The Dark Will Conquer

Back Again

I woke up gasping. "Nico!" I shouted, popping straight up in bed and looking around wildly, trying to get ahold of my bearings. 

I was back... in my cabin.

Matt, my half brother who's bunk is right beside mine reached out and grabbed my hand. "You okay?" He murmured, his voice drowsy from sleep. 

He's a very affectionate guy.

"Wha-what happened?" I asked, rubbing my eyes, and trying to remember my dream. 

"You blacked out." He whispered. "Right after Ni-after he disappeared."

"No." I whispered. It couldn't have just been a dream. It couldn't. It couldn't. It was all so real. 

I was out of my cabin and running for Nico's before I even registered getting out of bed. About halfway there, a dark mop of hair appeared in the doorway, and we made eye contact for a second before I  ran into him and we collapsed on the ground in a hug. I grabbed him and pulled his lips to mine, kissing him passionately. He tasted of pomegranate, a factor he had never been able to shake, no matter how hard he tried, but that was how I knew it was him. 

He tasted of Nico DiAngelo.

"Fuck you." He growled against my lips.

"H-huh?" I asked, pulling away. 

"You're a piece of shit." He told me, propping himself up on his elbows.

I was sitting on his hips now, and got a good look at him. He was deathly pale, and his eyes were sunken. He looked like... well, someone who had been raised from the dead. 

"Who the hell told you to be so fucking heroic?" He demanded, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "It always comes with a price, Will."

"It didn't when you did it to Hazel." I said, crying as well. I didn't want to explain myself. I just wanted to hold him. I just wanted to hear his heartbeat again. 

"Will, I. Can't. Have. You. Pay. The. Price. We need to tell someone." 

"No!" I shouted. "Nico, please. He'll drag you back down there."

"Maybe that's how it's meant to be!" He shouted back. "Maybe I'm meant to be dead."

"I-I almost- k- killed myself," I whispered. "Did you know that you can die of heartbreak? It-it's called Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy. You can't- you almost-" I tried to stop. I always ranted about medical stuff when I was angry, and I hated it. "it's a type of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in which there is a sudden temporary enlargement of the heart muscles. It's common in ages fifty and older. I'm- I'm only nineteen, Nico. You can't do this to me." 

"Oh, Will." Nico whispered, burying his face in my hair.He was shaking.

"Holy Hade's hellish temper tantrums!" Someone yelled. Dam it, Valdez. (This was NOT a spelling error, and if you don't get the joke, I will annihilate you.) 

"Will, who's that?" It was Annabeth, and she had a disbelieving panic in her voice. "Will, who's hugging you?" I looked up to see most of camp running towards us, whispering. 

"Nico?" Hazel screamed from the front of the group. She launched herself at us and collected Nico into her arms, crying into his shoulder. Nico never let go of my hand. He had always been uncomfortable with touching, but he made no move to pull away.

"Di Angelo!" A voice cried. 

"Percy?" Nico asked as Hazel finally released him, only to be bombarded by fifty different embraces, Percy at the head. "OhmygoshNico!" He cried, never pausing to take a breath. "Whathappenedareyouokayzeus'sunderpantsyoulooksopale!" 

I chuckled, wiping away my tears. Who knew the great Percy Jackson was such a mom?