Don't Fade Away: A Solangelo Fanfiction 2

Chapter 16: Fate

 "So you really just....ran into a little demigod girl from the 1800s and took her to Camp?" Rachel asked, the 3 of them hanging out in Rachel's cave.

"Pretty much." Will said. "Nico met her when he was there. Apparently they thought of each other as best friends. Now I think it's more of a brother sister kind of thing."

"I already have a little sister to worry about. I don't need another." Nico argued.

"I think it's already too late for that, dude." Rachel laughed. "So what happened with her?"

"We're still trying to figure that out. We know something bad happened and her brain blocked it out, and she just told me yesterday she's scared of the dark. Not just scared. Like, someone turned off the lights completely and she couldn't see a thing and she started bawling. She said she doesn't know why." Nico explained.

"So whatever happened to her happened in the dark?" Will insinuated.

"Could be. Especially if she doesn't know why she freaked out like that." Rachel told them.

"Well I guess I won't be telling her any of my ghost stories." Nico said.

"Are you kidding me? A 6 year old shouldn't be hearing those stories anyway. I saw a 13 year old walking away crying after the ones you told last night, and his friend told him that he almost peed himself." Rachel shivered. "Good thing that you only tell them every few months."

Will laughed. "His stories aren't scary. I don't get why everyone else gets so scared."

"Don't insult my scariness, Solace."

"I'm not trying to. It's just that everyone gets so scared, not just about the ghost stories, and I just don't. You've never been scary to me." It was true. Will was never scared of Nico. Not even when they were younger.

Rachel was smiling now. "You guys are disgustingly cute."

"How is that cute? He was saying that I'm not scary."

"You aren't scary! You're cute."

"I hate you."

"Most people would take that as a compliment, Nico."

"Well I'm not most people."

"And that's something I like about you."

Nico's face was getting red now. He stood up. "That's it, I'm going to bed."

"It's the middle of the day." Will commented.

"And? I don't understand why people decided to sleep at night. I mean, why not sleep during the day? It's too bright and there's too many people. The night is much better. It's also cool."

Will sighed. "Nico, how much sleep did you get last night?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Nico."

"Fine, I slept 6 hours."

Will crossed his arms.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I didn't sleep at all."

"You're going to die, Nico."

"Everyone dies."

"Fine, you're going to die young."

"There's no better way to go out."

"Nico, I swear to the gods above."

Will turned to look at Rachel. "This guy is impossible. He's going to be the death of me."

"Nope, I'm dying first, tesoro mio. You'll meet me in Hell."

Will sighed. "Just go to bed, Nico."

"I can still go another 24 hours until I pass out as long as I don't use my powers. And another 6 until the hallucinations start."

Will couldn't see his own face, but he knew that it must be his absolutely horrified face. "How-how do you know that?"

"How do you think I know that? From experience."

Will knocked his own head against the cave wall. "Please just go to bed."

"I don't want to."

"You're so immature."

"Okay."

"Nico. Please. Will you please go to bed for me?"

Nico stood there for a couple of seconds until he relented. "Fine. I'll do it for you."

"Thank you."

After Nico left, Rachel chimed up. "Are you guys usually like this?"

"All the time."

Rachel laughed. "You guys are so perfect for each other, I can't."

"We are, aren't we?"

Rachel sighed and looked at him. "Will, I've known Nico when he was at his worst. I could just tell that he was ready for death. So please, don't break his heart. I can tell how much he cares about you, and I think that scares him. I think he's scared of how much he cares about you. He's never liked someone the way he likes you before. He's scared he'll lose you. You give him hope for the future. A future that he had never even thought he would have. He probably thought he would be dead by now, and he didn't care. It was just a fact. Then he fell for you, and he couldn't be more afraid. I see it every time you guys hold hands, every time you say something romantic. He is terrified. And sometimes when people are terrified, they make stupid decisions. Just remember that. And please be good to him. He deserves every good thing coming his way and none of the bad, he deserves love and attention, and he still needs help. You're the only person I've seen get through to him. I've never met Hazel or Jason, but even with them I don't think he opened up quite as much as he's done with you. He needs you. He doesn't know what he would do if you weren't here."

"How-how do you know all of this?"

"I don't need to be the Oracle to be aware of other people around me."

"Don't worry. As long as I'm alive, I'll be here for him. I'll never hurt him."

Rachel smiled. "I know. I just had to say it. It's just, I kind of feel like we share a bond, you know? Both of us being rejected by Percy. I think that was a big part of both of our lives. It led me to become the Oracle of Delphi, and it led Nico to you. It was like fate, and Percy was that push for it to come true."

Translation: 

Tesoro mio =  My darling (it could mean more things than that, but in this context I'm using it as my darling.)