You're All I Need [Solangelo AU]

XX

Nico's PoV:

I gulp as Hades grabs my arm roughly and starts dragging me back towards the room. I look at Will helplessly as his face shows many emotions at once. Surprise, sadness, anger. He rushes forward and grabs my other arm, pulling me towards him.

Hades looks back at Will with distaste. "You didn't tell him anything, did you?" He asks, shifting his stare from Will to me.

What was I going to do? I'd have to say no, if not Will would be. . .

"Did you?"

"I- of course not," I mumble, ignoring Hades stare. He takes a step forward and puts his lips close to my ear.

"Why don't I believe you?"

Get away from me!

"It's, it's the truth. He just- we were supposed to study today," I say as calm as I can. I look at Will, and he doesn't look like he's going to let go of my arm anytime soon. The hatred in his face. . He's gonna give it away.

"Right, Will?" I ask, and that breaks his one sided staring contest with Hades.

Will looks down at me and I give him a face. Say something!

He looks back up at Hades. "Of course," he says through gritted teeth. "Sorry for the interruption."

"Give me a minute to, um, schedule another study session and say goodbye?"

Hades looks at Will, then me. He lets go of my arm. "Fine. If you're not back in the room in three minutes, I'll be here."

He glares at us as he goes back into the room.

"Nico, if you think I'm leaving you here, think again. I am not leaving this house unless you're going with me."

I close my eyes. What do I do? I need to leave Hades, but I can't. He'll hurt Will, and possible even Hazel. I can't just leave them here, in the midst of my mess. They have nothing to do with any of this. I should've been more careful.

"You know what?" Will says, snapping me out of my thinking. He pulls out his phone, letting go of my arm. He opens his phone to call someone. 9, 1-

No! I scream in my head, trying to grab his phone unsuccessfully. It falls on the floor. I stare at it.

I was too late.

"Nine-one-one operater, what's your emergency?" The operator asks.

Will and I look at each other before we do the same thing at the same time.

We jump for the phone.

It's a race, a race to see who will win. If Will wins, he'll tell the cops. Hades will have an answer to all their questions, and he won't go to jail. Can't Will see? Calling 911 won't help anyone, it'll just make it worse. If I win, I'll end the call. I'll step on his phone. Kick him out. I'll have to. Or I can let him call 911. . Maybe the cops won't believe Hades, or he won't have a good case. . . Maybe I can finally be free. This split second hesitance causes me to pull my hand back but Will and I still land on the floor with a thud, groaning. I come to my senses first, blinking rapidly to remove the stars in my vision. I look at the phone, which is still in the call. All it takes is one click and a step with my foot and it'll be over.

"Hello?" I hear the operator sigh and say quietly, "this better not be another prank call from those boys." Another person grunts in agreement.

Will soon comes out of his daze, looking at his phone. He glances at me, and picks up his phone. I don't do anything to stop him, I just lay there, on the floor.

"What is going on over there? What's your emergency?"

"Hello!" Will says quickly.

"Yes? What's the problem?"

"Um, well, my friend. ."

I tune Will out as I stand up, and then I remember what Hades said before he left. Three minutes. How long has it been since then? I can't take any chances.

"Will," I whisper, trying to get his attention. He notices immediately, and takes the phone off of his ear.

"Hades said three minutes, I have to, to, do something to distract him. Stay in the call."

Will looks at me seriously. "Be careful."

I nod and turn towards the bedroom door. Am I ready to do this? Will I be able to distract him? Now's the time to find out. Slowly, I begin to walk towards the room Hades is in. Taking a deep breath, I open the door.

The first thing I see is my bed and Persephone. She's sitting on it and the sheets are messed up, from the more than recent usage of it. . . Then Hades appears. He's tall and broad, making me feel like a helpless mouse caught by a cat.

"Is he gone?" Hades asks immediately, voice gruff and accent thick. I manage a meek nod. "Good. Now let's continue what we started." He and Persephone smirk.

"No," I whisper.

Hades raises an eyebrow, almost daringly. "What was that?"

"I said no."

He slaps me, hard. I fall to the floor and my hand instinctively goes to my cheek. My cheek stings and I can practically feel the bruise forming underneath my fingers as Persephone cackles. That's it. I've had enough. I don't care if the cops believe Hades or not, I'll make them arrest him. He's done too much to leave unscathed.

"How pathetic," she spits.

I stand up quickly and give her a hard glare. Persephone only looks intimidated for a second before she goes back to staring at me coldly.

"Let's continue what we started," Hades repeats in a demanding voice.

"No!" I shout. "You can't control me anymore. I've escaped you once, I can do it again."

Persephone raises her eyebrows while Hades takes a threatening step towards me. "Watch your tone, boy. Let's not forget what I did last time, and what I can still do."

"I don't care anymore! You've been doing this for years, I'm finally doing something to stop it." Well, Will is.

Hades punches my face. My lips explode in pain, and I spit out blood.

"The cops are on their way," I state, leaving an aghast Hades and frightened Persephone behind as I determinedly make my way to Will.

---

happy holidays y'all

word count: 1083