Solangelo Oneshots

3 Days In The Infirmary Part One

⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️
Description of self harm and mentions of suicide. Lots of depressed thoughts. Also, the past tense/present tense thing is pretty messed up. I might edit later.

DAY ONE
Nico's POV
It's late when we finally get to my room in the infirmary. Will said he'll give me a check up in the morning.

Running. Running.
Running
I can't keep running
But I also can't stop
He's chasing me and
There is no escape.
I fall
And it catches me.
I knew I was dreaming. But I'm a demigod, and therefore dreams are never really dreams.

"Ah, Nico. So glad you're back. Now you can help me!" Eros spoke coldly. He looked like Percy the last time we met. Now he looked like....someone else.
"I will never help you!"
"Oh, so young, so naive. You will help me. I'll make sure of it. And if you don't? He held up his hand, a small image appearing. It was me, but something is wrong. I was smiling, but it wasn't forced. I liked the image, it made me happy. Eros clenched his fist, the image disintegrating, mist dissolving. "I'll get to learn just how much pain a boy can take before he....well, stops being so alive."
"Are you trying to tell me you're going to kill me?" I snarled.
He scoffed. "No, silly boy. Nothing like that. I'm not that cruel. I would simply fill you with enough dread and heartbreak to make you kill yourself. No one would miss you. Not your sister, Hazel, not that boy you like, Will, not the girl you admire, Reyna. No one. Because you are nothing. And that, Mr. Di Angelo, is why you will help me." Tears filled my eyes. I knew why he's saying isn't true. It's not. It's not. But what if it is?

"I'm not going to help you." Even I don't believe me. He got very close to me, breathing onto my face. I tried to move, I tried to scream. I couldn't. "You will. Trust me." His breath smelled like blood. The mixture of fear and disgust would have made me pass out, but I was already asleep. I tried to slap him away, but my arms would not move. "Now," He whispered, caressing my neck, "Be a good boy and run along. Oh, and think about my offer. You don't have much time left. Tell him your feelings by the end of your three days."

I fell through the previous dream and into a new one. I was back in the jar, surviving on a few fruit seeds and air long stale. I heard giants muttering about Wonderbread. What I wouldn't give for a slice of bread right then. I concentrated for a moment and tried to remember what fresh air tasted like. I was starting to remember as I once again fell. But this time, I fell into reality.

I woke up screaming. Will was standing above me, trying to calm me down. "It's alright, Sunshine. It's a dream. It's okay, everything's fine! Please, calm down! It's all okay! You're safe now!" I stopped screaming as soon as I realized I was doing it. I started crying into Will's shoulder. I didn't care anymore. I learned at a young age that I couldn't show vulnerability. It would be the end of me. I couldn't feel emotion, for someone would use it against me. Bianca tried to protect me, but there was only so much she could do. She was twelve, a child trying to shield me from the cruel world in which we lived. I could not be vulnerable. I told myself this over and over, but my body wouldn't listen.

I cried into Will's chest, my body shaking. What would he think of me now? A weak, injured, depressed, gay, trans boy, crying himself to sleep. Even I think I'm pathetic. Will didn't say anything. He rubbed my back and whispered that everything was fine.
But everything's not fine. Eros was going to cause me to ruin the only friendship I had. Will would be disgusted by me when he found out I loved him. I'd rather die than ruin the only thing that keeps me going. The only thing that keeps me going anymore is having Will as a friend. And yeah, it would be great to be more, but I'm not going to risk it. This is the first time I've felt accepted in years, and I won't just let it slip away because of my asinine feelings.

Will's POV
"Nico? Are you awake?" I ask. He doesn't answer, which means he's probably asleep. Or he's done being vulnerable for this year. I can't say I fully understand it. When I'm sad, I need people, but when Nico's sad, he cuts everyone off from himself. I think he's afraid that if he lets anyone in, they'll get hurt. But maybe I'm willing to get hurt. Because maybe I love him.

Nico's POV
True to his word, Will gives me a check up in the morning. "Take off your shirt, Deathboy!" "Oh my gods, stop with the nickname." I complain, but I take my shirt off anyway. He offered me a shirt last night, but I said no, that I had grown attached to blood covered parrots. I really don't want to take off my shirt. He'll see my wrists. He'll stop asking why I was wearing long sleeves on a day hotter than Hades (the place, and as in temperature. I do not find my father attractive, just FYI.) But he'll see me differently. He'll know. I think back to when I was with Hedge and Reyna. They saw all of my memories and emotions. They saw, I assume, me standing in my father's palace, blood dripping into the onyx sink. If I take off my shirt, Will will know.

"I already know, Nico." He says, looking at me with pity in his eyes. No, this isn't pity, it's.......love? Concern? Not disgust or anger. "I'm a healer, I can sense them. So take off your shirt." I take off my shirt.

He doesn't say anything as he heals my werewolf scratches. He stays silent when he checks my vitals. He only waves and halfheartedly smiles when he leaves. I must've annoyed him, or scared him, or..... no. I need to stop myself. I'm spiraling. I try to take a nap. I don't remember falling asleep, but I guess I must have, because I woke to food on my bedside table. Toast with jam, an apple, some scrambled eggs. There was also a note "I expect you to eat ALL YOUR FOOD! OR I WILL BE VERY UPSET! I'm not joking. Love, Will"

Hmmm. 'Love, Will.' What did that mean? I was really hungry, so I ate. I didn't want to make Will upset. Most people hate me, and I don't want the one person who doesn't to start. I'm really glad he left an apple instead of a pomegranate. That would have sent me into a panic attack. Just thinking about it made me dizzy. I sat down.

There was a knock on the door. Without waiting for me to answer, the door opened. In walked Will, with his crystal blue eyes and hair as yellow as.... I don't know. Something pretty that's also yellow. I'm pretty good with words, as long as I don't have to say them out loud, but I was flustered. Fight me.
"Fight you?" Will asked me, confused.
"What?" Oh gods. Did I say all that out loud?
"When I came in here you said 'fight me' but I can't fight you because I know you'd win." Thank the gods I only said the last bit. All the gods but Eros, who is going to cause me to lose all of this. As if he hadn't ruined my life enough already.

"So, I'm leaving tomorrow?" I asked. Will looked at me as if I killed someone. "No! This is day one! You still have the rest of today, tomorrow, and the next day!"
"But I spent the night here," I complained, "That should count as day one!"
"No. You are staying here for two more days. Doctor's orders." I sighed. Two days to tell him how I felt.
"So," Will interrupted my train of thought. I didn't mind, mostly because my thoughts were about how much I wanted to snuggle up with him. He's so pretty, with his perfect yellow hair and freckles covering him like constellations cover the endless canvas of sky above me. "I was thinking, you're probably pretty bored, and so I got you this!" He handed me a book. "It's so gay!" He said. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that an insult?"
"What? No. I'm trying to convince you to read it. Because I didn't want to read it until Kayla was like 'oh Will it's so gay' and so I read it." Oh. Will's gay. I tried (and most likely failed) to contain my excitement. Still, there's no way he'd be into me. A lot of people describe me as skinny. I don't see it. They say my hair is black and shiny. It's just really a dark, ugly brown. And so, yeah. He's my type, but if I'm his, he's got really bad taste in guys.
"Are you going to read it?" He asks. I nod in response. Of course I'm going to read it.