Nico's mother had never hidden the fact that he had once had a sister. She had never felt the need to. She was hardly surprised when Nico mentioned having been talking to his sister. Nico was a lonely soul. It wasn't unusual for a child at his age to create a companion in his head to fill the void in his heart he'd been born with. It wasn't until he'd started first grade when she'd allowed herself to worry.
Nico had always seen Bianca. He had accepted that she was in fact, dead. A part of his imagination, his therapist had told him. Nico still didn't think that was quite right. She was as real as anyone was. She was the most stable thing in his life. And he was fond of her presence.
And though he was often teased, and his mother was concerned for him staying by himself instead of getting up and conversing with the other kids in the neighborhood, he wasn't fazed. He didn't care. He told himself he didn't. Bianca had always been there and she always would. Their companionship was temporary, and Bianca's was permanent.
All the passing faces, the voices he saw but never remembered, faded away within seconds for him. Temporary souls in his life. Always moving. Changing. He liked his feet on the ground, thank you. And in that way, he supposed Bianca was a beam of unwavering support he had built his world around.
She had always been there.
"Nico. Who was that boy?"
Bianca's voice was quiet, her tone shimmering with curiosity and dripping with suspicion.
"The Neighbor."
"Don't play dumb Nico. What was that look you face him?"
Nico refused to answer. His eyes must've betrayed his feelings.
Bianca's expression was grim. "He's the one isn't he?"
Nico didn't say a thing.
"He's...your soulmate."
The voice in his head laughed.
The voice in his head was his own. He knew it well. He reminded himself of the truth. Admitted it out loud.
"I don't think it matters Bianca. He probably already thinks I'm a freak. I couldn't even say hello."
He hadn't realized he was crying until Bianca had wrapped him up in her arms.
She felt real.
He told himself his soulmate didn't matter.
Everything but Bianca was temporary.
Nico couldn't even lie to himself properly.
He laughed through the tears.
This wasn't going to go away.
