Discolored

Epilogue: I Serenade My Soulmate

WPOV

Nico and I are in an unspoken competition to try to out-romance the other. At first, it just started because Nico was determined to bring me flowers that are actually alive in return for painting his cabin. Every morning for weeks, he would sneak into the Demeter cabin's gardens and pick me a bouquet, and every day he would end up on my doorstep staring dejectedly down at dead flowers. I think it became a matter of honor to him.

I keep his flowers even though they're dead. My siblings complain a bit, but sometimes they'll walk in on me fondly tending to dead plants. That is usually the point where they sigh, realize their complaints are landing on deaf ears, and give up.

I know I'm not going to be able to bring them back to life—that's not the point of it all. The point is that Nico brings me flowers that he thinks I'll like every single day. The point is that I want to make them last as long as possible—in all their brown, crispy glory.

Eventually, I decided I had to find a way to respond to his flower efforts. I brought him on a date to a picnic in the woods, and then he took me on a date to the beach where we made sand castles together. He helps me in the infirmary, so I attend his training sessions; not that watching him work out can be considered work. I tell him I'm there for moral support; he claims I'm there to check him out.

No comment on that.

When he invites me to a New Year's party so he can kiss me at midnight and whisper in my ear, "To spending the new year with you—and all the other ones after that," I decide he's winning our unofficial romance contest, and I have to pick up my game.

That's how I end up sneaking around behind the cabins with a hoodie and a backpack. It's not super late—Nico would not find this romantic if I woke him up—but late enough that the sky is black, and a spattering of stars watches over me.

This time, I'm heading for the Hades cabin. There's a window in the back of his cabin, so I go up to it and rap my knuckles against the glass three times in quick succession. While I wait for Nico to come to the window, I take off my hoodie and set it aside—I'm wearing my nicest shirt underneath.

A moment later, Nico's confused face appears in the window. He grins when he sees me, and the window comes open. "Will? What are you doing sneaking around again? Don't tell me you want to climb through my window."

"I'm not opposed," I tease, "but I'm actually here to serenade you."

His grin grows even wider. "Solace, what in Tartarus—"

"Sh," I say as I unzip my backpack and pull out my ukulele. I would have brought a guitar, but that would have attracted too much attention; this was the next best thing. "Let me do this—you've out-romanced me lately, and I won't stand for it. You might want to cover your ears because I am determined to serenade you, I cannot be stopped."

He's already laughing, and I am more than aware that this is unbearably cliché, so I'm kind of laughing too even while I'm trying to sing to him. I'm a horrible singer; I know that. The point is not to sing well. The point is to try to do something, even if it doesn't work out. The point is to give him a memory.

I can only make it through about half a song before we're both laughing too hard to continue, and I love him so much right now that I don't know how I can possibly be expected to handle it all.

When I give up on singing my song at him, I go up to his window, smiling so much that my cheeks hurt. "So? How was it? Have I wooed you?"

He leans out of his window to be closer to me. "Consider me wooed, Solace. Please never do that again—I can only handle so much."

"Does this mean I've out-romanced you today?"

"Hm," he says, considering. He taps a finger on his chin as if he has to think really hard. "Maybe I'll consider this as a win for you if you add one more thing."

"And what would that be?" I have to stand on my tiptoes to get any closer to him, so I do. His hand reaches for me, cupping my face.

I stare into his beautiful gleaming eyes as he says, "Well, every good romantic gesture ends with a kiss, doesn't it?"

My eyes flutter shut as he leans even closer, and I say through my smile, "I think I can manage that."

When our lips finally touch, it's like lightning. He sets me aflame, and I'll embarass myself serenading him every day if it means I get to experience this every time.

By the time I go home that night, I feel like I can do anything, and I toss and turn in my bed because I can't stop trying to come up with which romantic gesture I should try tomorrow.

Some people say soulmates are overrated. Maybe for some people, they really are overrated. But I know that for me, he's there to help me when I'm busy at work, and he's there for my quiet nights in. My soulmate makes me feel like I'm the most handsome man in the world—like I can do anything and he would be right there behind me to cheer me on.

Nico and I fit together in a way that I wouldn't have expected—we even each other out. Round out our edges.

If there's such a thing as happy endings in real life, I think I've found mine.

Word count: 1126

That's the end of this story! Sorry about leaving you all thinking Nico died for six years lmao, but at least you all get your happy ending now. Let me know if you enjoyed the story, and if you have a suggestion for which story I should work on next, let me know.

I know this is one of my shorter fics, but I think that's mostly just because some of my other stories are super ridiculously long, haha. This is how I meant the story to end so many years ago, so I'm going to respect that now and not try to push it past its limits. I might consider doing more soulmate AUs in the future, but first my job is to clean up the rest of this account like I did with this book.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in another story.

Yours,

Sunny <3