Bruises | Solangelo | Mortal AU

Chapter 12

Four years later...

It has been years since Luke was put away. Nico has finished therapy and his nightmares have faded. I think he's actually happy. I know right? Nico...happy. Shocker. He can be like that sometimes. He isn't always two feet tall and angry... Well, two feet tall maybe. But he's not always angry. 

;;;

I was walking down my hall to get ready. I knew Nico was in the bathroom but I just had to grab my phone before I went to my room. I knocked on the door. 

I heard a muffled, "Come in." from the other side. 

I walked in and saw Nico staring at himself shirtless in the mirror, but more importantly... His scars. I stood close behind him and pressed my chest and stomach to his. I gently slipped my arms around his waist and started tracing his scars. I knew he considered them a part of him. We stared at each other in the mirror and I rested my head on his shoulders and my arms around his waist. We just looked at each other for a while. 

Sometime after 'a while' was up, I starting gently biting Nico's earlobe. He rolled his head back and pleasure and closed his eyes. "Will..." he moaned softly. 

I started trailing kisses on his neck, sucking and biting, making sure to leave bruises. Those ones, Nico liked. I turned him around and I looked at him, asking a silent question. He barely shook his head, but I could tell it was left to right. He looked down like he was sorry, but I tilted his chin up, giving him a soft but meaningful kiss that barely touched his lips. 

I took him in my arms and turned him again so he was facing the mirror. I was hugging him and he was smiling back at him. I kissed his neck again and whispered against his ear. "I have a surprise for you."

He grinned. "What is it?" he asked softly. 

"Get ready and you'll find out."

Nico turned around to face me and raised his eyebrows, leaning back on the counter. I chuckled and reached around him to grab my phone but kissed his forehead simultaneously. 

I turned around and left the bathroom. Walking over to my room, I texted the group chat I made while planning this. Basically, the whole gang, without Nico, so he wouldn't find out. 

The Sorta Gang

Me: Guys... I'm doing it today. 

Piper: Omg... Yessss!!! 

Leo: Good luck, Muchacho!

Annabeth: Finally, I thought you never going to. 

Percy: We are so excited!

Percy: Jason is with me, he is jumping up and down squealing. 

Frank: So is Hazel

Me: I'll tell you how it goes tonight. 

I turned off my phone and set it on my dresser. It was late noon on a Saturday so Nico and I spent all morning watching Nickelodeon reruns. 

I pulled out a white collared shirt and yellow skinny jeans (Nico's favourite outfit). I looked in the mirror, deciding if I needed to comb my hair. Nah, I rock the rolled outta bed look. I thought to myself and ruffled my hair.  

"Do I need to dress nice?" I heard Nico call from his bedroom. 

"Yes!" I called back. 

;;;

After about 20 minutes of sitting on the couch, waiting for Nico to finish getting ready, he emerged from the hallway's shadows. He was wearing a black button-up shirt, except the first couple of buttons, he left undone so it showed some of his chest. Paired with that he was wearing dark jeans and his black vans. He put a thin layer of eyeliner around his eyes and a very faint shade of cherry lipgloss. 

"Holy shit," I gawked standing up. 

Nico suppressed a smile and shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You said it was nice."

"Yes, I did." I agreed. "Are you ready to go?"

Nico nodded and opened the door and held his hand out as if to say 'after you'. We walked out to the car and Nico tossed me the keys. I drove him to the first restaurant I took him to. The candlelit one. Four and a half years later, we are still as happy as we were then. We had our ups and downs, but we stayed together through all of it. 

Right before we sat down at our table I grabbed Nico's hand turning him around to face me. "Everything okay?" he asked. 

"Yeah." Nico raised his eyebrows, asking why I am holding him away from his menu and chair. I started the speech that I practised a hundred times in the mirror in my bedroom. "When we first met, I thought you hated me. Months later, I still thought you hated me." I paused and Nico's face scrunched up in confusion but he didn't say anything so I continued. "Little did I know you were in love with me. We had our first date here and most of it I enjoyed. I enjoy every moment I get to spend with you. Watching movies with you at the end of the day is always when I'm happiest. I wake up every day, one room over from you, wishing that I woke up in the same room. You and I, we are perfect for each other, I'm always trying to cool off and you are always begging for warmth. We are like fire and ice." I paused and got down on one knee and pulled out a little black box.

Nico gasped softly. The whole restaurant was watching us. "Will..." Nico said softly. 

"Will you wake up next to me every day and make me the happiest person alive and marry me?" I opened the box and a small black ring with gold specks was sitting in the white fluffiness of the box. 

Tears formed in Nico's eyes and covered his mouth, nodding. I stood up and held his small hand and slipped the ring onto his ring finger. I reached down and grabbed his face pulling him close to me. Everyone in the restaurant clapped and cheered. Nico's lips connected with mine and something about this kiss was different. It was more...real. 

We sat and ate our food. Nico kept looking at his ring like he thought this was all a dream. I felt like too, maybe it was. 

But I really hoped it wasn't. 

We helped each other through our emotional bruises and our physical ones. We know about each other's pain, guilt, and torture. But we also know about each other's successes, happiness, and passions. 

Everything comes with bruises. Especially the good stuff.