Solangelo One-Shots

The Ends of the Earth at 3am - Solangelo

Nico sat in the ditch next to his car, pulling at his hair and rocking back and forth. The moon was absent from the pitch black sky and October wind was snaking up his back. This is not how he envisioned his late night drive back from the city going. He was expecting more of a peaceful, spookily aesthetic trip home and some hot tea before bed. Now it was 3 am. The towing company wouldn't be here until at least eight and none of his friends were picking up. Of all the awful vehicular accidents that had happened to him in the last few months, this just had to be the cherry on top.

The damp grass he was sitting on was just making him colder, and the moisture was starting to seep through the ass of his jeans. He should probably be inside his car, where it was dry and slightly warm--and he at least had less of a chance of getting picked up by a homicidal maniac. But he couldn't get signal inside his car. There was only one contact left in his phone he hadn't tried and even the thought of the repercussions of waking Will up make him shiver harder than the autumn chill.

The little box on his screen inched lower and crossed into red. 10% battery left. He steeled what little courage he had left and dialed Will's number.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"What?" his voice was groggy and already irritated. Nico curled tighter into his knees as the time a few months ago when Piper called him at 11 to see if he wanted to hang out and get pizza came to mind. That did not end well. Will was very strict with his 10 o'clock bedtime, and it was several hours past 10 o'clock.

"Hi, uh, it's Nico. I'm,yeah thank you so much for picking up because my car broke down like, twenty minutes outside town and now the tow truck won't be here for hours and—"

A car zoomed past and blew his hair into his face. He could feel his throat tightening and his eyes starting to sting. "And no one else is picking up and my phone is going to die so—"

"Where are you?" Will cut him off. Nico looked around for anything that might be more specific than 'a ditch'. He got lucky. There was a sign for some local strawberry fields just a couple of yards away.

"I'm on 81, in a ditch by the sign for the Delphi Strawberry company."

Will groaned. "Whatever. I'll find you. Get in your car and lock the doors, I'll be there soon."

Nico didn't even have time to gush any 'thank you's' before Will hung up on him.

No matter how many times Nico ended up in this situation, it would never stop being terrifying. He was completely alone in the dark, with no way to escape if a murderer decided they wanted a skinny italian for their next target. God, he really should have taken Hazel up on the offer to keep her old softball bat in the back seat.

The call to Will had zapped the last of his battery. Passing the time in absolute silence was going to kill him. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the steering wheel. Don't panic . Don't panic. Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don'tpanicdon'tpanicdon'tpanic—

The knock at the window made him jump.

Will was in his pajamas, arms crossed over his flannel top and bags already forming under his eyes. He looked more tired than pissed off.

"Nico, come on, it's cold," he whined.

He could have hugged him. He didn't.

The orange numbers blinking on the dashboard of Will's car read 3:38. Ten minutes since his phone died. It had felt like an eternity longer.