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It had taken Hazel quite some convincing from Frank to go to Texas, especially by herself, but he was busy with work, and with Piper's wedding coming up, no one else could come with her. At least she could turn this stupid work trip into a vacation.
But secretly it was because she had finally gotten a lead on Nico.
It had been nearly ten years since Hades had blown up and disowned Nico, kicking him out of the house, deaf to all her pleas and cries. Nico had left all of them, blocking them and deleting his social accounts, changing his phone number so they couldn't find him.
Even Annabeth and Leo had not been able to track him down, Reyna had not been able to find him. It was as if he had vanished off the face of the earth.
Hazel often wondered whether her brother was still out there somewhere. Did he think about her? Even when he was still living at home, he had struggled with depression. How was he now?
Why would he just completely cut off, and never contact them again? All his friends, his family— it was just Hades who never wanted to see him again, they had never wanted him to leave.
But honestly, Hazel thought it might be their fault. Not one of them had gone to comfort him when he was kicked out, not one of them had found where he was. They had reached out, offered him a place to stay, yes, but they hadn't seen him at all.
Nico had ignored all of them, and they had heard and seen nothing of him since. Radio silence.
They hadn't been too worried the first few days, as it wasn’t Nico's first time running off, but soon they found out that his phone number no longer worked, and freaked out. By then, it was too late.
Nico was long gone.
Over the next ten years, they had stopped talking about Nico, the conversation abruptly screeching to a halt whenever someone accidentally alluded to him. It seemed like there was always an empty space at gatherings, one once occupied by a dark brooding presence, but one that seemed to have been in the center of the friend group. Every year on his birthday they always got together for some excuse or other, and no one knew it, but that night quite a few tears were shed every time, from multiple people.
But finally, finally, so many years later, Hazel got word that someone had seen her brother. It was mostly from her job. She had friends all over the US, and it was an association to help find missing friends and family. Friends of friends of friends of friends, but Hazel had finally gotten word that someone had seen her brother.
In Austin, Texas, of all places.
What was he doing in Texas? How had they not been able to find him earlier?
So that was how Hazel found herself in Austin, Texas, with nothing but a suitcase and a heart full of conflicted feelings.
But that hadn't stopped her from being hesitant to go. There must have been a reason why Nico had cut off and refused to communicate with them. What if it wasn't Nico at all? But some other Nico that looked like her brother? What were the chances, what if Nico refused to talk to Hazel? If it wasn't Nico, Hazel didn't know if she'd be able to take it.
But she was here now, in the middle of a state far, far away from home, with nothing but a hope, a promise for answers.
She'd been told he'd be here today, though how the other person knew that she had no idea. So here she was, in the middle of a park on a hot autumn day looking around for her brother whom she hadn't seen in nearly a decade. She couldn't start doubting herself now, then she would start feeling miserable. Just hang around, enjoy herself, but keep out for anyone that looked like Nico.
It wasn't long. Most of the people there were under the shade near the pond with ducks in it. Hazel's heart started pounding as she saw him. A guy with long-ish black hair pulled halfway into a ponytail, wearing baggy jeans, a dark T-shirt, and converse with sunglasses on the top of his head.
Hardly daring to breathe, Hazel quickly walked around him in a wide circle to see his face.
Yes, it was Nico.
Hazel had to stop herself from screaming, dancing in circles, and running at her long-lost brother, engulfing him in the biggest hug she had ever given anyone.
But she didn't. She couldn't. It had been so long, what did she say? He didn't want to see her. She knew that.
What if he had changed? Well, he had to have changed, but what if his personality had changed? What would she do if he suddenly walked up to her one day after disappearing for ten years? She might have a heart attack.
Hazel didn't want to give her brother a heart attack. But how else would she do it? She had to talk to him.
Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly up to him, staring as he glanced up at her.
“Hey," she gulped, as they eyes met for the first time, and she couldn't identify the emotions that flashed through her.
Half of wanted to strangle him in a hug, half of her was filled with fear at what he might say.
His eyes seemed to widen for a split second, his shoulders tensing as he realized who she was.
"Nico," she whispered as though afraid to raise her voice, lest he disappear.
"Hazel." Nico’s voice was deeper than it had been ten years ago, his eyes seemed deeper too, as though reflecting the things he'd seen, the things he'd experienced over the extra years, the way he now looked at things, compared to when he was seventeen.
Hazel could feel the tears welling in her eyes, her throat burned and her chest ached with the feeling of finally realizing that this was Nico, this was her brother in front of her, so familiar and achingly wanted, yet so different.
He'd changed so much.
Shaking, Hazel sank into the chair opposite Nico, the tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
Nico leaned a little forward in his chair, his head tilting slightly, one eyebrow furrowing. Oh gods, he had never had much facial expression but his eyes always gave himself away, just like they had when they were younger, and this was Nico, this was so achingly familiar that Hazel thought she couldn't take it.
"Nico," she mumbled again, the tears rolling freely down her cheeks now. She raised her arm to I mop at them with her sleeve.
"That's me," Nico said, and Hazel sobbed from the softness of his voice, normally so cold.
"Where did you go? "she choked, her throat constricting around the words and making it hard to breathe. Nico seemed to shift uncomfortably in his chair.
"Look, Hazel," he started, seemingly steeling himself for what he was going to say to her. "I can't go back there.”
Speechless, Hazel would only stare at him and try to telegraph her question to him through her tears. Why?
Maybe Nico understood. Maybe he knew her, even after all this time. "H- Hazel, I have a life here,” he said, the time quiver in his voice betraying the lack of emotion he was showing. He was fighting it.
"I can't go back, I'm going to stay here."
"We couldn't find you," Hazel gasped, "we couldn't find you anywhere! You didn't have to just disappear like that!"
The corner of Nico's mouth twitched, and he blinked a few times, as though regretting some of the decisions he had made ten years ago.
“...I'm sorry," he said, "I don't know why, I just did.” Hazel's eyes widened. She had never heard her brother apologize. “But you've found me."
"Were... were you expecting me?" she asked, mopping her eyes, her voice cracking.
"I was expecting you guys to find me one day," Nico said, smiling sadly. “I wasn’t too surprised that I might see one of you again one day."
"Oh, Nico, things have changed too much," Hazel cried, leaning forward in her chair. "Jason and Piper broke up, and now Piper has a girlfriend, Shel, and you missed Annabeth and Percy's wedding!" she exclaimed.
Nico cracked a small smile, his mouth opening slightly. She went on, “Oh, and I'm engaged!" she told him, extending her hand and showing him the ring on her finger.
Nico’s eyebrows raised, and he looked as though he wanted to have been there for everything. "Oh? To whom?” he asked.
Hazel blushed, or would have if she hadn't already been red-faced from crying. "His name's Frank, but OH, Nico, we thought you were dead! How would you just not contact us?” she accused him, her chin twitching again.
Nico looked guilty. "I don't know. It was stupid,” he said quietly, not looking at her.
"We couldn't find you anywhere, not even your name showed up," she told her brother.
Nico seemed to hesitate. "I, uh, changed it."
Hazel looked at him, scandalized, "You changed it? To what?"
"...Nico Solace."
"Solace?" Hazel asked, bewildered. "Why?"
She had been so focused on Nico, she hadn't noticed the other guy until he wrapped an arm around the raven's shoulders. "Good question, why?"
Nico smiled up at him. "My husband, Will Solace.”
Will Solace waved at Hazel, who sat frozen in her seat. "You must be Hazel Levesque."
Hazel wasn't sure she could handle any more surprises that day. Unfortunately for her, there were just a few left.
"Uhm ..." she wasn't sure if she should run or introduce herself, but apparently that was unnecessary.
Will Solace was smiling at her, albeit a little less wide than it could have been. "Nico's told me all about you guys," he said. He had light blue eyes, and Hazel felt as though they were assessing her, perhaps judging her from what Nico had told him.
Nico was married? Hazel suddenly felt a pang of sadness, knowing Nico had grown, had had his life without them without her, that he had gotten married without them even knowing he was still alive. How could he bear it?
Hazel could not have lived knowing that someone was looking for her, could not have done something so important in life without feeling infinitely guilty.
What did Nico think? Did the still think about them, or did he just think of his childhood as a past life, something that felt like another universe, something that belonged in his memories and in the past.
Hazel looked at her brother across from her in shock, and disappointment. Dejection. Disgust. How could he have just left them in the past? people he once knew, but no longer mattered anymore?
She didn't know what expression she must have been making, because Nico frowned and shook his head.
"Hazel, I wanted to go back, I missed you guys. I still miss you. But I couldn't. I wasn't brave enough. And the longer I waited, the longer I hesitated, the worse it would be when I finally showed up." Hazel watched, her eyes widened with shock as the rims of Nico's eyes grew red with what she realized were tears.
"I was hoping you'd give up, forget me. I couldn't stand it, Hazel. Will helped me, I told him everything."
Hazel glanced up at the tall blond man who was still looking at her with a calculating look in his eyes, but his face was soft with Nico's words.
"After a while I stopped thinking about it. Did you know that if you don't remember, don't think about it, you forget the pain too?" Nico asked. Will glanced down at him, as though chastising him for thinking that.
Hazel swallowed. He did it because there was nothing else he could do. It was that or live with the pain every day, wallowing in the regret and sorrow. It had been the same for her, but instead of trying to forget, she'd pushed to find him, and in the process, began to help others with similar experiences.
But it didn't help with the sense of hurt and betrayal she felt when she knew that Nico had chosen to move on, when they had spent so much time, effort, and energy trying to find him, to continue with his life, to build a new life, without them.
And that was here, with Will Solace, his husband, in Austin, Texas.
Hazel couldn't help but hate this stupid city, hate this stupid blond man who had taken Nico, had possibly watched Nico grow when that should have been her, should have been with his family.
She couldn't help but be jealous that Will had been with Nico when she should have been. Even if it wasn't his fault, he should have brought Nico back home, brought Nico back home, brought him back to them, to whom he belonged with.
She hated how things were, how they had turned out. She hated their father for kicking Nico out. She hated Nico for running away. She hated herself for not finding him. She hated their friends for not looking harder. She hated Will.
Hazel could feel herself gripping the handles of the chair, tears running hot and fast down her cheeks once more.
She wanted to hurt Nico, to hurt him as he had hurt her. She wanted to get up and walk away from him, in hopes that she could make him feel guilty, that she would make him feel as hurt as she had when he had walked away from her life.
But she couldn't. She didn't know if it would work, and she couldn't do that. She'd come so far, she'd finally found him, she couldn't just give up now, just because she was mad.
She suddenly hated herself for crying. She hated that she couldn't control herself when Nico sat almost emotionless in front of her. That he could run away, and feel so little emotion for them.
She glared at him, and Will Solace.
"Do you just want me to go home? Pretend that you don't exist either?" she asked hotly. "Go back and live my life, and tell them that you're gone?"
Nico flinched, frowning at her words. "No, Hazel. Here, I'll give you my phone number," he said, reaching for his pocket.
Hazel felt like she was meeting Nico for the first time. Here, let me give you my number so you can contact me in the future.
Nico pulled his phone out of his back pocket, standing up to hand it to her around the table. He seemed to be lifting himself out of his chair, and Hazel felt her eyes bug out of her skull.
Was Nico pregnant?
He had gotten married, and was pregnant?
His loose shirt couldn't open that fact that his stomach was noticeably larger than normal, pressing through his shirt.
She glanced up and met his eyes, which were back at her, before nodding of the phone he was holding out for her, not acknowledging what she was shocked about.
Hazel's eyes flicked up to Will Solace's face, where he was staring at her with a passive, slightly challenging expression on his face.
"How long?" she choked after a moment, still unable to process what she had just learned.
"Seven months," Solace said, pulling up a chair next to his husband, taking his hand when he sat back down. Hazel couldn't believe how she'd missed it when he was sitting, but now that she'd noticed she couldn't NOT see it.
She felt now as though she had intruded upon something that had nothing to do with, with two people whom she hardly knew, something special and secret.
But this was her brother, she deserved to know.
"Tell me all about it."
Nice tripped in through the door, flopping down the bed on his back gently.
"I gotta say, when I said we should go to the park today, that was not on my bucket list."
Will slipped off his shoes at the door, padding over to lie down next to Nico. "She's your sister, Nico," he said, resting his hand on his shoulder and dragging his thumb over his husband's swollen stomach. "I can't imagine what she might feel."
Nico was silent for a moment. "She must have looked all over for me," he said, and the tears came welling in his eyes and running down the sides of his chest and down to his ears, as the bottled anguish, sadness, relief, and all the mixed emotions he had experienced today came flowing out.
He rolled towards Will, who wrapped an arm around him, and let his tears soak onto his husband's shirt.
Will held him, and after a while, when the tears stopped flowing so freely, Will spoke. "You know, you should be happy. You didn't know if you were ever going to see your old family again, but now you did. It happened. It's going to get better."
Nico laughed tearily into his chest, sniffling slightly. "Thought you said stress was bad for the baby, Solace," he said.
"Yeah, so stop worrying about it, Solace," Will snarked back. Nico smiled up at his love, before stretching to kiss him.
Will grinned as their lips parted with a soft sound, before ducking in to press a few more kisses to Nico's soft lips.
Nico let out a soft noise in the back of his throat, wrapping his arms around Will's neck as they made out gently.
Soon, Will moved away from his mouth, kissing a line down Nico's throat, before sucking lightly at the base of his neck where it met the collarbone.
Nico let out a soft mewl, arching towards Will, who smiled against his throat. "Will," Nico muttered, overwhelmed from the experiences of the day.
"Yes? My love," Will responded, moving back up to stare into dark eyes.
"Will you fuck me?" Nico asked, licking at Will's jaw.
"Sure, babe," Will said, gently pulling away from his husband's affectionate kisses, reaching for the lube on the bedside table.
Setting it next to his pillow, Will slowly slid his hands under Nico's shirt, running his fingers over the bump that was their child.
Nico mewled again at his touch, before sitting up and lifting his shirt off, then tugging at Will's. Will obliged, pulling it over his head. Nico sat on his heels and reached down to palm at Will's crotch, which gradually hardened under his touch.
Nico grinned as Will let out a breathy sound at the stimulation, crawling back to shuck off his pants and underwear, watching as Will did the same.
"Lay down," Will told him, and Nico did, rolling over so he could watch as Will gave his now-free dick a few tugs, before uncapping the lube and smearing it from his palm across the shaft.
Nico turned away from Will on his side as he lay down next to him, gently lifting his leg slightly as he slid his dick between the soft tops of his husband's thighs.
Nico let out a moan at the feel of the hard cock between his legs, Will's warm chest against his back, felt his warm breaths against his ear, and how Will let one of his hands slide along his stomach reverently.
Will groaned softly as he drew back and fucked gently into Nico's thighs, again and again.
"You feel so hot, and so tight, Nico, fuck," Will gasped into Nico's ear, moving faster as Nico let out whimpers at the feeling.
Will's cock was rubbing against the underside of Nico's, which was smearing precome on the bottom of his stomach.
"Yes Will, yes!" Nico cried, his back arching as his husband rammed his cock between his thighs, one of his hands reaching back to grasp at Will's hair, the other curling into the sheets underneath him.
"You like that, Neeks?" Will asked, gasping between words. "You like getting fucked by the man who got you pregnant? Filled you up so good..."
Nico gasped and moaned at Will's words, shaking as he drew his hand over Nico's swollen abdomen.
"Please! Please Will," Nico begged, not quite sure and not caring what he was asking for.
Will reached over and grasped Nico's cock, jerking him off while fucking his thighs. Nico let out a cry, Will's breath coming out in huffs against his neck.
Will rubbed his thumb over the head of Nico's dick, and Nico gasped, his head falling back as the pleasure crashed over him, over and over again.
"Ahh, Will, don't stop, I'm close, Will, I'm close..." Nico choked, his fingers gripping at the arm that was jerking him off, his eyes rolling back in his head as the pressure mounted in his groin.
Will's thrusts turned erratic as he got close to the edge, and Nico turned his head to catch his husband's lips in a desperate kiss, and Will came with a grunt, unloading his seed onto Nico's thighs.
Nico felt the warm cum spill over his legs, sprurting onto the underside of his stomach, and the coil snapped, and he screamed as he came, cum joining Will's on the sheets.
Once Nico's vision cleared, he rolled onto his back, humming when Will pressed a few kisses to his lips. They lay there for a few minutes.
"We gotta shower honey," Will murmured against his lips. "But I should clean up first, so you aren't dripping all the way to the bathroom," he said.
Nico hummed again, clearly not paying any attention to what Will had just said, and wrapped his arms around his neck.
Will sighed and kissed his temple, before gently extricating himself from his love's grasp. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom, ignoring Nico's whine at being abandoned.
Will dragged the towel over Nico's thighs, wiping them of the drying cum. He stroked Nico's bloated abdomen gently, reverently, and leaned down to capture his husband's lips in a sweet kiss.
Nico wrapped his arms around Will again, not wanting to stop touching him, and Will grinned and wrapped Nico's legs around his waist, lifting him up gently as he tugged off the soiled sheets and threw them in the hamper.
He carried Nico into the bathroom, turning on the water to wait for it to heat, before setting Nico down at his command. Nico hissed as his feet touched the cold tile, moving over to stand on the small rug.
"You can get in first, I need to use the toilet," Nico told Will. Will stepped under the shower, turning the temurature down a little as Nico took a piss.
When he was done, Nico stood outside the shower, watching through the glass door. The sparkling droplets of water cascaded down his husbands back, and Nico stared at his ass. Will was beautiful.
This was the man that had taken care of him when he needed it, that he had fallen in love with. Will was sweet and kind and smart, and he was also very good in bed. Nico loved having sex with Will, he made him feel so good and loved.
And, of course, he had gotten him pregnant.
Nico loved that he was carrying Will's child.
Will turned and stared back at him. "You comin' in?" he asked, opening the door for Nico.
Nico smiled at his love and stepped under the spray with him, wrapping his arms around Will.
Will ran his hands over Nico's back, down his sides, over his belly, leaning down and to kiss his husband's lips, before gasping and looking down.
"Nico! You're hard again,"he exclaimed. Nico hadn't noticed, but he looked up at Will.
Will swallowed. Nico knew that Will loved it when he looked at him like that.
Will knew what was coming, because when Nico dropped to his knees in front of him, he was already half hard.
Not breaking eye contact with Will, Nico stuck out his tongue and gave the head a small lick, before running it over the sides. Will was staring down at him, and he let out a moan as Nico wrapped his lips around the tip of his dick, enveloping it in warm wet heat.
Will reached down to tangle his one of his hands through Nico's wet hair, the other bracing against the wall as he breathed heavily.
Nico slid Will's erection deeper into his mouth, watching Will drop his head back as he let out another groan when Nico swallowed around his dick, tasting Will's precome on the back of his throat.
Nico hollowed his cheeks, moving his head forward and back, before laving his tongue on the underside of his husband's cock.
Will choked out his name before cupping his hand against the back of Nico's head, his hips jerking forward slightly.
Nico tightened his grip slightly on the backs of Will's thighs, and Will moved his hips, gently fucking into Nico's throat.
Nico moaned around Will's cock, reaching a hand down to wrap around himself as his husband fucked his mouth.
Soon, Nico heard Will hiss through his teeth above him, his legs shaking under Nico's touch, and he felt Will shudder, shoving his cock into the back of Nico's mouth, spilling his cum down his throat.
Nico tried not to choke, the tears beading in his eyes as he swallowed his lover. Will fell to his knees too, and his hand reached down to join Nico's, connecting their lips in a hot kiss, the water running down his neck to his chest.
Nico cried out into his mouth as he came, his hips spasming as his arms clutched at Will's shoulders.
As Nico came down from his high, he was vaguely aware of Will spreading soap gently across his limbs and torso and his swollen stomach, pressing kisses to his hair as he held him out of the water.
He let out a soft sigh, feeling infinitely loved. Will was so perfect. He would take care of him, and their child.