(This is the same day, just an hour or two later.)

Will's PoV:

"Will," Nico says. 

"Yes?" 

His brows are furrowed. "Are you okay?" 

I smile reassuringly and nod. He glares at me, which makes him look like a slightly pissed kitten, but still cute. "Aw," I ruffle his hair, "Death Boy, you don't like intimidating at all."

He growls. "Do not call me Death Boy."

"What, don't like the nickname?"

"Sei un idiota," He says. 

I pout. "Hey, that's not fair. I don't know Italian."

"Hai appena mi ha fatto capire che ho un vantaggio. Grazie, Will." He smirks. Nico and me playfully argue at each other, him saying things in Italian.

After a while, we come to a comfortable silence.

"Hey. . . Nico." He looks at me. 

"Yeah?"

"Before you. . Passed out. ."

"Yeah?"

"You. . You were going to tell me something."

He blushes. "Oh. . . That. . ."

"What was it?"

"N-nothing. ." He stutters.

"Aw, come on. You were going to tell me before, why can't you tell me now?"

"That was when I thought I was going to die." 

I glare at him. He seems unfazed by this, and crosses his arms.

"Why can't you jus-"

"Nico!" A voice yells, and he winces. The door slams open, and then Hades is sitting next to Nico.

"Oh Nico. . ." He ruffles his hair, making him wince again. "I missed you dearly."

I put a hand on Nico's shoulder. He's shaking. "Nico. .?"

"Please," Hades looks at me, "Can I have a moment with my son?" That makes Nico shake his head violently.
I look at him reassuringly.

"I'll be outside, Nico." His eyes widen and he looks at me pleadingly. "I'll be outside," I repeat as I walk out.

-

A few minutes later Hades comes out of Nico's room 

"Thank you," He says.

"No problem." 

He puts a hand on my shoulder, "Take care of him, okay?"

"Of course." 

And he walks away.

I go to Nico's room, and find him crying. I rush to his side.

"Nico? What happened?"

 He puts removes his hands from his face. "You happened."

"Wh-what?" 

He scowls at me.

"You left me here, with, with-" He moves his hands around in the air.
"-him!"

I furrow my brows. "Him? You mean your dad?"

He stares at me, cheeks damp with tears. "No, the machine. Of course my dad!" He says the word dad as if it were a bad thing that Hades was his dad.

"What did he ever do to you?" 

His face darkens. "You don't know what he's done. . You don't know anything about me!" He's practically fuming with anger. "You-" He stops.

"What?"

"Leave."

"What?"

"Leave."

"B-but-"

"Leave!"

"No, I won't-"

"Go." He looks at the wall. He mutters something, and covers his mouth with his hands.

"What?"

"Nothing." His voice is muffled, but his face is a bright crimson red. "Just go." I look at him sadly, and walk out of the room.

Nico's PoV:

I can't believe Will. He- he left me here, alone with Hades, even though I told him not to.

To make matters worse, I actually said- Ugh! For all I know, he could've heard me! I curl up on my side, and hear nearby doors being open and shut.

"Stupid Will and his stupid good looks," I mutter.

"Oh really?" I hear someone say, and I shoot up to see Jason and Piper sitting, Jason has a raised eyebrow and Piper stifling her giggles.

I feel my face heat up. "Wh-what? What are you guys doing here?"

"Do you need a reason to visit a friend?" Pain stabs in my chest as I remember what Will said, a couple days after we met.

Do you need a reason to text a friend?

I plaster on a fake smile. "Guess not."

They laugh.

-

"So. . About earlier, and how we felt there was a secret. ."

"I mean, we are two of your best friends. ." Piper adds. 

Jason laces his fingers and inhales. "Could you tell us what that secret is?"

I shift uncomfortably. "Only Hazel knows. . Try to not tell. . ."

They look at me eagerly.

"Will kissed me. . ." I mumble, and they furrow their brows.

"What was that?" Piper asks.

"Will kissed me. . ." I say a bit louder, and their jaws drop.

"H-he-" Piper starts, and I cut her off with a nod. Piper and Jason look at each other.

"Operation Solangelo complete." 

Now I furrow my brows, taken aback about how calm they are, and what Solangelo is.

"Operation what?" I ask. 

Jason smirks. "Time to get my twenty bucks. ." He notices my confused face and starts to explain.

"I made a deal with Percy and Will and you would fall in love-" Piper makes a heart shape on her chest with her hands, "-And I knew, I just knew. Percy owes me twenty bucks."

"You- you were betting, on me," I point at my chest, "And Will to fall in love?!"

If he was uncomfortable, he didn't show it. "I mean- yeah."

I glare at him. "And I wouldn't even go as far as love, right now. ." I trail off, remembering our fight.

"Oh, and about Solangelo, it's your ship name. We mixed your surnames."

I don't know what the word ship means, but I nod slowly, still remembering, everything.

Piper puts her hand on mine. "Tell us everything!"

I laugh nervously. "Well, I'll tell you as much as you need to know. ."

-

Piper finishes explaining what the word ship means, and I nod. 

"So, how is the relationship between Will and you going?" Jason asks, and my face darkens. 

"We got into a fight. . And we're not dating!" I scowl at Jason. 

"You keep telling yourself that."

"Jason, if you say a word about any o-" 

"Relax." He nudges me in the ribs with his elbow. "We're not going to say anything."

I take a quick glance at Piper. I admit I had forgotten about her, but only because I knew she wouldn't tell. Jason, on the other hand. .

"Whatever, Jason." I shoot him a warning look. "But if I find out you told anybody, I will personally-"

Piper puts a hand on mine and looks at me reassuringly, her face saying it all. You told us your secret, now we'll keep it a secret.

I nod thankfully at her, and shoot another warning look towards Jason.

He nods. "Neeks, I won't tell anyone. You know that."

"Oh really? Not telling anyone also means not getting your twenty bucks."

He puts his face in his hands. "Oh, crap," He mutters and then looks up at me with a confident smile on his face. "I'd rather have a friend's trust than any type of money."

I blink at him, I wasn't expecting that. "Wha. ." He smiles smugly, and I return back to myself. "That's good then."

I look at Piper, and her head is shaking with mirth. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you two were the ones dating and arguing."

Jason's lip twitches in amusement, and he begins to laugh, Piper following soon after.

The only thing I can do is roll my eyes while they are practically suffocating -from lack of air, they're laughing too much- and sit back and watch them laugh.

Jason says something that I can't quite catch, Piper nods. Soon, they've stopped laughing but someone is in their place.

Me.

Because they've decided to tickle me.

"GUYS- GUYS! S-STOP​!" Jason just shakes his head and continues to tickle me.

"Say you trust me!"

"I- I- I TRUST YOU!" I yell, and they stop.

Jason and Piper sit down. "Thank you. Pleasure doing business with you."

"I hate you guys," I say between pants.

They laugh again, and this time I laugh a little. Willingly.

-

A/N

FIRST LET ME SAY HOW SORRY I AM FOR NOT UPLOADING IN AGES

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME

I haven't published something for this story for a while. . . I won't go into detail, but I was sick.
But I'm better now, huzzah!
How did you guys like this chapter?
Was it good ? (; (; (; Hope so!
Have a g'day, guys (is g'day even a word o. O?) Random fact: I started writing this chapter Feb. 20th 2017 (obviously (if you want to know the precise time it was 4:57pm, it said on my revision history lmao)) and I've barely finished it and it's March 13th 2017 (actually almost the 14th, it's 11:53pm, i should just say I finished it on the 14, anyway, I'm staying up late so I can finish this chapter just for you guys<3)
(I probably won't upload this for a few days. So if this isn't uploaded on the 14th or 15th, I'm sorry.)

-Nicole❤xoxo

Word count: 1474