"Here's your pizza," Luke said, setting the pizza down between the two of us. The smell of oily pepperoni wafting through the parlour and in our nose. Will gazed at the pizza with a soft smile, as if he were in love.

"Thank you," I said, staring at Will as he were my universe. Luke left without a word said back into the kitchen, leaving Will and I to the food. I had dived into the food first, shoving it into my mouth.

"And I thought I was hungry," Will snorted. He took a small bite of pizza. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh pizza, beautiful pizza," I muttered as I took another slice. Will smirked.

"I can name two things more beautiful than pizza." He said, nearly done with his slice. I laughed.

"Try," I said, now on my second slice. He was silent for a moment, his eyes on my and a soft smile replacing his sly one. His eyes examined me as if that was an answer.

"You," his voice was just above a whisper. His blonde eyelashes were covering his ocean eyes but couldn't hide them. I looked down at my lap and felt my cheeks redden. I felt a sensation in my stomach that wouldn't allow me to sit in any position for too long. Will noticed it and followed his statement with, "And there's me. Me first, always."

I laughed, glad that he pulled us out the awkward tension. Or was it some other kind of tension? It didn't feel so awkward in the moment. It felt exhilarating, daring, and it felt lovely. I felt my heart sink in my stomach like quicksand. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

"Nico? Will?" A voice called out, entering the parlour. Eyes like the sea and easy smile, Percy Jackson himself stood, Annabeth next to him as he placed his arm on Will's shoulder. "Awesome to see you here? Uh, you're meeting for a project or something, right?"

I cleared my throat. "We're just meeting as friends," I said. "Just for some pizza. What about you guys?"

Percy leaned into Annabeth, who spoke in an even tone. "We're on a date."

I felt that quicksand again. My eyelids dropped a bit, and my smile came too late. "That's great for you. Hope you guys have fun."

Percy nodded, squeezing Annabeth's hand. They took a table behind Will, talking animatedly with each other.

Will noticed the dip in my mood and grabbed my hand. "We're having plenty of fun on our own, right?"

I smiled. "We are."

Immediately, all my thoughts of Percy vanished and were replaced by the good-natured Will Solace. He looked me up and down, leaning back on his seat. Either, he was really good at makeup, or just really pretty. It was probably the latter, considering the spray of freckles on his cheeks and forehead. He blinked slowly, long blond eyelashes blocking his eyes, like angled rocks hiding the prettiest beach.

"You're beautiful," I said, the words spilling from my mouth before I could stop them. I slapped my hands to my mouth immediately, cheeks fiery red. Will tried to bite back a smile, but he was grinning ear to ear, his eyebrows raised and cheeks matching mine.

"Thanks," he chuckled. "So are you, by the way."

I covered my entire face in my hands. I peeped at my pizza through my fingers, but my stomach was churning too much to down a single bite. "Thank you."

Percy and Annabeth had turned around momentarily to watch what was going on. I flashed them a small smile that convinced no one that I was feeling normal. They turned around anyway and returned to their conversation.

Briefly, Will and I heard Percy mention Octavian and laugh. I turned to see what they were saying. Annabeth's smile fell slightly, but she covered it well. Will crinkled his nose.

"I hate Octavian," he whispered, his voice low only the two of us could hear. "There's just something off about him."

"Don't worry, me too." I said. "Well, he's a massive transphobe, for one. He never shuts his mouth. Always insists on giving his unsolicited opinion, especially on trans people." I shook my head. "Oh, and he thinks I did drugs at some point. I have not."

Will's jaw dropped. "As if I need more reason to hate him. But wait, what do you mean, he thinks you did drugs. Any reason why?"

I looked down, hesitating for minute. I didn't want to make Will scared of me, but it felt so good to talk to him. I took a deep breath. "I was excused from school for a while because of depression. I've had therapy and it's easier to cope now, but Octavian heard some version of this and loves to hint at it. I really hope he doesn't spread some stupid rumour."

Will's eyes softened. "That's particularly messed up of him. He has no conscience, I think."

I smiled at Will and took a bite of pizza. "Well, you should probably be careful of him. He doesn't like you. Not sure why. And I think he might suspect we're queer. And he's going to make it everybody's business if he does."

Will sunk in his chair, looking into his lap and his eyes wide. "God, I hope not. I mean, it'll be bad for me, sure, if he does, but it would be particularly bad for you. I'm going to move back to Texas eventually, but you'll be here."

I gulped and nodded. "I just try to fly under the radar, honestly."

Will nodded. "Yeah, good plan."

I looked at our now empty plates and the lack of pizza on our table. Will nodded and stood up, grabbing a bunch of napkins and getting the oil off his hands. I did the same.

"Bye Percy, bye Annabeth!" I said. Will waved them goodbye. "Bye Luke." The three waved us goodbye and wished us a good day in a chorus.

We went back down the streets, but we took a different route. This time, the plants didn't grow as wildly, and pavers were uneven. It was a line of identical suburban houses until it was a field of grass, with a rundown, rained on playground. I looked at Will with a giddy smile. He grabbed my hands pulled me down the hill of the ground and onto the playground. Almost every surface was wet, except the swing set, which had a small shade on top of it. I scrambled on one and Will on the other.

"The highest wins." He grinned. I chuckled.

"Bring it on."

I pushed my swing far back and released my legs, swinging them with the swing. Will did the same, the wind whipping curls straight and against his face. He laughed loudly and unapologetically. We swung back and forth, looking childish, feeling childlike, for ten minutes. A few adults walked by, giving us strange looks as we passed by.

We halted and almost sat down on a park bench, almost punishing ourselves with wet jeans. Instead, we ran back to my house. Two streets before we reached, a drizzle pattered on our clothes. We both laughed, and by the time we reached home, it was a roaring rainstorm. But despite Will's soaked blond curls, he remained smiley and happy. I couldn't help but feel the same.

We barged through the doors, panting, just like kids after a day out. My father turned his head toward us the shadow of a surprised expression crossed his face.

"I see the rain hit you," he said. "Are your clothes soaked?"

Will and I nodded. Our clothes were a darker shade of their original colour now that they were wet. Will's sopping hair, being longer than mine, plastered to his forehead in clumps. He stood right on the welcome rug, which for no reason, we had inside the house.

"Is it alright if Will dries off here?" I asked my dad. "I'll see if I can find any clothes of mine, he can wear." He nodded.

We ran up the stairs after shaking ourselves off. I pulled him into my room and pushed open the closet doors, a heap of things that I shoved in there falling out immediately. Will laughed so much I felt his jaws hurt.

"You didn't have to stuff your closet to clean this room." He grinned. "I'm all for messy rooms."

I picked myself a dark pair of sweatpants and T-shirt. But for Will, I struggled to find something that would fit his frame. All I wore were black skinny jeans and graphic T-shirts. But I managed to pull out an oversized black hoodie and a skirt from a school play I stole once.

I went in the bathroom first, quickly changing into my comfy clothes, now warmer than ever. I got out and pushed Will in the room. A few minutes later, he emerged in all his glory. The red shirt he wore was something of a ball gown, the type princesses wore in movies. He wore it with the hoodie and his most smug expression.

"I look beautiful." He laughed, coming out with no shame and a song in his step. "I feel like I'm about to burst into song, though."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't mind walking home in this?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. Besides, if I was, I could just call my dad to pick me up. He wouldn't care. Just take a photo for the family scrapbook."

"I need to see that picture." I snorted. "But, uh, do you want to take a picture? Just us two?"

He nodded vigorously. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and pushed my hand as far from my body as possible. Will squeezed in, his chin on my shoulder and eyes at the camera. I just managed to capture his outfit. We grinned like children, and I snapped a picture of it.

"And send." I said, sending him the picture. Now it was a memory we'd both have forever. The thought of that made me giddy.

But I saw a message alert pop up immediately after. I recognised the smiling blond anywhere. It was Jason. He had texted me. 'Dude my date with Piper is in HALF AND HOUR and I'm freaking OUT'. I nearly dropped the phone.