Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Sometimes love isn't fireworks, 

Sometimes love just comes softly." 

~ Janette Oke

 It was Saturday night, and the Aphrodite kids were only too happy to translate those words into one thing: gossip night.

It had become something of a tradition in their cabin after the whole, ya know, Gaea thing. They would gather around, gooey face masks applied and hair rolled into large curlers and would share their founded stories of the week.  

And as much as Mitchell tried to resist some of the more obvious stereotypes of his parentage, it was hard when his siblings came to the table with such juicy stories and backable facts.

 “Travis and Katie snuck out on Wednesday after lights out.” Lacy informed them, a giggle in her voice, “Miranda said she caught them making out in the strawberry fields.”

Micah smirked and leaned in, “I heard Connor Stoll’s got a new crush, but no one can guess who it is.”

“Isn’t that where we come in?” Stefan laughed, “Anyways, I thought he wasn’t over that bad breakup with that Athena kid?”

“Apparently he is,” Mitchell muttered over the top of his magazine. Sophia was running her fingers through his hair and he was close to passing out if she kept it up. “Anyone heard anything on the Percy and Annabeth front?”

Drew sighed, the filing of her nails stopping for a moment. “No one’s heard much since they went away to New Rome. Annabeth irised her siblings yesterday but it was dead boring, all about her classes and books.”

“Where’s Piper?” Sabrina, the youngest of them at nine, asked. Scarlett was attempting to teach her to french braid and, from the look of the tangled mess at Lacy’s neck, it wasn’t going well.

“Hanging out with Jason,” Mitchell answered, flipping through the pages on some advice article. Moral problems were so annoying. “How are they doing, anyway?”

“From the way she’s always ditching us to hang out with him, well enough,” Sebastian muttered, pulling his comforter around himself. A few of them shot him annoyed looks, but no one corrected him.

Like clockwork, the absence of chatter only brought one topic.

“So...” Stefan dragged out before grinning sharply, “How’s Nico and Will doin’?”

The effect was almost instantaneous. Most of them groaned, a few of them squealed, and others, like Sophia, only groaned and buried their face in a pillow.  

Because, as they all perfectly knew, Will and Nico were perfect for each other. Will was the last person Nico talked to every night (they had spies, and they knew everything). They surprised each other with their favorite treats (fruity Twizzlers and McDonald's), and they could always tell what kind of mood the other was in, just by the first few words in their sentence. Nico knew how Will preferred his omelets and the fact that Will could eat breakfast for every meal. Will knew Nico's favorite firework.

But they are absolutely, totally, completely not dating.

And the Aphrodite cabin is having none of that.

“Will buys Nico special mythomagic cards.” Stefan revealed dramatically, a bit proud. “He orders them online .”

“They make each other smores.” Drew challenged, leaning in with a devilish look on her face. “And they’ve cooked for each other.”

“They have sleepovers.” Lacy growled, “Every Friday. And all they do is sleep.” A few of her siblings huffed in frustration but waited for more.

“Last week, Will literally peeled Nico’s pants off him.” Mitchell declared nonchalantly after a long moment. “He was bleeding from his thigh and they were too tight to roll up.”

Groans were heard from all around the cabin, and Mitchell grinned at the clear sign of his victory.

“We need to do something about this.” Sophia paused in painting her nails and began to wave her hand around.

“I think everyone knows that, Sophia.” Sebastian rolled his eyes, carefully applying a thin coat of polish to his black-tipped manicure. Mitchell eyed him, a weak desire to warn him not to get the paint on his blanket, but ignored it.

Mitchell cut them off before they could start bickering, “It’s the what we’re gonna do that’s the problem.” They sat there for a moment, with only some pop album on repeat to fill the silence.

The wooden steps outside their cabin began to creak and they all jumped up - knowing that any moment Piper would barge in and announce lights out.

Mitchell helped Sabrina quickly untangle Lacy’s hair before helping them both into bed. He wordlessly handed a damp towel to Drew, gesturing towards her face mask. He turned back to his bunk only to step for a moment to frown at Stefan and Scarlett, who were pressing their ears to the wooden door. Piper and Jason, still saying goodbye on the porch, could be heard through only soft giggles and hushed whispers.

He quickly shooed them away and herded them towards their bunks. He heard Sebastian cursing from the direction of the bathroom, unsuccessfully trying to wash the black polish from his blanket that he had spilled in his rush to get up. Mitchell laughed under his breath, stopping to smooth Lacy’s ponytail back from her face (it was always getting caught in her braces), before finally retreating to bed himself.

It was a shining, clear summer afternoon when the challenge began.

Well, the build-up to the challenge had begun long ago, starting with a dirty Hawaiian shirt and Will’s greased up face, but it truly, really began during lunch on a particularly beautiful June afternoon.

Spaghetti was always a difficult meal at Camp Half-Blood. Noodles were slurped, meatballs were thrown, and garlic was blown in faces. Usually, the Hermes cabin managed to cause an event that would lead to a ban on the food until someone forgot about said ban and it was served again, causing a never-ending cycle of chunky tomato sauce and slimy pasta.

Anyways, it was lunchtime and a majority of the Aphrodite cabin was spending it glaring at table thirteen.

Stefan chewed his food, a pinched and angry look on his face, and looked more pissed off than a person eating a brownie should ever be.

“What?” Mitchell questioned, the overall negative energy of his siblings sorta bringing him down.

Scarlett sighed loudly and subtly nudged (not that of his siblings could ever do anything subtly) his attention towards the other side of the Mess Hall. Mitchell looked over, not really surprised at what was causing his cabins sour mood.

Will Solace, head medic and counselor of the Apollo cabin, already sitting close to the son of Hades, tsked and wiped Nico’s tomato streaked cheek with the end of his sleeve. Nico continued talking through the interruption, only tipping his face to the side so Will could get all the mess. Jason continued chewing through his lunch as if what happened was a regular occurrence.

Lacy groaned from her folded arms, “We cannot let this go on any longer. It's basically our duty to get them together.”

“Our birthright. ” Stefan agreed, taking a long drink of his smoothie.

“Well, what’s our plan?” Lacy questioned through a bite of her garlic bread. Drew scowled at her and, seeing this, Lacy snapped her jaw close and attempted to chew a bit more subtly.

The table was abnormally silent for a long minute before Mitchell, already the tallest of them all, stood to gather their wandering attention. “I’m announcing a meeting in the Aphrodite cabin before sparing rehearsal -”

“Practice.” Asher corrected, not looking up from his meal.

Mitchell rolled his eyes, “Sparring practice. Don't be late. And -” He cast a look over his shoulder towards the Zeus table, “ Don't tell Piper.”

Sabrina frowned, “Why not? She’s our head counselor, shouldn’t she be there for any meetings we have?”

Scarlett leaned in, flashing her dangerous grin. “It’s a special meeting. Anyways, don’t you want Nico and Will to fall in love?”

“Well…” Sabrina swallowed and ducked her head a bit, “Yes, of course, but…”

“So you won’t say a word.” Sebastian joined in and wasn’t that a dangerous team, Sebastian and Scarlett. Mitchell supposed he should be grateful that more than often, they were trying to rip each other’s hair out.

“Cut it out,” Mitchell instructed, before turning back to Sabrina, who looked close to crying. He placed his hand on her shoulder, gently, and smiled nicely. “We just think it would be better to figure out the details before presenting to Piper. We don’t want to get her all excited and then it turns out not to work out. Does that sound alright?”

Sabrina nodded after a second, looking a bit more secure now. She opened her mouth to respond but was very rudely cut off by flying meatball slapping Mitchell’s cheek and splattering sauce across his thin t-shirt.

Mitchell scowled, wiping the tomato chunks off his face with his finger and flicking it to the ground. “ Hermes kids.” He muttered in distaste, shooting a quick glare to the grinning Stoll brothers, before turning away from their rowdy laughter and standing from the table.  “C’mon Cabin Ten, we have a meeting to plan.” He stood, ignoring the meatball that dropped from his lap to the floor, and tried to escape the mess hall with at least most of his dignity.

“What do you have planned?” Seb asked, coming up beside him. He wrinkled his nose and flicked a meat chunk from Mitchell’s shoulder, kindly ignoring the mess covering his face. Drew frowned at him, a bit mean, but wordlessly passed him a stack of napkins. Mitchell wanted to instinctively wince away from the anger in her eyes, his mind so trained to shield himself from her, but resisted, instead taking the napkins with a grateful smile. She flicked her angry eyes over to the Hermes table, and Mitchell has never once been so happy he didn’t belong to Cabin Eleven.

“You’ll have to see.” Mitchell turned back to Seb, shooting him a sharp grin, “But, knowing our cabin, I think it just might work.”

Sebastian hummed, and Mitchell knew he had already lost the other boy's attention from the way Sebastian’s eyes were lingering on the new Demeter kid.

Mitchell sighed, not really that bothered. Instead, he returned to the cabin and slipped on a new t-shirt, and began readying his plan.

“I am proposing a challenge.” Mitchell opened with once they were all gathered, clapping his hands together. His siblings, always distracted, gave them their precious attention for a moment and quieted down so he could speak.

“What kind of challenge?” Lacy spoke up.

Mitchell turned to her and began his rehearsed speech. “Will Solace and Nico di Angelo are perfect for each other. We can all agree on that.” He paused, letting his siblings nod and murmur in agreement. “They just don’t realize it. So, that’s where we come in. We’ve played matchmaker before but this time…” Mitchell stopped, leaving his sentence to hang as his siblings stared at him with wide eyes. He continued, “The stakes are higher. So, the prize is as well.” His siblings hardly dared to breathe. “Whoever gets them together,” Mitchell told them, gravity in his voice, “Gets to keep the poster.”

There were a few gasps heard throughout the cabin, and all of their eyes darted towards the other side of the cabin. “If you can successfully get Will Solace and Nico di Angelo together by the end of the summer, with proof that it was your doing, you get to keep her.” Mitchell continued, going over to rest a careful hand next to the glossy paper.

“But Mitchell...it’s…” Stefan stood slowly on wobbly legs, “It’s…”

“2002, Destiny’s Child World Tour. Signed, with love, by our holy queen, Beyoncé.” Mitchell’s eyes darted hungrily over the poster, “It has been passed down, generation by generation throughout the Aphrodite cabin. But, the case has gone grave and it’s a sacrifice we need to make.”

Many nodded with serious expressions, and others looked close to tears. Scarlett, the most dramatic out of all of them, wiped at her cheeks and held down a sob.

“By the end of the summer?” Lacy questioned, sounding bewildered, “But that’s only a little more than a month away!”

“Rules?” Drew stood up, her shoulder back and her eyes confident.

“Don't let anyone find out.” He instructed, “No big spectacles that’ll get Chiron involved. No asking mom for help. They must be together by the end of summer. I don’t care if you work in groups, but remember, there’s only one poster.”

“What about the matchmaker award?” Sophia questioned, tucking her knees under her chin.

Mitchell nodded, “Good point. If you win, you’ll be rewarded as the matchmaker of the year. Does everyone agree?”

Mitchell smiled through the sea of enthusiastic nods, “Good. Now, let’s get these two together.” A few of them cheered and smiled, a few of them grinned, and a few, such as Stefan and Scarlett, were already drawing up plans.

No one really saw Aphrodite as the competitive cabin. They weren’t nearly as bad as the Nike kids or Ares kids, but people seem to forget that their mother's actions - the action of offering such an irresistible gift that she knew the poor guy wouldn’t be able to resist, and the fact she knew the consequences of such an agreement - had sparked an entire war.

Mitchell was reminded of that, of that streak of competition and desire to the best, as he stared over the heads of his siblings.

Mitchell, probably more than the average Aphrodite kid, knew how crazy his siblings could be. Maybe it was the time Scarlett downright refused to leave their cabin for a month after a Hermes skin-dying prank gone wrong, or the time Stefan legit, sobbing cried over a scuffed pair of Marc Jacob boots for more than an hour. Either way, Mitchell was aware and familiar with his cabin’s unique crazy.

So when his sister’s screech, trademarked by her high throaty sound, broke out across the hill, Mitchell calmly stood from the Arts and Crafts table, brushed as much of the glitter off his hands as possible, and walked over to the sound. She was quite easy to spot, as was Sebastian, who usually liked to watch the world burn, and it was easy to spot how uncharacteristic his position was. Seb was standing in front of her with his arms stretched far out, clearly trying to calm her down. Mitchell quickened his steps a bit, coming close just in time to hear an unfamiliar voice speaking up from behind Sebastian.

“Aw, did you break a nail, sweetheart ?” One of the Hermes kids grinned with sarcasm in his voice, “Want me to kiss it better, darlin’ ?”

“I'm going to stab you,” Scarlett growled viciously, throwing herself forward, and Mitchell went to grab one of her flailing arms, with Seb following his movement, until they were both holding her back. Her dark curls bounced off her shoulders as she fought to get free from her brother's arms, “You broke my fucking La Prairie lipstick! That tube is worth more than your life! ”

Mitchell and Seb both stopped, meeting each other's surprised looks, their arms loosening up a bit. “He did what?” Seb asked, his voice dark. “I thought he messed up your hair. ”

“ He did. ” She growled, “And he also crushed my tube of lipstick! It was Cellular Luxe! Limited Edition Rose Gold tube!” Scarlett’s face grew red at the Hermes’ boys laughter, not in emotion, but in hot anger.

Seb and Mitchell shared a short look with each other, and then with Scarlett, before they both released her arms.

“Don't commit homicide!” Seb yelled after her, wincing with a grin at the slap of her palm against the jerk’s face.

“Think Asher can fix it?” Mitchell questioned, bending down to scoop up the crushed tub, cradling the soft makeup carefully.

Seb shot it a glance, “Eh, he’s fixed worst. All it needs is some careful handling and heat. But let her have it.” They both shot matching grins over to their sister, “It’s good to remind them every once in a while that the Aphrodite cabin can kick ass.”

Mitchell winced at the loud curse and turned away - he didn’t need to watch to know that his sister would only walk away with bruised knuckles and an inflated ego.

Mitchell gasped, grabbing onto Seb’s shoulder, “Look!”

Seb spun around, clenching onto Mitchell’s arm in excitement, “Oh gods...is it?”

A laugh echoed across the hill and they both clenched up in excitement; Mitchell was shaking slightly.  Nico and Will, drenched entirely from the tips of their limp hair that hung in their face to their feet that left muddy prints in the grass, were walking slowly, with Will’s arm slung around Nico’s shoulders as they trudged up the earth. They were talking lowly, seeming only to notice each other, until they were almost face-to-face with Mitchell and Seb.

“Oh,” Will grinned at them in slightly surprise, “Hey Mitchell, Sebastian, what’s up?”

Sebastian, always the most composed of them, grinned lowly and suggestively, “What have you two both been up too?”

“Went swimming.” Will answered, shifting his arm around Nico’s neck, “Turns out Nico hasn’t been in years!” Will grinned, all laughter and sunlight, and Nico spared a small smile as well.

“That sounds fun.” Mitchell answered, his voice too high. He tried again, this time his voice closer to its normal sound. “Do you guys have any later plans?”

“Probably gonna hit the Stolls up for a late lunch.” Will grinned, bumping his hip against Nico’s. “I swear I could hear this one’s stomach rumbling for miles.”  

“I would have been happy with a warm soda and candy bar,” Nico muttered, his eyes on the ground.

Will made a noise like that sentence physically hurt him. “Do you have any idea-”

“Well, boys!” Sebastian interrupted with a wide grin on his face. “I do believe my dear sister is near making that poor Hermes boy infertile with all her crotch shots, so Mitchell and I better reel her in.”

Seb grabbed at his shoulder, pulling him away before Mitchell could respond to his comment.

Mitchell shook his head, clearing it of all the thoughts running and bumping through his mind. “C’mon, Arts & Crafts is almost over, and dinner’s in an hour. Let’s grab the kids.” They both winced at a particularly bad sounding slap. “And Scarlett.”

It took a crowd, and the luring of a particularly inspiring Naked palette, to get Scarlett to finally separate from whats-his-name, and it wasn’t before long he, along with most of his cabin, was heaving for breath while they waited for Piper to dismiss them.

Piper frowned at her siblings, her countings apparently coming up short, “Where’s everyone else?” She squinted over them, “Uh, Lacy and Stefan? Where are they?”

Their siblings exchanged uneasy looks, avoiding her eyes, and kept their lips pressed together. Mitchell sighed, inaudible to her from where he was standing. He really wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Well?” Piper questioned, looking impatient, “They had to have told somebody before they went out, right?” She pushed a hand through her hair, “C’mon, they’re not in huge trouble, I just want to find them so we can go to dinner, alright?”

No one spoke up, and Mitchell shifted his weight. He knew one of them was bound to know, probably Drew who knew everything , but he knew with the same conviction that no one was going to –

“They’re at the camp store!” Sabrina blurted out

Sighs, laced with annoyance and frustration, rang out following her confession, and more than one sharp glare was directed towards her.

Piper looked confused, “The camp store? Why are they there? It’s not open again until after dinner.”

The quiet returned, and this time Sabrina, who was being glared at from every direction, wasn’t talking.

Piper sighed, “Alright. Scarlett, can you lead them towards the Mess Hall?” Mitchell frowned, already knowing from experience that Scarlett was bound to getting power crazy at even the smallest opportunities. Micah, or Asher, would have been a much better choice. Piper continued, “Mitchell, come with me.”

He only briefly gave her a surprised look before following her out of the cabin. It was hot today, but the nice breeze made up for it. He tried to match her long, fast strides and only looked back to glance at his siblings once.

“Uh, next time,” He began with his voice pitched low, “Try not to put Scarlett in charge.” He winced, not wanting to offend her.

She slowed down a bit, letting him catch up to her. “Why?” She questioned, “She’s the oldest after you, Drew and I.”

Mitchell gestured behind him, where Scarlett was making their siblings line up in the sorted single file line, probably just because she could. “She gets, uh, overwhelmed. With being in charge.”

Piper observed the scene with slightly wide eyes, “Oh. Yeah, okay. I uh, I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t have,” Mitchell answered lightly, knowing full well that uh, yeah she could, if she’d ever bother to hang out with them once in a while. Sure, they were crazy and loud and lovesick and dangerous, but hell, they were family and family was all that a lot of those kids have.

Piper didn’t answer, and Mitchell wondered if she was thinking about that or is she’d already dropped the topic out of her mind, leaving only a simple little ‘Don’t leave Scarlett in charge’ note behind.

“Up here.” Mitchell broke the silence, knowing that she probably knew where the camp store was but just wanting to break the silence.

“Is that…” He trailed off, not really sure. Piper huffed a breath of air and marched up the hill, her energy revived.

“What are you doing?” Piper’s incredulous voice broke through their sibling’s steady work. Mitchell, hot on her heels, glared at both of them with an anger that matched an Ares kid.

Lacy and Stefan both froze and looked up with a wince.

“Nothing!” Lacy attempted, standing. She quickly shoved the long chain in her hands behind her back as if doing so could keep them from not noticing it.

“What’s going on?” Piper tried again, her eyes growing a bit concerned at the hammer in Stefan’s hands. “Tell us what you’re doing.” This time Piper’s voice was laced with a thick amount of charmspeak. But their siblings, so used to resisting the magic, only shook their heads straight and clasped their lips together.

“Lacy. Stefan.” Mitchell’s voice was as hard as stone and nothing like the sweet, stickiness of Piper’s, “Tell. Me.”

“We...” Stefan gave Mitchell a desperate look, “ Okay, we might have locked them in the camp store.” Stefan winced and held up his hands, “But they’ve only been in there for a few hours!”

“Who?” Piper demanded, rushing forward. She had the keys in her extended hand after only a second and she began to unlock the door before anyone of them could stop her.

“No!” Lacy screamed, her voice shrill and pitched. She dove forward, almost succeeding in pushing Piper to the side, but sliding by when Piper easily stepped back. She threw the door open, expecting the captive campers, whoever they were, to come stumbling out after a moment or two. A few moments turned into a minute, and soon Piper was shooting confused looks towards the darkened room. She glanced back at them, a bit unsure now, before taking a hesitant step forward. Mitchell, shooting a stern look towards his siblings, followed her lead.

Piper flipped the lights on, her hand instinctively wanting to edge towards her knife. Her arm dropped at the sight of the room, confusion filling her annoyance for a moment.

“What…?” She questioned, spinning to stare at Mitchell. “What’s going on?”

“Shh!” Lacy instructed, grabbing Piper’s arm to pull her forward. Stefan turned the lights off and, as quiet as possible, slowly closed the door after them. Lacy pulled Piper along for a few more moments before releasing; shooting only worried looks towards the closed door.

“What’s going on?” Piper repeated, pulling her arm back so she could cross them across her chest.

Mitchell sighed, stepping forward. “It’s…my fault.”

“No, no!” Stefan blocked him from taking another step, “You are not taking credit for this! If they get together Lacy and I win!”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m only telling her the bet was my idea.”

Stefan paused, “Oh.” He simply responded, stepping back to stand with Lacy. “Carry on.”

“What bet?” Piper demanded, her hands now on her hips.

“We have a bet.” Mitchell stated simply, “More like a challenge really. Whoever gets Will and Nico together by the end of the summer wins and gets to keep the poster.”

Piper thought for a moment. “That old Beyoncé poster?” She questioned, cocking her head to the side.

A little bit of Mitchell died right then. “Destiny’s Child. And it’s signed. ” He tried to correct her nicely, “And they get the glory of being the best matchmaker for an entire year.”

“You get a medal,” Lacy added helpfully.

“So you guys locked them in the camp store together?” Piper asked, looking much less angry. She looked more confused than anything, honestly.

“We didn’t expect them to fall asleep!” Lacy answered, her head falling onto Stefan’s shoulder, who shrugged her off. “They were supposed to face their emotions and maybe have a deep talk and fall in love !”

“Keep your voice down,” Mitchell instructed before glancing back to Piper. “So?”

“So?” She repeated with a lifted eyebrow

“Are you gonna make us stop?”

Piper watched them, and Lacy and Stefan shifted uncomfortably. “No.” She finally decided, earning a sigh of relief from the two. “ But I think maybe some ground rules should be set. Like no locking them in dark places for the night. What if Will was needed for the infirmary and no one knew where he was?”

Lacy dug the edge of her shoe into the dirt and Stefan hung his head. “That sounds okay.” Mitchell agreed, “I’ll come up with a few more obvious ones and tell the rest. Okay?”

Piper shrugged, “Okay. Just...don't go overboard.”

Mitchell wanted to shake his head, saying it was no use as ‘going overboard’ was a given. But even he knew when they were walking on thin ice, so instead he offered to watch Lacy and Stefan and take care of the two sleeping campers in the store if she wanted to go catch dinner. She agreed, a little too quickly, and shot off towards the Mess Hall where Jason was probably waiting.

“Well, she was in a hurry to get out of here,” Stefan remarked, bending down to collect his tools, probably nicked from the Hephaestus cabin from the looks of them.

Mitchell shot him an annoyed look, grabbing one of the tools to inspect it for the Cabin Nine insignia. “She’s letting you off easy, I wouldn’t be too eager to bad mouth her so quickly.” He ran his thumb over the imprinted ‘9’ badge, “And where did you get these tools?”

Stefan rolled his eyes, passing a long roll of rope over to Lacy, and Mitchell was horrified to think about the plans they had for this night. “Don’t worry dad, we didn’t steal them. I did a few, uh, favors for Shane one time and he owed me.”

Mitchell made a disgusted face and almost wanted to cover Lacy’s ears. “I really, really don’t want to know.”

“What can I say, I’m dedicated to the cause.” Stefan grinned

“What a saint,” Lacy remarked dryly, pushing her hair from her face.

Mitchell shook his head, mostly to hide his emerging grin. “C’mon, we’ve got to wake the lovebirds up soon if they don’t want to miss dinner.”

“No!” Lacy gasped, “Please, just one more hour, you have no idea how incredibly hard it was to lure them in there!”

Mitchell rolled his eyes, “I’m waking them up, and you’re both helping me.”

They groaned but followed him, albeit slowly and dragging their feet through the grass.

“You’re gonna ruin your shoes.” He sing-songed out to them, grinning when they both immediately began picking up their feet.

Mitchell sighed, pulling away the chain and lock and handing them off to Lacy. “Hide that.” He ordered, “They don’t need to know that two crazy Aphrodite kids locked them in.” He pushed open the door, as quiet as the forever creaky door could be, and flipped the lights on.

Nico and Will, curled tightly in one corner, shielding themselves away from the lights without waking up. Will, wrapped up in Nico’s arms, turned over slightly so his face was buried in the other boy’s dark shirt. Nico only tightened his arms around Will and let out a small noise of sleep.

Mitchell sighed again, this time out of pure frustration for the idiots who couldn’t figure out they were perfect for each other. He got a little closer and reached out to Will, who he figured was probably the safer bet to shake awake.

“Will.” He whispered, edging his voice up a bit, “Will, wake up.”

Will let out a deep breath before blinking his eyes open. “What?” He questioned, squinting at the light.

“You and Nico got locked in the camp store, I guess.” He added, “I think...the lock must have gotten jammed.”

“Oh…yeah.” Will blinked, shifting his weight a bit. “Nico, wake up.” He pushed Nico’s arms off him, standing. “Neeks, c’mon. Up and at ‘em.”

Mitchell stood back, letting Will wake up the other boy at a careful distance in case, ya know, zombies got involved. Stefan and Lacy, who were supposed to be helping him, were nowhere to be seen.

“What time is it?” Will questioned, pulling up the sleepy-eyed Hades kid.

“Uh, like 6:30? Dinner started a bit ago, but you’ll probably be fine catching it if you leave now.”

Will gave him a curious look, “What are you here? Aren’t you missing dinner too?”

Mitchell swallowed and stumbled for a lie. “Yeah, uh I just came here for uh,” His free hand fumbled on the shelf behind him for a moment, and his fingers finally found purchase on something, a bottle, with a bit of relief. “I came here for...” He held up the bottle in victory, before faltering, “Uh. Rash cream?”

“Do you have a rash?” Will asked, concerned now. Nico’s arm was thrown around his shoulders, and the other boy looked close to passing out again. “I can totally check it out if you want, probably prescribe something better than the generic stuff the store keeps.”

Mitchell wished there was a reset button on life, so he could go back to before this moment, or perhaps back before he’d even ever heard of camp, ever. That would be nice, to never have to be faced with the earnest, open face of too-attractive Will Solace asking about his nonexistent rash.

“That’s okay.” He answered too quickly, shoving the product into his pocket, “It’s fine, I’m fine, I’m actually gonna go now.”

“Okay?” Will called out, sounding confused as Mitchell ran out, “Let me know if you change your mind!”

Mitchell cursed, mostly at all the circumstances that lead to that very moment, and wondered what the hell he was going to do with the bottle shoved in his pocket.

“I always kind of thought Aphrodite kids were predispositioned towards Nicholas Sparks novels.” Lacy told him later that night, frowning at the book, “I don't get why Sophia likes them so much. This kind of sucks. Attractive, mysterious guy meets troubled, beautiful girl, one of them has a shady past, the parents don't approve, one of them has a secret…”

“Be nice.” Mitchell chided, plucking the book from her hands to returning it to the scowling Sophia. “He's our brother, give him a break.”

Lacy sighed, rolling over in her bunk and staring at the ceiling. “So is Piper going to punish us or something? No dessert privileges?”

“I really don’t think she cares.” Asher remarked, glancing up from his DS, “Why, did she yell at you guys or something?”

“A little. Not really.” Lacy turned over so she wasn’t facing any of them, “I don’t think she cares what we do, as long as we don’t interfere with her and Jason.”

“I don’t think she cares about us, as long as we don’t interfere with her and Jason.” Scarlett corrected her, her voice mean.

“Hey.” Mitchell tried to interfere.

“Silena was never like this.” Sophia’s voice was quiet like she was talking to herself, but her words were loud, like she was talking to everyone. “Not even towards the end…before everything.”

“Yeah, well unlike our poor, dear Silena I’m pretty sure Piper isn’t going to betray the entire camp so –“

“That is enough. ” Mitchell glared at Drew, hot anger and heat in every ounce of his body. “She was our sister, and she was a hero. She died for this camp and everyone in it, even you. You will not talk about her less than what she deserves, and honestly, I’m not even sure if you’re worthy enough to say her name.”

Drew gaze was hard but her eyes were wide. “Do you understand me?” Mitchell demanded. She nodded, attempting to look like she didn’t care. Mitchell looked back towards the framed pictures on the back wall, focused on the simple dark blue frame, and allowed his eyes to trace the pale lines of his sister’s face. “She was a hero, and she was our sister and she loved us, and that’s how we will remember her. Piper is our sister, and she is a hero, and she loves us and that’s how we’ll think of her. Does everyone understand?” He caught of few of their eyes – Scarlett, Sebastian, Stefan – before meeting Drew’s once again. He was aware of their agreement, aware of the clacking of their earrings and the shifting of their necklaces as they nodded, but watched her as she carefully dipped her chin into an agreement “Good.” He finished, standing. “It’s lights out. Get ready for bed.”

No one argued, which was a new and strange thing. Maybe they knew that he just couldn’t today, or maybe they just couldn’t today.

He didn’t wait for Piper to return this time. Sometimes, he got tired of having to be a fill-in.

The next morning, Mitchell only sighed, toweling off his newly colored hair. The new bright blue in his hair didn’t look bad per say , and he’s always wanted to experiment with a wild color, but the anger that bubbled in his chest was only purely for the lack of choice he had in the matter. This, with the addition of Scarlett’s broken La Prairie, means they've gone too far.

The Aphrodite cabin gets revenge, of course, and within a week the entire Hermes cabin is cursed with thick, unsmearing eyeliner and bright pinkened lips. This backfires, of course, mostly because they underestimated how well the Hermes girls could pull off a good cat-eye. And when the Stoll Brothers, both with bold red lips, begin to add their own additions with dark eyeshadows and creamy foundations, probably stolen from their very cabin, they begin to realize they're enjoying their punishment too much.

They almost begin to regret the whole event until they remember the Hermes’ Jerk reaction. Mitchell had camped out in the bathrooms for ten minutes, unsuccessfully choking back his laughter as the guy tried to scrub the colors from his face. He’ll retell it to his cabin later, with only a bit of exaggerated detail, and it’ll make Scarlett smile with glee. That, he supposes, makes it even.  

“Who keeps stealing my chapstick?” Mitchell yelled in frustration, “This is the second time in two weeks!”

“You probably lost it.” Drew dismissed, paying more attention to her magazine horoscope than him.

“I didn't lose it!” Mitchell began to strip his bed, looking for the small tube among the covers, “I purposefully did not lose it!”

“Stop being such a Scarlett.” Drew rolled her eyes and dug a crumpled dollar bill from under her bed, “Stop whining and just go get a new one from the Stolls.”

Mitchell sighed, frustration creeping through the sound. “I don't want to! I know I just had a perfectly good tube and now it's just gone!”

Drew nodded unsympathetically, “Well if I were you, sweetheart, I'd get a move on, I can see your chapped lips from here.”

Mitchell squeaked, just a little bit, and slapped a hand over his reddened lips. He snatched the bill from Drew’s outstretched hand, barely breathing a word of thanks, before taking off towards the Hermes cabin.

“Mitchell!”  Cecil greeted him, guiding him through the doorway. He kindly motioned him around the numerous booby traps around the entrance before stepping back, “You're here to buy something, right?”

Cecil grinned at his quick nod, his eyes dropping down to Mitchell’s burning lips. At Cecil’s hard wince, Mitchell began to wonder just how bad they looked.

“Stolls! You've got business!” Cecil yelled through cupped hands, winking at Mitchell. “They'll be over in just a moment, they’re... testing a few things in the back. Anyways, gotta fly, good luck with your buying!”

Mitchell gave him a wave and hoped that his eyes were kind enough to communicate his thanks because he was not going to risk a smile.

“Hey! Mitchell!” Travis Stoll bounced out of nowhere, his brother hot on his heels, “What can we get for you?”

“Chapstick.” Mitchell requested stiffly, hoping his lips wouldn't take that as an invitation to break open.

Travis made a face and accepted the bill Mitchell held out to him. “Didn't we just sell you like, three tubes?”

“Lost ‘em.” He answered, watching as Connor picked a bunk, seemingly at random, and pulled a large backpack out from under. He unzipped it and sifted through it for a moment, pushing aside scented lotions and expensive soaps the camp store didn't bother with. He spied a few of his sister's favorite brands among the supplies, and even the cologne he had received for his last birthday.

Mitchell watched as Connor pulled out a thin metal box - familiar at this point - and handed over a white and red chapstick tube. Mitchell eagerly pulled back the wrapper and sighed in pure relief at the ease that assisted the application.

“I still don't know how you guys manage to get the holiday flavors.” Mitchell smiled, the gloss of the chapstick feeling cool and tasting minty, “Candy cane is my favorite but I can never find it during the school year. ”

“ We’re just lucky, I guess.” Connor smiled, dunking his head.

Mitchell, beginning to leave, stopping suddenly as he began to notice some of the other contents of the bag. “Are those…?”

“Condoms?” Travis finished for him happily, “Yes sir, they are. Gotta be safe. Why, ya need some?”

Mitchell grinned, a little surprised, but not embarrassed. “Maybe later.” He teased, slipping his new chapstick in his pocket. He had sworn not to lose it this time.”I’ll see you boys later.” Mitchell grinned, letting only a bit of his allure fall into his voice. Just enough to keep them guessing.

“Bye Mitchell!” Travis sing-songed on his way out. Connor dunked his head, only waving Mitchell out as he exited the cabin.

It was a quiet walk back to his cabin, and he’s always enjoyed his rare instances of quiet. He loved the peaceful soundtrack of the singing birds, and the slow wind, and how he could just barely hear the waves crashing onto the shore if he paid enough attention.

This was a nice enough song for a nice enough day, where the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing.

Until, of course, his sister’s loud, demanding voice interrupted it all.

“You have to ask Will out, Mitchell.”

Mitchell paused, his hand still on the doorframe to their cabin. He gave her a look, “And why is this a thing that has to happen?”

Scarlett rolled her eyes, her arms crossed against her chest. “It’s the next plan. How else do you get a couple together? Jealousy. It works every time.”

“Actually, I can’t remember the last time that actually worked on a healthy relationship,” Asher commented, flipping over in his bunk. They all ignored him.

Mitchell frowned. “Why does it have to be me? Why can't someone else? Seb, you’re not chasing anyone right now.”

Seb laughed, looking through a magazine that was probably stolen. “Like it would be believable that I started going after the sunshine and rainbows type. After all, I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Then go after Nico.” Mitchell shot back, crossing his arms. “It would totally make Will jealous, and he’s more your type anyway.”

“Um, no, I don’t want to die.”

“Don’t be overdramatic.” Which was rich, coming from Scarlett. She rolled her eyes and directed her attention back to Mitchell. “Just ask Will out. You guys are friends, right?”

Mitchell huffed, “Yeah, but I’m not the automatic gay. What about Stefan? Can’t he ask?”

“As you are correct about me being very single, as well as very gay, I don’t want to.” Stefan answered, not even remotely interested in defending himself.

“Mitch, please .” Sophia begged with folded hands, “Please, this can what gets them together! You would be responsible for their happy ever after!”

Mitchell felt his resolve weakening, especially at the sight of his younger sister begging so earnestly. “Fine.” He finally huffed, throwing his head back. “Gods, what am I even going to say? Where am I gonna take him?”

“If he says yes.” Drew reminded him unhelpfully.

“We’re Aphrodite kids, of course he’ll say yes.” Scarlett dismissed, already scrutinizing his choice outfit for the day. “Go get your dark wash skinny jeans, and that green jacket that brings out your eyes.”

“What, now?” Mitchell exclaimed, pushing his heels into the ground as his siblings attempted to shove him into their shared walk-in closet.

“Yes, now!” Stefan growled, suddenly interested in the on-goings of their plan as he started to pull off Mitchell’s jacket.

“We’re on a schedule. End of the summer is only twelve days away.” Sophia was comparing shirts to his jeans and didn’t seem too pleased with any of the combinations.

“Try the gray one with the pattern,” Lacy advised her, pulling out said shirt for comparison. They nodded, slightly beaming at each other, and shoved the clothing into his arms.

He yelped in surprise and kicked at the hands trying to pull his pants off. “My jeans are fine!” He scowled.

Seb rolled his eyes, shooing out his sisters before continuing to strip the jeans off him. “See? Much better.”

They did look better, the dark blue blending nicely with the strips of black in the t-shirt Lacy had draped over his arm. He sighed, “Okay, am I presentable?”

Seb popped his gum and shoved a piece towards him. “Chew. It’ll help your nerves.” He instructed, leading Mitchell out.

Stefan, who had left with the girls, held out a small slip of paper. “Conversation topics in case you get stuck. A few of his favorite topics.”

“Where did you even get this so quickly?” Mitchell questioned, reading closely. “Musicals? Really?”

Stefan sighed, “He’s an Apollo kid, can you blame him? They practically wilt if they’re not in the spotlight.”

“Ha!” Lacy laughed, “Spotlight. Light. Apollo. That was a pun, right?”

They both ignored her. “That’s rich coming from you.” Mitchell shot back, folding the paper into his back pocket. “And where did you get it?”

Stefan rolled his eyes, “Please, we’re prepared for these kinds of things.”

Before Mitchell could reply, his attention was pulled, literally pulled, towards Scarlett and Sophia. “Alright.” Scarlett let go of his arm, her mouth smoothing into a thin, serious line. “The weather right now is a warm 30 degree Celsius, 87 Fahrenheit. There’s a 13 percent chance of rain, 47 percent chance of clouds. With those odds, you should be fine if you asked to go strawberry picking around three today, after lunch. Be home by seven, before the temperature drops and ruins the mood. You are to charm him, but only enough so that he is infatuated and crushing. No pants should be dropping, got it?”

“Scarlett!” Mitchell glared at her, “Not around the kids!”

Even Sabrina, who whoa, needed to stop spending so much time with Drew, rolled her eyes at that.

“Just go,” Scarlett demanded. “Ask him now. Be back by 7.”  

Scarlett is bossy and overbearing and mean sometimes, but she’s usually right when it comes to stuff like this, so Mitchell does exactly what she says.

“Of course.” Will smiled, his grin like a thousand watts. “After lunch? Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

Lunch was a long affair, full of too many sly grins from his siblings, and too many loud comments about everything Mitchell was trying so hard to shield his younger siblings from.

This lead to more than a few occasions where food is tossed at the Aphrodite table, hitting Mitchell more than once. Honestly, he’s just glad the spaghetti ban is still in place.

“Feelin’ okay?” Micah asks, and honestly, thank all the gods that Micah, along with Asher, was put in the Aphrodite cabin as Mitchell’s last thread to sanity.

Mitchell nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He ducks under a flying apple slice. “Other than the Hermes cabin, of course.”

“Of course.” Micah excused, his quiet manner translating into him being unnoticed by the food throwers. “Are you okay with this? I can get them to lay off if you’re not cool with this.”

Mitchell smiled, warmed by his brother’s words. “Yeah, I’m fine. After all, it gives me the excuse to get strawberries and look at a pretty boy. That’s the life, right?”

Micah smiled, his eyes flickering away. “If you say so. Let me know if anything changes, alright?”  

Mitchell knocked their shoulders together, “Will do.”

He meets up with Will after lunch, right outside the Aphrodite cabin so his siblings could watch through the cracks in the curtains. He and Will walk together, light flirting and even lighter chatter exchanged between them. The sun was shining nicely against their skin, and he was pleased to see the amount of lingering glances they were getting. After all, this was a summer camp filled with teenagers, and any amount of gossip that hasn’t started during lunch was sure to travel before their date ended. Making sure Nico would hear the nose would probably be easier than he originally thought.

Will put his arm around his shoulder, and Mitchell leaned into his warm touch. It was slightly awkward feeling, with Mitchell being only an inch or so off of Will’s height, but not awkward enough for Will to pull away. Will stopped and used his free hand to pluck a fat, red strawberry off the vine and held it out to Mitchell. Mitchell, taking advantage of this, leaned forward to wrap his lips around the sweet fruit. He bit off a good bite, his gaze darkening as a bit of the juice ran down his chin.

Will cleared his throat, pulling away. “Mitchell, I – “

It was this moment when a bright, large strawberry came flying through the air, smacking into Will’s side, interrupting his sentence. Will looked down in confusion at the new strawberry stain blooming on his pale shirt before glancing up in alarm.

Strawberries, now of all size, began to hit and smack both of them from every angle, and Mitchell dunked when another one gushed all over his cheek. He grabbed for Will’s hand, pulling them both down under the thick vines so they were both kneeling into the dirt. Mitchell briefly wondered how Stefan would react to his overpriced jeans being rolled around in the fields, but dismissed the thought with a grin.

“We’re being ambushed!” Mitchell laughed, plucking a bit of mushy seeds from Will’s hair. “We’ll have to run for it!”

“Run where?” Will laughed back, ducking down as another one flew over his head.

“The creek?” Mitchell suggested, picking up a damaged strawberry and throwing it towards the direction of where they were being thrown. The attack from that particular direction stopped for a few moments, and he counted that as a win.

“Let’s go!” Will gripped his hand, and both of their skin was slippery with mush and seeds. They laughed and tripped to the creek, and they continued to run even when the attack ceased.

“I feel so gross,” Mitchell complained once they got to the creek, and he waved to a few of the water nymphs. Will went ahead to ask if they could use their water to wash off, because that’s the kind of guy Will was, and Mitchell picked a stem out from his hair. The Naiads grinned and waved them in, probably just happy for the attention.

“Sorry that kind of ruined our date.” Mitchell apologized a bit later, feeling kind of responsible for the whole incident. They were out of the water now and lying in the sun so their clothes could dry, and not that he wanted to admit it, but it felt fantastic to just be away from his siblings for a bit and just laying around with a cute boy in the grass. “I think the Hermes and Aphrodite cabins have a war thing going on? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it happens.”

Will gave him a sideways look, “Did you help the Hermes cabin plan what happened?”

“What? Of course not.”

Will grinned, sly and low. “Then you got nothing to apologize for. Hermes kids will be Hermes kids, right?”

Mitchell heaved a sigh, “You have no idea.”

“I do actually.” Will laughed, “I’ve been friends with Cecil for years, and as soon as he likes someone he goes off the charts .”

“You think a Hermes kid likes one of us?” Mitchell cocked his head, “Really?”

Will gave him a surprised look. “Uh…yeah? Is this a trick question?”

“What? No.” Mitchell changed the subject, instead choosing now to lean in close, and yeah, even he knew how good he looked in this lighting, in these clothes, and with this amount of water on him.

“Listen, Mitchell…” Will pulled away, his eyes lingering on Mitchell’s tight t-shirt. “I have to back up here. You’re my friend. A good friend. But...I’m not really looking for a relationship right now. I said yes to the date because I thought it would be fun – and it was! – but I can’t really go with anything serious right now.” Will gave him big, concerned eyes. “Is that okay? I mean, I just don’t want to get into this and end up hurting you.”

Mitchell pulled away, and this was a strange feeling, and it was almost like…rejection. And yeah, as much as he’d like to say not so, he’d been rejected before (mostly because even his Aphrodite charms couldn’t bypass the fact of a solid sexuality) and this felt a lot like it. Will was still giving him the sad, sorry eyes and Mitchell stood up. “It’s okay.” He said, because it really was, he wasn’t in love with Will, or even in like with Will, but it’d been a while since he’d been turned down and it was always weird to be reminded that his mother's gifts didn’t always work as planned.

“It’s okay.” He repeated, standing. He wanted to leave, wanted to escape, because the awkward tension was going to ruin him and he was friends with Will and if he stayed any longer it might not stay that way. “I’m gonna go.” He said, pushing a hand through his hair and pointing over his shoulder. “I had a lot of fun, I really did, but I’m gonna go now.”

He didn’t wait for Will to catch up, or for Will to start speaking again. He was barely out of the woods, barely out of sight of Will, before another person strolled up beside and joined him.

“Bad date?” Connor questioned, coming up to walk beside him. Mitchell could feel the strawberry goo on his hands from running them through his hair and wished he could wash them.

“No thanks to your cabin, I’m sure.” Mitchell frowned.

“Did you and Will have a nice time running around the woods?” Connor tried again.

“Go away Connor,” He answered, his voice tired. “You ruined my date, happy? Now go plan whatever next scheme to mess with the Aphrodite cabin. You haven’t tried shrinking our clothes in a while, or maybe stealing all our accessories again?” He blew some air into his bangs, “Go knock yourself out.”

Mitchell didn’t turn to watch Connor walk away, and the lack of response actually made him feel kind of bad. It wasn’t right taking his bad mood out on Connor, even though Mitchell was pretty sure that the whole thing was Connor’s doing. It wasn’t Connor’s fault that Will didn’t want to –

Wait.

Holy Shit.

Mitchell barged into his cabin, the entrance as dramatic and loud as he needed it to be to gather all of their attention.

Sophia jumped up, “You’re back! How’d the date go?”

Mitchell swallowed, steadying himself with the new information.

“He didn’t want to kiss me.” He told them, his eyes lingering on all of their faces.

Sophia reached out, pity in her eyes, “Oh, I’m sorry Mi-“

“No.” He interrupted her, “It took me a second to see it too but guys. He didn’t want to kiss me .”

Lacy jumped up, always the first to catch up on these kinds of things. “Did he say that? That he didn’t want too?”

“He said he didn’t want to start a relationship.” He clarified.

“What?” Sabrina questioned from the side. “What does that mean?”

“If he didn’t want too…” Micah questioned softly, not drawing much attention to himself.

Stefan stood slowly, “You can only resist the charm of an Aphrodite child if your heart really, truly belongs to another.”

“Were you using all of your charm?” Scarlett demanded

“I mean, a good amount of it!” Mitchell answered, “I wanted the date to remain PG, remember?”

“This is a new development.” Sophia looked to the ground, her eyes darting around as she thought.

“We can use this to our advantage.” Drew realized, “We can make Will realize that Nico is the only one he wants!”

Scarlett’s eyes were sharp, “Sophia, get the dry erase board.” Her eyes glistened with something dangerous, “We’ve got a scheme to plan.”  

His siblings set to work, energized with the new development and overwhelmed with possibilities. Even Asher and Micah, who usually never get involved in stuff like this, were bend head to head, a notebook shared in between them.

“You got something -” Stefan gestured to the entirety of Mitchell’s hair.

Mitchell huffed, already peeling off his stiff, river water soaked jacket. “I can’t believe I let you guy doll me up for nothing.”

“At least we made one person jealous.” Stefan sighed, shrugging a bit.

“Will didn’t even try anything, I doubt Nico will care.” Mitchell reminded him, picking a clump on seeds out of his hair.

He rolled his eyes, “That's not what I meant.”

Mitchell watched him for a moment, trying to decode his brother's words, before eventually dismissing it.

Chapter Text

"When you meet someone
so different from yourself,
in a good way,
you don’t even have to kiss
to have fireworks go off.

It's like fireworks in your heart,

all the time.”

- Lisa Schroeder

“I’ve done it.” Scarlett announced, coming into the room, her smugness almost a physical presence. She held her arms behind her back with a noticeable purpose, and her confidence seemed to take up her entire face.

“What, lost your virginity?” Drew smirked behind the folds of her magazine, “Oh honey, we know.”

Scarlett scowled, but before she could start another one of their usual catfights, Lacy jumped from her place on Sophia’s bunk.

“You’ve done what?” Lacy easily brought the attention back to herself, smiling a bit to calm the mood.

Scarlett turned back to the rest of their siblings, her glowing mood returning. “I’ve found a definite way to get Nico and Will together, of course.”

There was an audible gasp throughout the cabin, probably from Sophia, but Mitchell was too focused on Scarlett’s words.

“Explain,” Sebastian demanded, crossing his arms.

“It’s an age-old technique, honestly,” Scarlett explained nonchalantly. “I’m surprised no one thought of it before.”

“What is it?” Stefan questioned excitedly, still cross-legged on the floor.

Scarlett finally pulled her hands in front of her to present the object she had kept hidden. It was obvious what it was - or what it was supposed to represent.

“Spin the bottle?” Sophia questioned, standing up from her bunk. “Isn't that a little too dependent on luck?”

Scarlett held the bottle up, her bright lipstick resembling a long, deep cut across her face. “It usually is.” She grinned,  “ Unless the bottles charmed, of course.”

“It’s charmed?” Stefan jumped up, taking the glass bottle into his hands carefully. “How?”

“A Hecate kid owed me a favor .” She answered, looking proud.

“Lou Ellen?” Mitchell questioned, crossing his arms. “ That Hecate kid? One of Will's best friends? ”

“Of course now, I'm not stupid. ” She snapped, looking annoyed. “It's from Meralda.”

“How does it work?” Stefan asked, still inspecting it.

Scarlett held up a small bottle cap. “She said all I have to do is carve their initials on here and the rest will work out itself.”

“Are you sure that will work?” Mitchell frowned, stepping forward. “That doesn’t seem too official. Does anyone else in the camp have the same initials or anything? How does it even work?”

Scarlett sighed loudly, with a bit of her trademark dramatic flair, “ Oh my gods, Mitchell, do you always have to be such a killjoy? Jesus, just let us have a moment, alright? It works, that’s all you need to know.” She flipped her hair, and Mitchell knew to translate that to her own way of flipping him the bird.

Mitchell ground his teeth and struggled to keep his temper in check. “Scarlett, you don’t have the right to talk to me like that.”

She turned and glared at him, and her hard gaze was like a punch in the face. “Why? It’s not like you’re the counselor, and Piper doesn’t give a shit, so why the fuck should I even respect you?”

“Because we’re siblings! And despite all the crap you’ve put every single person in this cabin through, we respect each other because.we’re.siblings! Just because only one of us has a stupid title doesn’t mean the rest are just dirt for you to pick out of your fingernails!” Mitchell clenched his hands at his sides and was acutely aware of the wide-eyed stares his other siblings were giving him. “And watch your language!”

Scarlett only answered in a fierce glare, their standoff only growing more intense by the quiet whispers around them.

Mitchell took a deep breath, heading towards his bunk and grabbing the essentials. “Asher, please lead everyone to dinner when it’s time. I won’t be joining today.”

“Where’s Piper?” Sabrina, young, innocent Sabrina, asked with her voice wobbling.

“She’s busy today.” Mitchell kept his voice light and composed, mostly because he knew anything else would cause waterworks. He double checked everything - he wasn't going to walk of shame back in because he forgot his armguard again - and headed towards the door.

An hour later, only a bit of time after dinner, Mitchell’s anger, along with his rumbling stomach, had not yet persisted. His fingers ached along with the burning pain in his shoulders and arms. He kept shooting, one after one, until each shot was perfect.

A shadow passed over the grass, temporarily pulling Mitchell out of his anger. His glare only sharpened when he realized who it was.

“What?” Mitchell snapped, lowering his bow for the first time in an hour. “Did you lace it with poison ivy? Are there firecrackers in the arrows?”

Connor flinched away like Mitchell had physically slapped him. “No, I..uh..” He swallowed. “You weren't at dinner and all your siblings looked miserable so.”

“I’m not really in the mood for one of your tricks, Stoll.” He scowled, lifting his bow back up despite the protests from his pained muscles.

“I wasn’t…”

Mitchell looked back to him, and almost immediately, his temper began to fade. He sighed, frustration still burning through him, and lined up his shot. “Why are you here?” Mitchell set his jaw. “Hermes is in rock climbing right now.”

“How’d you know that?” Connor asked curiously, taking a seat on a nearby tree stump, despite Mitchell’s hostile voice.

Mitchell took a deep breath and let his arrow fly. Blue ring. Mitchell grabbed for another arrow. “Lacy and Sophia rock climb together - they’ve basically memorized the schedule so they don’t accidentally pair up with some Ares kids, or whatever. But they forget sometimes, so I have to remind them.”

“Mhmm.” He hummed, getting comfortable on his tree stump. “You’re not too bad at archery, ya know.”

Mitchell felt a bubble of pride grow in his chest. “I’m best in Aphrodite.”

“That you are.” Connor agreed.

Mitchell shifted, adjusting his arm guard for a bit of relief. “Why are you here?” He repeated.

Connor shrugged, pulling his backpack off his shoulder. “Bored. It’s nice out here.” He gestured a hand to the deserted field. “And no one’s ever out here at sunset.”

“It can mess up your shot,” Mitchell answered, letting another arrow go.

Connor whistled at the bulls-eye. “Doesn’t seem to be messing you up.”

Mitchell sighed and took a moment to adjust his armguard.

“Want to talk about it?” Connor offered. At Mitchell’s surprise glace, he grinned. “Everyone knows you always blow off steam with archery, and your mood isn’t exactly the picture of composure. So what’s up?”

Mitchell paused, turning to give him a look. “I thought you came here for the quiet? Wouldn’t I just ruin that?”

Connor chuckled softly, “I doubt that. You can talk if you want.”

Mitchell observed him for a long moment before sighing and lowering his bow. “That sounds good, actually.”

Connor grinned, patting down the space next to him. “Go on, Dr. Stoll is at your service.”

Mitchell joined him on the stump, almost wincing at how dirty he knew his jeans were getting. He placed his bow in the grass, a bit too lovingly, before throwing his legs out in front of him. His arms were lax with relief, and the ache in them was only too familiar.

Connor nudged his shoulder to signal for Mitchell to talk, and he took a deep breath.

“With you and Travis, since you’re both counselors, do you ever feel like….” Mitchell sighed, clapping his hands over his eyes. “Like it’s too overwhelming? And you’re doing all the work?” He shook his head, the guilt about complaining about his siblings already hitting. “I hate that I can’t even have a fight with my siblings, because I’m supposedly in charge, and I hate that because I’m not even the real  counselor, I have to fight for their respect sometimes.”

“Is this about something particular?” Connor asked, “Did you have a fight?”

Mitchell gave him a tight stretch of his lips, “Scarlett and I exchanged words.” He sighed, “She called me a killjoy. Which, I mean, I know I am. I worry too much, and I over think the little stuff. No wonder they can't put up with me.”

“Hey.” Connor frowned, but there was an easy feeling in his eyes. “You seem to be forgetting that I've met all your siblings. If out of that group, they see caring too much is the biggest problem, well, something has to be wrong.” Connor shifted closer, and he flexed his arm like he wanted to stretch it out. “Even with Travis as my right-hand man, it gets to be too much at times. Sometimes, even if we don't want too, we have to put a cap on the other Hermes kids.”

Mitchell, his face buried in his hands, groaned. “But I don’t want to. It’s not my job. Sometimes, I want to have fun and be a little crazy, ya know?” Mitchell peeked a look over at Connor, who seemed to actually be listening. “But I have too. Because if I don’t, no one will. I think it would be different if it was my job, instead of me just covering for Piper all the time. She's...I guess she’s too wrapped up in her own stuff right now. I don’t know.”

“You should talk to her.”Connor urged, “We both know how important siblings are. Don't let her cut herself off.”

Mitchell observed Connor for a long moment, with his earnest eyes, his soft smile, and was surprised to notice that Connor was kind of cute, at least, he was cute for a Hermes kid that was always pranking his cabin.

“Thank you, Connor,” Mitchell told him softly, his words laced with meaning. “You're kind of cool when you're nice.”

Connor gave him a half-smile grin. “Only for you.”

Mitchell, already with a sarcastic remark on his lips, only looked down in embarrassment at his suddenly audible growling stomach.

“Wanna candy bar?” Connor offered, already reaching in his back pocket. “Might be a bit warm, but should be fine.”

“Hershey’s Cookies and Cream!” Mitchell smiled, “Those are my favorite!”

Connor ducked his head, and his voice was quiet. “I know.”

Mitchell ripped the wrapper back, his stomach growling even more with the sound. “Really? How?”

Connor glanced up as if he was surprised Mitchell had heard him. “Uh, everyone knows.”

Mitchell raised his eyebrows, taking a moment to break a small chunk of candy off. He offered it to Connor, who only shook his head. He popped it into his mouth and chewed around the chocolate in his mouth, “ Everyone seems to know a lot about me.”

Connor only shrugged, a faint smile on his face as he watched Mitchell devour the rest of the bar in silence.

“Thanks. Again.” Mitchell gestured towards the crinkled wrapper in his lap. “I no longer feel like murdering anyone, and my stomach no longer feels like disgusting my other organs.”

“Well, when you put it like that you almost make me sound like a hero.” Connor joked

“My hero, Connor Stoll.” Mitchell rolled his neck and fluttered his eyelashes. “Always there to offer advice and candy bars.”

“Always,” Connor answered, a smile in his voice.

“C’mon,” Mitchell grinned and held out his hand, “I could do with a s'more, and the campfire starts in half an hour. I’ve also heard a rumor that a few Aphrodite kids are planning a particularly intense game of spin the bottle.”

Mitchell stood, brushing his jeans off, and only grinned at the bewildered sound of the “...Wait, what.” from Connor.

And, true to her word, Scarlett’s bottle worked.

It had taken a bit of shuffling on their part, a distraction that Chiron was fully aware of, the sneaking away of the older campers, excuses in place to tide over the younger kids, but they managed, and the spark of relief in Scarlett’s eyes that she shot at him could be counted as an apology.

As they gathered around the bottle, with Connor pressed against his side, and his siblings grinning nervously,  Scarlett reached forward and spun.

There were a few mistakes, as there was with every plan, but these mostly involved Nyssa, from Hephaestus, and Wade, from Hermes, smacking lips. Or, Nicole and Wyatt. Neil and Wes.

Wes stood, grinning, after locking lips with Neil, both of them blushing from head to toe. “As much of a pleasure this has been, I've got to get back to the Athena cabin before they notice I'm gone.” He waved them off, and the circle was quiet for a short moment before someone - one of the new campers? unclaimed for now - spoke up.

“Who goes -”

“Will goes.” Numerous voices, all from Aphrodite, interrupted. Mitchell hung his head, holding back a groan at their obviousness.

Will, breaking out of a conversation with - surprise surprise - Nico, jerked back at the sudden sound of his voice. “Oh, uh, sure?”

Now, as Scarlett leaned forward, reaching for the glass bottle, there was a certain buzz of anticipation over the crowd. The bottle spun with a clang, and Mitchell, holding his breath and sending up a prayer, was not the only Aphrodite kid clenched with nerves.

The bottle stopped, finally, and Nico’s eyes, looking over the bottle pointed directly at him, widened in surprise. Breaths were caught, breaths were held, but the faint breath of disappointment came over when Will suddenly laughed, grinning widely.

Will leaned forward, his arms thrown out in an exaggerated manner. He grinned and gave Nico an overdramatic wink, “C’mere you.”

Nico, getting over his surprise, only rolled his eyes before leaning forward. The Aphrodite kids, already slightly disappointed by their lack of seriousness, looked on with desperation as their lips met.

Will’s hands wrapped around Nico’s waist, tipping him back. The kiss was too much flair, too overdramatic, too much everything to be seen as a real kiss. When they separated, both with laughter on their lips and eyes, and not at all with the love or realization they’d all hoped, they all cursed.

“What else could we expect of an Apollo kid,” Scarlett muttered with a curse in her voice.

“Being dramatic is literally in their blood.” Stefan held his head in his hands, “How did we not think of this?”

Sebastian, who had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire game, only picked at his nails. “Oh, I’d thought of that.”

Their small group, quietly muttering to each other as the game continued, turned on him.

“And you didn’t care to share ?” Scarlett bit out, clenching her fists.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, only angering her more. “Sorry that only one of us thinks ahead. I can’t always account for airheadedness.”

Scarlett’s eyes flared up with an anger, and she looked close to pouncing and fighting him then and there.

“Calm down,” Mitchell told her, grabbing onto her knee. “Seb, you too.”

Seb only rolled his eyes, “Anyways, since I’m the only one who predicted this high chance of failure -” Seb stood up, just as another couple was separating. The entire circle - not just the Aphrodite kids this time - looked to him.

“Who’s up for a game of truth or dare?” His grin, as dark as the devil’s, cut across the night. It was almost worth noting the soft, far off campfire songs soundtracking him from the distance, effectively ruining his aura.

The first few questions were quick, probably just distractions to keep the rest of the circle from noticing their obvious agenda. Stefan, sitting on Scarlett’s other side, only cast Mitchell few confused, wondering looks.

“Everything alright?” Connor questioned, nodding over to Scarlett, who looked ready to commit homicide.

Mitchell shrugged, grinning just a bit. “That’s just Scarlett’s default emotion.” He told the other boy quietly, mostly so she wouldn’t hear. 

“Murder?” Connor laughed loudly, and this action seemed to be enough to throw him on Sebastian’s map.

“Connor Stoll.” Seb grinned, dangerous. “It seems we haven’t gotten the chance to get to you. Truth or dare?”

Connor met Sebastian’s gaze with wide eyes, and even Mitchell could see there was something more to the question then he could see. Connor swallowed, and soft, genuine fear clouded his eyes and shook his hands.

Mitchell glared at his brother, who clearly knew something, before grabbing onto Connor’s shoulder. “Connor!” He announced loudly, too loudly, “I totally forgot to tell you, Travis wanted me to let you know that you were in charge of getting cabin eleven back before curfew tonight. You might want to go check on them.”

Connor immediately went lax with relief and gave him a loose, thankful smile. “Yeah, you’re right.” He answered, just as loud, as he stumbled up. Thank you. He muttered over his shoulder, the campfire making his curls glow. Mitchell waved him goodbye and tried to dismiss the way Connor’s eyes danced with mischief when he was happy, and the soft edge to the end of his laugh. Mitchell swallowed and tried to refocus on what was going on.

And, as it seems. he was just in time.

Sebastian turned on the crowd with sudden sharpness, and his eyes were dark and intense.

“William Solace.” He rolled the name off his tongue with an easy grace, and it was obvious that Seb hadn’t even tried to keep his nature attraction out of his voice. “Truth or dare.”

These words were serious as if they were something of the sorts much bigger than a teenager’s game. They were said with each syllable, as if they meant something, or as if they would come to mean something. Maybe they would. Maybe this all would.

Will, unnoticing to the allure that Sebastian was projected, only perked up at his name. “Dare,” Will grinned, “I'm feeling adventurous today, why not?”

Sebastian leaned in, his face the image of a devil. “I dare you to allow the Aphrodite cabin to give a makeover .”

The gasp that fell over the circle was soft, mostly because it was only done by three other campers. Scarlett, who moments before was fantasizing about a particularly fantastic revenge plan upon her younger brother, went still with shock, her eyes wide.  

Will, looking surprised, stumbled with his words. “Oh, uh, um, really? That’s it?”

“Yes.” Sebastian agreed, his voice calm. “You will allow my siblings and I to give you a total, complete makeover, no matter what we decide fit.”

Will, looking a bit unsure, cast a look towards Mitchell, who in turn, gave him an encouraging nod. “Uh, sure. I guess. Is tomorrow okay?”  

“We’re giving Will Solace a makeover.”

These words are the kind of words one has scratched onto a wall, or encrypted on a plaque. These were the kind of special words that will bring memories of pure bliss, and these are remembered as the uniquely important words that finally succeeded in pushing the Aphrodite cabin over.

“Calm down,” Mitchell instructed through clenched teeth, not like anyone was actually listening.

“You know that episode of Spongebob where they go into Spongebob’s mind and everything is on fire and all the little Spongebob’s are screaming and throwing papers everywhere?” At Mitchell’s numb nod Asher continued, “That is exactly what is going on right now and we can do nothing to stop it.”

“Will’s gonna be here in twenty minutes, and I swear to every god out there that we will seem normal,” Mitchell answered, the trembling in his voice down to a nice mild earthquake.

Asher slapped a hand on his brothers back, “Why don’t you start with the man in the mirror, dude. AKA, why don’t you stop rocking and clenching at your knees? That’s a good start.”

“You’re right,” Mitchell answered, standing. “They’ll see that as weakness.”

“Go get 'em.” Asher pushed him out, grabbing a video game controller. “Imma go ride this out at the Hermes cabin, send up a flare if things get too out of control, I’ll call for backup.”

Mitchell nodded, sarcasm not registering in his simple boot mind process at the moment. “I will.” He answered gravely, turning back to his siblings.

“Scarlett.” He grabbed her elbow and pulled her back. “Put down the hair dye. We have a job to do.”

Scarlett gripped her bottles of dye and self-tanner even tighter. “But..but what if we need-”

“Put it down.” He answered, his voice grave. “We need to pull it together. That boy is coming for a signature Aphrodite cabin makeover, and I swear to every drop of godly blood in me that we will do so and give it our all.”

“That was beautiful.” She whimpered, dropping the bottles to the floor. She grabbed onto his hand and gave him a wide-eyed look of awe, “What do I do?”

Mitchell gave her a hard glance and set his shoulders into a hard line. “Gather the troops. We’re going to war.”

Twenty-three minutes later, and Will Solace was knocking on their wooden door, a sheepish smile in place.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late.” He smiled, choosing to ignore the strained and too-big smile of the campers as they gathered around the entrance. “Um, are you guys ready?”

“Yes,” Scarlett answered gravely, staring at him seriously. “We are ready. But the question is…”

“Are you ready?” Stefan finished for her, and Mitchell briefly wondered how long it took them to master that exchange. A few minutes, at least.

Will gave Mitchell an uneasy look. “Uh, yeah? I mean, I was only told to not put any product in my hair? Was there anything else?”

“You’re fine.” Mitchell interrupted before his siblings could scare him away. “Just get comfortable, we’ll work our magic."

“Vent brush.” Scarlett stuck out her hand, and within second the brush was in her hands. She frowned, staring down Will’s hair as if they were mortal enemies. “Second thought, pass the Nylon round one.”

Sabrina, poured out in front of all the brushes, fumbled with the correct one before passing it over. Mitchell gave her a kind smile, and she glowed under the attention.

“Um. Not to interrupt -” Will fidgeted a bit, “But is this almost done? I told Nico we’d go for a walk before curfew and he’ll be here soon.”

Behind Will, safely out of his sight, Sophia hit her head against the wall, while Lacy just melted to the ground.

Stefan, close to Mitchell’s left, whimpered softly. “You mean we get to do an after reveal?” He whispered, looking overwhelmed.

“Stay calm .” Mitchell whispered to him, “It’s okay.”

Will, still waiting for an answer, glanced back to Mitchell, his gaze uneasy.

“We’ll be done soon.” Mitchell reassured him, “Right Scarlett?”

Scarlett, who was mid brush when Will spoke, was frozen in her position, her hands slightly shaking. “Yes.” She agreed, her voice composed and careful, betraying the pure adrenaline running through her at that moment. “Yes, of course.”

Will nodded, looking more secure. “Okay, he’ll be here in like ten minutes or so.”

“Ten minutes.” A high pitched whisper sounded, “What are we supposed to do in ten minutes?”

“So, Will!” Mitchell quickly spoke up over the whisper, “How have you been? How’s the infirmary?”

Will perked up, “Great! Everything’s great!” Will glanced around for a second before leaning it close. “How’s your rash? Is it better?”

Mitchell took a deep breath, carefully cursing everything in his life. “Better. Almost non-existent really. It’s great.”

Will smiled, like this was truly the highlight of his day. “That’s great to hear! I was worried.”

“ Of course you were.” Mitchell muttered, wanting to hit his head against the wall.

The next few minutes were long, as long as Mitchell had ever felt, as hands were frantically adjusting and readjusting the various makeover techniques forced upon the teenage boy.

“His hair is fine!” Sophia hissed, “Change his shoes!”

“His shoes match his shirt and help bring out his eyes!” Stefan snapped back, a bead of sweat forming on his brow.

“ Someone smeared his eyeliner! ” Lacy revealed with horror, “We need to redo his entire right eye!”

“Move your arm!” Drew glared at Scarlett, “I need to fill in his eyebrows!”

“Haven’t you even been listening?” She bit back, “We’re not doing full makeup!”

“Um. Guys?” Will spoke up, hesitant. His siblings, too absorbed in their ever important work, only ignored him. Mitchell, who only looked on with slight shame at his siblings crazy, leaned in to hear him better.

“What’s up?” Mitchell carefully pushed Sophia to the side so Will could actually see him.

“Nico’s here,” Will informed them, as if this wasn't a big deal, his voice easy and nonchalant as he pointed to the window. “Am I good?”

This sentence, so much more than his first one, actually caused a reaction. His siblings, crowded around poor Will, all froze and looked towards the door, as if something dangerous was heading right for them.

“Yes,” Mitchell announced before they could start again. He grabbed Will’s shoulder, brushing off a few of their hands, and took a good look at him.

He looked like Will, of course, only this was important to note because Will Solace looked like a goddamn beach boy model on a regular day. His siblings hadn’t needed to do much work honestly, and they didn’t. His hair was done up, and he was in a loose flannel with rolled with sleeves (read as: Mitchell’s weakness), and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans that Mitchell was pretty sure were his. His eyebrows were red around the edges, probably because of the attack Scarlett had unleashed upon him with her bejeweled tweezers. They hadn’t overdone it on the makeup, a thin line of eyeliner, hardly noticeable, painted on his upper lid, and a bit of carefully placed and applied concealer on his forehead.

Will Solace cleaned up very well, mostly due to the sole fact that there wasn’t much cleaning up to do.

“You’re ready.” Mitchell grinned, mostly for reassurance, and they both ignored the protests from his siblings as Mitchell opened the door.

Nico, fiddling with a silver ring on his finger, glanced up at the creak of the door, and his eyes widened, just a bit. Just enough to notice.

“You look….” Nico’s lips parted and he quickly snapped his mouth close, biting on his lower lips. “You look different. Good different.”

Will brightened, “Really? I’ll admit, I was kind of scared when they pulled out the tweezers but they didn’t totally mess up, right?”

“No, not at all.” Nico’s quiet voice seemed to bloom in the silence. “You look good.”

“Upgrade from the flip-flops and scrubs, right?” He joked, “Thanks for the makeover guys! I owe you one!”

“You can repay us by fucking Nico into next week,” Scarlett muttered, dodging out of the way from Mitchell’s sharp elbow. “It’s true.” She defended herself, turning back into the cabin with their siblings.

“That new hairspray we used gave me a rash,” Stefan complained, rubbing at his forearm.

Mitchell sighed, a frown in place, and threw himself onto his bunk. In one swift movement, he reached under the bed, grabbed onto the small, hidden bottle, and flung it towards his brother.

“How...where...” Stefan sighed. “You know what? I don't even want to know. Thanks, man. You're the best.”

Sophia and Lacy, back to back as they leaned against each other in exhaustion, gave him matching grins.

“What are you two so happy about?” He asked, a smile on his face as he sat cross-legged next to them.

Lacy reached out a hand and trailed her fingernail over Mitchell’s shoulder. “We still have two weeks, right?”

“Till the Fourth of July.” Mitchell nodded, “Why?”  

Lacy shrugged, “Two more weeks of trying. We’ll get ‘em eventually.”

“And if not, they’ll get together on their own,” Sophia added.

“How do you know?” Mitchell questioned, feeling a bit silly.

“They’re meant to be.” Sophia reassured him, “Of course they’ll end up together.”

Lacy turned back to the wall she was facing, a faint smile on her face. “This summer’s been fun. Crazy...but fun.”

“It’s been crazy, that’s for sure.” Mitchell smiled. “And you’re right, they’ll realize it soon.”

“You can only be so obvious for so long.” Sophia told him, giving him a strange meaningful look. Lacy nodded, staring at him with a serious gaze as well.

Mitchell waited a long moment, waiting for something to click. When nothing did, except for the brief noticing that it was almost lunch, he only shrugged. “Um. Yeah. That’s what we just said, right?”

They both let out matching frustrated sighs.

Chapter Text

"I never understood why people compared
kisses to fireworks
until i knew what it was like
to want someone so much
that all you could feel inside you
were explosions."

- Nicole Walsh

 “What are you so happy about?” Mitchell asked his brother, sliding into the picnic table. Lunch was pizza, which always helped their overall mood, but his brother seemed to be almost vibrating with excitement.

Stefan grinned at him - pleased and slightly nervous - and leaned into Mitchell’s ear. “I'm gonna win. I found a way to get them together.”

Mitchell grinned at his own brother's excitement. “Oh? Care to share?”

Stefan held up a thin, noticeably empty, glass vial, his grin looking more identical to Sebastian’s dangerous grin than his own. “Rules didn't say anything about love potions.”

Mitchell grin melted right off, but before Mitchell could yell, or jump up, or do anything about the bubbling panic growing in his chest, there was a yell across the mess hall.

“He's choking!” Nico yelled, his voice high with panic, as he jumped up to support Will, who was sitting beside him. Will's face turned a bright red around his sudden coughing fit, and the hand not curled around his own throat clenched around Nico's shoulder.

Mitchell jumped up, unsure what he could do but the need to do anything overlapped this logic. His line of vision to Will was quickly blocked as, in only seconds, the Apollo cabin surrounded him.

“He's having an allergic reaction.” Kayla, one of the Apollo girls, stated calmly, barely loud enough for them to hear. “His throat is beginning to swell up.”

“He's allergic to mushrooms,” Nico told them as if this was new information, but his voice now matched Kayla’s calm tone, and it only took another moment before he reached into his pocket.

Nico's hands, never fumbling or shaking, quickly and effectively uncapped it and stabbed it into Will’s thigh.

The whole incident was over in only a few seconds, maybe a minute at most. Will's clear gasp echoed across the quiet mess hall, as most campers were shocked into, or just stood in, silence. Will's relieved full breath only twinned the one copied by most campers as they stood from their tables.

Mitchell turned back to face Stefan, who's face has paled into a horrified expression. Mitchell stood, Stefan’s sleeve in his fist, and followed to where Chiron was ushering out the rest of the campers in order to give Will some space.

He grabbed another his other brothers shoulder with his free arm and tried to use his calmest voice, “Asher, get the rest of the kids back to the cabin, okay?” At his brother’s nod, he continued. “Go to the Stolls and grab some chips and soda with the money under my bunk, they're bound to be starving. Don't wait up.”

Mitchell dragged his brother away, towards a small bundle of trees right by Zeus’ fist. He released his brother's sleeve, turning on him with anger.

“I didn't know, I swear!” Stefan rambled on immediately, his hands twisted together with nervous emotion. “I asked one of the nymphs to make it, but I had no idea!”

“You could have killed him!” Mitchell exclaimed, at least grateful that no one was around.

Stefan stared at him for a long moment, and his eyes filled up as a sob broke loose from his throat. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean too. I'm so sorry.” He babbled on hysterically, choking on his own heaving breath. “Mitchell, I'm so sorry, I didn't know, you have to believe me, I would never -” He cut himself off. “Oh gods, I could have killed him.”

Mitchell’s breath caught in his chest as he watched his brother break down in front of him, his own tears gathering in his eyes and burning his nose.

Stefan, his eyes filled with unshed tears, stared up with him with desperate eyes. “Mitchell, what do I do?”

Stefan, his little brother who'd always had a kind smile and word to spare, wiped at his own sticky cheeks and broke Mitchell’s heart. Stefan, always the first to grin at a lame joke, or watch out for the smaller kids. Stefan, who's only real family was currently crowded into their shared cabin, who would never hurt a fly or even something that deserved it, like an Ares kid.

“I'll take care of it.” Mitchell choked out, anger long gone, and pulled his little brother into a hug. “I know you’d never hurt anyone on purpose, it's okay. If - if they start looking into it, I'll handle it.”

Stefan shook in Mitchell’s arms, “Mitchell, I’m so sorry.” He sobbed, ugly tears and snot covering his delicate skin. Mitchell swallowed roughly, wiping his brother’s face off with his sleeve. Stefan has always had the most sensitive skin of all of them - he was going to break out in hives if he kept crying.

“I’ll take care of it.” Mitchell told him, his voice stronger then he felt. Mitchell clenched him tight for one more moment before releasing. “Go.” Mitchell instructed, “Wash off your face. Don’t tell anyone else. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Stefan, his face already turning a rough red, nodded numbly, clenching at his own hands. He wandered off, not anywhere near the direction of their cabin, but Mitchell let him go.

Mitchell struggled to steady himself, to keep himself together for a few forever seconds. He found himself in the pegasi stable, thankfully, alone. The animals, peering at him curiously, paid him only minimal attention before returning to chew on their dinners. Mitchell leaned against the wooden wall and slid down slowly to the floor slowly, not even considering how dirty his clothes were becoming.  

He started to shake, and his throat began to close, but despite this, his lungs seemed to pick up pace, his heart was pounding, and so was his head, but his hands were a forced stillness among the panic, and they clenched at his hair, and -

And then Connor Stoll, with his horribly perfect and terrifically terrible timing, was suddenly kneeling beside him, his eyes worried.

“Hey.” Connor grabbed his elbow, concerned and steady. “Are you okay? Mitchell?”

Mitchell swallowed, batting his eyes together and wiping at his wet cheeks with still hands. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He rasped, his lie obvious. “I’m fine.”

Connor immediately dropped to his knees, bending his tall self down so he was eye to eye with Mitchell, who was trying to make himself as small as possible.

“You’re crying,” Connor stated obviously, but his voice was soft and hurt, as this fact seemed to be a personal offense to him.

Mitchell considered lying poorly, but honestly, he was too drained for even the thought of trailing along a lie so stupid. “Yeah.” He agreed, his voice broken. “I am.”

Connor, at an obvious loss of what to do, stared at Mitchell and his still streaming eyes for a long moment before leaning in.

“What are you doing?” Mitchell asked, and he almost protested but instead thought of otherwise.

“Hugging you, if that wasn’t clear,” Connor responded, his voice muffled and soft, and not only because his face was buried in Mitchell’s neck. “I’ll let you go if you want. But I always like a good hug when I’m upset.”

Mitchell agreed as this was clearly a good hug. But when he opened his mouth, probably to sprout some snappy remark, a sob broke free. Connor clenched him a bit closer, curling his arms around Mitchell’s waist, Connor’s breath warm on Mitchell’s exposed skin. They stayed like that for a long minute, and it was only the nagging thought that Connor was probably starting to cramp up that had Mitchell pulling away. He had the thought that he should turn away, he should hide the ugly red blotches across his pale skin, but he decided against it. Not this time, at least.

Connor pulled away, pulling something out of nowhere, and watched him with soft eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Mitchell rasped, wiping his face with the kleenex that Connor offered him, and he didn’t even want to consider where it had come from. That boy, without fail, always seemed to have what Mitchell needed. “I must look terrible.” He muttered into his hands, his voice edging on self-deprecating.

“Impossible.” Connor disagreed brightly. “You look positively spiffing, if I do say so myself.”

Mitchell smiled weakly, but it was real. “Thanks, Connor.”

Connor tucked the small packet of tissues back into his front pocket. “Do you wanna talk about?” He flashed Mitchell a knowing smile. “As we both know, I make an excellent doctor.”

Mitchell gave him a light, weak laugh. “If you say so, Dr. Stoll.” He teased.

Connor, surprisingly, flushed a light pink. Mitchell quietly filed that very important fact away for another time.

Connor said nothing and nodded encouragingly as he waited to Mitchell to continue on.

Mitchell looked away, considered his words, and spoke plainly. “Stefan was the one who put the mushroom extract in Will’s food at lunch.”

Connor said nothing, but his shocked silence spoke volumes.

Mitchell continued. “It wasn’t on purpose, just some love potion that went really, really wrong.” Mitchell glanced away. “We’re just all crazy Aphrodite kids, after all.” Mitchell’s voice was hard and bitter, an unusual tone for him. Mitchell chewed on his cheek, his face blank. “If they look into it, I'm going to take the blame. They’ll probably kick me out for the rest of the summer, but…” Mitchell briefly thought of his brother’s home life, and how Stefan’s only real family was currently crowded into their shared cabin. “It’s better this way.”

“Hey.” Connor caught his hand, and his voice was soft. “I know Stefan would never mean to hurt him. And they won't look into it.”

“You don't know that.” Mitchell rasped, leaning back against the wooden beam. “I have to take care of him, Connor. He's my little brother.”

Connor, growing suddenly serious, bent forward. “Mitchell, I promise they won't look into it. And I understand your...need to protect those you love.” Connor’s face broke out into a more familiar mischievous grin, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “You know what? I'll take care of it.”

Mitchell looked up in surprise, “What?”

Connor brushed off his hands together like the problem was already handled, and he stood. “Don't worry about it, it is now officially taken care of.”

“What?” Mitchell repeated. “What are you talking about?”

Connor held out his hand and, mostly out of surprise, Mitchell took it and pulled himself up. “What are you going to do?” Mitchell questioned, still confused.

Connor flashed him another grin. “You'll see. Anyways, this camp is long overdue for something.”

Connor looked back to him, his eyes heavy with something for just a moment before they cleared up again. “You should...you should go visit Will. I know you're dying to check on him. You guys are close, right?” Connor looked away. “Give him my regards.”

Mitchell nodded, a bit numbly, but the panic in his chest eased. Somehow, Mitchell found himself in the front porch of the infirmary, and he took a hesitant step forward.

Will, his arms crossed and face pinched, sat in the first infirmary bed with his siblings surrounding him. Nico, laid across the foot of his bed, was smiling softly and passing crackers along to the other boy every few seconds.

“Can't I go back to the cabin?” Will could be heard complaining, his voice edging on a whine.

“Nope.” Nico's voice responded, popping on the ‘ope . “One night, ordered bed rest.”

Will groaned, and Mitchell quickly dunked his head out of the way. Will was okay, and now it was time to actually check on his other siblings.

Asher hooked his thumb over his shoulder, “They were on a sugar high for a while after their candy and soda dinner, but I suggested a few rounds of Just Dance and they were out like light bulbs.”

Mitchell, feeling the bubble of pride in his chest grow, smiled softly at his brother. “Thanks for taking over, Asher. You did great.”

Asher, straightening up at Mitchell’s complement, looked pleased. “Thanks, Mitchell.”

Asher turned back towards his bunk but Mitchell grabbed his elbow. “Hey, uh, how’s Stefan?”

Asher gave him a strange look. “He seemed really upset, but he wouldn't explain. How'd you know?”

Mitchell frowned, “Guessed.” He lied poorly, “He seemed upset this morning.”

Asher nodded, accepting this, and crept off to his own bed, careful not to bump into anything and risk waking anyone up.

Mitchell stepped closer to Stefan’s bunk - he was asleep but restless. Mitchell sighed, placing his hand on his brother's head, and adjusted his blankets.

A good night's sleep wouldn't fix anything, but it sure as hell wouldn't hurt.  

“What the Hades is that?”

From experience - personal lived through, vivid experience that Mitchell was very determined not to repeat - these are not good words to wake up to.

“I know it's kind of hard for you sometimes, sweetheart, but in case you don't remember, it’s a shirt .” As Drew spoke up, her voice mean and high, Mitchell sat up, forcing himself to wake up faster than normal.

Scarlett made a high throaty sound, trademarked by her angered growl, but made no other response.

Mitchell blinked his eyes open a few times, and it took a few more blinks then usual under he realized that oh, he wasn't actually seeing things.

“I kind of like it.” Sabrina smiled softly, fussing with the hem as she held it up to examine. “It really pops!”

“We can bedazzle them!” Lacy gasped, grabbing onto Sophia’s arm in excitement. “Just think about how sparkly they could be!”

Sebastian scowled, “How the hell am I supposed to wear this?” He exclaimed, waving the cloth around. “I'm edgy and cool! This is totally gonna ruin my look!”

“Yes, because orange was totally pulling that off,” Drew muttered, but even she looked mildly annoyed.

“Pink makes me looks washed out.” Stefan whined, “Couldn't they be a nice, dark blue?”

“I don't know, this color makes me look great.” Sophia grinned, her dark tan skin blending with the bright color nicely.

Mitchell resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and he kept his small smile to himself as he ducked out of their cabin. The camp had been in a frenzy of excitement since everyone woke up this morning to quickly discovered all the previously soft orange camp shirts had been turned into a bright, eye-blinding, shade of pink. It only took a moment for Mitchell to locate who he was looking for, and he grinned.

“Nice job on the shirts,” Mitchell commented, coming up beside the other boy. They were truly a violent shade of pink, and they clashed horribly with his blue hair, but Mitchell knew a distraction when he saw one and he was grateful. Connor turned on him with a beaming smile.

“My brother and I had absolutely nothing to do with such incident!” He announced loudly, looking around in suspicion. He looked back to Mitchell, giving him a secret grin and a quick wink. “Thought you'd like it.” Connor nodded towards a group of angry Ares kids, all clenching oversized hot pink shirts, marching their way. “Some people aren't so pleased - gotta run!” He laughed before taking off, running towards gods know where, with a group of burly teenagers following in his wake.

This wasn't the last incident either, not even close. For the next week, the camp was turned backward  (figuratively and literally, thanks to a particularly skilled spell) with all the Stoll pranks. Rhyming couplets were cursed, campers found themselves, without any prior memory, floating safely in the middle of the lake, and the lava climbing wall was transformed into a hot dog and s'mores station, much to the dismay of the local nymphs. No matter what a camper tried to order in the mess hall, the cups would only fill with strawberry milk (which, coincidentally, Mitchell loved), and a particularly bad incident involving several cans of shaving cream and the Demeter cabin nearly had the camp in chaos.

But by the second day, even Nico and Will seemed to have forgotten what had happened only a few days prior. Nico's eyes, laced with worry, stopped lingering on Will, and Will dug into his lunch without the reservation or hesitation he held on the first day. Even Stefan, which dark half-moons gathering under his eyes, looked better and laughed without thinking. 

Mitchell stumbled back in his cabin, his siblings dropped off at arts and crafts for the afternoon, and he was surprised to find Piper lounging around in her bunk, an open book in her lap. He had just nearly been missed by another prank - this time involving a gallon of baby oil and food dye. 

“Hey,” He greeted, surprise evident in his voice. “I wasn't expecting to see you around here.”

“Hey,” She greeted, looking over her book. “Jason got caught in the latest Stoll joke and he's being treated - they've advanced to bubblegum bombs.” She shuttered, but then took a moment to observe him. “You look like you're in a good mood.”

“Connor has just been…” Mitchell smiled, soft, kind, and thoughtful. “Surprisingly great lately. He's so...nice.” His smile grew. “And funny.”

Piper nodded like this was obvious, “Well, yeah? Of course, he’s nice to you, isn't that like, the point of having a crush?”

Mitchell snapped his gaze back to her, confusion evident on his face. “What?” He questioned, taking a step back like she was spewing nonsense. “What are you talking about?”

Piper matched his confusion. “We’re talking about Connor Stoll, right?”

Mitchell stumbled on his words. “Well, yes, but, I, I mean, I don't have a crush on him!”

Piper held up her hands in surrender. “I never said you did.”

Mitchell let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, sorry. What were you talking about then?”

“I was talking about Connor’s monumental crush on you.” She clarified helpfully, lowering her hands.

Mitchell’s high, surprised voice was back. “What?”

Piper gave him a surprised look. “You - you didn't know?”

“You did?” he screeched, suddenly thankful that he and Piper were alone in their cabin.

She grimaced, “I totally thought you knew, I'm sorry.” She bit her lip, suddenly uncertain. “Did you, like, suspect it at all?”

“That Connor Stoll liked me?” He exclaimed, suddenly breathless. He felt the intense urge to simply throw himself onto the nearest cot bury himself in blankets and comforters forever.

“I'm just surprised you didn't see it. But I guess I understand.” Piper smiled gently, sweet and amused. “You’ve been so interested in other people's love lives and happiness that haven’t taken a moment for yourself.”

“But…” Mitchell shook his head, and a strand of blue hair fell into his face. “He’s only been pranking me! Us! I mean, he's great and super nice but...” Mitchell stumbled on his words, “He doesn't!”

Piper made a sympathetic noise, “They’re Hermes boys, Mitchell. Don’t you remember how Travis and Katie were before they got together?”

“ Oh gods, is he gonna set the Aphrodite cabin on fire?”

Piper sighed, a bit in frustration. Mitchell threw his hands in the air, “Do you know how much flammable perfume and aerosol hairspray is used in this cabin on a single dayalone? If you so much as light a match within spitting distance we’re gonna go up in flames!”

This time Piper rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head, successfully knocking the panic out of him for a moment.

“Calm down Mitchell. And while that actually is a very good point, the high flammability of this cabin… that’s kind of panicking honestly...I should ask Leo about that..” She snapped out of her thought, “But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about how Connor Stoll has spent the last two months trying to woo you, in his own screwed up Hermes kid way, and you, my dear lovely brother, haven’t even noticed.”

“He doesn’t like me!” Mitchell exclaimed, standing from the bunk so he could pace across their cabin. “I would know!”

Piper gave him a look, an Oh really? look before speaking. “The meatball canons? The blue hair? Your ruined date with Will Solace? How he’s always just hanging around and being helpful in a way he isn't with anyone else? Mitchell, he always makes sure the Hermes cabin has your favorite chapstick. What else did you think it was?”

Mitchell paused and covered his face with his hands, all the pieces suddenly coming together. “Oh, gods. How did I not even know?” He groaned, flopping down on the nearest bunk. “Mom is probably so disappointed. Her own son! Can’t even tell when someone has a crush on them!”

Piper came to sit beside him on the bunk, this time her touch more comforting than frustrated. “Hey.” She comforted with a small smile, “If you think about it, it kind of took me months to get a second kiss out of my own boyfriend. You’re doing fine.”

“But you’re Piper. ” Mitchell sighed, “Your dad is super famous, you helped save the world, you have Superman for a boyfriend and you’re head counselor. I’m just Mitchell. One time, I helped my sister get laid. That’s as far as my impressive Aphrodite kid credentials go.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Piper told him, laying down on the bed. “You’re one of the nicest kids in this cabin, and you’re funny and caring and you’ve been working on getting Solangelo together for weeks now.”

“Solangelo?” Mitchell questioned

Piper grinned, “Sophia thought of it.”

He laughed, lying back with her, the lingering thought of Connor Stoll still scrambling his mind.

“I know I haven’t been the best counselor,” Piper spoke up softly, looking away. “I’m not here when I should be. And I’m spending too much time with Jason. But…I don’t know how to do this. When I took over back before everything really happened, I just took it and left. This is the longest time I’ve ever been at camp instead of defending it.”

“You’re a great counselor.” Mitchell defended, “The kids are happy. They love you.”

Piper met his eyes, “Thanks but…I haven’t been doing anything. It’s all been you Mitchell. You’ve gotten them to their activities, you’ve held Sabrina when she’s had a nightmare, you’ve escorted them to the infirmary when they’re sick…I’m just here. Taking up the title.”

Mitchell curled his arm together, “Then let’s do it together.” He suggested. “They need you as much as they need me.”

Piper pulled him close, and they sat there in each other’s warmth for a long moment.

“You should really go make out with Connor Stoll, or something.” Piper’s muddled voice was filled with laughter and he broke from their hug, groaning.

“Go away.” He buried his face into his pillow. “The kids need to be picked up from Arts and Crafts soon, go save whatever poor soul that’s been cursed to deal with the glitter monsters.”

Piper laughed and sat up, “And leave you here to deal with your hurricane of emotions? Gladly.”

Mitchell threw a pillow at her retreating figure, flicking her off as her laughter followed her through the doorway. He laid there for a long moment, his arms spread out, as he thought of what to do. Right now, his only thought for his future involved him crawling into the forest and never coming out. He could live among the beautiful nymphs and naiads and would never have to emerge to camp ever again. He could live in the wild like in Peter Pan - the live action one he was obsessed with when he was twelve. He could grow his hair out, maybe dye his hair a dark green to match the forest. His brilliant plan was rudely interrupted by the creak of the door, and the hurried hitting of boots against the wooden floor.

“Got a hot date, gotta hurry.” Sebastian updated him quickly, pulling off his shirt in favor of another one.

“Is that my V-neck?” Mitchell sat up and questioned, not really caring.

“Probably.” He answered, pulling a large duffel bag out from under Scarlett’s bunk.

“She’s gonna kill you for going through her makeup.” He warned, watching as Seb quickly shuffled through the many beauty products.  

“Probably.” He only repeated, finding the product he was looking for and settling cross-legged on the floor.

“Can I ask you something?” Mitchell spoke up after a long moment. Seb’s eyes flicked up to his for the first time, and he gave the other boy a quick nod.

Mitchell took a deep breath, “What do you know about Connor Stoll?”

Seb took a moment to line his eyelids with liner, making the line thick and obvious before he answered, “Connor Stoll, that’s the one who’s had a crush on you for like, ever, right?”

Mitchell buried his head in his arms, “Has everyone known about this?”

“Pretty much.” He answered, examining his eyelids closely. They seemed to meet his criteria, because his only other response was the snap of the pocket mirror and the capping of his eyeliner. He continued, this time filling in his eyebrows, “At first I thought you were just ignoring him, after all your attention would have only fueled him, but after the failed date incident, I realized you really had no idea.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” His voice was laced in mortification and muffled from being buried in his arms.

“Well, I don’t know about the others, but I knew you’d figure it out eventually.” Seb paused, his first wasted second since he’d hurried into the cabin. “Wait, it’s the 25th, right?”

At Mitchell’s nod he grinned, “Hell yeah, I just won me a baggy of drachmas.”

Mitchell took a second longer than usual to process what the other boy had said. “Seb.” Mitchell waited for his brother to glance up. “Did you bet on me and Connor?”

Seb froze, and almost dropped his blending brush. “I have to go.” He blurted despite his half filled in eyebrow, and he stumbled up from his place on the ground. Mitchell jumped up and blocked the door.

“Sebastian.” Mitchell’s voice was as close to a growl as he’s ever heard it. “Did. You. Bet. On. Me.”

“It was Scarlett’s idea!” He blamed

“What was Scarlett’s idea?” The girl herself asked, leading a line of their siblings through the door. She popped her gum and stared down Mitchell’s impressive glare. Realization filled her eyes after only a second “Ah. The Connor thing?”

“No!” He threw his arms up, “It is not a thing! This is not a thing!”

“It’s kind of a thing.” Drew answered, jumping onto her bunk.

“Ah, man.” Sophia frowned, “Does that mean Sebastian won?”

“Hell yeah, it does.” Sebastian answered, looking much more reassured now that their siblings were around. He continued rushing around to get ready for his date.

“No!” Mitchell waved his hands, gathering their attention once again. “No one is winning! This is over !”

“Calm down, Mitchell.” Micah, the quietest of them all, ordered with a roll of his eyes. “You’re making this bigger than it is.”

Mitchell, surprised, did as he was told with a snap of his jaw.

“You're just mad you didn't win.” Sophia frowned at Micah before turning on her other brother. “Seriously Mitchell, you couldn't have waited like, two more days?”

Mitchell chose to ignore her, mostly for the sake of his sanity, and stared at his siblings with a wide, confused look.

“After all,” Micah frowned at his messy bed that Mitchell had been sprawled out in earlier with Piper, “You’ve liked him for weeks, what’s the deal?”

“I don’t like him like that,” Mitchell answered, his voice lower and less of a harpy screech after Micah’s interruption. “Where are you guys getting this from?”

“Puh-lease .” Stefan jumped into the conversation, “You don’t think Connor’s even a little cute?”

Mitchell huffed, “I mean, yeah, I have eyes. He’s hot, but all he does is prank us!”

“Prank you. ” Drew added quietly, not drawing much attention to herself.

“I can’t believe this,” Mitchell muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair.

Scarlett sighed, and even Mitchell could see this was one of her softer moments. “Just go talk to him, Mitch. You don’t have to fall head over heels, even though that would be incredibly romantic but whatever , just go talk to him. He’s liked you for weeks. And you know how hard it is for a Hermes kid to keep a secret. Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t gone for the big, camp-wide spectacle yet.”

Mitchell hung his head in his hands, and in that moment he felt like the 17-year-old teenager he was supposed to be, stressing over a boy. “Fine,” He finally choked out. “I’ll talk to him.”  

Scarlett, already standing close to him, leaned in like she was going to give him a hug. Instead, her hands wrapped around the back ends of his t-shirt and stripped him in one smooth movement.

“What-?” Scarlett threw his shirt over her shoulder before pushing him towards their closet.

“The color was washing you out. Go.” She instructed, pointing to the other end of the closet. “It’s not every day you confront the love of your life.”

Drew and Sebastian were crowded into the closet as well, and Mitchell took a moment to be thankful that, this time, his embarrassment was at least exclusive to his older siblings.

“I looked fine,” Mitchell told her, his teeth clenched. Sebastian threw him a maroon shirt - Asher’s maybe? - and gestured for him to toe off his shoes.

“Yeah, you did.” Drew’s voice answered, and her fingers ran through his hair as she attempted to fix his messy locks. “But you’re not going to look just fine today of all days. You’re going to look fantastic.”

Scarlett nodded, agreeing with Drew for once, “What she said. You can’t look like regular day Mitchell. This is special. ”

Mitchell huffed, stepping into the boots that Sebastian had put in front of him. “If Connor likes me so much, or whatever, he won’t even care what I look like.”

“Then just humor us.” Sebastian rolled his eyes, lacing up the boots.

Scarlett took a step back. “I don’t think I can convince you into some light eyeliner? Maybe a slight contour?”

Mitchell wrinkled his nose. “No thanks. I hate how it feels.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes but didn’t remark. “You’re done. Let’s go.”

“Nope.” Mitchell stepped forward, and his boots felt a little off. He glanced down and yeah, they were Sebastian’s, who was nearly two sizes above him. “You’re not dropping me off at the Hermes doorstep like I’m a kid. I will go talk to him by myself. ”

His siblings huffed and rolled their eyes, but thankfully, made no move to follow him.

Sophia, clenching her favorite Hermès scarf - a birthday present from their mother - gave him a nervous smile. “Do you want to borrow it?” She offered, her voice earnest. Mitchell’s sarcastic frown softened. That scarf - the L'Arbre du Vent edition - was her absolute prized possession. She’d hardly let the scarf touch the outdoor sun, much less let anyone borrow it.

“You keep it safe.” He told her, his heart warm. “I'll be fine without lucky charms.”

Lacy held up her hand quickly, “Wait!” She grinned, reaching under her bed and patting around blindly, before pulling something - a tin box - out.

“Chapstick.” She held it out proudly. Mitchell sighed loudly at the sight, his eyes on the many little collected tubes of Candy Cane lip balm rolling around on the metal.

“Really?” He questioned, taking the tube. His chest was still filled with affection from Sophia. “There goes my expectation for sanity in this cabin.”

Lacy giggled, “It’s not my fault that’s the only way you would talk to him. Now go .”

And, shaking his head, he left.

The short walk to the Hermes cabin wasn’t nearly as long as Mitchell had hoped it to be. He swallowed, lingering on the wooden steps for a second. He took a hesitant step forward, almost debating running and never returning until he was interrupted.

“Mitchell!” Travis grinned from the doorway. “Hey! I’m just heading out but Connor’s inside if you need anything. Run out of chapstick, again?”

“No actually, um, I’m here to talk to Connor?” Mitchell bit his lip.

Travis’s eyes gleamed with an all-too-knowing spark. “Yeah, sure, sounds great. ” He winked, “Be safe now. Check under the bed if you need anything. ”

Mitchell blushed, and he turned away to hide the red patches crawling up his neck. Travis walked away, still laughing under his breath, and he took a deep, calming breath. He was an Aphrodite kid. And if he any drop of godly power in him, he could do this.

“Hey, Connor.”

He looked up in surprise but smiled warmly at Mitchell from his place on the floor. “Hey, you need something?”

Mitchell turned on his natural element of flirting, and it came easily to him. “How do you always have Candy Cane Chapstick?” He asked, diving right in.

For just a second too long, just long enough for it to be noticeable, there was a hesitation in Connor’s face. He swallowed, his cheeks coloring only slightly. But he grinned, low and troublesome like all Hermes kids did. “We’re just lucky, I guess.” Connor waved his hand through the air, dismissing it. “Why, can I get you a tube? Lost your other one already?”

“I’m good,” Mitchell replied, leaning his weight on the doorway. “Actually, I came here to investigate a rumor I heard.”

“Yeah?” Connor answered, distracting himself with organizing the snack bag. “Anything I can help with?”

“Probably.” Mitchell waited until Connor was looking back at him. “My siblings seem to be under the impression that you have quite the crush on me.”

Connor visibly froze, his hands still hovering over the overflowing backpack.

“I didn’t believe them, of course.” Mitchell continued, examining his nails. His forced nonchalance was an easier facade then he thought. “But I had to come to check. So?”

Connor, still frozen, glanced up to him. Mitchell wanted to take pity on him, wanted to just smile and pull him close, but he caught sight of the blue in his hair and grinned.

“After all, someone wouldn’t prank their crush so much unless it was a Hermes kid, right?” Mitchell pretended to think for a moment, putting the tip of his finger to his chin. “I’m suspecting Cecil, perhaps. He’s always been nice, and funny. Actually, he’s in the armory now, right?”

Connor nodded numbly, his eyes wide. Mitchell grinned, “Good thing too, I love a boy in gear.” Mitchell winked, hoping his natural allure was at full force. “Alright, well I better get going if I want to catch him.” He turned but paused briefly to eye the other boy. “That’s too bad about earlier, you’re kinda cute. Thanks, Connor!”

He got a few steps through the cabin, careful to sidestep a potato launcher and a happy jump in his step. He hummed under his breath, a pleasant tune to match the breeze that was blowing through the door. His borrowed boots were just hitting the wood of the porch when Connor’s voice broke through the silence.

“Wait!” He choked out, stumbling forward. The backpack at his feet spilled open with a sea of crinkly wrappers and bright logos.

“Wait.” He repeated, breathless. Mitchell turned, barely concealing his grin.

“Yeah?” He questioned innocently.

Connor fumbled with his words for a second. “The – your siblings – the rumor, um, the rumor, it was right. The rumor was right.”

“What about the rumor?” Mitchell cocked his head to the side.

Connor was bouncing a bit, and Mitchell found that incredibly strangely endearing. Connor’s hands tapped out against his leg and his nerves were on full string now. “That I – that I, um, like you. Crush wise. I have a crush on you.”

Mitchell looked shocked, and thanked the gods, for not the first time in his life, that the dramatics were in his blood. “ You’re the one who’s been pulling the pranks on me?”

Connor sighed, slight regret in the sound if you listened hard enough which, um, Mitchell defiantly was. “Well, yes, but Travis swore it would work.”

“And you dyed my hair blue?” Mitchell tried to keep the teasing out of his voice, instead opting to curl a small lock of hair around his finger.

“Well, yeah, but it was supposed to be a joke but then you had the audacity to go and look like you. ” Connor huffed, eyeing his hair. “It wasn’t supposed to look make you look like some pop punk Hot Topic model.”

“Uh…thanks?” Mitchell told him, aware of the fact that’d just been compared to a model but also aware of the fact that Connor seemed a little pissed off about said fact.

Connor ran a hand through his wild curls. “And then - and then you went on a date with Solace? Really? Like, no offense to Will, I love the guy and he’s single handling keeping Travis and I in business from his Twizzlers addiction, but like -”

Mitchell hummed, “Connor, dear?”

Connor cut himself off, his cheeks growing a pleasant soft pink. “Um. Yes?”

“The date was to make Nico jealous.” Mitchell examined his nails, his voice nonchalant. “Aphrodite kids have been trying to get that together for weeks now. Of course, it only ended in making the wrong person jealous.”

Now Connor’s cheeks were a bright red blush. “Oh yeah - um -  that. Yeah.”

“You’re lucky I like strawberries.” Mitchell grinned, “Enough that I actually wouldn’t mind going to pick a few more. How about Friday? Before dinner?”

The pure, shocked surprise on Connor’s face was only evident for a second before it melted away, replaced with a cooler, more nonchalant exterior.

“Sure, I mean, that sounds - that sounds cool.” Connor leaned against the bedframe, or at least he tried to, before missing the frame entirely and stumbling onto the mattress, face first.

Mitchell stepped forward, his arms already out and laughter already painted on his lips. “You okay?” Mitchell asked because he was a mother hen and basically had too.

“No,” Connor muttered into the mattress, just loud enough for him to hear. “I am not. And I demand that you wipe this exact moment from your memory, forever.”

“Impossible, sorry.” Mitchell grinned, smoothing Connor’s t-shirt where it had rumpled.

Connor flipped over in bed, staring up at the bunk with pained embarrassment in his eyes. His hair, usually already curled chaos, was only twisted into even a worse mess by the sheets.  He sighed, probably in frustration at his own actions. Mitchell spoke up before the other boy had the chance.

“Thanks for helping me out so much these last few weeks.” Mitchell gave him a warm smile, “Although honestly, I have no idea how I didn't see it. But...thank you.”

Connor answered with a matching smile, “Anytime. And I don't enact prank weeks for anyone, just so you know.”

Mitchell laughed softly but didn't answer with words. Instead, he leaned forward, brushed Connor’s curls out of the way, and pressed a soft, dry kiss to his forehead.

“Did you guys screw?”

Mitchell scowled, and it was an honest to gods struggle against the pure, light joy bubbling in his chest to do so. Ten seconds into his cabin and he was already regretting leaving his cute boy back in the Hermes cabin. “Scarlett! Inappropriate!”

“He was only gone for half an hour.” Stefan pointed out, completely ignoring Mitchell.

“You didn't answer.” Scarlett pointed out to him before turning to Stefan. “And that means nothing.”

“Hey, I have more faith in my brother then that.” Seb grinned at him, “He could probably go for like, thirty-five minutes, at least.”

“Stop talking!” Mitchell exclaimed, and a glance around the room had him grateful that Sabrina had headphones in, and Lacy was engaged in conversation with Sophia.  

Scarlett raised an eyebrow, and yeah, he was infinitely jealous he couldn't do that. “Be safe and get consent!” She sang out, turning away. “I left a pamphlet and condoms under your pillow just in case!”

Mitchell groaned, and a quick look assured him that wow, yeah, she sure did.

“It's the same pamphlet we used to educate last year's sex ed.” Seb reminded him helpfully, a sarcastic grin on his face. “Just in case you forgot, I know it's been a while.” Mitchell shoved his shoulder against his brother, mostly playful, and threw himself on his bed, carefully avoiding the small mountain of gifts Scarlett had left him, instead shoving them under his mattress.  

He buried his face into his pillow, carefully avoiding thinking about his lingering siblings, but instead focused on brown curls, a high laugh, and mischievous eyes. 

Chapter Text

"He was fireworks and radiance, glare and tingling frostbite."
- Amanda Sun

The sky was blue, the breeze was cool, the lake was splashing with an unidentifiable rhythm against the jagged rocks, and Mitchell was about to go on a date.

“I shouldn’t be freaking out about this.” He told himself, resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair and ruin all the work Scarlett had put into him. He was walking slowly, slower than usual, but it was mostly out of panic for what was ahead. “I’m an Aphrodite kid, I’m supposed to have these kinds of things like, in the bag right?” He spoke softly, his words only for himself, and only considered briefly how he must have looked at that moment. He tried to shake those thoughts from his head, carefully cursing everything. He swallowed down his nerves, walking forward slowly.

They were meeting at the arena, not far from the cabins and only a short walk to the fields. He saw Connor before the other boy saw him, and that calmed him, even if just for a moment. He took a deep breath, first eyeing with pleasure how Connor’s shirt clung to his back muscles, then approached.

“Hey.” Mitchell greeted lamely. He cleared his throat, grinned, and tried to convey the confidence he didn’t feel at all. “Fancy meetin’ you here.”   

Connor beamed at him, looking overjoyed at the simple fact that Mitchell had shown up. “Hey!” His voice was loud, too loud, and he looked a little embarrassed by this fact.

“So. First date.” Mitchell smiled, a bit awkwardly.

If Connor noticed his awkwardness, he didn’t convey it. His smile was only persistent. “Yeah.” He breathed out. “First date. Ready?”

Mitchell nodded, not really trusting his voice, and started towards the fields. There was light conversation, but nothing like their teasing banter Mitchell had grown so used too.

“I...have something.” Connor told him as they arrived at the fields, giving him a nervous smile, “You might hate it, I don't know.”

“Oh?” Mitchell questioned, his head cocking to the side. Connor motioned for them to sit down, where a dark colored blanket was laid out, and Mitchell quickly wondered when he’d put it down before dismissing the thought.

Connor pulled out a Tupperware case - and wow, where was this boy even pulling things out of the air from? This is a question for another time, he suspects - before cracking open the lid and holding it out to Mitchell.

Mitchell broke out into a smile, taking the fruit into his hands. “And where in the world did you get a watermelon, Connor Stoll?”

Connor gave him a sheepish look, picking up a slice. “I had Katie whip it up...you like watermelon, right? Usually, I just ask one of your siblings but they've all been surprisingly tight-lipped.”

Mitchell laughed, “So that’s how you've known everything.” Mitchell bumped his shoulder against Connors, enjoying the light blush dusted across the other boy's face. “And I love watermelon.”

Connor beamed, catching Mitchell’s hand in his and squeezing it tightly. “You’re...really good looking.” Connor breathed out, looking a bit in awe.

Mitchell laughed, “ And he tells me I'm pretty? What hot boy generator did you come out of out?”

“Hermes, to be exact.” Connor laughed. He bit his lip, “You think I'm cute?”

“No, I believe I said hot,” Mitchell reflected, not shy in the least. “And apparently, not too big on the brains.”

“Well, that might be just because all my big is somewhere else.” Connor grinned, wiggling around his eyebrows.

Mitchell barked out a laugh, covering his mouth. There was slight relief in the sound, as the awkward note from earlier was now completely gone. “All you Hermes boys have the same humor.”

Connor pulled a face of mock horror. “Oh, say it ain't so! What other Hermes boys have you been canoodling with?”

Mitchell smirked, leaning in. “Oh, you should know I don't kiss and tell.”

Connor gasped, overexaggerated, “You won't spare even the faintest of hints?”

Mitchell's voice turned teasing. “Oh! You've worn me down.” Mitchell threw his head back, smiling at the sky. “I guess I can say that Travis is talented in areas not unknown.”

Connor made a hurt noise, overdramatic by every nature, and clenched at his chest in false distress. “I cannot believe you! My own brother!”

Mitchell laughed, finally breaking character, and was pleased to hear Connor’s own ringing laugh echo after his. Mitchell took his first bite of the cold watermelon, and the sweet, pink juice ran down his chin and fingers. Connor watched him, admiring all the beauty in the other boy, and tried to make his gaze subtle.  

Mitchell smiled at him, sticky, pink cheeks and all, “You're not a half bad date, ya know.”

Connor hummed, but for once in his life, said nothing. Mitchell carefully placed the watermelon edge down and focused.

Mitchell caught his eye and knew exactly what he was doing when he leaned back, exposing the line of his neck and highlighting the cut of his jaw. He licked his lips, still holding Connor’s unmoving gaze, and made sure he did all the right things.

Mitchell pushed himself forward, probably too eagerly but whatever, and Connor leaned forward to meet him, and suddenly, their sticky lips were pressing together like two halves of a whole coming together for the first time and they were kissing. Mitchell pushed himself harder against Connor, having only one dominant thought -

He feels like fireworks.

Mitchell floated back to the Aphrodite cabin, feeling like air. The grass was brighter, the sun was warmer, and the joy in his chest seemed to fill every one of his atoms.

“Mitchell!” Sabrina rushed towards him, her arms extended as she pulled him into their cabin. “We've been waiting forever for you!”

Mitchell sighed, already sealing away that magical feeling for later. “For the last time, I'm not scrutinizing my dates with Connor for all your pure, unhealthy delight.”

“Self-absorbed much?” Drew rolled her eyes, “We’ve been waiting for you for like half an hour because Micah and Asher have an announcement and they refuse to share until everyone’s here.”

Mitchell flushed a dark red. “Oh, uh, sorry. Carry on.”

“That's not to say that sharing all your date details wouldn't be incredibly amazing, though.” Lacy added unhelpfully, “So feel free to spill any beans.”

Ignoring her, he turned towards his brothers, both standing at the back of the cabin, each radiating a nervous energy. They stood in silence for a long moment before blurting out the news.

“We pulled some favors with our Venus siblings in the Roman camp.” Micah and Asher shared a nervous smile. “It took some badgering - boy, are they serious - but they agreed!”

Asher grinned, “Distance only makes the heart grow fonder, am I right?”

“What did you do?” Mitchell followed up with, trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

Micah rolled his eyes, “Calm down, Mitch. All we did was casually mention the plan, and how incredibly convenient it would be if Praetor di Angelo was called down for a check-in.”

Mitchell relaxed just the tiniest of bits, reassured that at least his most zen of siblings hadn’t fallen victim to their crazy.

“When are they calling him?” Lacy asked, bouncing in excitement.

“After dinner.” Asher revealed with a grin, “He’ll be gone for two days, at least.”

The cabin started to buzz in excitement. Sebastian, leaning next to him on the wall, edged closer to mutter. “This might just work.” Seb flicked his thumb across his lip, a nervous tick of his.

Mitchell leaned closer to his brother. “It’s a lot better than some of the other plans, at least.”

Seb wrinkled his nose. “Did you even hear Scarlett’s last plan? Like, I get that ‘let’s just throw them in the lake’ worked for Percabeth but Nico does not look like the kind of guy to love a surprise swimming session.”

Mitchell smiled, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for the end of summer.”

Seb gave him an odd look. “You still going back to Indiana for the school year?”

Mitchell shrugged, trying to hide how the heavy the question was. “I guess. Probably.”

Seb looked away and pretended to inspect his nails. “Ya know, my dad and step-mom have been getting kind of stir-crazy since my older brother moved out. They wouldn’t care if you came for a few months. Probably pamper the hell outta ya.” Seb punched his shoulder, more affectionate than anything else. “You could use some San Francisco sun, after all. I know we’re supposed to be fair-skinned and gorgeous but you’re kinda pushing it on the whole ‘pale’ scale.”  

Mitchell grinned, sticking his tongue out, but was thankful for Seb’s offer.

People who wrinkled their nose at Sebastian, who thought he was too loud, too dangerous, too promiscuous, too everything, Mitchell wished that they could see him now, just for a moment. They could see him laughing with his siblings, offering his brother a place to stay, and helping his little sister paint her nails. They could see everything that he was and everything that he tried so hard to hide under his careful eyeliner facade.

Then, Mitchell would remember how they probably didn’t deserve to see him like that, if they were just gonna sneer at them when they walked by.

Being an Aphrodite kid was...difficult at times. Not only were they expected to have the full, complete natural charm of a child of love, but when they were too promiscuous, like Sebastian, or too dramatic, like Scarlett, or too quiet, like Micah, or too flamboyant, like Stefan, or too much of a killjoy, like Mitchell, they were looked at like they were...broken. Like all an Aphrodite kid was supposed to do was put on makeup and gossip about relationships. Which, he means, they do enjoy, but there was so much more life to them than just stressing over what outfit they were gonna wear tomorrow.  

Mitchell loved his siblings, more than he loved the blue sky or the cool breeze, and he just wished everyone else would see them as he did.

Nico was called away that night, just like Micah had said, and the Aphrodite kids watched in nervous anticipation as Will and Nico hugged and whispered goodbyes, hoping and praying for the miracle they were all desperate for. But they both pulled away, said their parting words, and Nico was gone.

His siblings pulled away, disappointed and annoyed from the lack of romantic display, but Mitchell stayed, just a few moments longer. He watched as Will gripped at his hand, the hand that had previously been warmed by Nico’s skin, he watched as Will stood in that spot for a few more minutes, and he thought about how his siblings just weren’t watching for the right kind of display.

The afternoon sun was soft and warm on his skin, and it only echoed the warm feeling in his chest. Micah and Lou Ellen followed him while he talked, and he joyfully noted how loosely Micah’s arm hung around Lou’s shoulders. Micah had been crushing on her for months before she finally asked him out.

“Lou Ellen, it’s been great to get to know you better.” He smiled charmingly, opening the door to their cabin. “And I absolutely know that everyone else will love you too.”

The cascade of voices that poured out of the cabin was frankly a bit alarming, as was the words that accompanied them.

“There’s only one more week until the end of summer!” Lacy squeaked, covering her eyes as she ran past the door, completely aloof to their presence.

“That’s seven days, we can fit at least 21 more attempts in,” Sophia told her seriously, shoving paper towards her. “Three a day is totally doable.”

Scarlett snarled at Sebastian from her top bunk, “No, you’re wrong and I’m right because you’re stupid.”

Stefan, hunched over some sort of metal device, cursed loudly as a spark shot out and bit at his finger. Asher, sitting next to him, only winced and handed over ice pack, almost like he was used to the movement.

Even Sabrina, poor young Sabrina, was poured over graphing paper, probably stolen from the Athena cabin, sweating as Drew yelled out numbers for her to scrawl down.

“It’s not usually like this.” Mitchell blurted after a long moment. He gave them both nervous, apologetic looks as if Micah wasn’t used to it. Lou Ellen, with her poker face unbreaking, said nothing.

“Guys!” Mitchell’s voice was too high, too strangled, but he excused himself on the fact. His siblings whirled towards him, just now noticing their addition, and quieted down for a moment.

“Guys.” He repeated, “This is Lou Ellen. Micah’s new girlfriend . Do you guys anything to say?”

There was a single, terrifying moment of quiet before the storm as Mitchell glared at each one of them, and Sophia was the first to break it.

“You’re Will’s best friend!” She blurted, “We could use you!”

The frenzy towards her was the definition of insanity, hands reaching out, voices high with excitement, and it was a surprise to all of them when Micah - the quietest of them all - stepped in front of Lou with an intense frown in place.

“Calm down.” He only said, still standing in front of Lou Ellen who was - surprisingly - holding back laughter.

“ Micah!” Scarlett’s eyes were brimming with tears, “We need her! We’ll only to borrow her for like, three days, max. Maybe four.”

“I’m done.” Mitchell interrupted, throwing his hands in the air, pouting dramatically. “If this is what crazy I’m gonna have to deal with, I can’t do it any longer, I’m done.”

“ What in the world are you Aphrodite kids goin on about?” Lou Ellen finally spoke up, grinning, as she stood close to Micah. A few of them shot hesitant looks towards Mitchell as if they were asking permission. After all, he was the one who was most avid on keeping it on the down low.

Mitchell waved his hand, silent permission for them to inform her. He buried his head in his arms, a headache already forming from the loud chatter that was starting to erupt from the group. They weren’t used to having to be secret keepers - it probably took a lot out of them. He briefly considered storming off to the Hermes cabin but decided against it.

“Nico and Will? ” Lou Ellen laughed after they’d given her a good amount of information, “They’re best friends!”

“We know.” Sophia’s head hit the table, “They don’t even realize how perfect they are for each other.”

“All they do is spend time together.” Scarlett continued. “Will is the only one that can make Nico laugh after a rough day, and Nico is the only one that can pull Will out of the infirmary.” Sophia banged her head on the table and Lacy slid her hand under her forehead before she could do it again.

“They’re kind of perfect for each other.” Stefan finished. “After all, we would know .”

Lou Ellen thought about it, “I don’t think so.” She dismissed, mostly for the fact that this was Will they were talking about, and she’d go down in her grave defending that boy. But she thought about the lingering looks she’s caught them giving each other, and about the rare sound of Nico’s loose laugh. She filed away the fact in her mind before leaning back into Micah, his arms wrapping around her nicely.

“Comfortable?” He smiled down at her, and she always liked his words. His words were rare, but special, and she always felt remarkable when he’d gift her with a few.

She buried her face in his warm jacket and smiled. “Very.”

She hung out with her boyfriend and his too-many crazy siblings for a while longer, but she couldn’t forget what they’d said, and how they might have been kind of right.

“You’re moping.” She observed, crossing his arms. The Apollo cabin was surprisingly empty, but that probably had more to do with Will’s sour mood than any coincidence.   

“Am not.” Will frowned, taking an aggressive bite of a Twizzler.

She cocked her head to the side. “Nico’s gone, and you’re moping.”

Will didn’t answer and only flicked her off, instead focusing his gaze on the large open book in front of him. She took a deep breath. Now or never.

"What's his favorite kind of firework?" She interjected, breaking his focus. Her voice, strong and even, did not even attempt to edge around nonchalance, and instead sprung straight into an obvious, fierce note.

"What?" Will looked up to give her a startled look. “What are you talking about?”

“Nico.” Lou sighed and tried to be patient, "Of all the fireworks during the end of year fireworks, which ones are his favorite?"

Will stared at her for a long moment, "The gold ones, the ones that kind of drips through the sky."

"Exactly."

“What are you talking about? What is that even suppose to mean?”

“Will…” Lou met his eyes, “You’re not going to get what I’m saying at first and I don't know how to explain it, but...you and Nico…you’re for each other. Like, you’re perfect for each other.”

“What?” Will stood and took a step back, looking as if Lou was insane. “What are you talking about?”

“What’s his favorite food?” She attempted again, wishing one of those crazy Aphrodite kids were here to explain it.

Will looked confused, “McDonalds.”

Lou gave him a disgusted look, “Really? Okay, um, ew.”

“How does me knowing some basic facts about my best friend mean we should….” Will seemed to have trouble with the word.

“What’s my favorite movie?” She questioned, giving him a look. “What’s my favorite book? Or tv show?”

Will swallowed, “Look, if this is because I haven’t been a good friend the past few weeks –“

“Now, take the questions I just asked you and answer them if I’d asked them about Nico.” She waited for a moment. “You can answer them, can’t you?”

“That doesn’t –“

“Look.” She interrupted again. “I’m not gonna force you to date Nico di Angelo. But someone recently explained it to me and…I can see it. I can see how you two just…balance. It works. It’s Nico-and-Will, not Nico…Will.”

“We’re best friends.” Will defended weakly, sitting down onto his bunk. His open book slid down his bed, falling off his bed with a thick thud, but they both ignored it.

“Will, tell me right now you’ve never wanted or considered anything more and I’ll never bring it up again.” Lou almost pleaded, “If you don’t want this, I’ll drop it.” She promised.

“Of course I’ve wanted more!” Will’s high voice sounded almost like a yell in his quiet cabin, and Lou took an instinctive step back. “Of course.” He repeated, dropping his voice. “Have you met Nico? He’s…amazing..”

“Then why haven’t you…”

“He’s not ready,” Will answered, looking away. “And, yeah, I know it’s cliché, but I kind of don’t want to lose my best friend in the world, so yeah.”

“Shouldn’t he, ya know, help make the decision?” Lou asked softly, seating herself next to Will.

“Lou…I can’t risk it.” He gave her the saddest smile she’d ever seen, and her heart broke a little. “After all, we both know I’m not a Gryffindor. Hufflepuff all the way, right?”

“Hufflepuffs are loyal to a fault.” Lou ran her fingers through his hair. “Is that why you agreed to go out with Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin a few weeks back?”

“Yeah.” He answered, his voice soft. “But I couldn’t hurt him like that – it wouldn’t be fair to Mitchell to be my rebound when there was nothing to get over.”

“You know, like, the Aphrodite cabin has been trying to get you two together since June, right?”

Will choked on the air, “Wait, what?”

Lou nodded her head, “Yup. They’re the ones who introduced the idea to me.”

“Wait…” Will stopped for a moment. “Why were you hanging out with the Aphrodite cabin?” He grinned, “Micah?”

Her cheeks colored, “Shut up, we’re talking about you. And he’s not even close to the certain brand of crazy that comes with most of those kids. I mean, you’ve met Scarlett, right?”

“I’ve treated Scarlett.” He shot back, “Not. Fun. When she broke her wrist last summer, she asked me if she could get her cast in blood red for a ‘kick-ass accessory’ and to ‘warn her enemies’.” He shook his head.

Lou sighed in the silence. “Will.” She waited until he was looking at her before she kept going. “Will, he carries your Epipen. Your only Epipen.” Her eyes flickered away. “I think – You –“ She started over. “I think you should talk to him.”

“He's not going to be back for another day.” He answered weakly, glancing away.

She rolled her eyes and stood. “Then talk to him when he gets back.” She was headed towards the door but stopped, glancing back. “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t think you had the guts to do it.”

Will locked his gaze on a particularly interesting dust bunny, and went on saying nothing. Lou sighed, leans in to press a dry kiss to his curly hair, and left quietly.

He thought about her words for a while, knowing and hating how right each of them were.

He calls in sick for the infirmary the next morning - an extremely poor lie considering how all of his siblings can literally feel his healthiness - but his brother only gives Will a small frown and a pat on the back when he leaves to cover Will’s shift the next morning.

The seems to work, for a bit at least, as all his siblings give him an arm's length of space at all times. He hears their soft voices over the plush cotton blanket he's stuffed around his head, and his sister’s high voice is easily heard over their soft whispers. He hears them leave - the clacking of flip-flops and the squeaking of their sneakers.

He relaxes, mistaking this quiet before the storm as him being left alone. But a familiar weight - his sister, probably, from the purposeful elbow he received in the side - is thrown in next to him on his small bunk. She takes her time with making herself comfortable,  burrowing herself in space beside him, before finally speaking up.

“Nico's back tomorrow morning,” Hina told him, her voice a practiced nonchalance, popping her gum as she pretends to look over her magazine with her feet in the air. “I'm gonna assume you're not gonna actually do anything, am I right?”

Will didn't answer, only burying himself deeper into his blanket cocoon. He briefly considered flicking her off but decided against it, as Hina’s temper was legendary.

There was silence for a long moment before, suddenly, he was being flipped through the air, flailing as he fell through the air, until he was an aching mess on the wooden ground.

Hina stood above him, scowling, as she held up the edge of the blanket she had pulled out from under him.

“What?” She bit out, “What's this all about?”

Will glared at her, scrambling up to his feet. “This isn't any of your business, Hina.”

She rolled her eyes, a bit mean, and blew air into her multicolored bangs. They were black, as always, but the electric blue additions were recent. “You're right. And if you were handling this like a normal, functioning teenager, then it wouldn't be. But your little isolation thing -” She gestured towards his wrinkled pajamas, and the blanket that pooled at both of your feet. “is starting to scare the kids, who won't fucking stop asking about you, and I'm tired of making up different lies. So, now that it is officially my problem.”

Will, softening at the mention of his siblings, refused to let her see. “Go away Hina.”

She continued to glare at him, her eyes fierce and angry like - yes it’s cheesy - the sun. “What’s your problem?”

Will scoffed, bending over to pick up his blanket, mostly as an excuse not to look her in the eye. “What’s my problem? You’re the one who stomped in here and threw me off my bed.”

She crossed her arms, persistent in her anger. “What the hell is your problem?” She only repeated, her voice hard. “So, what, you finally come to your senses about Nico di - fucking - Angelo and you’re just gonna sit around like a heartbroken pre-teen?”  

He finally looked to her, his cutting gaze like a knife, and she had to resist flinching back from it. “Who told you that?” He demanded, pulling himself up to his full length.

She rolled her eyes, “Who do you think?” She sighed at his stormy expression, the sound somehow angry and frustrated at the same time, “And don’t be mad at Lou Ellen. Surprisingly, your friends actually care enough to be concerned when you fall into yourself and refuse to talk to anyone.”

Her voice was mean, but the words held true meaning. Will sighed, his sigh not anywhere near the emotion that Hina’s had carried, and fell back on his bed.

He stared at the ground, not speaking up when Hina’s body fell in place next to his.

“What’s the problem?” She repeated. “There’s more than you’re saying.”

And she was right, because she was always right.

He could taste the words right now, could feel the first syllables pressing against his teeth, but he swallowed them down.

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” He told her, the words weak.

She shoved him, not very rough, but the action still had meaning. “Next.” She ordered.

“He’s not ready for a relationship right now.” He tried, attempting to make the words more concrete.

“Nope.” She only answered, examining her chipped nails.

“What do you want me to say?” He questioned widely, his voice exasperated.

“Uh, the truth.” She answered with an eye roll, “Just tell me what’s really up and I’m out.”

And that was it. The last straw.

“Fine.” He threw his hands in the air, “You want to know? Fine. Fine.” He stood, his body aching to pace, to run, to do anything except sit there and allow Hina to push and poke her fingers through his flesh wounds.

“The last person Nico liked…” Will looked away, “They didn't exactly return the feelings. And I look at this person and I just...I see everything that Nico wants . And I’m... nothing compared to his person. I’m, honestly, the exact opposite really. I’m quiet and awkward and not nearly as funny or anything.” Will swallowed, his voice quiet. “I’m no hero. And Nico deserves, and wants, better.”

There was quiet in the cabin for a moment before Hina finally spoke up. “That’s stupid.”

She stood, looming over him. He always noticed her height at extremely inconvenient times, such as when they were in the middle of a fight. She placed her hands on her hips, staring him down. “So this all comes back to Nico’s age-old, totally done and over with crush on Percy Jackson?”

Will jolted, a strike of surprise going through him. “Wait, what? You know?”

Hina rolled her eyes, “Of course I do. I know everything.”

Will continued to stare to her, and she crossed her arms in mild defense. “It was kind of obvious, ya know.” She told him, her voice matter-of-fact. 

Will said nothing, waiting. Hina sighed roughly, frustration in the sound. “Okay, fine, Sebastian from the Aphrodite cabin told me when we flirting around last summer. But I've known about it since like forever.”

Will shook his head, still shocked that she knew. “And he thought that telling you that would help his cause?”

She smirked. “What can I say, he knows that secrets are what get me going.”

Will groaned, the earlier mood starting to shift away, and he covered his eyes. “I really, absolutely, totally do not need to know what ‘gets you going’.”

She only shrugged, letting that piece of conversation go before returning to their earlier topic.  “Basically what you’re telling me is that all of this traces back to some self-esteem issues?”

This time, it was Will who rolled his eyes. “Well, if you’re going to make it sound so simple, then sure.”

Hina caught his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. “Listen.” She demanded, “You like Nico. Nico definitely likes you. Sure, you’re no Percy Jackson in terms of Greek myth worthiness. But you’re Will.” Her eyes dropped, her long eyelashes brushing against her cheeks. “You’re caring and kind and you always make sure everyone else is okay.” Her eyes met his, and they were sparkling. “And it helps, dear brother, that you’re not completely unfortunate looking.”

Will lightly shoved her away, no real force in the action. She leaned her head on his shoulder, her choppy hair brushing his neck, and she let him absorb the words.

“You think he likes me?” Will’s voice was small, and hesitate. His words were as big as he could make them, which wasn't very big at all.

Hina turned her head and smiled against her brother’s skin. “Yeah. I do.”

Will nodded like he was trying to believe it. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”

They sat like that, neither of them speaking. There was just quietness. They sat like that, still and leaning on each other, not even thinking hard of all the possibilities that tomorrow could be filled with.

Will put his arm around his sister, and she understood. She wrapped her own arms around him in a quick hug, and their unspoken conversation was clear.

It was okay. They were okay. Everything would be okay.

Chapter Text

"She was told to expect fireworks,

but his lips set her whole heart on fire." 

- Unknown 

Will went back to the infirmary the next morning, knowing how unfair it was to ditch his siblings when they were in such overtime because of the Stolls. He almost wanted to confront the two, but let's be honest, it probably had something to do with Katie or Mitchell, and none of the injuries were particularly bad, and the romantic in Will was all in favor of love, so he let it go.

He was stuck with mostly follow-ups of other patients that had already been treated, as well as a literal mountain of paperwork, so at least he was busy during his long shift.

Kayla, tending to a slightly burned patient (courtesy of the lava war that broke out earlier that morning), shot him more than one concerned look before she finally spoke up.

“Feeling better from yesterday?” She questioned, her voice a distracted mutter as she measured out a small chunk of ambrosia.

“Yeah.” He agreed simply, not going on any further. He made an elaborate signature on the whatever document he was filling out and flipped it over.

“Yeah?” She questioned again, this time meeting his gaze. Her kind eyes were worried, and they flickered over him with a nervous energy.

“Yeah.” He repeated with a slight smile, his voice stronger. She seemed to accept this, returning the smile, and leaving with the block of ambrosia.

He watched her go, suddenly struck with how great his siblings were. He should do something for them, maybe talk the Stolls into doing them a special occasions favor and getting him a box of ice cream bars for them.

He smiled softly. They would like that.  

He didn’t walk with Kayla to lunch, which he knew would be a cause of concern for them, but he really honestly did have a few papers he wanted to fill out before he left, so he waved Kayla off and quickly finished a few supply orders before joining them.

They all looked to him when he finally made his way over to the mess hall. Kayla, popping chips into her mouth, crushing loudly, only raised her eyebrows and nodded to the seat next to her. Lukas, second oldest after him, didn’t ask any questions, only moved over a bit to make more room for him. He sat, and he could only remark upon how similar their behavior was to the days after the mushroom omelet incident. Their eyes were watchful but didn’t linger, and the quiet was purposeful, but occasionally broken. A few of the younger kids, Marisol, at 11, and Kiren, at 10, watched him with wide, big eyes, clearly under instruction not to question him. Hina, across from him, was clearly too cool to be worried about him, but that didn’t stop her from shoving over the other half of her sandwich towards him.  

He cracked a smile at them, “So...how’s everyone doin’ this fine sunny day?”

Austin, at the end of the table where he usually sat scrawling out new music, snorted at that. Kayla, too caring and too concerned Kayla, only elbowed him before looking back to Will.

“We’re all good.” She told him, her words careful, “How are you?”

Will sighed, but it was soft enough to conceal. “Guys.” He spoke to each of them, turning his head so he could meet all of their eyes. “I’m good. I needed a mental health day yesterday, but I’m good now, alright?”

He said that last part to the younger kids - the ones who needed that reassurance the most.

The kids nodded happily, accepting this, and his older watched him with attentive but believing, eyes. Marisol grabbed onto his arm excitedly, launching into a story about the hurt bird they had patched with up with the Demeter cabin yesterday, while the others continued into regular teasing conversation.

He headed back to the cabin after lunch, his morning shift done and finished. He entertained a few of the younger kids until it was time for their time on the Volleyball court, and their physical humor exhausted him after only an hour.

He rubbed at his greasy eyes as Lukas lead them out, groaning as he stretched out on his bunk.

And then Lou was there because she always seemed to know when he needed her, and he’d like to blame it on the magic but honestly, Lou was just a kickass friend.

She sat at the foot of his bed, her hand rubbing circles on his back as she reassured him everything he needed to hear but would absolutely refuse to ask for. She cracked herself open, spilling her thoughts and worries to him, knowing he needed to hear someone else’s baggage for a second.

She held onto his hand, and he could acknowledge this as the moment when he labeled her His Person (because as trashy and horrible and dramatic Grey's Anatomy was, he loved it, okay? And Meredith Grey could kick anyone’s ass on an off day, and take over the surgical world on a good one, and he absolutely adored it.)

And Lou let him say all of this out loud, probably judging him for it but not saying so, and he was grateful. He fell asleep mid-ramble, and she only covered him with a blanket before shutting the door behind her.

She knew when he needed her, because it was usually around the time she needed him too.

“Nico’s back.” Lou Ellen came to him later that night after dinner, her voice a quiet, hesitant mutter. She squeezed his shoulder and lightly pushed him towards the door, her face twisted in an expression of hardly concealed concern.

Will squeezed his eyes shut, shook his head, and made his way towards the other cabin.

The Hades cabin was as dark and brooding as ever. The green flaming torches glowed softly, casting a low light across the building. The poet in Will reminisced only on the fact that the glow seemed to only like a light calling and guiding him home. There was a muted shine behind the dark curtains and rustling behind them, and Will swallowed at the suddenness of the whole situation. Will stood on the doorstep and listening to the muffled sounds coming from inside, the noise of unpacking, and the faint note of Nico’s low humming.

Will almost resented the pocket of joy that rested in his chest at this fact. Nico only hummed when he was happy and cleaning.

Will didn’t bother knocking, after all, that would have only set Nico off right away and made it weird. So he went in, the door creaking before him, and had to spare a small smile.

“Will!” Nico grinned, rushing forward. He was full on grinning, an act that was becoming more and more common, and he allowed Will to give him a rare, tight hug.

“So much has happened in New Rome!” Nico gushed, dumping out the contents of his bag. “I brought you this great new candy they have over there -”

“Nico.” Will interrupted, his voice a quiet mutter.

“- it changes flavors in your mouth, it's so cool! Hazel bought me like, a pound of it -”

Will sighed, softly with warmth in his chest, and spoke up, firm and loud this time.  “Nico, what's my favorite food?”

Nico cut himself off, gave him a confused look, but answered. “Omelets, with feta cheese and green peppers. Why?”

Will sighed, “Nico, when I dated Malcolm for two weeks, he would, without fail, bring me Frosted Flakes for lunch every day.”

Nico wrinkled his nose, “You only eat cereal for dinner. And you never eat the surgery stuff.”

Will gave him a small, almost sad smile. “You're right.”

Nico rolled his eyes, pulling himself away from all his things on the bed. “Of course I'm right.” Nico eyed him, noticing the hard lines in Will’s shoulders, and the strange stillness in Will’s hands. “What’s up with you?”

Will took a deep breath. “Nico…”

The other boy gave him a small grin, trying to soothe Will’s anxious mood. “Will…?”

Will took a moment, a single fleeting moment, to reconsider Lou’s advice and Hina’s words. He considered the flutter of Nico’s now nervous eyes and the mess that his soft black hair fanned out into.

Will cleared his throat, praying his voice was as strong as possible and spoke slowly. “Nico...I think we need to talk about this. Us.”

Nico’s eyes went wide, and his lips parted in surprise. “Wait - wait, what do you mean? What about us?”

“Like...what are we, Nico?” Will attempted to clarify, his voice the same note.

Nico seemed to be lost for words, and a part of Will just wanted to drop it, just ignore the conversation until it disappeared completely and they went back to normal. But the other part...the part of Will that still clung to hope and romance and happily-ever-afters...it craved something else entirely.

“We’re...we’re best friends.” Nico seemed confused. “Right?”

“Of course we are.” Will told him, “You’re my best friend in the entire world. But...Nico.” Will had to take a moment for the realization that, gods, this could ruin everything. He continued on, sending a quick prayer to Aphrodite. “Nico, most best friends aren’t like us.”

“What do you mean?” Nico asked, his body holding stiff lines that hadn’t been there for months.

“Nico...Lou’s my best friend too, ya know?” Nico gave him a quick, confused nod. “But...I don’t hold hands with Lou when we’re walking. And - and I don’t know Lou’s favorite food to eat when she’s sad or the song she last listened to. And -” Will’s voice broke, dipping down in the middle of the word, but he continued on. “And Lou isn’t my automatic person to go to when anything happens and Lou isn’t the last person I think of every night because it’s you, Nico. It’s always been you, and I can’t get you out of my head and honestly I really, really don’t want to because…”

Nico stared at him, his eyes wide and scared and surprised in the same second. “Because?” He questioned, his voice soft.

“Because I really like you, Nico.” He finished, dropping his gaze, “And not as a best friend.” He blinked away the moisture gathering in his eyes, and his throat felt like sandpaper as he got the words out. “And - and I completely understand if you’re not comfortable with me anymore and I can just leave if you want -”

But then Nico was there, his strong, lean arms wrapping around Will’s waist, pulling him closer.

“You’re not leaving,” Nico told him, his voice calm and low. “And...I like you too. Not as a best friend.”

The wave of relief that hit Will was intoxicating, and he was almost knocked off his feet by the sheer intensity of it. He wrapped his arms around the other boy, probably too tightly. He let out a loose laugh, a bit hysterical, but giddy with the pressure of anxiety off his chest.

They held each other, the quiet filled with a hundred different meanings. Will held onto the other boy desperately, wishing it were possible to say in that moment of relief forever. Nico felt scared, of what was yet to come, and everything that was going to change.

But they were together, and no matter what happened in that moment or the ones after that, they were together.

Will would fumble out some words after that, stumbling and falling in the wrong places, but would eventually manage to ask Nico out to the fireworks show.

Nico would smile and agree, because of course he would because hell, Nico’s been thinking along these lines for a while as well.

They separated, vague plans in place to meet each other, and Will would leave, even though he usually stayed to curfew.

Will shut the door behind him but stayed a moment, leaning on the door, and took a deep, relieving breath.

And then promptly began to freak the fuck out.

Will straightened out the corner of the blanket for the tenth time, wondering if it actually kept wrinkling every few minutes, or if it was just his imagination.

He frowned, running his hand over the other side of the blanket, and knew by this that the blanket was simply out to get him.

His hands were frantic over the fabric, dancing over it and fixing any possible imperfection. He picked off a piece of lint, briefly entertaining the thought of returning to his cabin and grabbing a different one. He glanced around, other campers beginning to get in place for the show, and decided not to risk losing his spot for nonexistent problems. A shadow fell over the laid out blanket and his heart jumped into his throat, and he turned expecting to see Nico and -

“Hey, lovebird.” Mitchell smiled down at him, Connor’s arm draped loosely around his waist. “How’re you? Waiting for Nico?”

Will smiled up at him, a bit of the unease creeping back into his gut, “Hey Mitchell, Connor! Yeah, uh, he should on his way. Got a good show planned this year?”

Connor grinned, “As always, of course. Speaking of --" He turned towards Mitchell, who was giving him a bemused look. “I actually have to get going if we want to start anytime soon.”

Mitchell sighed dramatically, “First boyfriend all summer and I don’t even get to see the fireworks with him! The most romantic event of the year and the Aphrodite co-counselor doesn’t have a date, it’s a damn tragedy.”

Connor laughed like he’d heard this a million times. “If you want there to be a firework show, someone needs to run it, ya know.”

“You’re a failure as my boyfriend,” Mitchell told him with faux seriousness before continuing. “Go! Leave me be to lick my wounds and force me to watch Lacy try to stuff an entire piece of pizza in her mouth in one bite.” Mitchell shuttered.

“That girl is amazing and my protégé.” Connor leaned in, giving Mitchell a quick peck. “Have fun with your siblings, I’ll meet with you afterward.”

“I’m running away with Travis.” Mitchell told him nonchalantly, “We’ll elope and adopt many puppies together.”

“Have fun dealing with Katie then, because I’m pretty sure that’s her exact plan too.” Connor smiled at him, plain adoration in his eyes.

Mitchell eyed him for a moment before knocking their hips together, “Go. The show must go on, despite what my lonely heart longs for.”

Connor, still smiling, gave him a second peck before disappearing. Mitchell smiled softly at him as he left, his expression fond as he hugged a large plush blanket to his chest.

“You guys seem good,” Will commented, smiling. “And I see the blue’s starting to wash out.” Will gestured towards Mitchell’s hair, now a soft, faded color.

Mitchell turned his smile on him. “Yeah, I’m thinking maybe purple next. Why be subtle, ya know?” His eyes flickered over the empty space next to Will, and the obvious anxiety stretched over his skin. “When’s Nico coming?”

“Uh, few more minutes.” Will’s leg bounced out a random rhythm beside him, and he tried to calm down.

“It’s gonna be great.” Mitchell gave him a soft, reassuring lift of his lips. “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be awkward for a second but...it’s you guys. You’ll be fine.”

Will managed to get his leg under control before meeting Mitchell’s soft gaze. “Yeah...yeah, I know. It’s just, different, ya know?”

Mitchell laughed, hanging his head in amusement. “Yeah, I know. Trust me, it’s weird and totally new territory at first, but then it becomes everything.” Mitchell adjusted his blanket before waving to someone behind Will, “My siblings are here. It’s gonna be fine, trust me, seriously. And if you need anything, we’ll be like, three blanket spaces away tops. So like, if you want to do any crazy big spontaneous signs of your love, well, my boyfriend has complete access to fireworks.”

That at least had Will laughing, his posture a bit looser, and his smile a bit easier. Mitchell met up with his siblings, mostly just the younger ones, and laid out on the blanket with a steaming pizza box. Will briefly wondered where in the world they got a fresh pizza but remembered, oh yeah, perks of dating a Hermes kid, or to be specific, a Stoll.

“Hey.”

Will swallowed, not really prepared for the soft, vulnerable note of Nico’s voice. He turned, stumbling up into a standing position, and cleared his throat.

“Hey,” Will repeated, just staring at the other boy for a long second. “Do you - do you want to sit down? They should be starting soon, I uh, I think.”

Nico smiled, but it was a nervous smile, and Will took a moment to be grateful that he knew enough of Nico’s smiles to be able to classify them.

“Sure,” Nico responded, lowering himself onto the blanket Will had carefully smoothed out.

It was awkward. Mitchell, unfortunately, hadn’t made that up. Will licked his lips, probably about to word vomit the fuck out, but, thankfully, someone interrupted before he had the chance.

“Sparkler?” One of the younger Aphrodite girls - Sabrina? - held one out to them with a shy smile. She had a few unlit ones clenched in her palms, but she held out the lit one to Nico. It was bright and gold and brilliant, and the sparks reached out like extended stars.

“Oh!” Nico jumped, the young girl clearly sneaking up on him. “Uh, Sure. Thank you.”

She handed it over with careful fingers before passing the unlit ones to Will, along with a simple Bic lighter.

“Have fun.” Her quiet voice told them, returning to her crowd of staring siblings. Nico, noticing the shameless starters, only leaned over and gave Will an uneasy look.

“They, uh,” Will struggled with his words, “They think we’re cute, um, together. I guess.”  

Nico watched them, his eyebrows raised. “Do they now.”

“Yeah…” Will considered telling him about their crazy summer long plan but filed it away for later.

“Be careful,” Will warned on instinct as the spark began to eat away the wire by Nico’s hands, his hands coming up to cup around Nico's.

“Watch out.” Nico scowled, jerking the open flame away. “You're gonna get yourself burnt, dummy.”

“Better me than you,” Will muttered softly, not really thinking about it.

Nico stares at him for a long moment, and he turned his head to hide his growing blush. “Shut up.” He muttered, but there was a hint of a smile beginning on his cheeks.  He carefully placed the now used sparkler wire down, putting the supplies away and sparing Will a small smile

Will grinned, this teasing familiar. He was about to answer, probably witty and funny, something to make Nico laugh at least, but before he could get the words out, the high, loud scream of firecrackers interrupted him.

The first firework shot up into the sky, and there was an explosion of color across the sky. Will, in a sudden moment of confidence he could only attribute to the bundle of sweet grapes he had burnt for Aphrodite that morning, reached over and grabbed Nico's hand, squeezing it softly. Nico, without glancing over, held the other boy's hand tightly.  

There was the sudden sound of bells of laughter, and Will glanced over to see the Aphrodite kids laughing and playfully pushing Mitchell around, who was covering his face.

Bright pink and blue fireworks, enchanted it would seem, danced across the sky spelling out “M+C” with a red hearts surrounding it.  

“M+C?” Nico questioned, never the one to keep up with camp gossip.

“Mitchell, from Aphrodite, and Connor Stoll.” Will chuckled, nudging Nico's attention to where Mitchell was still being teased by his siblings.

Nico nodded in understanding. “How long has that been going on?”

Will rolled his eyes, almost fondly.  “Practically forever.”

Nico hummed in response, absorbing the information.

“That must have been weird for them,” Nico said suddenly, his eyes glued on a few purple and green fireworks chasing each other across the sky.

“Hmm?” Will questioned, his attention peeled from the show momentarily.

“Like, you know.” At Will's confused gaze, he only sighed, frustrated at his own lack of words. He tried again, “They were...friends, right?” Nico looked away. “That must have been weird. To be friends and everything's normal and great and then, suddenly everything's different and strange and new.”

Will felt his throat tighten up at the emotion rising up in the other boy.  “Nico…”

Nico swallowed, and action was obvious even from where Will was sitting. “I'm not gonna start calling you sweetheart or baby or anything like that.”

“Of course not, that's my job.” Will agreed, the nervous emotion in him almost screaming at him to TALK JUST TALK ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW THIS SECOND.

“And sometimes, I just need to be left alone. Like, it's not you or anything but sometimes I just need to recharge by myself for a while.”

“I know that, Nico.” Will reminded him gently, his voice soft.

“And…” Nico tilted his head away slightly, hiding his face. “I'm pretty new to this, so like, don't expect me to know everything and be perfect at it.”

Will didn't answer that time, at least not verbally.  He touched Nico's shoulder, waiting a few seconds for the other boy to pull away if he needed to and when that moment never came, he pulled Nico into his chest. His hands hovered over Nico's skin as if it were delicate china, finally settling over his elbow to rest.

“Look,” Will instructed, his voice a soft whisper as he bent close to Nico's ear. “It's your favorite.”

The other boy looked up, and the gold glitter dripping across the dark night sky was beautiful.

Nico leaned against him, his head turned, and he was staring up at Will with something like hesitation.  

“You…” He struggled in getting the words out. “You've always reminded me of gold fireworks.”

Will, wide-eyed and surprised, took a moment before answering. “I do?”

Nico was staring at the sky now, smiling a bit as the fireworks covered the sky and the smoke filled the air. “Yeah. They're beautiful, aren't they?”

Will looked up too, and he and Nico stared at the sky, their hands entwined. “They are.”

Nico's eyes flickered down to Will, but the other boy didn't notice. The dim lighting, coming from only the lights in the sky and a campfire further down the hill, haloed around Will's curls and made his skin glow. Will was smiling softly, and his eyes were lit up with the reflections of the colors dancing in the darkness.  

Nico tightened his grip on the other boy's hand and said nothing. Will held back, just as desperate, and their quiet language was full of emotion and meaning.  

They wouldn’t kiss that night, but their hands were tangled together, despite the sweat that was beginning to cover both of their palms, and this act was as significant as if they had.

It was awkward, there would be moments where it would be difficult and strange and they both had to adjust, but then they would move on and it would be amazing and stunning and breathtaking.

The fireworks screamed and danced across the sky, and their beauty and impossibility seemed to make up everything that they were feeling in that moment.

They were going to be okay, and they knew this, but their hands, tangled together with firework smoke surrounding both of them, only reassured them of this.

They were going to be okay.

 “Can we even do this? Is this allowed?"

“Of course we can do this,” Mitchell muttered to her from the corner of his mouth. Piper was charming the small crowd before he went on and, from the high giggles and muffled laughter, it was going well.

“Don’t the rules say -”

“The rules don’t say shit, Scarlett.” He rolled his eyes, “As fourth oldest you have the honor of presenting this with me, mostly because Drew didn’t want too, but if you really don’t think you can do it I can always ask Asher -”

She growled, swiping away the small box from his hands. “This is ridiculous.” She hissed.

“Yeah, I’m aware.” Mitchell grinned at the small crowd, catching the eyes of one particular Stoll Brother. “Now c’mon, we’re on.”

Scarlett scowled but trenched up next to Piper, who was introducing them.

“Now.” Mitchell grinned, clapping his hands together. “This year has been particularly eventful for the Aphrodite cabin. From many, many pranks,” He shot an obvious look towards the Hermes side of the crowd, who shamelessly cheered themselves on. “To some…unexpected relationships, to say the least,” This time his own cheeks burned, and someone, probably one of his own siblings, let out a long whistle. “And to, as some will remember it, the Great Challenge. This challenge not only brought us together as siblings and friends but also brought together two people who didn’t even know they were apart.” His eyes lingered on the two guests of honor, seated closely on a wrinkled blanket looking like they’d rather be nowhere else than a silly ceremony. “Now, the moment I’m sure you’ve all been eagerly waiting….” He gestured for Scarlett to stand closer, showing off the gold envelope and small box. “Matchmaker of the year award. Scarlett, would you like to say a few words?”

Scarlett cut a glare towards him, “Of course.” Her pleasant voice promised nothing of sorts for him later as she stepped forward. “This is the most honored award in the Aphrodite cabin, and whoever receives it better be worth it.” She stepped back, pleased with the slight threat in her voice.

“Alrighty.” Mitchell continued on with a cheerful voice, ignoring his sister entirely. “Scarlett, the envelope if you would.” He took the paper and cracked open the seal, briefly wondering who had access to wax and stamp before realizing, uh

Athena kids, and read the words as if he wasn’t the one who wrote them.

“And the winner of this year’s matchmaker of the year award is…Lou Ellen!”

“Whaaaaaaaaaat!” Lou Ellen jumped up, her voice a loud, obnoxious scream. “For realskis?” She grinned at Scarlett like she hadn’t been notified last week. Scarlett scowled, crossing her arms. Lou Ellen winked, leaning in, “Don’t worry darlin’ I won’t be taking your precious poster. I’m more of an Adele fan, anyways.”

“I’m going to kill you. Slowly. With many knives.” Scarlett told her through clenched teeth.

“Just make sure not to scratch the medal, mkay?" Lou teased, throwing the award around her neck.

Mitchell walked away, somewhat trusting Scarlett not to follow through on her threat, or at least trusting her to wait until there weren’t so many witnesses. He grinned at a certain curly haired boy and pulled him into a hug.

“Hey.” Mitchell pulled away, giving him a short peck on the cheek. “How bored were you through that whole thing?”

“Mmm.” Connor pretended to think. “Maybe like a four? It helped that I got a certain mention in your little speech, really got the blood moving.”

“Good to know that’s what really gets you going. Now I won’t have to waste my time with any more date antics.”

“Hey.” Connor held up a finger before dropping his wrists around Mitchell’s waist, “I

date antics. Don’t knock the date antics.”

“If you say so.” Mitchell grinned, hanging his hands off the ends of Connor’s flannel. He traced the camp logo with his pinky and met Connor’s eyes. “Wanna get out of here?”

Connor smiled, “Don’t you have responsibilities?”

Mitchell turned his head, still in Connor’s arms and observed. Scarlett and Lou were still bickering in front of the crowd, but Scarlett seemed to have realized they had an audience and was now playing it up for the attention, which Lou didn’t seem to mind with Micah at her side. Will and Nico were still on their dirty blanket but now Sabrina had joined them, and Will seemed to be really engaged in whatever they were talking about – probably Sabrina’s latest dream of becoming a pediatrician. Piper was there, sitting with Jason, but she seemed to be giving Asher her full attention. Jason was leaned back talking to Nico and, to his surprise, Lacy, who usually didn’t talk to other cabins, but especially older kids. Sebastian was worryingly absent, but also was Kayla from the Apollo cabin, so he didn’t worry about it much.  Drew, who usually sat by herself at these kinds of things, and tried to bite off anyone’s head to tried to accompany her, was sitting with Stefan and Sophia, and she didn’t even look like she was going to pull out a knife on them. His lips quirked up in a small smile and he exchanged a quick salute with Piper, who rolled her eyes goodheartedly and shooed him away.

“They’re gonna just fine without me.” He turned his smile back on his boyfriend - his wonderful, goofy, amazing boyfriend – and pulled away so they could walk together.

“Well, I can think of one person who wouldn’t be ‘just fine’ without you.” Connor teased, grabbing onto his hand.

“You’re right.” Mitchell agreed, laughter in his voice. “Travis would be devastated." 

Connor elbowed him as they laughed and grabbed at each other’s hands. At this moment, in this moment right here, everything was perfect.

And they were going to be just fine.

Epilogue/Bonus Scene

"Look at them." Stefan hissed, lifting the curtain a bit so his siblings could peek through. Nico’s nose and cheeks burned harsh reds - not from any emotion but because of the recent chilled weather the camp had been suffering from. Will’s tan arms were on surprising display - especially because the Apollo kids were notoriously overdramatic when it came to winter, and they usually bundled up in winter gear when the air even had the barest of chill. Nico was scowling down at the sweater in Will’s extended hand, but accepted it, as well as the addition of Will’s thick blue scarf, after only a few more shivering seconds. Will pecked a quick kiss on the other boy's cheek, smiling softly.

A groan was heard through the cabin. Sophia fell to the ground, moaning and covering her face, and Stefan quickly followed.  

“It's almost worse now.” Sophia reflected from her place on the ground, staring at the ceiling in remorse.

“They’re so completely in love and all we can do is lightly stalk them and follow them around on their dates,” Lacy added on, burying her face in a plush pillow.

“You what?" Mitchell answered as he stood, his voice incredulous.

“Nothing.” They both answered - along with, surprisingly, Drew.

Mitchell glared at them but dropped it after a couple of seconds. It was the holiday time, and if that was the worst they were gonna get up to, he figured he could give it to them.

“Have you seen the new group of campers that came in last night?” Sophia gushed suddenly, quickly standing.

Stefan held on to her hands tightly, jumping in excitement. “Did you see how close those two girls were standing? They are totally going to be a thing!”

Lacy sighed, a bit dreamy. “Did you see that one girl? The one with the golden curls?”

Asher snickered, elbowing him lightly. “Her first real crush.” He grinned dangerously. “Let the hormones begin.”

Mitchell groaned, throwing his hands up. “She’s only thirteen! I thought we still had time!”

Micah patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Just wait till Sabrina starts dating.” He shook his head, “Her partner’s are all gonna have to face the wrath of the Aphrodite kids.”

“What about me?” Sabrina’s small voice brought their eyes to the ground, where she was hidden away in the corner.

Mitchell cocked his head to the side, curious, and broke off to get closer to her. “Just that we love you.” He told her. “What are you doing, sweetheart?”  

Sabrina blinked up at him, and now he could clearly see how her big brown eyes were lined with dark, messy eyeliner.

“It's a work in progress,” Sebastian told him, emerging from gods-know-where, his own eyeliner leading into a perfect wing.

“Sebastian is going to teach me how to look like him!” Sabrina told him happily, hugging a mirror to her chest.

“Right down to the ripped jeans and combat boots.” He smiled at her, wide and slightly teasing, but genuine. “You ready for all that?”

She thought for a moment. “Can I still wear the butterfly earrings Drew got me?”

Sebastian seemed to gasp in horror, “Are you serious? Of course,  you can wear your butterfly earrings. Those are the height of sophistication around here.”

Mitchell smiled, affection for his siblings only increased by the holiday spirit.

“Remember to empty out your stocking for your secret Santa tomorrow!” Piper announced with a smile, much more excited then Mitchell had expected. “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve so we have to make sure to get the gift exchange in before anyone leaves!”

Mitchell nodded, thinking to the new NARS matte lip pencil he had bought for Scarlett - his secret Santa - and mentally noted to tuck it away into her hot pink stocking later that night.

“It’s almost time for lights out.” He reminded them, their voices still a dull roar from Piper's announcement.

Lacy sighed, frowning at the tacky, smeared nail polish across the tips of her fingers. She never had the patience to wait for it to dry, always busy with her latest idea.

“Wipe it off before bed,” Mitchell advised, passing over the nail polish remover. “It’ll get all over your sheets otherwise. I’ll help you redo it in the morning.”

Lacy smiled, happily accepting the bottle, and she turned away, probably to look for some cotton swabs.

There was a little bit more of commotion before bed - there usually was, but tonight they actually managed to avoid any yelling or waterworks - and soon they were all lying down and snores were starting up.

Mitchell crept out of bed quietly, clenching Scarlett’s wrapped gift carefully. He had a few of her favorite cinnamon candy canes to go along with it in his other hand, and he was attentive to the fact that all his siblings were light sleepers, and wouldn’t hesitate to wake up the entire cabin while they were doing so.

He bent down, the paper fireplace Piper had lovingly taped up that also held all of their stockings. Mitchell’s own, a nice dark green fabric with gold trim, had his name neatly printed on it in Drew’s loopy handwriting and hung towards the top. He dropped the gifts in Scarlett’s, hot pink with red, of course, and observed them all for a moment.

A creak sounded outside, and Mitchell froze in place. His eyes flickered towards the window, but nothing could be seen from where he was bent. He stood slowly, taking a quick mental counting of his siblings, and took a step forward, careful to avoid the creaks in the wooden floors. Out the window he could clearly see a dark figure edging around the corner, coming closer to the door. Mitchell felt a spike of adrenaline rush through him, his mind racing with the possibilities of a monster sneaking into camp. He reached under the bed - Sebastian’s bed - and unstrapped the blade that was hidden there. The silver glinted dangerously, a wink of danger in the night.

He swallowed down the fear bubbling in his chest, caught sight of Sabrina’s face - lax and peaceful with sleep - and he gripped the weapon even tighter.

He swung open the door carefully, watching the darkness with the intensity of someone who knew only too well what it could hold. He was barely out of the door, and his adrenaline had just barely begun to fade a bit, when a hand caught his wrist, swiftly knocking the weapon out of it, and kicked his feet out from under him. He was about to hit the ground, he knew this, but the same hand grabbed onto his shoulder in the same smooth movement, catching him.

A low laugh, familiar but different, sounded in his ear, much too close for comfort.

“Don’t make any noise.” The same laughter-filled voice told him. Mitchell swallowed, unease filling his stomach.

Travis, his skin lit by the low moonlight, only grinned down at him. “Be quiet.” He interrupted again, this time more serious. “If you get us killed by the harpies before the night is over they’re gonna be pissed."

They? He almost questioned before Travis covered his face with a pillowcase, and Mitchell almost yelled in surprise when Travis swung him over his shoulder.

He knew Travis wouldn’t hurt him, but as he dangled helplessly quiet over the other boy's shoulder, he wished for nothing more than the security of his weapon.

It was a short walk, which he was thankful for, but he was simply laid down on a cold, hard surface, one unfamiliar to him at camp, with instructions to wait a few moments before taking the blindfold off.

He sat there, and it was only until a door slammed shut, and the ground beneath him began to shake, that he took it off.

Mitchell pawed at the thin pillowcase, finally managing to slid it off his face after a few fumbling moments. He ran his hand through his hair, cursing, and was surprised to see a few flashlights lit up, bringing enough light to see in the small area - the back of a van.

And Katie Gardner was spread out on a large, plush blanket.

“Oh, hello Mitchell.” She answered, her own blindfold hanging around her neck. She smiled, “I brought a blanket, wanna share? It usually gets kinda cold.”

Mitchell spluttered out noises that might have been words. He tried again, shaking his head, “Wh-What’s going on?”

Katie let her hair down from her messy bun, “Oh, just the annual Stoll kidnapping I'm assuming. So nice I actually have company this year.” She wrinkled her nose, running her hand through her tangled waves. “Usually I have to go about it alone.”

Mitchell swallowed in disbelief, "What?" 

She waved her hand through the air, dismissing the panic in his voice. “They’re kidnapping us for the night, don’t worry, we’ll be back by morning. Usually, my siblings don’t even find out.”

Mitchell ran a hand through his hair, painfully aware of his dirty pajama bottoms and thin t-shirt. “Do - do they do this every year?”

Katie leaned back, pulling her hair back up into a loose ponytail. “Well, Travis usually changes it up to surprise me.” She smiled softly in memory. “Last year it was New Year's Eve in Times Square, the year before that was the Central Park for my birthday. It was

I think this is their screw up way of attempting to woo us.” She thought about it for a moment. “And I think this is Connor’s first time actually bringing someone.”

Mitchell stopped at that, surprise evident on his face. “Wait, um, really?” He ran the dates through his head, and he was suddenly immensely grateful he had a memory for these kinds of things. “Last year around New Years he was dating Maria from the Hephasteus, why didn't he take her?”

She shrugged, looking too nonchalant and relaxed to be sitting in the back of a dirty kidnapping van. “Guess they weren’t that serious.”

Mitchell swallowed, “And uh, um, we are?”

Katie raised her eyebrows at that, and even he could feel the surge of protectiveness she had over Connor. “You don’t think so?”

Mitchell held his hands up in surrender, “No, no, I totally want to be! Like, totally, completely. I just, I didn’t know he felt like that.”

Katie eyed him for a moment but relaxed after a second. “Well, this is a hell of a way to learn.”

“You’re tellin’ me.” He responded, craving a bit of quiet to digest this information. The night began to sink in and he let out a loud groan, his cheeks beginning to burn in embarrassment.

Mitchell buried his head in his arms. “Oh gods, I almost stabbed Travis.”

Katie laughed a little, unfazed, and he could clearly see how perfectly she fit in the Stoll Brother world. “The first time they did this I sent the entirety of the trip chiseling a knife out of a woodchip. You're doing

She ended this with a smirk, “Welcome to the family.”

Mitchell huffed out a laugh, not sure if laughter was the correct response to this situation but the only other option was crying so…He hiccupped out another laugh, hoping Katie didn’t think he was always like this.

The van hit another bump, and Mitchell clung onto the wall with dear life.

“We should be almost there,” Katie told him sympathetically, holding out her arm so he could scooch closer onto the blanket.

The ride was bumpy, and he could hear light laughter from the front of the van, and he could easily pick out Connor’s high laugh. Katie smiled slightly, directing it towards them as if she could see them.

There was only around ten more minutes of light conversation between him and Katie - he didn't really know her that well except for the fact that before she and Travis dated she had enacted three separate prank wars with the Stoll Brothers and survived to tell the tale. She was kind, and her humor was absolutely killer, and it was obvious how easily she fit with Travis.

The van stopped, suddenly, and they broke off their conversation as they both felt the car turn off, the ground beneath them now still and quiet. Mitchell was up in a second, already clenching the pillowcase in his arms, but Katie took her time, folding the blanket carefully before standing fully.

The doors swung open, and Mitchell was only slightly surprised to notice that it was one of the camp's strawberry vans.

The boys stood before them, each bundled up to fight against the winter cold, and gifted both of them with matching, excited smiles.

Connor smiled at him - nervous and excited - and his cheeks were rosy red with cold. He was clenching a steaming Starbucks cup, looking happy and afraid at the same time. Mitchell’s coat - and he almost cried at the sight of it - hung over Connor’s arm, along with a blanket and scarf.

“Hot chocolate,” Connor told him simply, passing along his coat first. Mitchell shivered, his thin clothes providing almost no protection against the New York winter. He quickly shrugged it on, along with the gloves and hat shoved in his pockets, before looking back to his boyfriend.

“So. Kidnapping?” Mitchell’s voice was careful, but his voice went up at the end with question.

“It’s kind of tradition,” Connor answered, looping the scarf around Mitchell’s exposed collarbones. Satisfied, he handed over the cup to Mitchell’s now gloved hands.  

“We can’t stay out long.” Connor told him apologetically, “Our scent should be masked for a while by these - “ He held up a small blue clip, something that looked more like it belong on the dashboard of a car than any person. “Lou said they should hold up for around two hours.”

Mitchell grabbed onto Connor’s other hand, and the familiar touch seemed to anchor him. “But where in the world are we going?”

Connor stopped walking then, pulling Mitchell under his arm where he fit perfectly and smiled down at him. “Don’t you know?” He smiled crookedly, “We’re going to the Rockefeller Center, baby.”

“We’re almost there!” Travis yelled over his shoulder, apparently not caring it was the middle of the night. Katie held onto his arm happily, whispering jokes to him every few minutes.

Connor tightened his hold on Mitchell’s waist, pulling him closer. Mitchell leaned into him as they walked, not minding the extra heat against the bitterly cold wind.

He winced, patting his coat pockets, and grateful for the tube that was hidden among a pocket full of papers and wrappers.

He slathered his lips liberally, thankful for the relief that came with it. Connor grinned at him, eyeing the small tube with a wink.

Mitchell smacked his lips together, the cool mint pleasant on his lips.”It’s finally in season.” Mitchell told him, grinning.

“Well, now I don’t feel so special,” Connor admitted jokingly, a pleasant smile stretched across his rosy cheeks.

“I was only using you as chapstick supplier.” Mitchell teased.

“And what about all the other stuff?” Connor asked, his grin mischievous and suggestive.

“Benefits of the arrangement,” Mitchell answered simply, causing a laugh to burst out of Connor.

“We’re here!” Katie sang out, calling their attention back. Mitchell swallowed, snapping his jaw together to keep it from hanging open.

The tree was bright and big and towering and absolutely beautiful. The colors shined out to them, inviting them in and calling them home. The golden angels gathered around were in mid-position, as if their arrival had interrupted and frozen their music in mid-moment. There were not many people there, but it was not empty, as it was nearly impossible to find any part of New York City that was truly asleep, even in the middle of the night. Mitchell’s hand clenched at Connor’s jacket, filled with such complete awe at the sight, and the boy, in front of him.

Connor led him over to a bench, Travis and Katie trailing away to walk the sidewalks, and they sat together, arms overlapping, leg over leg. The tree was truly magnificent, it’s towering length and its stunning decorations more impressive than Mitchell’s ever seen. Connor and he shared the rest of the hot chocolate, the sweet drink warming him nicely, and he’s never been so happy to have someone in his life.

“It’s midnight.” Connor whispered to him, “Merry Christmas Eve.”

“Merry Christmas Eve,” Mitchell whispered back, his eyes still trained on the towering tree.

“When are you leaving?” Connor asked, his voice muffled from being buried in Mitchell’s scarf.

Mitchell turned his face into Connor’s chest. “Tomorrow. After dinner. Sebastian and I’s flight leaves at nine.”

“You’ll be back for Spring Break?” He asked, his voice still strained and weak.

“And your birthday,” Mitchell reassured him, as well as himself. He forced himself to stop clenching at Connor’s jacket, instead seeking out the other boy’s hand.

“And Travis and I are coming up to see your archery competition next month,” Connor told him, holding on just as desperately. “I...I’ve missed you so much over the school year.”

Mitchell stared at the other boy, a bit in wonder but mostly with love, and tipped down Connor’s head, pushing the curls out of the way, and pressed a warm, chaste kiss to his forehead.

“We have right now,” Mitchell whispered against his skin. “And we have all summer and as long as you’ll have me, honestly.” Mitchell huffed out a laugh against his forehead, and he was only slightly surprised to feel Connor’s warm hand circle around his wrist, calling for his attention.

“I can't imagine a time where I won’t have you,” Connor replied, soft and true.

The bubble of warmth that he felt had nothing to do with the pounds of scarfs Connor had forced upon him, or the several cups of hot chocolate Mitchell hadn’t protested against. At that moment, he didn’t think about how messy his bedhead must have been, or how he forgot to brush his teeth before bed, but instead thought of how Connor’s laugh echoed against his, and the messy, frizzy curls that erupted from under his beanie.

Mitchell smiled and pressed his cold lips to Connor’s neck, simply breathing in the scent of the other boy - smoke and sugar - and neither boy minded how long it took Mitchell to pull away.

They were together, and they were happy. Numerous factors, factors neither of them could, or even wanted to, predict could happen to change these facts, but as of right now, in this moment where they shared a cup of hot chocolate and squeezed at each other's hands, they were together and happy.

They were going to be just fine.