Out Of The Shadows: A Solangelo Fanfiction Chapter 22: Spooky Vibes

   As Halloween was approaching in a couple weeks, campers started putting up decorations on their cabins. Even the big house was being decorated. Spiders were banned though, because the last time spiders were allowed an Athena camper thought it was real and accidentally stabbed another camper.

   Halloween personally wasn’t Will’s favorite, but if Nico loved it so much, so did he. Nico seemed slightly happier the past couple weeks when it hit October. Will had offered to help Nico decorate because he was the only one in his cabin, but Nico insisted he was fine.

   “So, I have the clothes you’ll be wearing for Halloween.” He said, handing Nico some of the clothes he wore most often. A Camp Half-Blood shirt, cargo short, flip-flops, his bead necklace, his med kit at his waist, a bright flannel shirt he usually wore over his camp tee, and a bow and arrow.

   They were currently sitting under a tree next to the strawberry fields. Nico rolled his eyes and took the clothing. “They’re so big!”

   “Yeah, that’s because I’m 6′, and you’re like 5′.”

   “I’m 5’1!”

   “Whatever.”

   “But my clothes will be way too big to fit you!”

   “That’s why I already bought the exact clothing but in your size.”

   “How?”

   “I got help from Chiron. The clothes you’re holding? Not as big as you think.”

   “Ah, I didn’t pay attention to the si-wait. How do you know what size I wear?!” He asked, his face red.

   “I asked Chiron. He knows all the campers clothing size.” Will laughed.

   “How?”

   Will shrugged. “How did Chiron live all these years?”

   “True.”

   “Man, you are so emo, Nico. Look at these clothes!”

   “Hey, at least I don’t wear freaking cargo shorts and flannel shirts!”

   Will was about to say “Hey, flannels are totally bisexual culture!” But he didn’t. Will had thought a lot about telling Nico he was bi, and even more after Nico came out to him, but for once Will was scared. Even though Nico’s gay, he’s obviously not comfortable with it, so how would he feel being around somebody else LGBT+? He ended up saying. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with cargo shorts and flannels! They’re actually very comfortable!”

   “I still can’t believe you’re making me do this, Solace.”

   They bantered playfully like that for a while until it was time to do camp activities.

   Will had had a really good time with Nico next to the strawberry fields. He even got out a little bit of things from when he was a kid. It was interesting to learn about the 30’s and 40’s. Things were so different. Nico talked about diseases when Will asked, and Nico talked about wearing something called knickers. “Snickers?” Will had said. “Gods, you’re as bad as Percy! No, knickers. They’re what we called a type of shorts.”

   And Will just couldn’t keep his eyes off Nico lately. It got worse when Nico had said he was gay. Will loved the way he scowled, loved the way his dark hair always looked like he just rolled out of bed. It was too much. He was just too cute!

   Cecil came up to Will during lunch. “Hey, what are you going to be for Halloween?” He asked.

   “Nico.”

   Cecil choked. “WHat?”

   “I’m going to be Nico for Halloween!”

   Cecil started cracking up laughing. “You’re joking! Let me guess, Nico is going to be you?”

   “Yep.”

   Cecil’s eyes widened and he started laughing harder. “No way! Nico wouldn’t be caught dead wearing clothes like what you wear! You’re messing with me now!”

   “I’m serious! Nico literally said that he would dress up as me!”

   After a couple of minutes of Cecil laughing, he finally got it under control. “That’s crazy, dude. Do you realize what this means?”

   “What are you talking about?”

   “This means he’s totally into you, bro. There’s no way that Nico would ever do something like that for anybody else, including Jason. Nobody can even lay a hand on him without getting their ass kicked besides for Jason, Hazel, and Reyna.”

   Will felt heat rising to his cheeks. “No way would he like somebody like me!”

   “Oh, really? Hey, Brooke! Come over here please and talk some sense into your idiot brother!” Cecil yelled.

   “Alright, I’m coming!” Yelled Brooke from a few tables down.

   “Hey, who are you calling idiot-“

   Will was cut off as Brooke ran over to the two boys. “So what’s going on?”

   “Oh, Will doesn’t think that Nico likes him.”

   “Ugh, this one isn’t new.” Brooke said. She turned in Will’s direction so she could look him right in the eyes. “Then how do you explain his face getting all red when he’s around you? How about when he gets all flustered? Nico is not the type of person to get flustered, or to let his emotions control him.”

   Will was quiet. He realized that sometimes Nico seemed a bit distracted and a bit flustered when Nico was around him. His face even got slightly red sometimes. But Will always thought it was because he wasn’t good at speaking to people. “I thought it was because he was shy.”

   Brooke and Cecil started laughing. “Pffft, you really are dumb, big brother. I guess to people not paying attention to you guys it wouldn’t be so obvious, but to us we know that Nico likes you.”

   “But-“

   “How about the times when you’ve touched his arm, or something? Nobody else but his very closest friends can do that without suffering consequences for it. Or how about how he actually listens to you? He doesn’t listen to anybody.”

   “You really think he likes me?”

   “Definitely.” Cecil and Brooke said in unison.