In a world where soulmates wear tattoos that mark their biggest life events, 15-year-old Nico's ink tells a tragic story. After a car accident takes his mom and sister, Bianca, his dad spirals into darkness, using violence as a way to cope.
To escape the pain, Nico turns to damaging his own body to cope, using anything he can find to numb the hurt. He tries to be strong for his little sister, Hazel, but as the chaos at home escalates, he feels himself slipping further away.
Then there's Will, 16 and a light in the darkness. His tattoo shines with hope, and he feels an unexplainable connection to Nico. Will sees the signs of Nico's struggles and wants to help, but Nico is terrified of letting anyone in after everything he's been through.
When a moment of desperation leads Nico to confront his father in a deadly struggle, he's left free but drowning in guilt and isolation. Hazel moves to California to escape the pain, and Nico is left to navigate the mess of his life alone.
As Nico and Will begin to forge a connection, Nico realizes that healing is possible-even when it feels like the world is against him.
TRIGGER WARNING: Self Harm, Addiction, Abuse, Depression, Su!cidal thoughts and actions. Read at your own risk.
Nico's nightmares become unbearable and he turns to journaling - the only caveat is that he cannot write, so Paul teaches him how to and Will helps him actually complete the journal. They sit on a swing and recap all the dreams he's had so far.
Pretty much a sequel to Nico Has Never Learned Anything but all of our stuff is of course in the same series.
Retcon Solangelo/Retcon Trials of Apollo/Retcon The Sun and The Star/Retcon Jason's death (he ain't dead)/Retcon Nico's really weird and incorrect timeline (thanks rick)
Written with emonemo on AO3- So if you prefer reading there, it's on their account under the same name.
This is technically a standalone story, but we are retconning all of Solangelo, and this work is: Work 17 in that series.