Nico looked at the girl in the dress, walking down the aisle towards him. She looked absolutely stunning. The dress flowed around her and she was glowing. He reached for her hand and helped her up the three steps that still separated them.

The two turned to the priest. The wedding march faded away. The crowd settled down and the priest cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today (tonight) to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Jonathan, do you take this woman to be your wife, to live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honour her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

Nico cleared his throat. "I do."

The priest turned towards the woman standing opposite him. "Sophia, do you take this man to be your husband, to live together in holy matrimony, to love him, to honour him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

She cleared her throat. "I do."

"Repeat after me." He focused on Nico. "I, Jonathan, take you Sophia, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." His voice wasn't shaking, unlike when he'd practised the lines.

The priest turned to her. "I, Sophia, take you Jonathan, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." She sounded so sure, like it was the best choice she'd ever made.

Nico took the ring of the red cushion and smiled at the boy standing there, a little shaky, holding the plush cushion. "Please repeat after me. I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love." After Nico had repeated the words the priest turned to the woman. He let her repeat the words as well.

"Please join hands. By virtue of the authority vested in me by god, I now pronounce you husband and wife." he turned to Nico. "You may kiss the bride."

Nico slowly leaned forward, and just before their lips could touch, the lights faded away. Nico took it as his cue to step back, and away from the alter. The music started playing, slowly rising in volume. The lights slowly came back in, and Nico prepared for the opening notes.

"Hope when you take that jump, you don't fear the fall

Hope when the water rises, you built a wall

Hope when the crowd screams out, they're screaming your name

Hope if everybody runs, you choose to stay

Hope that you fall in love, and it hurts so bad

The only way you can know is give it all you have

And I hope that you don't suffer but take the pain

Hope when the moment comes, you'll say..."

The crowd was screaming. This was the first time Nico was singing in the entire performance. On the first row a blonde man with striking blue eyes looked at him in awe.

"I, I did it all

I, I did it all

I owned every second that this world could give

I saw so many places, the things that I did

With every broken bone, I swear I lived

Hope that you spend your days, but they all add up

And when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup

Oh, I wish that I could witness all your joy and all your pain

But until my moment comes, I'll say...

The pair locked eyes and Nico smiled fondly.

"I, I did it all

I, I did it all

I owned every second that this world could give

I saw so many places, the things that I did

With every broken bone, I swear I lived

Oh

With every broken bone, I swear I lived.

With every broken bone, I swear I...

I, I did it all

I, I did it all

I owned every second that this world could give

I saw so many places, the things that I did

With every broken bone, I swear I lived.

Oh

I swear I lived. Ohhh "

The music stopped, the actors turned towards the audience, and bowed. Applause erupted, and slowly, one by one, people started standing up. A technician ran on stage, handed Nice the microphone and disappeared of stage again.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight. This played started out as a school project but turned into so much more. I'm still shaking on my feet. Opening night, and such a turn up. 'Metaphorically I'm dying is truly a dream come true and I want to thank some people who helped me make that dream come true. For the people who don't know me, I'm Nico Di Angelo. These are my co-stars, Thalia Grace, Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Reyna I'm not even going to try and pronounce your last name because I'll only get beat up for messing up, Annabeth Chase. They are the most creative, diverse and smart people I've met in my life. And we couldn't have had such amazing lighting and music if it wasn't for our technicians, who call themselves the Hephaestus cabin, and the Apollo cabin, aka the sound department. The Aphrodite cabin is the reason we don't look like trash, you are the most amazing make-up and costume team ever. But, in particular, I want to thank a man who stayed with me through midnight break downs, days I couldn't get out of my bed, or days where I barely ate and forgot all basic personal hygiene standards. Will, how the Hell do you cope with me. I couldn't handle myself sometimes, but you could. You made me practise my lines, made me take a break, forced me to eat, forced me to sleep, to get out of bed, and most of all forced me to take a shower, because I seemed to have forgotten that was a thing people do. I didn't plan for this speech to get so sappy, but I can't help it. Will Solace, I can't be any luckier than having you as my boyfriend. I think that without you, I'd probably still be lying on my bed from that first break down. Thank you all for coming today, and I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did. Bye." With that, they bowed one last time, and left the stage, followed by the sound of applause and people standing and leaving.

---

"You were great out there Neeks. I hope one day I'll get to stand at the alter with you." Nico blushed scarlet at Will's soft spoken words. The park they were walking in was quiet, and illuminated by the yellow lights of street lanterns. "And that is why, I did a thing. I have to cover your eyes and lead you to thing."

Will softly laid his hands over the brunet's eyes, and carefully led him forward. After a few minutes they came to a halt. "Okay, I'm going to take my hands away, but you need to keep your eyes closed a little longer. When I say your name you can open them, okay?"

For a few seconds Nico only heard some shuffling. And then: "Nico." He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was strings of fairy lights strung across the trees. Then he looked at where Will's voice came from.

He gasped. Will was down on one knee, and in his hand was an open velvet box. The ring shone in the lights.

"Nico Di Angelo, I had a whole freaking speech prepared, but I'm completely blanking. Basically, I love you. I love you so much, and I want to spend my whole life with you. So, Nico Di Angelo, will you do me the incredible honour of marrying me?"

"Yes, yes of course!" Nico launched himself towardsWill and hugged him tightly. He pulled back enough to look into those startlingblue eyes. "I love you too." He closed the gap between their lips, and kissedthe lips he would be able to claim over and over again for years to come.