Back and forth.

Back... and forth.

Back.

And forth.

The pendulum on the clock swings back and forth. Nico lays on his bed, with his head hanging upside down off the edge. It seems as if he's been here for several hours, but he has no intention of getting up.

Back-and-forth.

The pendulum is just a distraction of course. Perhaps he's avoiding what's really bothering him.

Back and forth. Just like Will Solace.

This way and that, it seems that man goes. Last night, he seemed all in. That sex wasn't the kind of sex you have with someone just for fun. Nothing about it said 'no strings attached.'

They didn't have sex like they were hooking up; they had sex like they were lovers... Well, like they are lovers.

Are they? Nico honestly isn't sure. He knows it's a bad idea. Will Solace doesn't do commitment, right?

So Nico needs to stop engaging with the Will drama. This is Hazel's wedding, after all, not open season on Will Solace, even if his freckles are adorable and his post-sex smile is just so sexy...

Cazzo, he wants to do that again. He hasn't felt that sort of a connection during sex since who knows when. That's not something he can ignore. It would be a waste not to do it again.

Does Will feel the same way? He wonders against his better judgment and watches the pendulum continue to swing.

Back and forth.

Back... and forth.

He decides not to get up and confront Will, no matter how much he wants to.

On the other hand, upside down is a great position to pull back his hair. Will seemed to have a weak spot for Nico's hair last night.

Nico loves his long hair; never in a million years could he have gotten away with it when he was a child in Italy. Wait about a hundred years, and people suddenly praise him for it and occasionally beg to touch it. But who says he's pulling it up for Will? Maybe it's hot in this hotel room.

And maybe Nico wants to look nice just for the hell of it, which is the only reason why he opts for his favorite black jeans instead of sweatpants. He pairs a red lumberjack flannel with his black Cabin 13 t-shirt. He twists his skull ring on his middle finger.

It would be a shame if nobody got to see Nico's grunge outfit, right?

Right. So there's no shame in taking a walk down the hall, right?

Right. And there's no shame if that walk takes him around the corner, down the stairs, back up the stairs, and back towards his room, right?

Right. That's an easy walk. Reasonable. There's even stairs, so arguably, it might even be a workout.

Oh, but that doofus Will's room is right across from Nico's, and, for the sake of convenience, it might be smart to just drop in for some clarification, right? Plus, Will might need someone to talk to after whatever happened at brunch this morning. Nico's just a nice and friendly guy like that.

Will opens the door. "Hey, what's up?" He smiles when he sees Nico. He actually smiles. At Nico.

"Just dropping by," he says. "You alright? This morning was weird on so many levels."

"Tell me 'bout it. Annabeth's better now. I think the Percy thing is starting to get to her head, but we're pulling it together," Will says.

"I love how you use the royal 'we,'" Nico says.

"Makes her feel better. Uh, thanks for checking in." Will starts to close the door.

Then, Nico does something stupid. "Actually, could I come in? I was hoping to talk to you."

Will's surprise is clear. "Sure, if you can make it quick. Annabeth just got in the shower. She was pretty gross after... you know..."

"I can imagine so," says Nico. "Thank you."

Will invites Nico to sit next to him on his bed and unwraps a green apple granola bar. "I hope you don't mind if I eat. I lost my appetite at brunch, but I'm starving now."

Nico chuckles. "By all means."

Will swallows a bite. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Oh yeah. That thing. "Well, last night, we sort of-"

"I don't regret it," Will says. "But we can forget about it if that's what you want. I understand."

"No! Gods, no. I really liked it, it's just..." Nico trails off.

Will crouches down on the ground and begins to gather up Annabeth's goo-covered clothes. "Sorry," he says. "These just probably shouldn't be on the floor like this. Don't want to get charged by the resort for a ruined carpet."

He throws the sweater and pentagram tights into a black trash bag. Better to not have them in a hamper with other clothes. Nico would've thought those pentagram tights were cool if he was still fifteen and in his emo phase.

"You were saying?" Will asks.

"Um, well, I might like to see you again like that... only if you want to," Nico says, staring at a black stain on the floor the size of a penny.

"Oh, yeah, totally. I'd be down," Will says. "We should probably set some boundaries first, but I had a great time. We might as well take advantage of it while we're still in the same place at the same time."

Nico wants to mention that he can still shadow travel, but it doesn't seem like Will's interested in setting those boundaries at the moment.

They can revisit that topic another time. For now, Nico's just happy to be in good company.

Will wipes his hands on a towel.

"Oh, you dropped something," Nico says. He squats down to retrieve a Dunkin' Donuts napkin from the floor, ready to throw it in the garbage.

"Wait!" Will says. "Let me see that."

"Uh, okay." Nico doesn't question that response. He does, however, question the napkin itself. Will Solace likes Starbucks coffee way more than Dunkin' Donuts coffee... that hasn't changed, right?

"This isn't mine. I wouldn't go to Dunkin'," Will says, squinting at the napkin.

Nico lays back on a flat pillow. He notices a lost strand of curly hair on the pillow beside him and wonders if it's Will's or Annabeth's. It's probably not Will's, considering he didn't even sleep in this bed last night.

"Hmm," Will wonders aloud. "What do you make of this?" He passes the napkin to Nico.

Nico squints. Something's scribbled on the napkin in what might be the worst handwriting he's ever seen in his life. That's really saying something; demigod handwriting tends to be horrible.

Will retakes his seat next to Nico and reads the writing:

She's not a saint and she's not what you think- she's an actress

She is yelling at a bridesmaid, somewhere back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry

This is surely not what you thought it would be

Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things

This love is glowing in the dark

But the monsters turned out to be just trees, and when the sun came up you were looking at me

"You're sure it's not yours?" Nico chuckles. "I sincerely doubt Annabeth's a Swiftie."

"This is a sign!" Will whisper-yells. "Annabeth usually listens to Gorillaz and Marina and stuff like that. Switching to Taylor Swift like this can mean something-"

Nico interrupts. "And you said the Percy stuff was getting to her! Oh, gods, this is a real Hallmark movie now!"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Will wiggles his eyebrows.

"That Taylor Swift is a great way to cope with unwanted romantic feelings?"

"Well, yeah, but not that exactly."

"Oh!" Nico says. He always saw himself as either the main character or an extra in one of his favorite romantic movies- no in between- but maybe he's the meddler, the one that hatches a scheme to get the main characters together. "Mission: get Percy and Annabeth back together?"

"I was thinking of something shorter, but we can work on the name later," Will says. "That's so crazy; all this time I thought he'd be the one pining after her but maybe the sex and the alcohol and the Taylor Swift is just a way of burying her feelings!"

"Well, you were right in thinking that Percy's pining. She was all he could talk about on the flight here. It was annoying, honestly."

"What did he say?" Will asks.

Nico shrugs. "I didn't pay much attention, but he just wants to catch up with her. It's sappy."

"Yikes," Will cringes. "So what I'm hearing is we need to trick them into spending more time together?"

"Exactly," says Nico.

There's a knock on the door. Madonna! Things were just starting to go Nico's way.

"I'll get it," says Will. "We should probably have this conversation somewhere there's no chance of them overhearing us."

Nico nods. That's a valid point, but he won't admit it out loud.

"Oh, hey Percy!" Will puts on a smile so big, it has to be fake. "So nice of you to drop by! Goodbye now!" Before his Texan accent can slip out even further, he shuts the door.

"Will!" Nico hisses. "You can't just do that! He'll know something's up! He's stupid, but he's not a total idiot!"

"Fine." Will opens the door. "Hello, Percy. What can I do ya for?"

"Are you sure it's not a bad time?" Percy asks. "You seem a little... I don't know... off."

"Aren't we all?" Will asks nonchalantly. Oh, that's sexy.

"I guess so," Percy laughs shyly. "Is Annabeth here?"

"In the shower," says Will. "Can I deliver a message?"

Nico interrupts because Will is so totally not good at this matchmaking thing. "Just wait here for her to get out," Nico says. "We'll go." He stands up and grabs Will by the arm.

"What?" Will asks.

Nico clears his throat.

"Oh yeah! Yes! You have to wait in here!" Will needs to work on his acting.

"My room?" Nico asks.

Will smiles for real this time. "Sure!"

They slam the door behind Percy, leaving him alone and quite possibly at the mercy of Annabeth Chase.