Ink and Ashes

#7

Will's Pov

Will looked down at his arm sadly. There was nothing he could do about it until he got Nico to trust him, but it made him feel terrible every time a cut appeared on his arm.

He grabbed his phone, planning on calling Nico, but then a call lit it up.

Nico was calling him first.

He answered and put the phone up to his ear, wondering if something was wrong.

"Are you okay Nico? Why'd you call?"

"Am I not allowed to just call my friend without being in trouble," He muttered from the other end, "I just asked my dad, he said that I could come over if I want."

Will smiled, "That's great. Do you need me to pick you up?"

"Nah, I'll drive."

"Aren't you fifteen?"

"And?" Nico barked a laugh and hung up, leaving Will staring at the phone in surprise.

Will got up and hurried downstairs, waiting by the door. After a few minutes he glanced out the window and saw a really nice car parked out front. He remembered Nico's car from the first day of school, it hadn't looked like that. Yet he saw the boy sitting in the car, looking nervous.

Will moved to wait for Nico to knock at the door, but after a few minutes he didn't get any indication that Nico was still out there, so he got up and headed out front.

He saw Nico still sitting in the car, his eyes closed. Will walked up and knocked on the window.

Nico's head snapped up, but as soon as he saw Will he seemed to visibly relax, he opened the door to the car.

"H-hey Will," He mustered up an obviously fake smile, "I was just about to get up."

"Are you okay? I got quite a few bruises the other night."

Nico's eyes darkened and his face went cold, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Will in no way believed him. But he didn't want to press the boy too hard.

"Yeah, could you just help me to the house? I'm not feeling real well."

Will nodded and helped Nico out, throwing the boy's arm around his shoulder after getting permission to touch him, and walking him to the front door. He seemed pretty weak, leaning on Will heavily, but neither of them said anything.

Will helped him up to his room and settled him on the bed, ignoring the homework still in the corner from the day before that he hadn't finished, he sat down on the bed beside Nico.

"I- We need to talk."

"About what?" Nico sounded a bit suspicious, and maybe a bit scared.

"It's about your... habit." Will flinched at the word choice, he hadn't been meaning to make it sound like Nico was doing drugs or something.

Nico froze, avoiding eye contact with Will. "What habit?"

"The cutting Nico," Will gently raised his hand to turn Nico's face towards him, not wanting to scare the boy but needing him to meet his eyes.

"Sorry," Nico muttered, "I'll try and stop, it's just hard."

"Don't be sorry," Will didn't want Nico to feel like he was at fault, "It's not your fault. You just need help."

Nico jerked away from him, looking angry, "You're not sending me to a mental hospital. I'm not crazy."

Will raised his hands in a placating gesture, trying to calm him down, but he just flinched away, covering his face.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Will quickly put his hands down, not wanting to scare him, "And no ones going to a mental hospital. I want to be the one to help you. We're soulmates for a reason."

Nico hesitantly moved his arms away from his face, looking at Will with wide eyes.

"Why would you want to help me? I'm a lost cause, beyond help."

"Because we're soulmates," Will said softly, "We're meant to be together, and I don't want the person I'm spending the rest of my life with to think that they have to hurt themselves."