Hearts Need Love

Chapter 17

By the time Nico walked up to them with little Bianca in his arms, her hand gauzed and wrapped up, Will had learned more than he imagined from Jason Grace. Nico's obsession with Milky Ways, his love of having Bianca try all different kinds of food, his trip to Venice when he was little and his fear of the canals…

"We're taking Bianca to the mall tomorrow," Nico declared. "She wants to see Santa and she's gonna get whatever she wants."

Will glanced at Bianca's closed eyes, the peace that sleep had finally brought her.

Jason stood up and rested a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Will stood up to also leave but Nico fixed him with a glare. "You can walk."

Jason rolled his eyes as he led Nico out of the hospital. "He's not walking. We're going to your place and you two are going to talk while I take care of Bianca."

"I don't want to talk to him," Nico growled. "I just want to lay with my daughter and get some fucking sleep."

Jason sighed. "You're talking tomorrow, then. Will, I'll take you to your place."

"But...my stuff's at Nico's," Will said. "I've been basically staying there-"

"Too bad," Nico cut in. "I don't want you there. I don't even want to fucking look at you right now."

They got to Jason's car. Nico hopped in the back and buckled Bianca in with himself, his arms around her the only safety he could offer without a car seat to set her in.

Jason glanced at Will once Nico was out of earshot. "I'll talk to him and you can talk to him tomorrow. It'll be okay. But he's right, he needs to get some sleep. And Bianca deserves to be able to lay with her dad and sleep right now."

Will nodded once before getting in the passenger's seat. Jason soon got in and started the car, driving away from the hospital and all the horrors it contained.

Soon enough they were at Will's house. As soon as he jumped out Jason was pulling away, driving down the street and out of sight, taking Will's true love and soulmate and mistake.

Love burned, burned worse than the fire that had forever scarred little Bianca's hand.

~~~~~~~~~

Sleep was hard to come by that night. The day raged through his mind in onslaughts of memories. Shoveling in the freezing cold, the fight, Nico's hurt eyes, Bianca's screams and tears and the ambulance ride...his talk with Jason…

He was legally an adult, he was graduating. So why did the future promise of adult life scare him so bad?

Fear. It was drowning him.

"Will?" Naomi opened his bedroom door and crept inside. "You're home. Is everything okay?"

Will ran a hand through his hair. "Yes? I don't know. I had a fight with Nico."

She frowned before sitting beside him on the bed, a small sigh escaping her lips. "What did you do? I can tell you're guilty about something."

Will rolled his eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Fine, fine, I did it," Will said. "But Nico is the one that freaked the hell out. Then because we were fighting Bianca burned her hand bad."

"Is she okay?" Naomi asked.

Will nodded. "She's home, now. But Nico's still freaked out."

"Okay...what did you say to him that set him off?" she asked.

Will felt his cheeks heat up. "Nothing I can talk to you about."

She shot him a look before giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Just apologize. Sincerely. And don't do it again."

"Mom...it's not that easy. It's Nico we're talking about," Will said. "He takes things personally. He's had a lot happen to him."

"Then he should appreciate honesty." Naomi stood from the bed after giving him one last pat. "Now go to bed, it's late. You can talk to him tomorrow after you've each had a good night's sleep. Let him sleep it over, it always helps."

"You really think it will?" he asked.

She nodded. "Sometimes people just need a rest, Will, a break from everything. Including their significant other. You've been staying over there all the time. You two just need to have your own space."

She left, then, turning the light off on her way out. He was left alone to stare at the dark ceiling, eventually letting his eyes slip shut as the clock ticked on.

His dreams were filled with Nico's face. His eyes, his hair, the little twitch of his mouth and the coldness of his hands. The way those hands felt against his skin…

Will sat bolt upright around three AM, his breathing rapid and his mind on his dreams. He needed to see Nico. He needed to apologize, needed to get him back. I can't live without him.

Sneaking out was fairly easy even though he had never done it before. It was the walk that killed him, the constant thoughts plaguing his mind and the mantra of find Nico find Nico find Nico

The dark night was cold and icy. Will couldn't feel his toes or fingers after the first ten minutes, and he was pretty sure he lost more calories shivering that night than in any sport he ever tried to play. His teeth were chattering uncontrollably, and it seemed his bones joined in on the fun.

I need Nico.

This was love. The true realization froze him more than the temperature or snow. This was love. Not what teenagers thought was love, nor a silly crush or lust or tricked heart. This was fucking icy hot lava love and it burned him and froze him at the same fucking time.

Damn, if Nico didn't forgive him…

His pace quickened despite the fact that the numbness in his toes had taken over his feet. Hands clenched in his pockets and his heart beating out of his chest, he started to run with everything he had because that's what love is. It's the dinner you make even when exhausted and the deep hugs after a nightmare late at night and even the growing urge to stay alive, not because you fear death but because they fear yours. It was love in its purest and rawest from and he finally understand why Broken Heart Syndrome was actually a cause of death. Why old couples died in pairs. Why suicides joined each other and why love was seen as the new enemy of society.

He needed to get to him. Needed to needed to needed to….

Nico's house was a dark beacon in the night. Despite its lights being off and the curtains being drawn, everything in it screamed warmth and comfort and home. Nico was his home.

He just wanted to go to his home.

Will fished the key he had obtained a couple days before out of his pocket and unlocked the door, advancing through the home and to Nico's room as quick as he could. Being quiet wasn't a problem. He was planning on waking Nico either way.

Nico was asleep on his bed, buried beneath the blankets with little Bianca burrowed in his side. Will's heart warmed at the sight of them. All thoughts of waking Nico and disturbing this exited his brain, leaving him with one option left.

Will crept into bed beside Nico and wrapped an arm around him, thanking the universe and God and luck and fate that Nico cuddled right back into him in his sleep.