the Crown of Edom {Solangelo Prince AU}

18. Then You Came

MY PEOPLE
ARE YOU READY FOR A
M-O-N-O-L-O-G-U-E

—

    Nico was starting to feel better after a couple of days. Will stayed with him through every night in secret, and tried not to argue with the doctor in the day.

   Jason kept Nico busy in the daytime (even performing a poorly-done, 10-minute improv play with Piper, Percy, and Annabeth in the means of cheering him up). Hazel often read quietly or sang him songs, and Leo and Reyna had told him tales of the bar, which they had been going to almost every night since the first time.

    "I met this girl," Leo confesses. "Her name is Calypso. She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

    "And I'm not?" Reyna smirks. Nico had liked that she had grown out of her shell.

   Leo raises an eyebrow and leans in. "Reyna was dancing on the bar table last night."

   Nico's mouth fell open. "No way."

   Reyna shrugs. "I got moves."

   Luke was often there too, when Octavian and Hazel weren't keeping him busy.

   When the night came, and he was alone with Will, he stretches his arm and yawns. "I hate staying in this bed," he frowns. "I want to stand."

   Will rubs his hand with his thumb. "Do you think you can?"

   Nico sits up, his arms feeling like jelly. He pushes his legs over the side and stretches out his hands. Will takes them and helps pull Nico up. Nico leans his weight onto Will and wraps his arms around him.

   "Let's dance," Nico says.

   "You can barely stand!"

   "I don't care," Nico smiles. Will holds him tightly and takes a step back gently. Nico slowly follows. "Never did I ever think I'd enjoy dancing."

   "The right person can do that," Will winks.

   "Don't get a big head," Nico playfully hits his shoulder. They're moving slowly across the infirmary floor, Nico mostly depending on Will. "It is odd that no one else has gotten sick yet, isn't it?"

   "Very odd."

   "I guess I'm getting better," Nico says, "so there's no point in wondering. Sorry about throwing up on you, by the way."

   Will kisses his forehead. "Don't be," he whispers. "I was more worried that you were okay." He lowers his head, his face gone sad.

Nico brings his hand to Will's chin and holds it up lightly, forcing Will to bring his eyes up meet Nico's. "I wished you never had to see that," he says. "I know it must have...reminded you of your mother."

Will's lips press tightly together. He slowly nods in agreement. "All I know," he brushes his fingertips across Nico's, delicately. "is that I have known the fear of almost losing you, and know that I will never be the same without your mind. I do not know, however, how I will ever survive apart from your grasp. You are my life when I awake, and my breath when I inhale. It is a pull in my heart, so ferocious as the churning seas, so loud I cannot ignore."

Nico's eyes glimmer in the candlelight. "You sound like the poets," he whispers. "Do you believe this is how they felt when they loved? And do you believe a heartbreak would be so caring to provide us with treasured art, instead of complete, and utter unhappiness?"

Will presses his forehead against Nico's. "They coexist in some circumstances," his voice is low. "But I do not ever wish to find out how it would treat us. I feel as though if you were to die, my heart would die alongside you."