall. Then took a complete turn to Thalia's old tree.

"uhhh...what about breakfast?" I said. which trust me was not a sentence I ever thought id say either. but if I was being completely honest with myself I didn't eat the largest dinner last night and I was a little hungry from you know...starving myself for almost 4 years. I guess it finally grated on me.

Will laughed, "since when did you worry about having breakfast? don't, we'll eat when we get to the city". I stopped in my tracks, literally. Will turned around to look at me.

Bianca used to take me into the small town where we lived in Italy. It wasn't much, but to my 6-8-year-old self, it was like New York, with the shops and the Cinema and the hotels. Plus, I never did well in crowds, so even in the small town we lived in I always clung to my sister's side. it was a very conflicting experience altogether. I didn't know what was going to happen in a city like Manhattan.

Will cocked his head a little. "you've...never been in the city have you?" he said, cracking a small smile, then a chuckle. stubbornly (i was starting to see the pattern here), I put my hands in my pant pockets and started walking next to him again to avoid eye contact. Not answering for a minute.

"was it that obvious"

"you stopped in the middle of a step and you have the perfect country look" I raised my eyebrow.

"country look..."

"you know...well, I guess you don't. I grew up in the city with my mom. it was always funny to see the people who haven't been in a big place before. They all have the same genuine expression. Although it looks a lot cuter on you-" he cut himself off. Was he blushing? I know I was.

We walked without talking for a minute, we passed Thalia's tree and I couldn't help looking back at the scene, not completely ready to face the big buildings yet. Yet I couldn't exactly force myself to turn away from spending some actual time with Will. Maybe it would be fun, maybe-

Will grabbed my hand and gently turned me around, we had come upon the ridge of the city, on top of a big hill. I turned and...holy schist...

There were countless buildings, all covered in glass windows shimmering in the sun. Through the main streets, you had little windows overlooking the sea's edge, the beach a perfect golden orange-yellow and the sea sparkling and shining in blues and whites as they cascaded softly onto the shore. The rising sun was coming up over the horizon, the sky mixed with the golden yellows and baby blues speckled with lazy clouds. Below on the streets were hundreds of people walking, some running, riding bikes in groups or with a partner or alone. Cars in countless colors drove and bounced off the light to each other.

I caught my breath, my eyes widened, mesmerized by it. And to think at 8 years old I had thought my little Italian town was like New York...

Will chuckled softly, and I felt his hand slowly brush against mine, then intertwining our fingers. I found myself slightly gripping his hand like I used to with Bianca, and I felt Will smile as he started to lead me down through the streets.

We passed by countless people, all different. The people I knew in Italy were...well...bland. They all had around the same color schemes and style. Here exploded with so much I was looking back and forth every millisecond and still didn't catch nearly all of it.

There were people carrying shopping bags, talking on their phones or with someone next to them. Some were riding bikes or jogging. There were couples, guys and girls holding hands and smiling at each other. I saw one couple eating ice cream on the curb and laughing, another talking to each other with sincere fondness in their eyes. Some were just walking, hand in hand. I saw some girl standing outside a store, looking at her phone, until another girl came out laughing, kissing the first on the cheek, making her smile as they walked away hand in hand. it made me freeze, one of them was wearing a shirt with a large heart on it, striped in different shades of purple and pink...the lesbian flag. Were Jason and Percy actually right? were people actually ok with it? I felt Will squeeze my hand as he saw me look over at the couple, and I subconsciously not so subconsciously walked a little closer to him at his soft smile.

We walked around for a while, I wasn't sure how long. I still couldn't get over the different types of people we passed by. I couldn't fully wrap my head around the concept of same-gender relationships just...out in the open...happy. Eventually, Will led us to a little ice-cream stand, getting 2 big ice cream chocolates. Then led me up to the top of an apartment building, the whole city spread out beneath us. I leaned on the small wall over the ledge and looked out, slowly still trying to take it all in. Will finally, having let me soak it, leaned out next to me and spoke.

"Do you like it?" I laughed, I actually laughed. I mentally took the whole thing in again. Just the concept of so many people, so many different people together in this huge place. Different styles and genders and sexes and relationships in the same city mingling and... I could barely put it into words... I couldn't. gesturing to the city below us, smiling unbelievably.

"i-...its...amazing," I said, fairly certain my eyes were wide as a kid. Will chuckled, I felt him looking at me, holy crap I could've sworn he was blushing too. There was a different look in his eyes, like the way those couples would look at each other. I blushed a little more, sheepishly smiling back, regrettably after a moment Will broke the look and glanced back out to the city. and I let out a small airy laugh, eating our ice-cream before biting my lip.

"i-i remember when...my, my sister used to...to take me out to our little town when we lived in Italy. I used to think it was so big...now I'm here and its..." I took a deep breath and sighed, smiling faintly at the memory, looking down sideways at the people below us.

"Nico?" Will asked

"yeah...?"

"can I ask you something?" he asked. looking a little nervous, I looked up at him, he was biting his lip hesitantly, like he was afraid I would run away.

"yeah...sure," I said, making eye contact for a second and nodding.

"What...what happened to your sister? Bianca"

"oh-" I started, looking back down, Will started up again, talking fast like he was afraid I would leave, Fat chance Solace, I thought.

"it's ok if you don't i-i was just wondering if you don't want to..."

"no...no it's fine" and it was. I thought surprisingly. I felt like over the past few days I had finally stopped running from the grief that I had tried ditching all these years. It was like I was reliving me and her life together in my head, all the memories, all the laughs, and the occasional fight cause hey...we're siblings. I remembered all the good times. but for a second I let the grief weigh on me for a second. Pursing my lips slightly as I looked back over the edge. "when...when me and her first came to camp she...went on a quest with the Hunters of Artemis and Percy and...they ran into Hephestuss junkyard...there was an old animatronic...she...sacrificed herself to save them..." I took a deep breath, a little shaky. I had never said it out loud before, I felt the dreams roll over me, the omens that had probably been given to me as it happened to her. I had curled up in a corner, tears covering my face, and cried for hours on end. Refusing the company of anyone. Even now I felt tears on the corners of my eyes.

But now, I felt Wills's arm slowly wrap around my shoulders, pulling me in closer to him. I took another deep breath, trying to steady it, not wanting to ruin the scene we had. Afraid I would never get it back...

a tear rolled down my cheek, and Will wiped it away with his thumb. I heard his soft voice, like a small whisper washing over me.

"it's ok...you don't have to pretend. You never have to around me..." I swallowed, then caved into his arms, letting them enfold me against him. I let the tears slowly run down my face, and Will wiped them away, pulling me to look him in the eye after a few minutes and running his thumb behind my ear. Smiling softly, seriously.

"ill always be here for you...no matter what. ok?" slowly, I nodded. and Will took his arm around me, and we looked over the city together, me pulled in close to him, so close I could feel his soft breath on the side of my neck. Will let me take it in more, occasionally looking down at me and wiping away a tear or rubbing the back of my hand with his finger.

"What was she like?" He asked after a while, I laughed softly, wiping my eye.

"She...she was...everything. Our mom was always, out of it... I don't blame her but. Bianca was kind of like my mom. She would take me to town with her and walk me around when I was little. We would go look at the cakes in the bakery's and. Sometimes at night she would take me out to this huge field behind our house and tell me old Greek myths about the constellations." I smiled slightly, fond of the memories...Pausing for a minute. "she was...kind and gentle and funny, strong and...she was everything I had and...all I needed. I never had any friends at school and...when she...left...i...i didn't want to-to get close to anyone else i-" I felt my voice fade off as Will gave me a gentle squeeze. He didn't have to say anything. I knew he understood. And I knew then that no matter what like he said, he would always be there. And for the first time in a long time...I let him...I let him in.

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WILLS POV

Oh, my gods...seeing Nico's face as we walked through the city was by far the best thing I've ever seen. His expression was full-on like a little kid at Christmas, eyes darting around and looking at everything and everyone. I know I blushed hard when he saw that lesbian couple and walked a little closer to me. That's why it broke my heart all over again to see him tell me what happened to his sister. Seeing his face fall and I realized how long he held it in and never fully let it out. I was afraid he would pull away, even leave, if I tried to get to him again. It was the scariest thing id done in a while, reaching my hand out to his, it was a motion that lasted probably all of 3 seconds. To me, it was a lifetime. When he pulled in to me I quickly wrapped my arms around him, hearing him finally let go and cry and I knew all I could do was hold him and... I just tried. tried telling him through it that I was there... I think he understood. We stood up on the building for another hour or so just looking out on the city. And the whole time Nico never left my arms, he stayed with my arm wrapped around his shoulders and holding his hand.

It took all, and I mean all my willpower and then some not to smile like an idiot the entire time.

After eating ice cream and looking out for a while we went back down to the ground so Nico could look around some more. I didn't want to push my luck, we walked close enough next to each other, so close I could feel the soft electrical dingle between us like Cupid was standing behind us with his bow drawn. But I didn't want to try and hold his hand, I didn't want to jinx whatever moment we had...I almost jumped 10 feet in the air when I felt Nico's hand brush against the back of mine.

It was just an accident. I told myself, not wanting to overthink it. we're in a crowded street, of course, our hands would occasionally-

Again, his hand brushed against mine, and stayed there, slowly his fingers curled slightly into mine. Like he was giving me a chance to back away and pretend it didn't happen.

Fat chance Di Angelo

I slowly but surely intertwined our fingers and held his hand, and suddenly I felt Nico pull in closer to me again. He was perfect eye level with my shoulder, almost leaning against it, I smiled slightly. Almost giddy.

At one point we passed by a music store, those ones with awesome DJs inside and equipment for almost anything. I loved them, but after I stopped singing they held bad memories and... I tried to avoid them. I didn't want to ruin the chances I had after coming to Camp Half-Blood year-round. I didn't want to go back to the person I was...

I think I was staring, Nico caught my glance and I felt him steer us inside. Wanting to look casual I guess, I let him. And holy crap I forgot how awesome they were. After just a few minutes of Nico looking around and me trying not to geek out I cracked when we passed by an aisle with complete albums and DJ headphones and heheheeeeeee.

I took in a complete 360 like a stupid character in a movie and caught Nico's eye, staring at me with a small victorial smile and a raised eyebrow. It made me wonder again how exactly he was able to do that...to know exactly when you were holding something back so perfectly and seamlessly know how to fix it. He knew actual pain and the stages of it and how far or little to go...

I rolled my eyes and smiled wide, breaking down completely as I slid behind some of the test computers, sliding on some headphones (oh dam they don't mess around) and put one over my ear so I could still hear Nico and talk. "Ok, im...a bit of a music geek" I 'confessed'. Knowing it was always pretty obvious.

Nico laughed and walked up next to me, looking at the computer screen, where I was looking through the test programs and jumping around on a new file experimenting.

"a little?" he said, laughing.

I rolled my eyes again, typing and scrolling and jumping tabs. I'd forgotten why I did music in the first place. And regretted that id stopped. After a few minutes, I put the headphones over Nico's ears, and put up a finger, typing a few things while Nico watched. Eyebrow raised, gods he was adorable. I pressed play, then walked down the aisle, looking around, blushing hard as I turned away when I saw Nico's smile.

"Will!" Nico called, we were the only people in the store minus the clerk and a DJ in the corner. I looked over, we were only like 20 feet away, I smiled as I saw him smiling like a little kid. I raised an eyebrow in question, and Nico put the headphones down. "dude this is...amazing...you need to show people this" I bit my lip as he walked over, looking back at the shelves like 'oh hey look theres...plugs... I love plugs'. Shrugging after a minute.

"I uhh...maybe... I don't perform much anymore..." my voice faded, which didn't happen often, and I felt Nico's hand brush against mine, intertwining our fingers, he gave me a small smile. I couldn't help but smile back, sighing. I would do anything for him, performing in front of the world would be nothing to me if it meant Nico would be in the front row.

We left the store after a while, Nico watched me geek out at all the equipment and laughed as he heard me from the other side of the store yelling about some new tech I haven't seen yet. He laughed more in that store than id seen him smile in all the time id known him. I could see him opening up and letting himself go. The first few times he would laugh then try to cover it, or give a small (adorable yes, but still) grin but seemed to not be able to bring himself to say something. Like he was afraid he was going to ruin it. After only about 15 minutes though, he was laughing next to me and sometimes he would be the one geeking out if he saw a reference from a book he liked or something.

"I didn't know you read Di Angelo" I had said in joking surprise. Looking over his shoulder as he flipped through a book, I caught a sight of the cover. Maximum Ride.

He had shrugged and laughed, again that adorable little half chuckle half-laugh that got me blushing a little every time. "I guess theres a lot you don't know about me yet"

Yet...yet...holy shit in that minute that was my favorite word. He was right, I didn't know much about his past or everything he liked. Hades... I didn't even know he liked to read! But I was determined to find out. Before I was worried about if he would get scared if I tried getting a little personal and run, shut me out. Yet...that meant he was wanting to...yet...it almost made me giddy.

Another 10 minutes or so passed and eventually Nico caught sight of a small parade going down the street. Flags everywhere and the roads were already almost covered in confetti. People were laughing and clapping along to the rhythm. And someone ran a large flag over a small float...a rainbow flag. Nico raised an eyebrow, and I chuckled. I forgot that he's probably never even seen a parade in the small town he grew up in, and never even heard of a pride one before. I entwined our fingers again and brought him out.

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NICOS POV

Will held my hand again, and guided me out to the street. id never seen floats before...confetti only a few times in my life. Besides the one time, Bianca had gotten a container and threw in on me on my 6th birthday. But that was only a small bucket...here the confetti covered the streets after only a minute. Rainbow flags were in peoples hands all over the streets, couples especially were together holding hands with their arms wrapped around each other. One guy who looked around in his 30's ran up to another man around the same age and threw a large rainbowed blanket over him, making both of them laugh and wrap their arms over the other's shoulders.

Will was looking at me, chuckling. I rolled my eyes and blushed a little, and Will took my hand. Guiding me through the large crowd until it thinned out into a large public park. Where the same rainbow flags were everywhere and couples...gay couples...were walking around laughing and smiling. Guy couples, girls, some boy, and girl couples but almost everyone was holding the same LGBTQ flag.

"you've never seen a pride parade before have you," Will asked, laughing softly at my astonishment looking around. I shook my head. Will smiled softly, and slowly wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I blushed, the first instinct to look around and make sure no one saw, but then realized. And let him, smiling sheepishly as he guided me through the park.

I was starting to get used to it. Wills arm around me and walking around, for a bit I shrunk down when someone walked by, avoiding people's eye. But slowly I started picking back up and smiling softly. Laughing a little at the small things Will would say. After a while of walking, we passed by a few street performers, one of them with a laptop, like a mini DJ set up. She had a small microphone stand and a speaker and his guitar case was open to drop money in. I remembered Will talking inside the music store. The dream he had that he was always too afraid to go for...getting an idea, I started guiding him over. If I could get over a fear, he could too.

Karma bitch.

I'll tell you a story before it tells itself

I'll lay out all my reasons, you'll say that I need help

We all got expectations, and sometimes they go wrong

But no one listens to me, so I put it in this song

They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest

They got their hands at my neck this time

But you're the one that I want, if that's really so wrong

Then they don't know what this feeling is like

And I say yeah-eah

I didn't recognize the song she was singing when we got there. There was a small crowd forming as he started playing the guitar and soon the speaker turned on with background music. I looked over and saw Wills's eyes lighten up, twinkle in the adorable way they did when he was happy. After a minute, the performer caught his eye, and Will froze as she stopped. She had a glint of recognition in her eyes, and I raised an eyebrow slightly. Will stiffened...She stopped playing and smiled.

"W-Will?" she asked, a bit hesitant, but her face told me she was certain. She was smiling. And as Will nodded, shocked, she gasped and laughed coming over and pulling him up with her. I heard Will hiss, muttering,

"no, no no no May... I don't-i don-"

"oh shut up Solace" she shot back, smiling. Will surprisingly, started to ease up looking back at her. I bit my lip, not sure what she was doing. They talked for a minute, Will cringed at something, looking doubtful. Then bit his own lip...thinking...before rolling his eyes and going behind the computer, typing fast. I looked down, seeing a few people looking back and forth between the two of us.

Old habits die hard I guess...then the music turned back on, faster and catchy...and the girl started singing again. May, I guess.

I'll tell you a story before it tells itself

I'll lay out all my reasons, you'll say that I need help

We all got expectations, and sometimes they go wrong

But no one listens to me, so I put it in this song

They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest

They got their hands at my neck this time

But you're the one that I want, if that's really so wrong

Then they don't know what this feeling is like

And I say yeah-eah

Yeah-eah-eah-eah

Yeah-eah

Yeah-eah-eah-eah

And I say yeah-eah

Yeah-eah-eah-eah

Yeah-eah

Yeah-eah-eah-eah

Will joined in too. Background at first, but the song burst after. When he went took up a microphone of his own and started the next verses, catching my eye and nodding, smiling, before singing.

I'll tell them a story, they'll sit and nod their heads

I tell you all my secrets, and you tell all your friends

Hold on to your opinions, and stand by what you said (stand by what you said)

In the end, it's my decision, so it's my fault when it ends

They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest

They got their hands at my neck this time

But you're the one that I want, if that's really so wrong

Then they don't know what this feeling is like

May joined back in as backup. But all I heard was Will singing...to me. I smiled wide this time, and Will sang his heart out. The people were waving flags and singing along. All I know was I was in the front row, and Will wasn't on a stage this time.

He was standing right in front of me.

Singing.

I smiled wider than I ever did in my life.

---------

Me and Will were walking down the beach, along the waterline. Holding hands, with Wills's arm wrapped around my shoulder. It was almost sunset, we would catch a bus in about half an hour back to the hill before dark. But for now...Will turned to me. Smiling, his hair was outlined by the setting sun and his eyes twinkled adorably in the light. He pulled me in closer, so we were so close to touching the electrical tingle ran through both us. Snaking its way through my whole body. He put his arm on my back, the other on the back of my head, tangling his fingers in my hair. And slowly leaned in.

A small part of me was afraid, the vision of the people back at my town when I had gone back...the names...the scars...ran through my head.

But other visions did too...Wills smile. The cute way he winked, holding my hand. The overprotective way he would put an arm on my shoulder, wrapping his arms around me on the roof...

I wrapped my arms around his neck, almost on my toes to try and get level with him. It was like a slow-motion movie...

He pulled me in and closed the centimeter between us, and kissed me.

And thats the end! i hope you guys liked it as much as i loved writing it. Im working on a new book right now, with characters based off of our favorite Nico and Will. And a world inspired by the one and only Maze Runner series and Harry Potter. So anyone whos in any of those fandoms i really think your going to love this one. its 100 percent original characters and story so even if your not in those fandoms (tho you should be) if your any lover of action, romance, sci fi, magic, fantasy, mistery, come one come all!!! Follow if you liked my first finished story for the promise of more!!! <3