Nico and Hazel were dismissed from lunch before Will and Bianca were. The queen suggested that Hazel could use a nap, which, no matter how much the little girl denied it, was true; after running around so much, and not getting to bed early enough had taken its toll on her.

Nico tucked his little sister into bed, kissing her forehead. He had carried her up to her room and she had fallen asleep on the way there, making it a bit easier to get out quickly. Afterwards, he went back to his room with nothing to do.
While sitting around in his room doing nothing, his mind wandered. At first it was nice and peaceful thoughts. Then he was reminded on the conversation he had an hour ago about his mom. He remembered when he was eight and his father told him the story of how she died. Of course it saddened the boy, but then he began to feel as though it were his fault his mother died. He had weakened her and she wasn't able to recover.
Nico tried to think of something else, but it was impossible. He remembered how Bianca told him it wasn't his fault, he just didn't believe it.
He was ripped away from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door. Nico rushed over to it, whipping his checks that were sticky with tears. He hadn't realized till he stood up that he had been crying.
At the door was Will. He was standing there causally, ready to ask Nico if he wanted to go to the library, but then noticed he'd been crying.
"Are you okay?" the blonde boy asked.
Nico whipped his eyes again, sniffling. "Yeah, yeah. It's fine. I was just thinking about something, but I'm done now."
Will entered the room, not asking if he could or not, and shut the door. As soon as the door was shut and locked, he hugged Nico. Nico cried into his chest and it felt like the other day all over again.
Will ran and hand through Nico's black hair, humming a random tune. "What to talk about it?"
Nico shook his head, burying his head more. "Was it about your mom?" He hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. Will hugged him tighter. "Well, when I'm sad, I watch a movie. Ever seen 'The Sound of Music'?"
"No," Nico admitted.
"Come on," Will said, pulling him toward the door. "We'll go watch it in my room."
Nico followed, picking up his black blanket to take with him. They crossed the hall and entered Will's room. Will told Nico to wait on the couch so he could go grab snacks, so Nico sat on the couch and waited. Meanwhile, he decided to examine the room.
It was similar to his own, now that he actually looked around. There was a couch in front of the fireplace and a TV above it. The bed was near the door, a chest at the end which most likely held extra bed sheets. A bathroom was off to the left side of the room, a dresser near it. The only differences between his room and Will were the decor and wall color.
Will came back in five minutes later, his arms full of chips and sodas. Nico took some things from his arms, helping him set everything down. Afterwards, Will put the movie in. They sat down, watching all the trailers that came on before the movie in silence. Then Will decided to talk.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," Nico replied.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Nico was obviously irritated. Will could understand why he was so irritable, but he just wanted to be there for his friend. After debating if he should ask again, he dropped the subject and played the movie. About thirty minutes into the movie, there was a knock at the door. Will went to open it to reveal Bianca.
"Is Nico in here?" she asked Will.
"Yeah," he stepped out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him. He didn't want Nico to over hear him. "Why's he so upset?"
"He blames himself for our mother's death," she informed Will. "He thinks it's his fault she got so sick and died."
"But it's not."
"I know and I've been telling that for years," she exclaimed, and then sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It's not his fault."
The last part she mumbled, but Will still heard it. He wished he knew what he could do so make Nico not feel guilty about it, but nothing came to mind.
"So..." Bianca said, pulling Will away from his thoughts. "What are you guys doing?"
"Watching a movie. I was hoping it would cheer him up."
Bianca smiled. "That's sweet of you," then she smirked and joked, "At least I'm not marrying a jerk."
She began to skip away, hearing Will call out, "Hey, I'm not allowed to make marriage jokes, but you are!" The only response he got was laughter. Once she was around the corner, Will went back into him, taking his seat beside Nico.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"B," Will answered. "She wanted to know where you were."
Nico nodded once, engrossed in the movie. Will found it slightly amusing; he didn't take Nico to be the musical type of person, yet here he was, loving the whole movie. During the scene where the father was singing, Will was tempted to sing to it as well, but decided against it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nico noticed the other boy's lips moving. It took him a moment to realize that he was lip singing the words to the song. He almost told Will to just sing it outloud, but then he realized that he'd been wanted to hear Will sing again. He blushed, telling himself to just avoid the thought.
It was near the end of the movie and Will felt something fall onto his shoulder. He turned to head to see Nico sleeping peacefully. He noticed how his mouth slightly parted and how his messy black hair fell into his face. Will brushed it out of his face, a small smile playing on his face. Not wanting to wake him up by moving him too much, Will lied down with Nico on his chest. He then took Nico's black blanket and pulled it over both of them.

It wasn't five minutes before Will was asleep, his arms wrapped around the smaller boy.

Notes