It was strange, being in a room full of people and still feeling completely alone.

All around me, there were voices. Hundreds of them; laughing and shouting and joking. But it all felt a little bit distant. The hollowness in the pit of my stomach was slowly becoming a suffocating black hole.

Next to me, Leo was rambling about something, laughing at his own joke. I wasn't really listening, though. I was more focused on the irregular vibrations of my cell phone. Every single one signaled a text from Will.

Things like: Are you okay? and Please just tell me you're alright, and Talk to me, Nico. I'm worried about you.

I knew for a fact that he was worried, that he was probably chewing non-stop at his cheeks and lips and tugging on his hair, fidgeting. I should have texted him back, just a quick couple of words to put him at ease. But every time I opened up my phone, I just felt sick. Because he knew. He saw and he knew and no one was meant to know. No one was meant to have seen that.

I kept seeing the horror in his face when he looked at me. Kept reliving the desperate way he'd wiped away my tears and whispered to me. I didn't want to face him again, didn't want him to look at me like I was breakable and fragile, didn't want him to be scared because of something that was my problem in the first place.

"Nico? Nico?" I snapped my focus back to Leo's face, his lips were pursed tightly, his brows drawn inward. A muscle in his cheek twitched as he looked at me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded stiffly, my gaze slipping off of his face, "I'm good."

Leo just let out a disbelieving huff, "You don't have to lie to me, Nico. I know more of your secrets than just about anyone."

It was a punch to the gut, realizing that that was true. That Leo Valdez held all of the darkest parts of my life in his oil-stained hands and hadn't let them spill, not even once.

I dragged my focus back up to his face. Choked, "Last night. . . Last night, Will saw my bruises."

Leo blanched at that. And then quickly recovered. There was a long pause, a sort of not-silence filled with the echoing, meaningless tumble of voices from all around us, but still no words between us. "You know, that's not such a bad thing."

Now it was my turn to gape. "Really? Tell me, Leo, how is that not a bad thing?"

He threw his hands in the air, "How is it so horrible? How is it such a terrible thing that this guy that you care about so much knows that someone is hurting you? How is it just. . . so overwhelmingly awful that you might just get some help now? I know you're scared. And for good reason, too. Percy Jackson is a dick, Nico, but if you let other people help, then you can beat him for once."

My breathing suddenly seemed much heavier. All I could think was, If someone knows then I will have told and Percy will know that I told and it will only get worse. It's only going to get worse. I shook my head, gripping the edge of the table, "No, it's not. . . It's not that simple. If Percy finds out that I told--"

"Nico, if you tell, then there's no way anyone is going to let Percy near you again."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Look, I'm keeping your secret because you want me to. . . but it's just. . . It's getting ridiculous." He didn't say it mockingly, didn't spit the words in my face or laugh. He just sat there and stared at me like he cared and it hurt because I didn't get it, I didn't get why he cared when all I ever did was dump my problems on him.

"Dio. Leo. . ."

He frowns at me, "What?"

I shook my head, averting my gaze back to the table, "It's just not that simple. We can't tell anyone. . . I. . . I don't know if they'd even believe me."

"You have a whole school full of witnesses."

I huffed, setting my eyes on him again, "Yeah. A whole school full of witnesses who are too scared of Percy to do anything about it anyway."

Leo looked stumped at that. Eventually, he just muttered, "Fine. I won't tell. . . Not yet, anyway."

I nodded, several seconds passed, and then Leo had started talking again, trying to lighten the mood with dumb jokes that make me smile despite myself. But, even so, there was a heavy stone settled in the pit of my stomach for the rest of lunch.

-

Will stopped texting me at some point just after lunch. He'd sent a total of forty-one messages and I hadn't responded to a single one. I wasn't sure what to say, I didn't know what he wanted to hear.

At the very end of the school day, he sent me one more: Come see me?

I let out a shaky breath and flipped my phone closed, tucked it away in my back pocket to be forgotten.

The beatings that day were less physical, more mental blows. Percy sneering at me and Jason spitting toxic things as he passed me in the hall and Octavian laughing and veering sharply to clip his shoulder against mine.

I felt worn out, completely exhausted. My chest was nothing but a huge, wadded-up mass of anxiety and sadness.

I was sick of it, this endless cycle.

When I got home, I kept my eyes locked on the ground--didn't allow myself to even glance at Will's house--and marched through my front door.

Marie was sitting on the couch in the living room, her feet kicked up on the coffee table as she read a book, and she called a greeting to me as she saw me walking past the archway. I tensed up immediately. I remembered the look on her face yesterday, like she knew. I was almost sure that she knew.

Will knew about my bruises.

Marie knew about Will.

My response to her was halfhearted at best. I kept walking with the barest glimpse over my shoulder at her.

Once in my room, I spread my homework out over my desk and attempted to concentrate on math instead of everything else. It was a futile attempt; I ended up reverting to procrastination instead, per the usual.

Drawing was a welcome distraction anyway, it let me release all of my pent-up emotion without damaging anything, without yelling or crying or throwing any sort of fit at all. Which was ironic because the piece I was creating was a fit in itself.

The colors in it were jarring. They clashed against one another and created a kind of chaos. The image they weaved was one of turmoil. A haze of conflicting colors and images blended into the background.

I had been sitting there for about an hour and a half, occasionally breaking away from my art to complete an equation or write one more sentence on my essay. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that the doorbell ringing had a sort of jolting effect on me, but I just shook my head and got back to work. That is, until Marie called that it was for me.

I immediately assumed that it would be Will standing in the entryway when I got downstairs and sighed deeply, preparing myself for what was surely going to come. But it was not, in fact, Will. Instead, I arrived to see the blond girl from my party last night, standing there, staring around our house like she was examining it for how she could best use anything in the room against me.

I approached her hesitantly and gave her a confused look, thinking my mom must have made a mistake when she called me down. "Uhm. . . Did you come for my sister?"

The girl shook her head, giving me a small smile. "No, I came here to talk to you. I don't think I ever introduced myself. I'm Annabeth."

I blinked, my eyebrows drawing together. "I'm Nico. . . Why do you need to talk to me?"

Annabeth looked like she was at loss for words for a moment, biting her lip anxiously. "I. . . I came because I know what goes on with you and Percy--" She cut herself off, seeing me tense up immediately, and purposefully softened her expression. When she next spoke, her voice was mild and careful, as she was trying not to frighten a small bird, "He used to be my boyfriend. I just thought that I could explain some things to you."

I let out a shaky breath, looking around to ensure that Marie was no longer in the vicinity. "Alright. You can come sit down." I gestured through the doorway to the living room before I headed in and perched myself on the couch. Annabeth followed, taking a seat in the nearest armchair.

I looked at her, gripping my knees anxiously. I felt a little light-headed, I couldn't believe that I was about to be handed all of the indiscernible secrets in Percy Jackson's head. It seemed too easy, too sudden.

There was a long silence. I assumed she was trying to collect her thoughts together, and I let her.

She clasped her hands together between her knees, her knuckles paling, but held my gaze steadily. "Percy wasn't always like this," she began quietly, "I know it doesn't seem like it. . . but he used to be the kindest, most selfless person I knew. He wouldn't have hurt a fly. . ." Her eyes were far away, her smile just a bit wistful, a bit sad. "Even back then, his life wasn't the greatest. He had to deal with Gabe--his stepfather--and he struggled so much in school no matter how hard he tried. But he never complained, no matter how hard it got. Because he had his mom and he had me and he had his best friend, Grover. . ." She shook her head, "But then the doctors found a stage two tumor in Sally's brain and things just. . . they just kept getting worse and worse for him. Gabe was outraged at the medical bills that he didn't want to pay for. . ." Annabeth wiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "The only reason Sally stayed with him was because he was providing money from his stupid shop to get them through the week. . . but unless it benefitted him, he wouldn't give up a single dime. Percy was absolutely livid. He and Gabe got into the worst fight that they'd ever had and Gabe hurt Percy really bad. . . and all it did was make Percy decide that he was going to take things into his own hands. He worked every spare moment of every day to try and pay. . . I mean, there aren't a lot of jobs you can get at fifteen anyway, but he did it all. Mowing lawns, cleaning houses, any measly job anyone in the neighborhood had for him. . . but it just wasn't enough.

"Somehow, he got Gabe to pitch in the rest but he was just exhausted and angry every single day no matter how hard he tried not to show it and his mom was just getting worse and worse. But Percy was still managing it, you know? And Grover and I were doing our best to be there for him. . . but, then, he just snapped." She blew out a shaky breath, "I mean, there were reasons. Things leading up to it, but it still seemed so sudden. Things with Gabe were worse than they ever had been and his mom was getting worse. . . Plus, Grover was moving away. Percy just felt like he was losing everything. He started trying to surround himself with new people, distractions. I thought it would be good for him. Jason and Frank seemed like really good guys and. . ." She shook her head, looking pained. "Sometimes I think that if I'd stayed with him things wouldn't have turned out like this but he was just so toxic. I loved him so much, but he was just volatile and he snapped at everyone and. . . It scared me. Plus, Jason was absolutely infatuated with him. He followed Percy around like a lost puppy. So, I broke things off. . . Two days before Sally entered stage three. I think. . . as long as he had things he felt like he could fight for, that were holding him up, he might have been okay. But Jason and Frank don't do that. They go with whatever Percy says and Jason just feeds it all. And Octavian. . . He didn't come into the equation until later but he thrives off of it. He's just. . ." She looked at me with a deep, deep sadness in her eyes, "It's just such a mess, Nico."

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. There was hardly any air left in my lungs. "Oh, Dio," I muttered. "That's just awful."

Annabeth nodded, dropping her gaze downward to where her fingers were still tightly locked together.

"Is Sally. . .?" My voice tapered off. I didn't want to finish the thought.

"She's still alive," Annabeth said, picking at the bed of her thumbnail. "She's not doing good, though. She's been in the hospital for a while. . . I go and see her sometimes. She's a wonderful lady."

I nodded, still trying to process everything that she had told me. I'd thought I'd had it bad, and I had in a lot of ways, but it seemed like things just kept getting piled higher and higher over Percy's head. I'd had time to heal, but he had to deal with the prospect of his mother's death every single day of his life and, on top of that, fend off an abusive stepfather.

"Hey," Annabeth's soft but insistent voice drew me out of my reverie and I snapped my focus back to her, my brows raised in question.

"I just want you to know," she continued once she had my attention, "that what Percy is going through is terrible, but it doesn't make anything that he's been putting you through okay. I only learned about it all a couple of months ago. Frank came to me. . . he said he didn't know what to do and he's just. . . He's scared and, honestly, I am too. I didn't know what to do until Hazel mentioned that her brother's name is Nico and. . ." She shook her head, dismissing it as unimportant, "We have to stop him, Nico. He can't just. . . He can't get away with this." Annabeth's voice was strained, forced. Part of me wondered if she still loved him.

I pursed my lips, my hands were shaking. "I want to try talking to him," I choked.

Annabeth gulped, "What do you mean?"

"Outside of school. When no one else is watching. . . I just want to talk to him, I think it might help." I held her gaze steadily.

"Nico, if you're going to try talking to him at all... You can't do that by yourself. You have to take someone with you. I would go, but. . ." She looked away, shaking her head, "I can't see him again. I'm sorry."

I nodded in understanding. "I don't expect you to, don't worry. I'll find someone. . ."

I clenched my jaw just to feel my teeth press into one another, just to ground myself. Normally, Will would be the first person I would turn to, but it couldn't be him. I wouldn't get him caught up in this mess.

She sighed shakily. "I don't know if this is a good idea, Nico. You have to promise me that you won't go there alone. Promise."

"I will. I promise."

Annabeth held my gaze for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright. Don't do anything stupid."

-

I'd been thinking a lot about what Annabeth had said. Instead of hearing equations and definitions and explanations at school, I heard brain tumor and volatile and toxic. I saw the wistful expression on Annabeth's face and tried to imagine Percy as she'd described him: hopeful and selfless and caring. It was nearly impossible.

I laid in bed and stared at the piece of paper with his address on it, printed in Annabeth's precise handwriting. Part of me knew that it was a bad idea, but I knew that if I didn't try it would eat away at me. I kept thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would listen and he'd realize that he needed help, that the way he was dealing with things right now wasn't healthy.

Maybe I could get him to leave me alone. I couldn't not take that chance. I'd never be able to forgive myself if I was too much of a coward to do something and this continued for the rest of my high school years. And even if it didn't work, even if I just got beaten down again and Percy hated me even more for delving into his business, at least I would have tried.

Two days after Annabeth's visit, I sat down heavily in my desk chair pulled out my cell phone, staring at the screen for a few drawn-out seconds. Finally, I dialed Leo's number and closed my eyes as the phone rang.

After the third ring, he picked up. I could hear Festus barking in the background and my mouth tilted into a smile.

"Nico?" he asked incredulously. I didn't call him much.

"Yeah. Hi." I took a deep breath. Held it.

"Nico...?" And then, muffled, as if he was covering the speaker, "Festus, I am on the phone."

I laughed despite myself and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Leo. We already established that. By the way, dogs don't speak English."

"Cállate! What do you need?"

The smile that had settled onto my lips slipped away and I paused, hesitating. I hadn't decided what I was going to say to him. I should have planned ahead. "On Friday... You know that blonde girl that was at my party?"

"The scary one?"

"Yeah, her. Her name is Annabeth... She came over to my house on Friday." I picked at the rip in my jeans, pulling a thread loose.

"Oh?"

I gulped. "She used to be Percy's girlfriend."

The line went completely silent for a few seconds. "What?"

"Yeah, she came to my house and she told me... everything, really. Why Percy is the way he is. What happened to him.

Leo was quiet for a few seconds. "What... What exactly did she tell you?"

I was quiet for a few seconds, trying to decide how to start, and then I told him everything as concisely as I possibly could. Leo didn't speak until I was finished.

"Shit."

I nodded, running my fingers through my hair. "I know. I want to talk to him."

"You... want to talk to Percy Jackson? Like... at school? What makes you think he'd let you get even one word in?"

I scoffed. "Like I'd try to talk to him at school. I'm going to his house. I'm thinking that he'll be more willing to open up if I go over there and talk to him while the others aren't aren't around."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."

"I know it's not a completely foolproof plan, which is why I want you to come with me."

"Not a completely foolproof plan? Nico, this has about a thousand more ways it could go wrong than right. If Percy starts beating on you, there's not much I can do to help. He's a lot bigger than me."

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "You could at least call for help or something. Please, Leo. I need to do this."

"Then at least bring Will too. He knows about your bruises, right? Now you can tell him about Percy too. He'd have a much better chance of standing up against him than I would."

"No," I said immediately, my heart clenching. "I'm not dragging Will into this. I'm going whether you come with me or not, Leo."

He groaned and muttered to himself in Spanish. "Fine. I'll come. But just for the record, I think this is a bad idea and I advised against it."

I heard him hang up and I sighed and flipped my phone closed, anticipation eating away at my gut like a living thing.

-

Percy's house wasn't what I had expected. I guess what Leo had said was true, you really can't tell everything about a person just by looking at them. If I'd had to guess before I really knew, I'd have said that Leo lived here, in this tiny one-story house that looked like it was going to cave in one itself any second, and Percy lived in the enormous stucco mansion on Parr, when really, it was the other way around.

Leo stood next to me on the porch nervously, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

I nodded, letting out a shaky breath. Shouts were coming from inside, two voices firing back and forth at each other venomously. There was the sound of something glass shattering and Leo flinched.

"Nico... Maybe we should just go."

I gulped and shook my head. "No. This is what I came here for. We'll just wait."

Leo raked his fingers through his hair, bouncing nervously on his heels. "This is such a bad idea. He's going to kill us. I mean, literally kill us."

"He will not. Now be quiet. We need to listen."

Inside, the argument was escalating, the voices growing louder and more strained. I could hear them clearly now, Percy screaming that his stepfather was a lazy, selfish slob and Gabe's slurred voice, telling him that he was useless, that he shouldn't have even bothered coming home at all.

Leo gripped my arm, "Nico--"

The inside door flew inward, I barely avoided getting smacked by the flimsy screen door over it, and then Percy nearly trampled us in his rage. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes focusing on me with something stuck in between shock and horror. His cheeks were stained with tears and his hair was flying in every direction, blood dribbling from a gash on his arm. He looked like he hadn't slept in a month.

His expression turned into a snarl as he slammed the door closed, "What are you doing here?" he growled, his eyes flicking back and forth between Leo and I.

I held my hands up in surrender, looking at him pleadingly. "I just came to talk. That's all. Your ex-girlfriend was over at my house the other day."

His shoulders dropped, his face pinching into something wounded. "Annabeth?" His voice was so small.

I nodded, "Yeah. She... She told me everything."

Percy tensed up again, his jaw clenching and his eyes turning fiery. "What did she tell you?"

I pulled in a shaky breath. "About your stepfather. Your mom--"

"That is none of your business. She had... no... no right to tell you any of that." Fresh tears were pooling in his eyes.

"But she did," Leo said. "That's not Nico's fault."

I nodded, looking over at him gratefully. "I just want to help."

Percy's face bent into a snarl. "You can't help me. Get off my porch."

I opened my mouth to speak and he shoved me harshly, making me stumble back a step. "Off."

"Hey!" Leo yelped and Percy turned his eyes on him, "Shut your mouth or you're next, runt."

"Percy, please just--"

"I said to get off my fucking porch."

I felt his hand fist into the collar of my shirt and he yanked me toward him before using all of his force to throw me downwards, letting go so I toppled down the short set of steps. He stalked down them after me, "You need to learn to keep your nose out of other people's business, di Angelo."

I rolled onto my stomach and started crawling away frantically, trying to get to my feet before he caught up to me, but I was too dazed. His foot slammed down onto my back. This seemed to be his routine, shove me to the ground or corner me, pin me there, beat me enough that I couldn't do anything to fight back, and then beat me some more.

My face hit the dirt, all of my breath was sucked out of my lungs, replaced with dirt that I couldn't even cough up now because I'd momentarily lost the ability to breathe. As his foot plowed into my side the first time, I could've sworn I heard a voice, his voice, but that was impossible. I was just panicking, hoping against hope that I could get out of this, that someone else could get me out if this.

I could hear Leo yelling frantically, panicking, and then there was a surprised grunt, one that wasn't my own, and the blow I was expecting never came. I laid there, huddled on the ground, shaking in horror and disbelief and trying not to let myself get my hopes up, and then I came to my senses. I needed to get away.

I pulled myself to my feet with the intention of bolting as far and as fast as I could, but then I stopped in my tracks, because what I was seeing was so much worse than any number of beatings.

Will.

But he wasn't Will. He wasn't the Will I knew, default happy-face Will, the Will that was gentle and kind, who could cheer me up without even trying, the one who wanted to be a doctor, who wanted to help people. Selfless, harmless Will. Suddenly, he was terrifying and cruel and the exact opposite of everything I'd fallen in love with.

His face was contorted in rage and he was screaming and yelling and pinning Percy to the ground and just wouldn't stop hitting him no matter how much I screamed and cried for him to stop. He didn't stop until Leo and I dragged him away, I wasn't even sure how we did it, he was so much stronger than both of us and he was fighting with everything he had, gnashing his teeth and snarling insults and accusations like a wild animal. We had to hold him there for what felt like a full ten minutes before he calmed down and stopped struggling, his breathing labored like he'd just run a marathon.

Finally, we let him go and I stumbled backward, aghast. Will turned around, his eyes wild. "Nico, are you okay?" he rushed frantically, taking a step forward. I shook my head furiously, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

"Stay away from me," I gasped, and his face froze in shock. "Don't come any closer."

Will was supposed to be my safety. He was my safety, he was home, he was the only place I felt like I belonged and now in the blink of an eye he'd turned into something destructive and hate-filled. I was suddenly terrified that he was going to tear me apart instead of put me back together.

"Neeks?"

"Don't. Don't call me that," I whispered. "Don't move."

I started forward hesitantly, but I wasn't trying to get to him, I was trying get around him. To see what kind of damage he'd done. My eyes were firmly planted on his face as I circled around him, and his gaze never faltered from mine, confused, and hurt, and afraid, until I'd completed a half-circle. Now my back was to Percy, I didn't want to lose sight of Will, I was afraid of what he'd do if I let my eyes slip away from his, and as a result, Will saw him before I did.

His mouth dropped open, his expression was as disgusted and petrified as I felt, and this time when he started forward I didn't try and stop him. I just leapt out of the way as fast as I could and, for a gut-wrenching second, I thought he was going to start beating him again. But then he dropped to his knees beside Percy, and I made my way over cautiously to find that Will was shaking, his eyes wide and his fingers hovering over my attacker's broken face. His knuckles were split and stained with blood.

"Oh, God," he whispered, "I did this. Nico, I--" he sobbed, covering his mouth with his hand, and I stood there, uncertain what to do because here was my boyfriend, who'd just transformed the kid who bullied me every day into this mangled and bloody mess, and he was sobbing and part of me wanted to comfort him, but I couldn't because I was still shaken to the core.

"We need to call someone, Will-- We need to. . ."

Leo was still standing a few feet away, looking absolutely sick. "I'll call the police," he rasped.

I nodded and then glanced up at the house nervously. "Gabe. If he comes out... We can't let him see us. I don't know what would happen. I don't want him seeing the cops at his house."

Will was nodding frantically, getting to his feet shakily. "We'll carry him part-way down the street and then call."

"You're not supposed to move someone if they're injured."

Leo shook his head. "That's just for neck and spine stuff, I think. He should be fine."

I nodded and walked toward Percy. "Leo, help me with the feet."

I grabbed one leg while Leo grabbed the other and Will hooked his elbows underneath Percy's armpits and we slowly lugged himdown the street, laying him down in front of an empty lot of weeds and dirt.

I scrambled for my phone and pulled it out, trying to take deep, slow breaths.

A female voice came over the line, "Nine-one-one operator. What is your emergency?"

"He's hurt," I choked.

"Who's hurt?"

I gasped for breath. "My... This guy. He attacked me a-and my... my boyfriend pulled him off and beat him up. I..."

"Okay. Stay calm. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. He's the one that's hurt. Please just send help."

"Where are you?"

I looked up at Leo frantically. "Leo. Leo, the address. Do you still have it?"

He nodded, patting himself down frantically until he'd found the piece of paper that Annabeth had written on and he shoved it into my hands. I read it off and told the woman that we were at the empty lot down the street.

"What's your name?"

"Nico di Angelo."

She kept asking questions, telling me to stay calm, that help was on the way, and five minutes later, sirens were blaring in the distance.

-

I felt numb. Like I was watching everything that was happening through a glass barrier. The ambulances and police cars pulling up, the paramedics bending down next to Percy, checking his vitals and calling out his injuries, lifting him up into the ambulance, the officer that was standing in front of us with a notepad, asking us questions.

We each lent a hand in telling him what was going on. That Percy had been bullying me for years, that I came here to try and talk to him after finding out what was going on, that I'd brought Leo in case things went bad. That Leo had called Will without my knowledge, despite me telling him not to, and had texted him the address before putting it in his GPS.

After everything, I watched Marie pull up to the scene and stare around in shock at the police cars. She walked up to one of the officers, who talked to her for a while before she made her way over to me, looking completely drained of any sort of joy.

I let her pull me into a tight hug, sinking into her. I hadn't even realized that I'd been wanting to cry this entire time, but now it was all I could do. Just clutch at her and sob into her shoulder.

"I wish you would have told us what was going on," she was whispering. "Nico, we would never have let him keep hurting you."

I sobbed again and pulled away from her, my head ducked in shame. I hated feeling so exposed, hated the fact that everyone could see this part of myself now.

We made our way to the car and Marie clutched the wheel as she pulled out into the street, her face creased in a deep frown. I looked away from her to see Will staring after us, cradling his bandaged hand gingerly.

I clutched my eyes shut, my chest aching horribly. I kept seeing him pinning Percy down, his expression warped and hateful. And I saw him looking at me so many times before, eyes soft and fingers feather-light against my cheek.

Marie drew in an uncertain breath. "The police officer just now... he referred to Will as your boyfriend."

My eyes shot open and I looked over at her, my mouth going dry. "What?"

She glanced over, clearly nervous. "I had my suspicions before, but... Well, I knew I shouldn't jump to conclusions. I just... I want you to know that it's alright. And I think your father would say the same."

Disbelief was rolling through me. "What? But... I thought...?"

Marie turned the wheel to the left, pulling us onto the next street. "I've never really... agreed with that type of thing, but there's no reason that I should stop you. It's your decision, Nico, and I support you. Just because it's not something that I feel is right for me, that doesn't mean it can't be for you."

My mouth stuttered silently for a few drawn-out seconds. "Thank you," I choked. "Thank you."

"Of course. Are you going to tell your father?"

"No. Eventually, but not yet. I'm... I'm not quite ready to tell him yet."

Marie just nodded, tapping her fingers thoughtfully against the steering wheel. "Alright. Just know that I'll be there for you when you decide to."

-

Three hours later, I was sitting on my bed with my back against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling as tears dried against my cheeks. I'd been crying off and on this entire time, pinned in place by the thoughts swarming around in my brain.

Next to me, my phone buzzed, breaking the silence, and I looked down at it to see the tiny display lit up with a message from Will.

I hesitated for so long that the screen went dark long before I even reached down to pick it up.

How long do you want me to stay away?

My eyes fell shut. I wondered how long he debated sending that, I could picture him sitting at his desk now, trying desperately to distract himself while he waited for me to answer, how his hands would twitch against the wood and grip at the edge of it, thumb wearing away at the corner. If I looked out my window then, I might have been able to see him if the window was open, if he was really sitting there at all.

I stared at my phone for a long, long time. I was scared, absurdly, that Will wouldn't be the same person he was before. Or maybe it was just that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see him that way again.

I remembered Will holding me close, his voice shaky and clogged with emotion, telling me that it was okay to be afraid as long as I didn't hide from my fears.

Come over.

Two words and it took me nearly five minutes to get myself to send them.

He appeared in my doorway, clutching at the frame, his bandaged hand hanging limply at his side. Tiny dots of blood had begun to soak through the thin wrap in some places, the bruise on his face was dark and angry, his eyes frightened.

I moved and sat on the edge of the bed and, slowly, he came to sit next to me, keeping a foot between us like we were strangers sitting on a park bench.

My eyes were trained on his hand, the pinpricks of blood. I imagined lifting his hand and kissing it gently. I remembered that same hand slamming into Percy's face. Later, hovering above it, fingers shaking.

Slowly, I looked up and met his eyes. He let out a soft breath, looking pained. "I've never... never hit someone like that, Nico." Tears had welled in his eyes and I watched them fall when he blinked, staining his eyelashes.

"How am I supposed to know you wouldn't do that again?" My voice came out sounding choked, scared, fragile.

He clenched his eyes closed. "I don't know... don't know what came over me. I just saw him... kicking you, hurting you... I remembered all of those bruises. Nico--" Will sobbed, his whole body jerking with it. "It just made me so mad, that he... it was him. This whole time, it was him."

I gulped. "I know, Will."

He met my gaze, mouth trembling, and then his eyes dropped down. I followed them to where he had laid his hand against the sheets, halfway between us, palm up. A question. A test, maybe.

I reached out, breath shaking, and touched my fingers to the rough bandage fit around it, watched his fingers jerk. At the edge of my vision, I could see his shoulder's deflating as I brushed my fingertips down to the exposed skin of his palm.

My hand pressed down against his and my whole chest shook with it, the warmth of his skin on mine, so familiar.

"It'll take a while. For me to... to trust you again. Completely."

He laughed, rough and raw, tears streaking down his cheeks. "I know."

So, I moved closer, enough to fit my hand behind his neck and slowly draw him down, touch my nose to his, and breathe.

first of all!! thanks to Slam_I_Am beta reading this for me and also (however unintentionally) motivating me to actually write more

. . .

and can i just say

thank god this fic is over

also,,,, sorry if you got a Salty reply from me at some point i was just ,,,,,,,,, done. a lot was going on and then i started Doubting myself a ton and it just made it really hard to write anything at all (and i was getting really frustrated with myself). i knew what i had to write, but i just couldn't bring myself to do it until just barely ?? like it really only took three months (collectively, where i was actually writing/trying to write) tops, but it was just ,,,, getting myself to do it because i feel so disconnected from this fic now and there's so much wrong with it that i just don't like it all that much. and i'm really sorry if that caused the ending to be not-so-great.

i just noticed that i always finish chapters when i'm so tired im about to fucking die (the bags under my eyes could rival three old lady purses combined)

remember that line way back when when Nico was like "I even loved the way his temper flared when something he loved was threatened"????? ~shitty foreshadowing~

the spotify playlist for this is linked in my bio if anyone is interested in that. it's just a bunch of songs i used to (becasue i DON'T FUCKING HAVE TO ANYMORE hA) listen to while writing this shit pile. also there's a pinterest board. it's called 'atramentous' (surprise surprise) and my user is songofafeelies. idk why anyone would care about either of those things but if you do ,,,, there they are.

and, yeah, jercy is a (one-sided) thing in this........ which was not the plan originally but then i was reading through some shit a while back and i was like 'woah that's.......... totally really unintentionally heavily implied' so here we are

you have no idea how much unbridled joy im feeling now that im done with this though (even though this last chapter was really shitty and im sorry about that)

(don't you love how my a/ns started so playful and happy and by the end im like 'fuck it i hate everything')

*Trump voice* I say this every night, every day, every afternoon, and it's so true: ashley is a mess.

*John Kasich voice* i gotta tell ya. this is just crazy, huh? this is just nuts... Geez Oh Man.

anyway ,,,,,,, sayonara im h*ckin ¡¡¡¡¡ Out !!!!!