Help-Solangelo

Chapter 3

I was mad. Mad at Will because he had taken care of me. Will had even kissed me when he thought I was going back to sleep.

What was his problem? I thought.

I had pushed him away so many times in so many ways and yet all Will cared about was that I was okay.

Will asked me how I felt. Honestly? My body felt better but thinking about Will made my chest hurt.

Why did he kiss me?

Will took my hand. I jerked it back.

"Don't touch me, Solace." I snapped.

Immediately I felt awful for snapping at him but I wasn't about to show it. I glared at him. He laughed nervously. I scowled.

"I have to to give you a checkup, Sunshine. I grabbed your hand so I could remove your bandages."

My face fell.

"Oh." Was all that I could say.

"Nico, I know it probably won't do much good. Since you tend to hate everything I say." He paused, "But I'm sorry about what happened to Bianca. I know how much she meant to you. She was the only one who understood you. The only one who loved you. I wanted to tell you that you may never want to talk about it, and that's fine. But if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here."

That was all he said. But that was all I needed. I instantly broke down. How did he know? All those years of people saying they were sorry about Bianca but never understanding. Why is it that he of all people understood?

He had finished my bandages quickly so I curled up into to a ball with my knees to my chest and I started to sob. I didn't care who saw. I just wanted to be alone. No. I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to be with Bianca. She understood me. She loved me like no one else could.

I flinched as I felt an arm wrap around me. I didn't dare look up. I knew who it was. I just didn't care anymore.

Will sat next to me on the bed and just hugged me. I only cried into his shirt. He didn't say anything, which I appreciated. He just rubbed circles on my back and ran his hand through my hair. I briefly opened my eyes while I was crying to see something that surprised me.

He was crying too. I sniffled between sobs.

"Why are you crying?" I asked him quietly so no one else could hear.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You don't have to answer if you..." I trailed off.

He shook his head.

"I couldn't save them. There were so many demigods that I couldn't save." He whispered.

I looked up at him.

"Will..." I started.

"I have to get back to work. I'll check up on you later." He said fast. He quickly wiped tears from his eyes. He got off of the bed, and set me down carefully.

Then he walked out of the room and around a corner.

Then, at that moment I realized that I had caught feelings for Will Solace. I wasn't sure what they were yet, but they were feelings nonetheless.

I began thinking back to the first time I met Will Solace. He had been showing Bianca and I around the camp. I think I was about ten then, Will was about twelve. That was six years ago. He kept looking back at us and smiling. I had assumed he was either happy or he had a crush on Bianca. It only now occurred to me that that person he was smiling at...was me.

Had he really had a crush on me for that long? Why hadn't he told me?

Little by little I began remembering more and more. It suddenly made sense why I caught him smiling at me at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I had always written over it because I just thought he smiled at everyone. And he did. But not during meal times. It made sense now why I would sometimes catch him watching me out of he corner of my eye when I was down at sword training or walking to my cabin. I even remembered a couple of times after Bianca's death when he'd tried to approach me and talk to me. I had walked away and ignored him.

So, the entire time I thought he was ignoring me, I was actually the one ignoring him. I started to wonder who else I had ignored all the years...

✨✨✨✨

Run. Run. Run. Run. No. No. No.

"You can't outrun us, Nico."

"Nico, shh, it's okay. It's okay, Nico."

Run faster. Keep going. Just keep running.

"I killed Bianca, Nico. I killed her. Bianca is dead. I think she is happy to finally be away from you!"

"Nico, it's just a dream."

Just keep running. Don't listen. Don't listen.

"She practically jumped for the chance at rebirth. No doubt making sure that she never saw you again."

"Nico, you're okay."

Don't listen. Don't listen.

"Bianca hated you. You should just die."

Too late.

"They can't hurt you now."

✨✨✨✨

Someone was cradling me in their arms. I had a death grip on heir shirt. They were whispering condolences to me. I didn't have to look up to see who it was.

Will.

Tears were streaming down my cheeks faster than he could wipe them away. He realized I was awake and started scooting out of bed. As if he thought I was going to yell at him since he'd comforted me.

I wasn't.