Black and White

35- Nico

I opened my eyes.

An unfamiliar room... the sheer white curtains blowing gently as a breeze shifted in. The bed was empty... and my back... my back was aching like hell.
"Williaaaam!"
Will's face popped in through the door frame. He must have been making breakfast, because the strings of his "Kiss the Cook" apron were still tied messily around his neck. "Yes, darlin'?"
I snarled, attempting to sit up with a wince. "You evil monster. You did this to me." Will's eyes narrowed in confusion before widening quickly, and he visibly stifled a laugh. He came inside and sat next to me on the edge of the bed, stroking soft fingers through my hair. "Oh, Nico. Just relax today. What else are you supposed to do the day after you get married?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I whacked his cheek with the back of my hand. "Don't even think about it. I've taken enough damage as it is."

"Aw, you're not really mad, are you?" Will pouted, poking my face as I turned it away from him. "Yep. I'm mad." Looking at him in his stupid apron, I couldn't hold my straight face, and against my will it collapsed into a small smile. "No, I'm not mad. Just maybe gentler next time, 'kay?"

"That's not what you said last night." His words were infuriatingly quiet, and his lips were curved up into a cheeky grin. Immediately my face started burning, the reality of what we were talking about setting in. "Shut- Shut up!" Suddenly, none of what was going on felt normal. Suddenly I remembered that I had never woken up next to Will after a night like that, and that every night before this one that we had spent together, we spent together as boyfriends. Not husbands. "How- how can you act so normal about this??"  He looked at me, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "What do you mean? Normal about what?"

"I don't know!! Everything? I'm not- it's just, now that we're married- I- I guess I'm kind of freaking out." Will moved with urgency, shifting completely next to me on the bed and wrapping his arms around my torso. "Hey. What's there to freak out about?" His voice was quiet and soothing, like holding a warm mug of tea. "Nothing's changing, right? It's still just you and me. All this means is that we get to hang out forever, right?" I lean my head on him. "Yeah, I know. And I'm so glad. I'm just... a little scared. Worried that you'll get sick of me, or that you won't be able to do the things you wanted to do because of me, or something." I shook my head. "But never mind. I know you love me, and that's all I could ever ask for." Will smiled into my hair. "I'm glad you know. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing my job very well, would I?" He ruffled it with his nose. "And don't even think about those other things. Otherwise I'd have to tell people I married an idiot." I laughed in response, and shifted further into his chest. "Will you stay a minute, Sunshine?" He smiled.

"Where else would I go, darlin'?"

In the back of my mind, I filtered through the memories of these past years. How we met when I was 17, young and hurt and terrified, and how he took me in with no hesitation. Thinking back on it, I should've known he was my soulmate earlier. Maybe I really was an idiot.
I thought about Jason, and ring shopping, and decorating our apartment together. I thought about the temporary job I got while we were planning our wedding to pay off the cost of that ring. And I thought about how, after all of it, we had managed to get our degrees and get married and live in a small apartment together. We were really lucky, huh. Really lucky. When I looked back, Will had fallen asleep.

"How can you sleep at a time like this?" I asked him softly, though mostly talking to myself. "The world is changing right now, and you're asleep. We have the chance to start a whole new life today, you know. The earth is alive, and we are alive, and we're going to learn and grow together, starting today. We are going to face challenge after challenge and fight after fight, and we are going to have each other to come back to at the end of every day. And my darling is wasting our new lives by sleeping." I turned to him and stroked his cheek. "Aren't you excited to begin?"

So it's finally done!
Thank you to everyone who stuck with me these past years- this fanfic took me over four years to complete and I'm sO sorry that I was so inconsistent, but it's finally done! I don't love it, because the beginning was rushed and poorly written, but I like the end a lot. Sorry it couldn't be longer! Since I'm in college now, it's harder to find time.
Lots of love to all of you- you're amazing!
Yours truly, xshipsetsailx