an improvement in the condition or strength of something

Nico tried.

He must admit, it felt strange. After so many years of longing and anguish, was it possible to finally let go? At this point, Percy had become one of the most constant things in Nico's life, that chasing after him was almost an instinct. Truthfully, Nico felt a sense of betrayal trying to let anyone inside his heart but Percy.

Yet, he pushed himself to move on. He continued to spend more time with Will, but his heart wasn't in it when they talked, when they hugged, even between that one kiss they shared.

As days turned into months, it became clear that his feelings for the son of Poseidon had not lessened.

He decided to come clean with Will, who took the news surprisingly well. It was about time that their relationship came to end before Nico kept leading him on. He knew that they had never made their "relationship" official, but he suspected Will harbored feelings for him. He would never forgive himself if Will suffered for someone who simply wasn't worth it. He knew too well what it was like to yearn for someone and would never want that for the cheery son of Apollo.

Thankfully, Will understood.

He did, however, ask for a few days to reflect on what had happened. Neither wanted their friendship to be affected, and Nico felt eternally grateful for that. In fact, Nico had prepared himself for an angry speech but was incredibly relieved to have such a supportive friend.

But now that he was unable to fall for Will, how could he possibly move forward? Trying to convince himself that he could move on from Percy was pointless, Nico knew he couldn't fool himself. He doesn't want to force himself to fall for someone else, heck, he now knows that it was the wrong way to address the situation. Would he just have to live with these draining feelings for the rest of his life?

He was still so smitten with Percy.

It didn't help that a few months later, news of the golden couple's break up spread around camp. Shortly after, Percy was spotted at the beach, this time, without Annabeth by his side.

Nico gave Percy one quick glance, his breath hitched. His heart was pounding.

Fuck.