Terrible Things (Solangelo AU)

We Had 5 Years Together

The next day, a Saturday, I awoke on the couch alone. Solstice and Alyn were nowhere to be seen. I panicked and jumped off the couch, "Solstice! Alyn!" Whi knows what kind of trouble they could be getting into without my supervision.

Alyn ran from the kitchen. "Shush Dad! You'll wake them up!" Then he ran back to the kitchen.

"Them?" I followed him. And found Solstice, and now Alyn too, next to a pair of kittens nestled in a towel by the back sliding door. "Where did you two get cats?"

"I woke up in the morning because I needed to pee and I heard them crying outside so I let them in."

Before I could say anything else, Solstice looked up at me with her big hazel eyes, "We're keeping them right dad?"

And Alyn followed with puppy eyes of his own, "Please dad?"

Looking at their pleading faces, I couldn't bring myself to say no. "Alright. But you two have to keep up with the chores these kittens will bring."

"We will Dad, don't worry!" Alyn said excitedly.

As they played with the kittens, I decided to start with breakfast. It wasn't until we were eating and checked the time on my phone that I remembered what day it was and what had sparked the entire conversation four days ago. It was our anniversary. My mind was suddenly full of memories of us together.

"Will, why are you staring at me with that creepy smile on your face?" Nico opened his eyes, still groggy but obviously able to notice my stare. 

I rolled on top of him, my smile growing. "Just thinking about how I could live with waking up next to you every day until I die."

He rolled his eyes, and tried to hold back a smile but couldn't do it. "Dork."

That had happened about a week after we started dating. The night before, we were in my dorm watching Studio Ghibli movies. We eventually fell asleep and I had awoken before him, really happy to see him next to me. From that memory stemmed the one of going to the movies with him and Reyna a month before we started dating.

Nico had wanted to hold hands with Reyna because he claimed he couldn't lose her in the crowd, then he turned to me and took mine too. "Can't lose you either, Solace."

I had fantasized so much about that, hoping he would say that if we dated and I would reply that he would never. It did happen, but not quite like that. It happened at one of his visits to the doctor before he died.

As we waited for the doctor to call him in, I took his hand and squeezed. I whispered, "I don't want to lose you Nico. I'm terrified."

At my words, he started crying, "I'm sorry, Will."

Then the doctor called him and I couldn't say anything else. I remembered when, three months after we were married, I realized he had stopped calling me by my last name completely. When we were friends, it had been strictly last name. When we dated it was a mix of my last and first name but when we married, it had gone to being my first name.

We were having takeout for dinner when I realized it. "You stopped calling me Solace."

"What?" He looked at me in confusion. He hadn't heard it. I had mumbled it. 

"You only call me Will now."

"Are you complaining?"

"No. You can call me whatever you like. I won't love you any less."

He smirked, "I've got you wrapped around my finger."

"You do."

"Dad!" Solstice waved a hand in front of my face and took me out of my trance.