Exception [discontinued]

20. Five Nights

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS LOTS OF POV SWITCHING; THIS MAY CAUSE MILD NAUSEA AND DIZZINESS IN SOME INFANTS OR TODDLERS AND SLIGHT CONFUSION FOR SOME READERS. I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE.

(Will)
Nico came home a couple hours later, looking tired as ever, an almost troubled expression on his face.

"Hey, Cutie," I called from the couch, "So I've been thinking.."

"Hm? 'Bout what?" Nico asked groggily.

"Well, every time you go out, you seem totally exhausted. What happened earlier isn't going to help that.."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going with this?"

I sighed. "I want you to stay here for a while. I don't want you to leave this house until you're healthy. I'm only asking about three days, maybe more. I'll be staying here to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Deal?"

Nico looked down thoughtfully. I wished I had Lou's ability to read minds. I wanted to know what was going on inside that head of his. "Sounds fair," he said finally, "but no longer than a week."

"You got it."

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(Nico)
Three nights passed, but Will still wouldn't let me leave.

"You said it would only be three days!" I argued.

"Yes, but you said it couldn't be longer than a week. You're still to thin, Nico; you still look like you're going to fall over at any given moment!"

It was true; I still felt tired all the damn time, and I really hadn't been eating much. I couldn't find it in myself to eat large enough helpings when I knew what it would do to me when my house arrest was up...

I sighed. "I know. I'll try to eat more, okay?"

"Good," Will hesitated, "Nico, is something bothering you? You just seem a bit stressed."

Yes. There's vengeful, bloodthirsty vampire after me, and it's probably going to kill me when you let me out of this house. I'm fucking scared. "No, I'm fine," feeling guilty for point blank lying to him, I added, "It's nothing I can't handle."

Will looked down. "Fine. Do you want some food?"

"Yeah."

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(Will)
Two more days passed, and Nico finally looked healthy enough to stand on his own and to go outside. However, I still felt horrible about what I did to him, and it was better safe than sorry.

As I watched him sleep, I thought about how close we'd gotten over the past five nights. I'd learned all of his tells. If he was embarrassed, which happened a lot, both of his cat ears would flatten against his head, and his tail would stiffen against his back, curling slightly between his shoulder blades. If he was mad, his tail would swish back and forth furiously. If he didn't want to talk about something, his right ear would twitch. If he was nervous or scared, his ears and a few surrounding strands of hair would stand on end, and his tail would wrap around his left leg. What he did when he was happy, I had no idea; I had never seen that.