As Will walked out of Nico's room, he still hadn't come to terms with what he'd just done.

What is he going to think, Will? You just kissed him on the forehead, you idiot!!! Now, he probably thinks you're a crazy guy and... 

'Woah, Will! Watch where you're going!' Kayla said as the son of Apollo bumped into her, still lost in thought. 

'Oh, I am so sorry, Kay.' He said, apologizing profusely.

'That's alright. I imagine you were daydreaming about a certain son of Hades?' She said, winking at her brother.

'Is it really that obvious?' He asked, Kayla was the second person today who had realized he had a crush on Nico.

'Yes, it is, Will.'

Will facepalmed, he thought he was good at hiding it... But then again, this was the same boy who was ranting about Nico's zygomatic arches. You couldn't blame him though, no one should be allowed to have such prominent cheekbones, especially not ones which made you go weak at the tibiofemoral joints.  

He shook his head and went on with his work. Will had patients to see, wounds to dress and medicine to give, "fangirling" as his sister, Ivory, would put it, he could do later. 

After about two hours, the medic figured he should go and get lunch for Nico. He couldn't wait to see him again. Will knew it had just been two hours, but he missed his Death Boy, a lot. Don't blame him, who wouldn't want to see that beautiful boy again? 

***

Will opened up the door and expected to see a calm Nico, sleeping. But he heard the other boy yell, 'NO, NO. Bianca please.'

The blue-eyed boy rushed to his side, 'Nico, wake up. Nico, it's ok.' 

Will shook the boy softly, trying to get Nico to wake up. There were tears flowing down his cheeks as he thrashed about, his breathing quick. Nico's breath hitched as he saw the son of Apollo in his dreams, saying something. His eyes were half-lidded, more tears threatening to escape as he muttered softly, 'W-will. P-please, no. Don't say that.'

The son of Apollo leaned down and said, 'Nico, it's just a dream.' The boy's eyes fluttered open and he bolted up, rubbing his eyes, which were red from all the crying. His hair all messed up, his fingertips red from when he'd been clutching at his long hair. Oh, Nico...

'Nico, you're ok. Everyone's ok.' Will said, wiping the tears from the demigod's face.

Nico took a moment to collect himself and then slowly turned to look at Will. 'Can we talk about it?' He asked gently. The medic nodded and took a seat.

'Go ahead, Neeks.' He said. 'Whenever you're ready.' The Italian took a deep breath and started to talk.

'The dreams, t-they send me back to when I was in Tartarus. All sorts of monsters surround me and they... um, say things.' Will raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything. 

Nico continued, 'I see all the people I care about shun me. It starts with P-Percy telling me that he hates me for having feelings towards him. 

Then Jason yells at me for ever thinking h-he was my friend.' He closes his eyes here, taking a deep breath, Will squeezes his shoulder affectionately, motioning for him to continue.

'Piper tells me she hates me and she wishes that I'd never met her. Leo says that he wishes he never allowed me to set foot on his ship; that the Argo II was t-tainted the moment I stepped on.' 

Will noticed that Nico was fidgeting with his hands, almost as if he were looking for something. The boy's nails dug into his arm, leaving small half moon-shaped crevices. Will slowly took Nico's hand and moved it so he wouldn't hurt himself more.

Nico glanced at the thick metal bracelets he had started to wear on his wrists. He wore them mainly for two reasons. One, he didn't want anyone to see the scars. And two, Nico knew he needed to stop. 

He sighed and continued to talk, 'Annabeth tells me that I never should've had a crush on her boyfriend. That it was crazy and abnormal. Frank and Hazel both yell at me for visiting the Roman camp.' He stopped there, gulping. Nico didn't want to go on, but when he saw Will's welcoming smile, he took another breath and continued.

'Then, Bianca appears. She's always the worst, she tells me that h-her death is my fault. That she could have lived a long life, but yet she died because of her s-stupid little brother.'

As Will watched him talk about his nightmares, his face was so sad and it made the son of Apollo want to kill all of the people who had bullied him. He couldn't believe that Nico had been through so much and he had to face his demons alone. So much grief, the loneliness, all the stress... Gosh, Will really had to talk to Chiron about getting Nico some counselling sessions. 

But, even after everything, he was still a good person. 

'Nico, you do know these people don't hate you, right? They're all your friends.' Will told him, softly caressing his cheek.

Nico simply nodded, but Will knew he didn't believe him. The son of Hades truly believed that what all of them said was true. That's when the golden-haired boy realized that Nico had been muttering his name too. He hoped whatever he'd said to his Sunshine in his dream was something he didn't believe. There was not one bad thought about Nico di Angelo in his head.

Will handed the plate to him, hoping he'd eat something. Nico needed his energy back. 

This time, he didn't have to force the brown-eyed boy to eat. He slowly nibbled at the sandwich and Will smiled in contentment.

'Will, can you sit?' He asked the other boy. Will obliged and sat down next to him. He let Nico eat in silence, he was just happy to be there for him. Whatever he needed.