Chapter Text
Nico sat and the sticky MacDonald table facing his boyfriend. It wasn't a big deal to him if you asked, but deep down Nico was kind of glad Will cared enough to celebrate him getting to a healthy weight. Its not that Nico was exactly bothered when he was under weight. he didn't think it affected him that badly but, then him and Will had started dating and Will being camps medic couldn't stand seeing his boyfriend underweight. So after months of helping Nico through meals of various sizes and comforting Nico through every single relapse. So now they were here, sitting at the long islands MacDonalds. That had sticky tables, a teenager who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else running the counter, and two happy meals sitting on the table between him and his boyfriend.
The happy meal came with a little mythomagic toy which had been half the reason Will had taken Nico to MacDonalds instead of making something from scratch at camp, along with the fact that neither Nico or Will knew how to cook. One of the many down sides to being a demigod was never learning life skills like cooking. Nico had already opened his toy (a small plastic Demeter toy the only one Nico didn't want) and Nico was now nibbling on his fries trying to ignore the fact his boyfriend was looking at him like he was an angle on earth.
"can you not look at me like that while I'm eating?" Nico asked frowning at Will, despite knowing it was out of love it still creeped nick out a bit like he was one of Wills medical patients being watched to make sure he didn't try to run off and do something stupid.
Will laughed picking up one of Nico's fries from across the table looking happy. Light from outside catching Will's skin making him look like he was glowing just a little, and making his freckles stand out to Nico in a way that made Nico flush just a little red. Nico was into his boyfriend he didn't need to explain to anyone why he was flustered certainly not said boyfriend if he asked. "sorry my little ball of darkness you just look so cute when grumpy." Will said grinning his stupid grin.
Nico cringes at the nickname. He had told Will to not call him that multiple times. "tesoro your hopeless. And stop stealing my chips I thought you wanted me to eat." Nico stated huffing pulling his fries closer and shooting Will a glare before grabbing one of Will's fries and eating it as pay back which only left a stupid grin of Will's face that made Nico almost want to melt into the seat.
Nico finally decided to eat his burger as he was almost out of chips and had been avoiding it the whole time. he took it out of the happy meal box and wrapped it and spent a few moments just looking at the burger. It looked like a normal cheese burger from MacDonalds but the sight of it still made Nico's stomach churn remembering all the hours he spent sitting in front of the toilet Retching up everything he ate. The acidic taste of bile clinging to his already cracked lips because of how much he had thrown up trying to feel in control of something in his life even if it was numbers on a scale and how his Body looked. Will who was watching from across the table noticed the look on Nico's face the crease of his brow forewing just a bit at the fight of Nico looking sick because of food again after all the time Will had spent with Nico trying to help him heal his relationship with food.
Its not that Nico wasn't healing. he was he really was. Even though he sometimes wanted to just shut the door locking Will out and, never look at anything edible again. To him the fact he hadn't was proof of healing. Over the few moths Nico had spent at camp half blood Will had helped Nico's weight slowly clime up from 80 pounds to 100 pounds to 110 pounds, and as of last week 120 pounds officially in the healthy weight range. Nico was still light sure but he wasn't as thin he had more muscle thanks to him eating properly and a small layer of fat that covered his ribs which Will had insisted was good progress. sure Nico wasnt thrilled about his weight being at 120 pounds to him it felt like the little control he had over his life slipping away. Of course then Nico would see Wills stupid grin or hazels smile and remember that even if he felt like he had less control he was definitely being more loved. Even if being loved involved a very bad trip to MacDonald's as celebration.
"you okay death boy" Will asked reaching across the table letting his hand rest on top of Nico's hand. Wills soft light blue eyes gazed at Nico in a way that almost made Nico forget how sick he was and made him want to swoon for the blond boy Infront of him instead. Even if Will was a chatter box and kept talking while Nico was trying to find it in him to eat a burger. "you can stop eating if you want we can always start walking back to camp"
Nico sighed inwardly. His stupid boyfriend just had to be observant of how he felt. Nico knew it was a bad thing it just annoyed him sometimes, in times like right now when was trying to hide how he felt. Nico to a breath then mumbled. "I want to at least take a bite first otherwise this whole trip feels like a waste"
Will shrugged but smiled at Nico for the effort he was putting in even though worry still clawd at Will's chest as he never knew if Nico was going to was gong to end up vomiting it all up eve though he hadn't been doing that for months because of their progress together. Will spoke a little uncertain but not unkind "if your sure Nico. Just tell me if its to much please?"
Nico sighed and took a moment before picking up the burger. The bun was soft on his fingers as he took a small bite as if testing it out to see if he was going to be okay eating it. Luckily the taste didn't come through much and mostly tasted like oil. Bite one was a bit of oil the meat was fine the bun was soft and Nick liked the mustard flavor, it reminded him of Bianca. Bit two tasted of a bit more. More grease more meat cheese this time and it felt less appealing to swallow. Bit three was when Nico knew it stop. His stomach started to feel upset and the grease was starting to gross him out even if the flavor reminded him of Bianca. it wasn't worth making himself sick in a date. Nico had ate half the burger which was good as it was more then his normal after the stuff earlier. A small bit of grease around his mouth left over from the burger so he wiped it off with a napkin once he Put down the burger. Will smiled from across the table looking at Nick that he has just hung the stars themselves or acceded to godhood.
"done eating darlin' ?" Will asked asked starting to grab the rubbish from the table watching as Nico nodded letting Will put the rest of the uneaten food into the bags to throw out. Will got up from the disgusting MacDonalds seat putting the leftovers in the bin then coming back and sitting next to Nico kissing the Italian boys cheek lightly putting the small Aphrodite mythomagic figure he had gotten from his happy meal into Nico's hand. "you did so well."
Nico sighed and let himself cuddle into Will's side smiling quietly. It felt stupid to the lone demigod to let himself cuddle his boyfriend, especially in public. But they had also been working on that so Nico was willing to try. "I guess you make it easier or whatever."
Will didn't miss the opportunity to cuddle Nico back enjoying the fact he bought some comfort to the boy and that Nico would let himself be cuddled in public. Finally after ten minutes Will finally let go. "ready to head back to camp death boy?"
Nico sighed in reply getting up taking one final look at the sticky table and the dirty seats before following Will out of the MacDonald's with a sigh. "never mi sole, I'm never ready to go back to camp. but if we must."