~I've Been Ghosting~ Solangelo

14: Fix

"Hey!" Nico stood up, interrupting the speech. The crowd's attention instantly went to him, and that was a bit unnerving. But he had to say something, simply, so he would.

"It's rude to interrupt. I'm sure Willow would be disappointed that my speech was stopped." Terry told him.

"First off, his name is William, and he's more than likely happy I've stopped your bullshit, considering that he hated you." Nico stated.

"Actually, her real name is Willow, she is female." Terry argued, "She has been since the beginning."

Nico walked to Terry, getting in his face.

"His name is William, and you will refer to him as such. Calling someone by a name or pronoun other than that of what they told you to call them is disrespectful. You think you're being funny, but what you're doing is disrespecting a hero that has died. And I cannot allow that." Nico radiated rage and power. Around him, grass started dying. People in the audience were silent, likely out of shock.

Terry looked properly spooked. "...Fine."

Nico went and sat back down where he was, looking around for Will. He contemplated leaving to look for him, but he didn't. He had to stay, to make sure Terry kept using Will's correct name.

Sure enough, he did. Terry repeatedly glanced at Nico, as if making sure that he was doing good enough for Nico not to kill him. Nico shared nothing but a blank expression.

Terry's speech ended.

A few of Will's siblings walked up and shared a few words. Every single one of them had no problem using Will's name and pronouns, of course. That was what everyone knew him as, of course. No one seemed to know how Terry found Will's deadname, and no one brought it up.

Finally, everyone was done talking. A few people looked at Nico expectantly, waiting for Nico to say a few words. He'd just defended Will, after all, they had to have been friends. Nico didn't have anything to say.

Will's shroud was burned, as in tradition. Everyone had a moment of silence, and soon were free to go back to their cabins.

As Nico walked by it, he picked up the picture frame the ghost form of Will had thrown. The glass was shattered, though the photo with the caption was left unharmed.

Nico took the photo, tore it to shreds, and threw it into the campfire. He knew Will wouldn't want to see it. Wouldn't want others to see it any more. And maybe it symbolized something, the photo of the old Will burning. Maybe not, though.

Nico walked back into his cabin.

"Will?" Nico called.

"Yeah." Will made himself visible, finally, being on a top bunk in the corner of the cabin. "Sorry for losing my temper."

"It was justified. I made sure he stopped doing that, deadnaming you. He didn't do it for the rest of the spiel." Nico informed him.

"I saw that. Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. He didn't have the right to out you. You don't deserve that."

"...Thank you."