Even The Best Fall Down Sometimes---Nico Di Angelo/Solangelo One Shots

Broken

Hey guys! First I need to say thank you so much for all the reads, comments, and votes; I love you guys!
This chapter is more about Nico, and I once I started writing it, I just decided to go with it. I was going to do a fluffy one, but I just wasn't feeling it because I just didn't want to write lovey-scenes at the moment, sorry. Have any of you ever been in love? I have. It hurts.
**Hey, I just thought, how old are my readers? How old do you think I am? Please, Please comment :) **
Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! *Credits to the artist of the chapter cover art.

Will
Nico and I were sitting next to each other on the big couch in the Hades cabin. A movie was playing quietly on the screen in front of us, but right now we were just talking.
"Favorite color?" Nico asks.
"Oh, that's hard," I ponder. "The color of the sky on a warm spring day. And the color the lake turns towards the shore line," I said thoughtfully. Nico smiled at me, his hair falling into his chocolate eyes. I laughed and put my arms around his shoulders, hugging him from behind. Nico flinched.
"Don't touch me," Nico grumped, then looked apologetic.
"Neeks?" Why didn't he want a hug? I clasped my hands together in from of him on his chest and rocked him back and forth a little bit, playfully.
"Will, seriously!" Nico exclaimed with an adorable pout. I just giggled and pulled him closer to me.
"Stop," Nico's voice suddenly turned serious. "Don't touch me. I told you not to fucking touch me."
I quickly released him and he scooted away from me. What did I do? It was all just a game, he was happy...And now he's angry. Nico's obsidian hair hung over his eyes, making his cheekbones much more prominent.
"Nico?" I questioned hesitantly. "What's going on?" I said, admittedly not as kindly as I usually would have said it. Nico gazed at me with a stony silence.

Nico
Will's arms were closing around me, hard and strong and enclosing. I felt suffocated, like I was trapped. It had been so long since someone had touched me. And that's when I yelled at him. What's going on, he had asked. Just that. I felt bad, and Will was looking like I had just told him something sad. His shaggy golden hair was falling in his face as he looked silently down at his lap, picking at a thread on his shorts. He looked up suddenly, his eyes hard.
"Tell me what's going on, Nico," He said, an angry tone to his voice.
"Fine," I threw up my hands. "You want to know? You really want to fucking know? Well, fine. The only people who ever touched me in a kind way were my mom and Bianca. I can still remember what it felt like to be wrapped in one of their hugs. And now they're both gone. The only other people to touch me were my dad and a few others. And if father touched me it was to slap my cheek if I had done something wrong. He blamed me for Bianca's death. And then I was always the creepy soon of Hades, at both camps. I got pushed, knocked down, kicked.
And I-I went through Tartarus. And I had nobody. Even Percy, the great hero, had Annabeth, the love of his life. Me? The little Italian, gay, totally-not-a-hero kid? I had no one. And the things I saw. I-I couldn't trust anything. I didn't know if a light touch on the shoulder meant there was a monster standing behind me, about to kill me. I learned to trust myself, and no one else. I still have nightmares, I-No one can ever understand the things I saw." My voice broke.

Will
Nico was looking down, picking at his nails, his hands clenched. That's when I noticed the silent, angry tears glistening on his cheeks. Nico looked stunned, and he turned halfway away from me quickly, as if he realized how much he had just let me in.
"I'm, I'm so sorry, Neeks," I whispered, stunned. I mean, I knew he had gone through Tartarus, but I didn't know how much it broke him. And the fact that I didn't know made me hate myself. I could've been there for him if I had known. Instead he's had to deal with nightmares and fear on his own. Oh, Nico.
"I didn't know," I said stupidly. Now I was starting to tear up. Great.
"Yeah, well, that's because no one did," Nico said softly, although his voice had a hard edge, almost a bitterness to it.
"Thank you for telling me, Neeks," Nico just nodded mutely. He told me and no one else. He trusted me that much. I wanted more than anything to be the person Nico trusted, the person he actually opened up to.
"Sorry I'm so whiny," Nico's voice was bitter.
"Nico. You're not whiny. In fact, you're the exact opposite. I can't even express how brave you were to go through Tartarus on your own and get through all the other things you went through. And I will say, all of want to do is wrap you up in a big hug right now but I'm refraining, and I'll stick with hoping maybe someday you'll trust me enough to actually let me do it,"  I murmured. Nico swiped a hand across his cheek, wiping away the tears. He sniffled, then sat in silence as if deep in thought. He hair hung limply over shattered looking chocolate eyes and the light made his face pale, making him look like a dark angel. He really was an angel. A broken one. Di Angelo. Nico didn't turn to look at me, but slowly inched his hand towards mine. I put my hand close to his so he could hold it if he wanted to.
"Nico," I said. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to, if you aren't ready." I knew he was trying to be okay with being touched, for me, but now that I knew what he's been through, I have no desire in pressuring him to initiate human contact.
"No, it's okay," Nico reassured me. "Because someday I want to be wrapped in your hugs, and I want you to be able to sneak up behind me and hug me without me freaking out."
I nodded silently and gave Nico a small smile. He looked at me, then put his hand in mine, gripping it tight after a few seconds. I scooted a little closer to him and he in turn scooted closer to me until we were sitting next to each other.
"You okay with this?" I asked Nico. He nodded shyly, then leaned his head on my shoulder tentatively. My arms inched to be around him, comforting my broken Nico, but I knew he wasn't ready, so I kept my hands at my sides, one entwined with his.
"Sunshine?" Nico murmured.
"Yeah?" I asked softly.
"Thank you. I like this. I like this kind of touch, and I like how it was slow. It's comforting," Nico said so softly I almost couldn't hear him.
"I'm glad, Death Boy," I rubbed circles slowly on the back of the hand of his that was in mine.
"And if you ever have a nightmare, or think you're going to have one when you go to sleep, just come find me. I don't even care if it's midnight, or three a.m., or five a.m. If you need me, come find me. Okay, Neeks?" I asked.
"Okay," Nico looked shyly at me, his eyes still looking like shattered glass in the way they caught the light. "It happens a lot though," he warned.
"I know, and that's why you need someone to comfort you. And if you ever need someone to just talk to, I'll be here," I sounded cheesy, but I meant it. I needed to make my Neeks happy and be there for him.
"Okay," Nico's face was red, and he leaned his head back in my shoulder.
"Thank you," Nico told me again.
"Always," I promised.