Will's PoV:

The female officer leaves Nico and goes to the male one that is talking to Persephone. She waits patiently until the male officer finishes what he's saying to Persephone then begins to speak. She talks quietly, murmuring into the male officer's ear and showing him things she has written on a notepad. He nods to everything she says, some things paired with frowns.

Once the female officer finishes talking, he says something. Her eyebrows shoot up and she says something and goes back to Nico.

I look at him. He's sitting against the wall with his eyes closed. I wonder what he's thinking about. . .

Probably about how much he hates you.

I close my eyes for a moment before opening them.

Don't think like that.

She says something and he opens his eyes, looking at her. She says something else that causes Nico to close his eyes. He opens them and says something. She raises her eyebrows and looks at me.

I hold my breath.

She looks away, shaking her head with a slight smile and writes something on the notepad she's been writing in. Once she's finished, she says something to Nico and goes back to the male officer.

I assume she's telling him what she's just found out, and whatever it is is causing them to keep glancing at me.

Suddenly, there's another knock on the door.

"That should be them," the male officer murmurs.

Them?

He goes to the front door and opens it, revealing more police and an ambulance.

"W-what's going on?" Nico asks. He looks scared. He looks to the female officer. She goes to him quickly, whispering quietly.

After a minute, he nods softly. She smiles at him and stands up, going back to Persephone.

I watch as people come inside the house with a stretcher which I assume is for Hades. I forgot about him, fortunately. Unfortunately, now I remember.

My theory proves to be correct when they walk towards Hades with the stretcher, Persephone watching fearfully. It takes a minute, but they get Hades onto it.

As they push him back outside to the ambulance, the female officer walks up to me.

"Hey," she says. "I don't think I introduced myself. I'm officer Morrison, but you can call me Jenny."

I nod in response.

"Listen. ." She starts. "Nico told me about what happened with you and Hades. I have to say, it wasn't smart to fight Hades the way you did, but I also must admit that you did it for a good reason." She looks at Nico with a small smile. "Good job." She puts her hand on my shoulder briefly and turns away.

I'm left with my mouth hanging open. Did a police officer just say that I did a good job fighting Hades? Granted, she also said it wasn't smart, but still said good job nonetheless. Today has been filled with surprises.

I look around and see Persephone is being escorted to the back of the ambulance with Hades, seeing as she insisted as his wife that she just had to go with him. Now it's just me, Nico, Jenny, the male officer, and a few others. I look at Nico. He's staring at his knees, and it looks like he's shaking. I wonder if I should try to talk to him. . .

Before I can make the decision, the male officer walks up to me.

"Hello," he says, voice gruff. "I'm officer Mulligan."

"Will Solace," I say quietly, confused as to why he was talking to me.

"I overheard a bit of your and Jenny's conversation. I have to agree with her, fighting Hades was not smart, especially since. . . But considering the fact that he's abusing him and you're. . You'd probably. . ." He shakes his head. "I saw something like this a couple of years ago. A friend of mine had the same type of 'dad'. Once his boyfriend found out, he made them go to court and got him in prison. Ironically, he was planning to become a lawyer and because of that he was friends with the judge. He's now one kick-ass lawyer. That also pushed me more towards being a cop, and here I am." Mulligan flashes me a grin. "Sorry, I'm ranting."

I shake my head. "No, no, it's fine. That's actually. . Pretty interesting."

He grins. "I'm glad you think so."

He doesn't say anything else, so I turn around and look at Nico. It still looks like he's visibly shaking, and he's staring at the wall now.

"You like him, don't you?"

I nearly jump out of my own skin. "W-what?" I say as I turn back around to a smiling Jenny and Mulligan with a knowing look on his face.

"You like him," Mulligan says as if it's a fact.

I feel myself blush. How could he. .?

"I-I don't. ."

Jenny puts her hands up. "No need for excuses."

Mulligan nods in agreement. "My friends used to stare each other like that before they got together. And it took a while for them to get together. I used to joke that they'd get sick of looking at each other before they were even dating," he snickers.

I haven't known this man for two hours and he's already saying the things I haven't thought to say aloud. Is it that obvious?

I swallow and look between Jenny and Mulligan. Jenny raises her eyebrows like she's saying 'Well?'

"I guess I do," I admit, looking at my feet. I hear Mulligan chuckle.

"You know," Jenny starts, stepping forward, "when we were talking, I saw him looking at you quite a bit."

I laugh bitterly. "Yeah, probably for different reasons."

Mulligan furrows his brows. "What makes you say that?"

"He's scared of me. After I. . ." I swallow. ". . .Fought Hades, he was scared of me."

Jenny looks at me sympathetically. "He's probably traumatized. Imagine living all your life with an abusive father, and then finding someone you feel safe with. Then they do what their father has done. I would be scared of you too," she admits.

I resist the urge to say 'that makes me as bad as Hades' because it doesn't. I've fought two people in my life, and both times were to defend him. God knows why Hades does it. I'm not saying that I'm completely excused because I should not be letting my anger get the best of me, but I'm not as bad as Hades.

"Just give him some time," Mulligan says softly.

I nod. "Thank you." I mean it.

"You're welcome," Jenny says with a smile.

A couple moments later, Mulligan nudges Jenny and inclines his head at something behind me. She giggles.

I'm about to turn around when Mulligan reaches out and stops me.

"You're going to make him stop!" Jenny hisses.

"Stop what?"

She smirks. "Stop him staring at you."

My cheeks redden once again. He's staring at me?

"Yep." Mulligan nods. "He feels something for you."

My cheeks turn a darker shade of red.

"Here's my advice," he says. "Once you know he's okay around you, tell him."

Jenny hums in agreement.

"But make sure he's okay around you," he says pointedly.

I nod. "Of course. I would never do anything without. . ." My mind goes back to the day I kissed him.

Jenny sighs. "What'd you do?"

My eyes widen. "U-um, nothing!"

Jenny rolls her eyes. "Seriously. What did you do?"

"Well. . . We've k-kissed before."

Mulligan's and Jenny's eyes widen. Mulligan speaks first.

"You're telling me. . . That you're questioning if he likes you. . When you've kissed before?!"

I'm shocked at what seems to be his anger. ". . .Yes?"

He stares at me with an open mouth. "How many times?" He asks in an 'I'm done' tone.

"Three," I say without missing a beat. I'm surprised that I remembered that quick. "B-but we never spoke of them again!"

Jenny sighs. "You, I am sad to say, my friend, are an idiot.'

"How-?" I stop myself. Best not pick a fight with a cop.

"Who kissed who, and how did he react?"

". . .I kissed him, he kissed me, and I kissed him again," I say. "He was okay with it."

"And you never spoke of this because?" Jenny demands.

"I-I don't know! We. . We just didn't. We got so caught up with Hades and other things, I guess. . ." I falter. I really am an idiot.

Mulligan shakes his head. "Well, no need to be worried about confessing. You've kissed. . ." He shakes his head again and sighs. "It doesn't matter now. You heard what we said. If you choose to do it or not is your choice. But just in case. ." He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a strip of paper. "Take this. It's my phone number. Call or text if you need anything."

I nod as I grab the strip of paper. "Thank you, guys. So much."

Jenny smiles. "It's no problem." She peers behind me. "I should go check on him," she says, and begins walking to him.

Mulligan watches for a moment, then looks back at me. "Good luck, Will."

I feel like I'm going to need it.