"Nico. Nico! Nico, wake up. You're scaring me." Nico heard Will's voice, but it was muffled like it was far away. Nico forced himself to wake up. He opened his eyes to find himself covered with sweat. He was cuddled up under the blankets next to Will, right where he'd fallen asleep. Nico realized he was terrified. He'd been dreaming, more like having nightmares, of Tartarus again. He didn't say anything, just let Will wrap his arms around his waist and hold him. Nico could feel himself trembling against the son of Apollo. "Hey, it's okay. You're alright." Will whispered. "I've got you. I love you." Nico didn't speak, just buried his face in Will's chest. "Hey, Nico. Calm down. It was just a dream." Nico silently shook his head. "No." He murmured. "No, it wasn't just a dream." Nico moved his head so he could see Will's face. "You wanna talk about it? You can tell me." Nico took a deep breath. "I've never told anyone. Not... Really. It's just... When I was in Tartarus." Will shifted to where he was setting up and Nico's head was on his chest. He slowly and gently ran his hand over Nico's hair. "It's alright. I'll listen. I'll never talk about it if you don't want me too." He said gently, trying to help. He'd do anything for Nico. "No, it's okay. It may help to tell someone, I dunno. I'm not very good at telling people things." Will smiled slightly. "I... I was stuck. I was prisoner for a while there. But you know that, I think." Will kept stroking Nico's hair. "It was... I don't know how to describe it. It was awful. I was literally... in a jar. I had pomegranate seeds... if I ate one a day I'd have enough oxygen for the day. I was really worried they weren't going to get there. I... Will, I thought I was going to die there. I didn't think it would matter if I did-"

"No. Nico. You can't think like that. It would to matter. You have people who love you. You've got Percy and Annabeth, Piper and Jason, Frank and Hazel, Reyna, Lou Ellen and Cecil, Nico, I love you." Nico nodded. "I know. I love all you guys too. I love you. But I didn't know that then." Will pulled Nico even closer to him, which Nico didn't think was possible. "Will, I don't know why it still scares me so bad. It was two years ago. If it hasn't gone away by now, will it ever? I don't want to be like this every night for... forever. I can't." Nico felt tears running down his cheeks onto Will's shirt. "I'm sorry." He whispered. Will brushed a thumb across Nico's cheeks, wiping the tears. "Hey, don't apologize. Dude, it's okay. And it's alright to be scared. These things take time to get over." Nico nodded, trying to steady his breaths. "I know, it's just... every night, Will." Will nodded and kissed the top of Nico's head. "Yeah. But for now, while it's back every night," Nico looked up at Will. "I promise you won't have to face one of those nights alone."