Help-Solangelo

Chapter 15

WPOV:
Tears were streaming down my face, but I didn't care. I let them. People were staring at us, but I didn't care. I let them. Because sitting with Nico fading into the shadows in my arms, it was more painful than anything I've ever felt. I wrapped my arms tight around him. He opened his eyes briefly.

"Nico, no, don't let the shadows take you. Please, I need you Nico." I pleaded.

He closed his eyes again.

No. I thought. He can't hear me.

I started sobbing. Huge, loud sobs that shook my entire body. I would never see Nico again. I looked down at Nico to see that he was putting himself back together. He was recovering himself from the shadows. I looked at a now fully formed Nico di Angelo. Then he lost consciousness.

I quickly scooped him up in my arms and sprinted towards the infirmary.

Please don't die. Please don't die.

I laid him down on a bed and my siblings who happened to be around quickly helped me settle him in. One of my sisters gave him a checkup while Jacob tried to console me and tell me it wasn't my fault, but I knew that it was. I shouldn't have ran. I mean, sure, I ran to get help, but I wasn't quick enough and Nico almost died and Nico still could die. It was all my fault.

I looked down at Nico, he looked peaceful while he slept, but I knew he rarely was. I didn't even look up when Percy and Annabeth burst through the doors. They hurried over to where Nico and I were. Annabeth glared at me.

"What did you do to him?"

I realized I hadn't ever stopped crying.

"I was in the woods with Nico and there was something in the trees. Something big. Nico must've figured out what it was before I did, because he turned to me and told me to run. He said he'd be right behind me, so I went to go get help, and a couple people came over, but then I realized he wasn't following me, so I ran back to where he was only to see a hellhound-Mrs. O' Leary-being dragged by almost ten skeletons into this huge dark hole. And Nico was laying a few feet away, his legs were already disappearing into the shadows. So I ran over to him, and he started reforming again, but then he lost consciousness and I'm so sorry."

I started crying again. Annabeth put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Nico would have done the same to all of us." She soothed.

I turned to see Piper and Jason were here now too and had likely heard the whole story also. They all looked at Nico with tears in their eyes but none of them seemed mad at me at all. They should be. Nico could've died because of me. Nico could be dead right now. It was all my fault. I fell to my knees and started sobbing again. The two couples gathered around me, whispering condolences that I didn't hear, or giving me hugs that I didn't feel.

I heard Annabeth and Piper talking about how one of them had called Hazel and Reyna and they were on their way over here now. But it would take them a while to get here, obviously.

Jason and Percy whispered, too. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I'm pretty sure I heard my name brought up on multiple occasions.

I just kept on sobbing. Eventually Percy turned to me.

"Will, Jason and I were talking and we really think that you need to sleep."

I stared at them through tears. How could they recommend sleep at a time like this?
But both of them took one of my arms and they headed me up off the floor and started carry-dragging me out of the infirmary. I was too tired to fight back, so I just let them. They dragged me into my cabin and plopped me down on a bed, that wasn't mine. I thought that I would stay up for hours but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.
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I opened my eyes tiredly  and looked out the window, it looked like it was sometime in the morning, which meant I had slept around twenty-four hours. I looked around and saw Jacob was sitting in the corner reading a book. No one else was in the cabin. He looked up when he saw me move around.

"Oh, good, your awake. I have to talk to you about Nico. He's awake and is in great condition he slept just over eighteen hours and now he seems to be absolutely fine, but we're going to keep him in infirmary a little longer to make sure he's alright." Jacob explained.

"Why didn't you wake me up when he woke up?" I asked, slightly angered.

He shook his head.

"You needed your sleep. Come on, we can talk to him now."

He stood up and I followed after him. When we arrived in the infirmary Hazel and Reyna were sitting by Nico.

Wow. I thought. They got here fast.

Hazel said something to Reyna and Nico laughed. Like an actual laugh of happiness. It didn't matter how many time he laughed, it still sent butterflies through my stomach.
Then he noticed me standing there out of the corner of his eye. His face brightened.

"Will!"

I smiled weakly, still feeling guilty.

"Hi, Sunshine."

I walked over to him and sat on the foot of the bed. I glanced over at Hazel and Reyna. I expected Reyna to kill me right about now but she only whispered something to Hazel before they both left.

I walked over and sat at the foot of his bed.
"How are ya feeling?"

He smiled broadly at me. He was so adorable.

"Actually good. I mean, not like 'I could go out and run a marathon' good. Closer to the 'I don't feel like I'm going to die' good."

I chuckled.

"Well alright then, I guess that's...good?"

He laughed. Butterflies.

"Yep." He chirped.

"So what were you guys talking about before I so rudely interrupted?" I asked.

He seemed to deflate. He looked down at his hands and I realized he was twirling the ring I had given him. He thought for a minute, choosing his words carefully.

"Will,HazelandReynathinkthatishouldgobacktoCampJupiterwiththemandIkindathinksotoo."

I stared at him. I didn't have a clue what he just told me.

"What?" I asked him, "Slow down."
He sighed.

"Will, Hazel and Reyna, they want me to go back to camp with them." He said softly.

I didn't see the problem with that.
Why was he acting so nervous? I thought.

"Well, it's not a big deal if you wanted to visit Camp Jupiter, Nico. I don't see any problems here. When will you be back?"

He shook his head.

"Will, no, they want me to live there. Permanently."

I gaped at him.  He was going to leave me?

"I really think I should, Will. I could go to school there, buy a house. You could come with me! We could raise a family there, Will, without ever having to worry about monsters attacking. I really think I should, Will." Nico sounded so confident.

It was like he was trying to convince me to take him to McDonalds, rather than moving halfway across the country.

"Please understand, Will." He pleaded.

Part of me wanted to be mad. To yell and scream at him. Camp Half-Blood was my home, I couldn't leave. But when I looked up at him. The excitement, and nervousness in his eyes, I couldn't yell. Or scream.

"I understand, Nico." I whispered.

Now he gaped at me.

"You do?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, I think you should go."

His face brightened noticeably. Then he realized.

"Will, aren't you coming with me, though?"

I caught something in his voice that wasn't there before. Fear. He was afraid. He didn't want to leave me. Not again.
I shrugged.

"I don't know, Nico. It's a lot to ask, I'm going to need some time to think it over."

Nico gulped.

"Well, they're actually leaving tonight."