(slight mention of sex ahead just a heads up) (also bit of a long chapter today)

Btw go follow SatanIsMyRealFather because they're so supportive with my book 😊

Nico

For the rest of the night, Will and I watched the Walking Dead marathon that was on TV at the time. At one point, he basically had to hold me back from beating in the screen when Glenn died.

Towards around the fifth episode in, Will and I grew drowsy. We decided to try and get some sleep for the days ahead, so I reached over to the nightstand and picked up the remote. I pressed the power button and the TV flickered off.

"Good night, Nico." Will pulled me closer to his chest and laid his arm across my waist. I burrowed further into his embrace and wrapped my arms around his upper torso.

"'Night, Will." Gradually, we both fell asleep to the quietness of the hotel room. I could hear crickets chirping as I dozed off.

-----------------------

Once again, I dreamt of that damn room.

Except this time, I wasn't tied up. I was perched on the edge of my seat, looking around for Bianca. At that moment, she was nowhere in sight.

"Looking for me, brother?" Bianca's voice rang from behind me, startling me. "I'm not here to terrorize you tonight. Just to talk."

Bianca walked around from the back of the chair. She leaned against the side of it and sighed. "One of you is going to die when we meet. You have the option of choosing, Nico."

"Why are you not being a psychopath now?"

"I figured you deserve a day or two of non-terrifying nightmares. So- who's it gonna be? Will, Percy, or you?"

"You can't just make me do this. You know I'm not going to say Will or Percy so you might as well just kill me now."

"You see, I need your preference beforehand. You would rather die to save your friends, am I correct?"

"I'm going to kill you with my bare hands."

"You can try. You're still going to meet your violent end, King of Nothing."

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. "Why can't you just leave us be?"

"King, you should put your affairs in order. Do everything that you want to do or haven't had the chance to do in the next day or two because you're not getting out of this alive." Bianca got up from the arm of the chair.

"I don't hate you, Bianca. Even though you want to kill me or my friends, I don't hate you."

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Will

"Oh god. Oh god what am I going to do?"

In my groggy state, I could faintly hear the sound of Nico's voice. I reached out with my arm that felt too heavy and realized that Nico was no longer next to me.

Reluctantly, I peeled my eyelids apart and sat up. Under the dim moonlight creeping in through the windows, I could see Nico pacing worriedly around the room.

"Nico?" I called out to him "Are you alright?" I stood up from the bed and walked over to him. He continued mumbling to himself, not hearing what I said. "Nico, it's too early. Come back to bed." I reached out and gently tugged on his hand.

Nico swiveled around and looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh my gods, what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean, Nico? C'mon, let's go sit down." I pulled him towards the bed and sat down. He followed me and sat on my lap, facing me.

"Gods, I'm so scared. What's going to happen if I can't protect you or Percy when we go to fight her?" Nico's wide, teary eyes searched mine for an answer.

"Hey. Hey." I reached up and brushed his hair away from his face with my fingertips. "It's going to be alright. We're strong demigods. We'll make it out alive."

Nico rested his forehead on mine. He squeezed his eyelids shut and sighed. "I hope so."

I found myself hugging him and nuzzling my forehead into his shoulder. We were both tired, as it was in the early hours of the morning. "Do you want to go down to the pool? It's still open."

Nico shifted and pulled away from me for a moment. He looked scared at the idea. "I-I-I don't know how to swim."

"I won't let you drown, Nico. You're safe." I smiled and pulled him up, guiding him to the door of the room.

Nico shrugged and followed me quietly out of the room, tiptoeing down the stairs and into the lobby. I spotted the door that said "POOL." We walked to the door and padded into the room.

No one was in the pool at that moment, of course. I began to strip down to my boxers and didn't hesitate to jump into the lukewarm water of the pool.

The water was invigorating, to say in the least. I took my time in resurfacing, swimming around in the water. When I turned around, Nico was in his boxers and looking nervously down into the pool at me. "C'mon! Here," I swam closer to the edge and held out my arms. "I'll catch you. Promise." I grinned up at him, kicking my legs to keep myself afloat.

Nico shook his head hastily and took a seat at the very edge of the pool, letting his feet submerge in the water. "Will, I hate water."

I paddled over to him and took his hands in mine. "You're safe. I'm one of the best swimmers at camp, besides Percy of course."

Nico still looked wary. Nonetheless, he began to shuffle forwards off of the edge of the pool.

"It's only six and a half feet." I reached forwards to grab him if he needed me.

"Yeah, and I'm five foot six, Sunshine." Nico slowly lowered himself off of the ledge and into my arms.

I could feel him shaking against me, holding me so tight, I swear I would die of suffocation. I found his legs and guided them so they were wrapped around my waist.

Nico whimpered in my ear when I started moving towards the more shallow side of the pool. I reassured him by placing my hands on the small of his back and across his shoulder blades. Soon enough, we had made it to where Nico was able to stand comfortably in the water with a few inches to spare.

I let him unwind his extremities from my torso and placed my hands on his skinny waist. "See, it wasn't that bad."

Nico stepped forward so that there was barely an inch between us. "Yeah, because you were there." He whispered and looked up into my eyes. Nico raised his arms and rested them on my shoulders.

I smiled and leaned down to close the gap between our lips. At first, the kiss was gentle and soft. Our lips moved slowly together, both of us relaxing into each other. My right hand moved to cup his face, while my left moved to the center of his back.

Gradually, the kiss grew more passionate. I felt Nico gently nibble at my bottom lip, so I opened my mouth slightly so he could explore it.

I didn't notice that we were walking backwards until we hit the concrete side of the pool. A giggle spilled out of Nico's mouth and we broke apart. We were both grinning like crazy. My face hovered a few centimeters away from his.

I smiled and closed my eyes.

"You're going to be the death of me, I swear, Solace." Nico laughed and placed his hands against my chest.

"If you're gonna be the death of me, that's how I'd wanna go, Nico." I opened my eyes and stared directly into his.

His eyes flickered downwards from mine. "I was thinking, Will," his cheeks flamed red. "We may not come back to camp alive."

I nodded. "I'm fully aware."

"Neither of us have gotten the chance to live. Haven't gotten drunk, haven't gone to a concert," Nico hesitantly looked up at me. "Haven't had sex."

My eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, so you mean-"

Nico hid his face in his hands. "Yes, Will." He giggled.

"Well, alright. Let's head back to the room."
-----------(yes they had the sex)----------

Nico was practically glued to me when we woke up in the morning. Our clothes had long since been discarded, dropped in a pile near the foot of the bed. His head was buried in my shoulder. He was curled up next to me, absorbing my body heat.

"Hey, Neeks. Wake up. We gotta get ready." I gently shook his shoulder until his eyes fluttered open.

Nico made a move to stretch but stopped himself. "Ow."

"I'm pretty sure that's an appropriate reaction after you have sex for the first time." I laughed.

"Oh, fuck you." Nico grumbled and shoved his face back into my shoulder.

"Hun, you already did that." I teased.

Nico groaned in response. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. "C'mon, we've got a battle to prepare for."

HAHA THEY FINALLY FUCKED IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF