Chapter Text
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It had always been a problem for Nico to be late for things.
Never for Will, though.
Especially after their second trip down to Tartarus, when Nico had gained the companionship of his Cocoa Puffs, that problem had only worsened.
Not even their first day of being back at Camp did they start acting like his pets, despite Nico having given them their own free will. In a sense, Nyx was right. They were his children. Perhaps they just weren’t old enough, strong enough, to go out on their own.
And who was he to be a deadbeat father?
They constantly followed him around, sniffing the ground as they walked the acres of camp, nudging his leg with their inky faces every other second. Every time they did that, he nearly stepped on one of them and almost tripped. Sometimes he frowned and tried to have Kayla and Austin take them to play, but they somehow always found their way back to him. Ready and eager to take some of his pancakes (which he found was their favorite food) and snuggle into his boyfriend’s lap.
While that was nice of them, and while he was happy they were warmed up to Will just as he was, he wanted to replace them on his lap.
They were an absolute distraction.
“Gods- I am so sorry, Will!” He said frantically, taking a moment to catch his breath after having sped through all of camp to meet his boyfriend where they agreed. “I actually woke up on time and tried to get here early, but the Cocoa Puffs decided they wanted extra pancakes, and Kayla was too busy training with Austin to take them and-”
He stopped himself when he realized Will was just smiling at him, an amused glint in his bright eyes. A wave of embarrassment washed over him suddenly, and he cleared his throat to distract himself from the flush of red that painted over his skin.
“Anyway- if you still want to, we can go on that cheesy hallmark picnic you wanted to go on.” Nico rubbed the back of his neck and gestured to the strawberry fields they stood at the entrance to.
“Excuse you, I believe you were the one to suggest this!” Will protested, yet he still leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Nico’s cheek, curling their fingers together as they started their walk. “You like to deny it, Death Boy, but as you’ve said, you’re my ‘grilled cheese.’”
With an embarrassed groan, Nico leaned his weight against Will’s side as he complained dramatically. “Will, could you please stop bringing that up?”
Will laughed that beautiful laugh, and Nico knew he would let Will call him that over and over again if it meant he could keep hearing that sound. It was his favorite, after all. The best song Will’s mom could’ve ever produced.
“What? You don’t like me calling you food names?” He teased, and Nico just shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“If I’m not allowed to call you my Care Bear, you’re not allowed to call me a grilled cheese.” Putting his other hand on his hip, he smiled when Will glared playfully at him.
It was nice to know there were still things they could learn to enjoy from their time spent in the living dread of Tartarus. He could still see the breathtaking shine of Will’s teeth as he grinned widely, and there was still color in his skin that seemed to only get prettier in the sunlight every day. He could still see him because even after all the pain they had gone through, he was still Nico’s boyfriend.
They were still together.
“But wouldn’t you like it if I called you my little puddin’ pop?” Will brought up their joined hands and used his finger to tilt Nico’s head up. He grinned when he saw Nico’s scowl, laughing as Nico drew his hand back from Will’s hold.
“I will send you back to Tartarus.” He mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at his boyfriend.
His boyfriend.
How nice it was to still be able to say that.
“You would come save me.” Will mused matter-of-factly, and Nico looked back ahead.
Even if Will had meant it as a joke, because Nico had meant it as a joke, there was truth to it. Of course he would go save Will.
Because even if Nemesis was telling the truth, and he was sure she was, that if they ever went back down there, luck would not be on their side, love was Will. He would gladly go through Tartarus a million times (okay, maybe not gladly, but he would do it anyway) to reach his sunshine once more.
“I would.” He let it slip, but Will didn’t call him out on it.
He simply glanced over at Nico, and his grin melted into a sincere smile. His eyes mellowed into the gooey affectionate expression that Nico was weak to whenever he was lucky enough to witness it.
Will’s eyes were so bright every time he looked over, even in the setting sun.
Everything about him became the sun. His bushy blonde hair with that one curl that always seemed to fall in front of his eyes, reflecting the sunlight that shined down on him. All the way to the dotted freckles that trailed down the exposed calves that his cargo shorts couldn’t cover up.
As the sun set, Will became the sun.
When the sun was in the sky, Will was the sun.
When the sun vanished for the night, Will wished he was the sun.
His precious sunlight. The only beacon of hope that Nico was sure would come back, no matter how many times it fell and seemed as if it would be gone forever.
Will always came back.
Just as when the stars in the sky needed a break, it came back and became a saving light when the stars couldn’t be.
When they reached the open spot in the middle of the strawberry fields, Will sat down on a blanket Nico assumed he put there before they were even supposed to meet up. He beckoned Nico to sit down next to him.
Calling their date a “picnic” became a tradition between them whenever they went on a date.
Perhaps it was continued by Will to tease Nico. They were originally supposed to go on a date when Nico wanted to tell Will he liked him, but since it turned into… something else, they called it a date regardless.
Even if it all had nothing to do with food, it was still a picnic for them.
“Hey, Death Boy-”
“Yes, Care Bear?”
Will faltered, grumbled and pouted at Nico, then reached his hand out to grab a strawberry that didn’t look ripe. “I was going to very nicely, very lovingly ask you if you wanted me to feed you a strawberry like all those corny couples do. But since you’re so mean to me, you don’t get that privilege.”
Nico smiled and put his hand on Will’s chest so he could lean up and give his boyfriend a tender kiss. One that never failed to make the skeletal butterflies in his stomach loose from their cage.
“Oh yeah, you wanna poison me?” He teased, lips brushing against Will’s as he mumbled close. “I think you just preemptively sealed that strawberry’s fate. It’s not gonna make it, sunshine.”
Will glanced over to it, eyes widening as he stared guiltily at it.
“Ah, I’m sorry little guy.” Will apologized, making Nico roll his eyes.
Despite knowing it wasn’t good for him, he took it from Will’s hand and ate the bottom of it, tossing the leaves of it into the dirt so it could decompose.
“Wha- Nico!” Will protested too late, cupping Nico’s cheek and inspecting his face for any signs of disgust. “I could’ve just thrown it away, you didn’t have to do that!”
Will frowned at him, and Nico swallowed it before he pulled Will in for another kiss, smiling against his lips. Pulling back, he grinned at him, and Will’s frown faltered for a moment.
“Think of it as my apology for being late, as per usual.”
Nico fell forward as Will pulled him into an embrace and laid back across the blanket. Feeling sleepiness creep into the edges of his vision, Nico suppressed a yawn. The comfort of his boyfriend’s warmth wasn’t really helping his issue.
“Y’know, you don’t have to apologize for being late,” Will mumbled, staring up at the sky for a moment before letting his gaze drift over to Nico. “I like being the one to tease you about it.”
With an embarrassed undertone, Nico grumbled to Will about how it wasn’t his fault. Will just laughed that musical laugh and rubbed his hand up and down Nico’s back.
“You and literally every one of our friends,” He sighed against his boyfriend’s chest. “It’s not my fault that my Cocoa Puffs want to be around me twenty-four seven.”
Will lazily took his hand off of Nico’s back and reached his hand up to look at the darkening clouds through the gaps in between his fingers. Nico grumbled and reached up to lace his fingers with Will’s, pulling his hand back down.
“Who knew, my boyfriend, a dad at the age of fifteen?!” Will gasped, dramatically putting his free hand on his forehead as he looked away. “How absolutely scandalous of him. A tragedy, really.”
Nico rolled his eyes, but a grin spread across his lips regardless. “Excuse you, you’re their mother. They’ve clearly adopted you as well.”
“Wha- why am I the mother and not another father?” His boyfriend protested, making him chuckle to himself. “I think the gender roles you’re trying to push here are a little rude, wouldn’t you agree?”
Pretending to think about it for a moment, Nico tapped his index finger against his chin a few times before he looked back up at Will. “Mmm, nah.”
Will shook his head in playful disappointment, but Nico could feel his boyfriend pull him closer in their embrace.
“Betrayed by the angel I call my lover.” He mumbled, twirling one of Nico’s strands of hair around his finger absentmindedly. Nico snorted quietly and traced little hearts around where he assumed the freckles on Will’s chest would be under his shirt.
When his fingers trailed over the edge of the wings on the pegasus on his Camp Half-Blood shirt, Will inhaled deeply, sinking further into the ground’s comforting hold. Nico lifted his head a little to look up at his boyfriend, and his eyes softened at Will’s content expression.
He couldn’t help but stare at him.
Even in the darkest of nights, Will was beautiful.
He was still sunny, even when it came to their time in Tartarus. The waxy sheen over his skin that made him glisten made him look like a sunset. And while he wasn’t happy that Will suffered a lack of sun, his boyfriend was still beautiful.
Still sunny.
Still him.
“Will?” Nico mumbled sleepily, eyes fluttering shut every so often as he struggled to stay awake. Will hummed, trailing his fingers up and down Nico’s skin. “Thank you for being so accepting of the darkness.”
Smiling a little, Will craned his head to lean down and kiss Nico’s forehead softly.
“Of course, Death Boy.” He whispered, and Nico could feel his fingers absentmindedly searing little hearts onto his arms. “The darkness is your second home, and even if it isn’t mine, I can still appreciate it because you do.”
As awful as Tartarus was, and as much as Nico never wanted to go back there for the rest of his life, he was glad that he was able to have such a happy ending.
Seeing Bianca and his mother again was the best thing that had happened to him in years. His dad really did do his best to make sure Nico was happy, even if it sometimes hurt him more.
He wished he could’ve somehow brought Will into the “dream not dream”, so he would’ve been able to meet the other three people in his life that made him just as happy.
But just finally being able to open up and share the few memories of his past he remembered with his sunshine was enough for him. It was enough for Will, too.
Nico’s thoughts of gratitude simmered into nothingness as he drifted off into a slumber.
With his boyfriend’s embrace from under him and the darkness of the nighttime above his head, Nico was sure he had never been more thankful he had stayed at Camp Half-Blood.
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