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"Darlin', you're gonna boil. Pack a T-shirt."
Nico tossed his sixth sweater at Will's head. "It's November. "
"It's Texas. " Will threw it back. "I have never known it to be any colder than sixty-five on Thanksgiving."
Nico ignored the projectile pullover. "What is that in sensible measurements?"
Will rolled his eyes. "Like eighteen degrees Celsius. And Farenheit is a perfectly sensible measurement system, you're just stubborn."
"Eighteen is cold."
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Pack one short sleeve shirt. Just one." Will poked Nico in the side, grinning. "Or else you'll have to wear mine, and all that color might kill you."
Nico opened his mouth to retort that he wore plenty of color, but a quick glance around his incredibly monochromatic room and the clothes strewn about it shut him up. The only colorful shirt he owned was the tropical monstrosity from his trip with the Athena Parthenos, and he decided he'd rather let Will be right than pull that out. "Fine," he relented. "One."
---
At the edge of camp, Will took Nico's hand and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and Nico reminded himself that this was not something to freak out or blush about, though his face apparently didn't get the memo.
"Remember where we're going?"
Nico nodded. He'd had the spot memorized since Will had asked him to spend Thanksgiving with his family. "Greyhound bus stop on Washington Avenue in Little Rock, though I still don't understand why we can't shadow travel the whole way. It's much faster."
"Because, di Angelo." Will adjusted the straps of his guitar case, an admittedly genius way to store a shotgun. "Dragging your half-conscious body over her threshold is not the way I want to introduce you to my mother. Or myself, for that matter, considering how long it's been." He gave Nico a small smile, but Nico saw a hint of genuine apprehension in his eyes. Seven years was a long time. "Besides, Greyhounds are protected by Hecate. The ride will give you plenty of time to relax before you meet everyone."
The idea of meeting Will's entire extended family at once felt like one of the most daunting things Nico had ever done. He'd been thrilled when Will had asked him, of course, but his nerves had only been growing since. He took Will's hand, determined not to let his anxiety get the better of him, and pulled the both of them into the darkness.
---
They stumbled back into reality under a tree, and Nico sat down as quickly as he could without falling. He'd never admit it out loud, but shadow travel took a lot more out of him these days, and he was actually grateful for the bus ride ahead. Will sat next to him, shuddering. "Never getting used to that."
Nico squeezed his hand, mostly to reassure himself and Will that his hand was still solid. He'd made the mistake of over exerting himself to the point of losing his physical body exactly once since his adventure with Hedge and Reyna, and he had promised himself it wouldn't happen again. Seeing Will break down into a full-blown panic attack had been more than enough to convince Nico to pace himself.
Will let go of his hand to pass him one of the Gatorades also stuffed into the guitar case, then fished a map out of his pocket. "We're in luck! You got us to this park, and the stop is a block away."
“Oh, good.” Nico stood, thankful his legs worked and even more thankful he hadn’t completely missed. He reached for Will’s hand, but Will had the map in one hand and the other was in his pocket.
"We're early, which is nice. We can get settled in with no rush." Will grinned at him, and Nico couldn't help but smile back. Actually being on the road made everything feel much more real, which made him giddy.
"Does everyone else in your family have an accent like yours?"
Will laughed. "Much thicker. I have cousins I barely understand." Seeing the horrified look on Nico's face, he backpedaled. "None of those cousins will be there this week, and everyone there talks a lot slower than I do." He frowned. "Damn Yankees, making me speed up."
"Yankees? Like the baseball team?"
"Yankees like Northerners. They get mad when you call them that, though." Will's accent was already more pronounced after only a short while away from camp. Nico supposed he understood. He'd been told that his own accent had softened with time, that it only came through clearly when he was agitated or excited.
"You'll be fine, darlin'." Will held the door of the bus stop. "If you can understand me, you'll understand them. It's all just English."
"Ah, yes. English, my first language," Nico said sarcastically. "How could I forget?"
Will shoved his shoulder. "You know what I mean, dummy."
A shiver ran down Nico's spine, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. With a sinking, almost choking feeling, he recognized the sensation.
"We have to get out of here." The door behind him wouldn't budge. He kicked it, then pulled out his sword, hoping the pommel could break the glass.
"Nico, what's-?"
You know you cannot escape me. The familiar voice, echoing in his mind, made his stomach turn.
"Oh, I do not like that." Will shook his head to the side, as if he had water in his ears. "Please get out of my head, whatever you are. God, monster, spirit, demon-"
"Demons aren't real," Nico muttered, breathing heavily.
"Not the time, babe."
“What do you want from me?” Nico yelled into the empty bus station, his voice already panicked.
I want nothing from you, Nico di Angelo. You have already faced me.
“This guy know you?” Will slung his guitar case off of his shoulder and retrieved his shotgun, though he kept it by his side. “Nico, what’s going on?”
Normally, Will’s hand on his shoulder would have comforted him, but Nico wanted nothing more than to run away.
You have not told him. He does not know who I am, does not know about your...encounter with me. Nico could practically hear the sick smile behind the words.
“No, I-” Before he could finish his sentence, Will was yanked to the other end of the bus station by an invisible hand. Nico reached for him, but found himself stuck to his spot. He cursed the fluorescent lights that kept the bus station so bright he didn’t even have his own shadow to melt into.
Will smacked at whatever force had just dragged him. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, but if you’d just let us go-”
No, I have business with you, son of Apollo. A small chuckle echoed through the room. Though it is...disappointing, that you do not know who I am. I once told your- companion? Partner?-
“The word is boyfriend.”
Another laugh. If you insist. I once told him love demands the truth above all. A shame, then, that he has not been truthful with you. Do lovers no longer tell each other everything? Has romance changed so drastically? Or is his loyalty to you not as strong as you would have yourself believe?
Will’s face was completely unreadable. He looked upset, but Nico had no idea what he could be thinking. Any words he might have said to try and apologize or explain, died in his throat.
It would not be so unusual, for someone of your parentage, to fall for another who cared less. If he cannot share everything with you-
“No.” Will’s jaw was set. “We do tell each other everything, but it’s only been a month. I can’t expect him to share everything he’s ever done in that time, and I will never force him to tell me anything he’s not ready to, Eros. ”
He said the god’s name like it left a bad taste in his mouth, and Nico silently thanked the gods for his boyfriend’s common sense. He’d never told Will exactly what had happened with Cupid and Jason, and Will had never pressed, but he’d mentioned bits and pieces- Jason was the first person he’d come out to, Cupid was not on his list of gods to ever meet again, and he’d retrieved Diocletian’s scepter by admitting a secret before he was ready. Will must have put two and two together, and now he was staring the god in the face.
For the first time, Nico was able to look at Eros without being his focus. His hair fell around his face in waves, and his red eyes glowed like dying stars- nothing like the version he’d seen when Cupid had confronted him about his feelings for Percy Jackson. That version had looked- well, he’d looked like Percy.
“You’re smarter than you look, son of Apollo.” Eros’s voice still echoed around the room when he spoke.
“Thanks.” Will’s voice dripped with sarcasm, something usually not recommended when speaking to the gods. “Are we done here?”
“Nowhere close.” Eros stepped forward, and a muscle in Will’s neck twitched. Nico was still rooted to the floor, not sure if he could talk even if he wanted to. He’d finally stopped hyperventilating, but his heart was still beating in his ears.
“You are quite familiar with Love, are you not?” Eros touched Will’s chest with one finger, right above his heart. “So many hidden feelings…”
Will swatted his hand away. “I don’t hide my feelings.”
For a split second, it looked like Eros might kill him, but the god composed himself. “Liar,” he growled, his voice louder than before. "Love requires the whole truth, and you lie even to yourself."
"What?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You hide it from everyone, even him-" he pointed at Nico- "but the truth must come out. Tell him, William. Tell him why you are afraid."
Nico remembered those same words echoing around Diocletian’s Palace.
"Admit," Eros purred, "that you are afraid to be with him."
"Shut up!"
Eros waved his hand and Will flew across the room, hitting a stack of chairs. Will stood and jerked the shotgun up, aiming it directly at the god's head, but his finger was nowhere near the trigger, and the end of the barrel trembled slightly.
"I am not afraid to be with him." Will took a deep breath. "But I do not hide my feelings, so I will admit-" He looked at Nico "- to you , that I am- I’m worried about what my cousins, my uncles, and my mother will say." His voice broke. "I am afraid that she'll think I'm living in sin. I am afraid she'll turn us away when we get there." Tears were streaming down his face. "I am terrified of losing my family because of who I am."
How could Nico have missed that? The comments about how long it had been and how much had changed, Will not wanting to hold his hand now that they’d left New York- it should have been obvious, but like an idiot , Nico had only paid attention to his own nerves.
Will sobbed quietly, letting the gun sink down. At last he wiped his eyes and spoke, his face twisted in disgust. "But I am not afraid to be with him, and I will never be afraid of my love."
Eros was still smiling, but it wasn’t nearly as cold, not that that made things any better.
"So I have to believe," Will continued his voice shaking, "that my momma meant it when she said she'd love me no matter what." He stared Eros down, lifting the gun back up to face level. This time, his finger rested on the trigger. "Now get out ."
Eros nodded and vanished in a flash of light. Nico, finally free from his spot on the floor, rushed to his side, burying his face in Will's shirt. Will sank to the floor, and the two of them just held each other until their breaths were steady and even.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how nervous I am,” Will murmured. “I didn’t want to worry you any more.”
“It’s okay.” Nico didn’t know what else to say. Eros had been right, he’d kept a lot of things secret that he shouldn’t have, especially not for Will. He deserved the truth, not whatever omitted version Nico was giving him, and yet…
And yet he’d looked a god in the eye and told him he was wrong, twice. He’d looked like he believed it, too.
“It’s like you said,” Nico finally managed. “You wouldn’t force me to say anything I wasn’t ready to, and neither will I.”
Will let out a relaxed little sigh and smiled. “I’m glad.”
They stood, just as a short man with thinning dirty-blonde hair walked out from behind a door. “Hey there, kids, sorry for the holdup. Lost track of time back there.”
Will and Nico exchanged a look, something between What a weird dude and Hope this isn’t another trap .
The man stared at them staring at each other. “You two are Louie’s friends, right? Not just lost?”
Will spoke, which was good because the only thing out of Nico’s mouth would have been Who the Hades is Louie? “If you mean Lou Ellen, then yes.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Will.”
The man looked uncomfortable. “Right.” He accepted Will’s handshake. “Samuel Palmer. How is- er, how is she?”
“She’s well.” Nothing about Will’s expression or body language suggested anything short of pure friendliness, but there was something about his tone that made Nico think this Samuel guy had crossed a line by messing up Lou Ellen’s name. Will Solace wasn’t a particularly aggressive person, but he was very protective, a trait Nico couldn’t help but admire.
If he was honest with himself, which he rarely was, he would admit he found Will’s readiness to defend people he cared about attractive. The stunt he’d pulled earlier, pointing a shotgun at a god’s face, unfortunately proved this.
Samuel led them to their bus, which was a little smaller than the rest, and the greyhound on the side was curled up taking a nap, unlike the painted ones on the other buses. Will tossed their suitcase- there was that giddy feeling again, all because of a stupid shared suitcase- into the base of the bus, and they found their seats.
---
Nico didn’t remember falling asleep, and he definitely didn’t remember sweating this much. Caspita , it was warm on this bus, but he'd never give Will the satisfaction of being right. He’d apparently passed out in Will’s lap, since that was where he woke up. Will’s hand was in his hair, but when Nico sat up, he saw that his boyfriend had fallen asleep with a book about plagues in his hand. Because of course he’d read about plagues while on vacation. As different as they were, both of them were never able to just relax.
Will opened his eyes. “How long was I out?”
“Beats me,” Nico brushed a lock of hair out of Will’s face. “I’ve only been up for a minute or so.”
“We stopped,” Will observed, and Nico wondered if his intuition earlier had been dumb luck.
Samuel shooed them off the bus so he could refuel, which was how Nico and Will ended up in a McDonald’s at two in the morning.
“Will? Will, those women are staring at us.”
“Mhm?”
“I thought Samuel said we’d be safe as long as we didn’t go too far from the bus. I told you we shouldn’t have left our weapons-”
“Those are drunk soccer moms, and your shirt says Eat Glass.”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant-”
They bickered until they reached the counter, where Nico ordered a Happy Meal, daring Will to say something about vitamins or macronutrients or whatever other problem he had with fast food. Will suppressed a smile, poorly, and got a salad.
---
“It’s not going to kill you!”
“But it might.”
“So could a million other things. If you’re going to die, you shouldn’t die eating rabbit food.”
“It’s not just a salad, look, it’s got chicken, and my Gramma’s cooking is way better anyhow.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, no offense to your Gramma.”
“My Gramma would take offense, and she’d beat you up. She’s about your size, too.”
“Hey!”
French fries made for terrible projectiles, especially when their target kept catching them in his mouth.
---
The rest of the bus ride was uneventful, and Nico slept through most of it, stretched out across two seats with his head in Will’s lap. The few times he did wake up, he found Will asleep, with one of Nico’s hoodies balled up against the window for a makeshift pillow. Nico let himself be lulled back to sleep by the hum of the bus’s motor and the sound of soft snoring that Will, when awake, vehemently denied.
---
When the bus pulled into the station, Will was already awake. He gave Nico a kiss and stood, and Nico, who was not as easy to rouse as Sleeping Beauty, hit his head on the bus seat.
“Couldn’t have waited thirty more seconds for me to actually open my eyes?” he asked indignantly.
Will didn’t answer. He was staring out the window, frozen in place. Nico followed his gaze to a woman in sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat. Half of her face was covered, but that made no difference, because Will clearly recognized her. It didn’t take Athena kid brains to understand that that was Naomi Solace, just slightly incognito to avoid attracting attention.
Nico nudged his boyfriend. “Well? Go on.”
“I’m scared.” The words were almost inaudible. Will’s calm exterior was completely gone, and he looked lost and confused. “Nico, what if-”
“No what-ifs. You don’t get to back out of introducing me to your mom.” Nico seized his hand and dragged him down the aisle, which was enough to snap Will out of his almost-paralyzed state of fear.
“Right. Right. Okay. Do I look okay?”
Nico paused to straighten the collar of Will’s shirt. “You look great.”
“Alright.” Will took a deep breath and stepped out of the bus.
Everyone said Will looked a lot like his dad, what with the tan and the surfer’s build and all. Everyone was dead wrong. William Solace was the spitting image of his mother Naomi, albeit with more height and a little less hair. He had her eyes, her face shape, and was the exact same shade of blonde. Gods of Olympus, they even moved the same, as if the same rhythms beat inside of them. They hugged and hugged until both of them stopped crying, and Nico got a little teary-eyed just watching them.
Finally, Will stepped away to pull Nico forward. “Momma, this is my-” He faltered. “This is my boyfriend, Nico.”
A pause, eerily silent. Naomi looked from Will, to Nico, then back to Will. Then a slow smile spread across her face, left to right, just like Will’s. “Ain’t that sweet. You boys come here.”
This time, Nico joined the hug, too. Naomi was unusually strong, so it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. She smelled faintly of citrus and hugged him like- like he was already family.
Somewhere in Nico’s mind, a thought emerged, and all his efforts to put it back where it came from were fruitless. He knew it wasn’t technically true, but with Will and his mother’s arms around him, it felt right, which was better than technically true.
It’s good to be home.