Chapter XX

Will Solace

"Hello, my son!" Apollo held his arms out, like he genuinely thought I was standing right there with him.

"Hey, Dad! You... you know this is an Iris-Message, right? You can't hug me."

"Oh." He frowned, though of course not a single blond curl fell out of place.

"How are you?" I asked quickly, trying to keep the conversation on track.

"I am amazing! I just came back from Coachella. It was super fun." He leaned in and whispered, "I also have a new mortal boyfriend."

That made me smile. I was happy that Apollo had boyfriends as well as girlfriends. It had made things so much easier when I came out those years ago.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Well," I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly awkward, "I guess I kind of have a boyfriend of sorts as well."

Apollo's eyes went huge. He lit up instantly. "Tell me all about him!"

I told him about Nico, doing my best to hide my blush. It took him a minute to get over the whole "son of death" thing, but after that he was ecstatic.

"I cannot wait to meet him! I am happy for you, son!"

I flushed again. "Thanks, Dad."

"Well—" he frowned— "Artemis is mad at me again. I have to go!"

The Iris-Message shimmered and vanished. I leaned back, sighing with relief.

I was glad Nico had told me I could tell my dad. I needed to tell someone or I was going to explode.

I felt bad for him, though. I could not imagine how hard all of this was for Nico. And he was such a good person. It hurt to think about everything he had been through.

I stood up and left to go find him.

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