Author's Note: To start, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who read this story. I wrote it in 2014 after I finished The Heroes of Olympus series. I couldn't get the image of two happy boys out of my head, and the words flowed quickly. I never imagined it would get the attention that it did. I always meant to follow-up on it, but I couldn't quite capture the magic I was looking for.

I reread The Heroes of Olympus series during my summer break (08-2018), and once again, I cannot take my mind off their story. I enjoyed what I had written previously, but I still think it can be improved. This chapter isn't part two, but a rewrite of the original story that I posted. In this version, I took into account smaller details from the series, helpful reviews written in the past years, and even a more mature personal view of love.

Hopefully, you will enjoy this. I know I enjoyed writing it for you.

As a side note, since the original story was written immediately after Blood of Olympus, it does not acknowledge the newer series (The Trials of Apollo, etc.). The same will be done for this retelling.

The nightmares didn't stop for Nico.

He still woke up covered in cold sweat every night. Visions of war and death would flash in his mind, and he would wake up with a scream that seemed to end in a sob.

Each time, Hazel would hear him and run to his side of the cabin. She would hold him until he fell back to sleep.

At least now, Nico convinced himself, the nightmares were just bad dreams, bad memories. No one was trying to communicate with him. No one was trying to kill him.

Nonetheless, Nico forced himself to stay awake on the Romans' last night on camp. He knew that Hazel needed to rest for the travel, and he didn't want to keep her up at night any more than he already had. Nico couldn't help but admit to himself that he missed having a sister, and he was glad that Hazel was part of his life.

By dawn, he was still awake when someone knocked on the door.

He saw bright blond hair first. Nico was almost disappointed to find Jason waiting on the other side of the door, but the disappointment ended minutes later when another blond boy waved him over.

Will was not staring.

He merely glanced at the dark cabin and happened to see Nico and Jason talking. Of course, he didn't look away. Not even when the pair had been talking for several minutes. Not even when the two were laughing like chums. Especially not when Jason hugged Nico.

Will was not staring, and his eye certainly was not twitching.

If he wasn't sure that Jason and Piper were together, Will would've stomped over there already, and violence was so not something a healer tended to do.

Then Nico finally looked his way, and nothing could have stopped Will from waving him over.

A surge of energy enveloped Will as the pale boy walked towards him, even though Will had only gotten a few hours of sleep total for the past couple of days. He'd been spending all his time in the infirmary, healing all the wounded in battle and saving those who fought to save. He loved helping people, but lately, it prevented him from seeing a certain person…

Nico was close now, and Will couldn't help but observe him as he walked. Nico was way too pale and way too thin. He seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, but Will knew that when Nico thought no one was looking, his face would relax into a peaceful, if not sad, expression. Finally, his eyes—Will had seen anger, sadness, and pain in them. What could he do to bring happiness into his eyes?

"So where were you?" Will demanded as soon as Nico reached him.

Who knew four words were all it took?

For a son of the God of the Underworld, Nico was a pretty good nurse.

When he wasn't resting (doctor's orders, Will had said), Nico helped around the infirmary. He brought tools, changed bandages and occasionally brought a cup of coffee for the tired healers.

It was a foreign feeling for him. Nico was so used to being around death and violence that he never realized how rewarding it could be to help someone get better. Of course, the job was even more rewarding when he could spend hours with a certain blond doctor.

Will had such an easy-going, sunny personality. Nico wasn't sure if it was because he was a son of Apollo or if he was just a huge flirt. Nevertheless, Will always gave him a reason to smile or blush, even during the busiest hours in the infirmary. (His cheek muscles were not used to it.)

Nico wondered what the medical term was for having a tornado in your stomach, or for feeling electricity when their hands touched. But it didn't really matter what it's called, Nico decided, because all that mattered was that he was happiest when Will was around.

Will had never been so glad to have a free day.

After a week of long days at the infirmary, Chiron had personally come up to him and told him to take a break.

After his last shift, Will grabbed Nico's hand and towed him outside. Nico tensed but didn't pull his hand away. Will was even happy to see the boy's flushed cheeks.

"So, I'm free tomorrow. As the head doctor, I'm pretty sure you are, too," Will said, smiling mischievously.

Nico looked down at their linked hands. "Uh, the infirmary probably still needs all the volunteers it can get, and—"

"I need you more."

Will put Nico's hand on his chest. Will's heart beat fast beneath the warm touch. Nico looked into Will's eyes, searching for any sign of malice or humor, but there was none. There was only utmost sincerity. Nico nodded slowly.

Will's usual charm and easiness returned. Now he was the one red-faced.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. It's a date," Will said. He winked at Nico before walking towards his cabin.

For the first time in a long time, Nico was excited about the prospect of tomorrow.

Nico had nothing to wear.

Everything in his minuscule collection of clothes screamed death boy, and Nico wanted to look nice for Will. Then he got angry at himself for feeling that way.

I'm not trying to impress Will, Nico thought, trying to convince himself. It's just polite, for a date. But as soon as he said it, Nico knew that it wasn't true. It was a date. Nico's first date. Even worse, he had a date with the happiest, most charming person he knew. So what if he wanted to look a little more special?

For a short second, Nico considered saving the loud tropical shirt he threw in the trash. He finally settled on a plain black shirt, jeans and his worn-out pair of sneakers, but attempted to brush his hair and style it to the best of his abilities. Once more, Nico begrudged the loss of his aviator jacket, which had been with him for as long as he could remember.

Just in time, Nico heard a knock on the door. Will looked just like he always did—shirt, shorts, and sandals—but somehow he still managed to take Nico's breath away. It was his smile, Nico decided, that made everything a hundred times better. That smile made the skeletal butterflies in Nico's stomach come alive.

"Hi," Nico said, wishing that the word was enough.

"Hi," Will replied, seeming to understand. "Ready to go? I've set up a picnic by the beach. Thought you could use the tan." Nico nodded and, in a moment of bravery, grabbed Will's hand, pulling him along.

"C'mon, Solace. I'm starving." Nico had surprised Will, but he recovered quickly and let out a hearty laugh.

Together, they walked with hands intertwined, heartbeats and footsteps in perfect sync.

Will stared at Nico in disbelief.

"You live in a camp that sells strawberries, but you haven't tasted one?!" Will asked, in response to Nico's offhand question on what strawberries taste like.

Nico laughed, the movement stretching his face in a foreign-yet-pleasant way. "I've tried strawberries, Will. I just don't remember what they're like. It's been a while." Like 70 years, Nico thought.

Will smiled at the sound of his name on Nico's lips. For all the toughness that Nico tried to exude, the name was gentle on his mouth, said with care and softness that excited and comforted Will at the same time.

They sat on a blanket on a secluded part of the beach, with the sea stretching in front of them and the sunlight streaming through trees behind them. It was a beautiful spot, but Nico knew that it wasn't the place that made him happy. It was the person he was with. In all of the years that Nico traveled alone, and through all the pain and suffering he experienced, being with Will was like coming home.

Will grabbed a strawberry from the fruit platter and held it close to Nico's mouth. "Here, try one, angel. Open up."

Nico felt his cheeks redden again. He blinked twice before opening his mouth and taking a small bite of the fruit that the blond boy offered.

"See? That's not so bad, right?" Will said as he finished the rest of the strawberry. "Gosh, next you'll tell me you haven't been kissed!" Will continued dramatically, but laughing as he did so.

Nico didn't respond. He grabbed and bit another strawberry before looking up a Will through his lashes.

"Oh," Will said quietly, a small smile forming on his lips. He leaned in close.

That's how Nico's first kiss tasted like strawberries, with his body surrounded by the heat of the sun.