Endings are never fun.

This is my favorite story I've ever written.

Sadly, this will be the last chapter posted on this book. And this is almost 4000 words so you little fuckers better be happy with it ^.^

Thank you to everyone that stuck it out with me and joined me along the way; it was quite the adventure :)

- Nico_Solace

P.S. messing with y'all is fun xD I was never actually going to leave it on a cliffhanger. At least, not that cliffhanger. I hope you jellybeans enjoy, I love and appreciate every single one of you and all the love you show this and all my other stories.

Thanks for keeping it a secret, shatter_me_never!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=Will=

Silence. That's what I heard when I realized I couldn't control my body. I hear nothing as a cold draft brushes over my skin. After a moment I force my eyes open only to be faced with bright white fluorescents. I blink sporadically for a moment before my eyes adjust and I move my head, focusing away from the stark white lights only to realize I had turned to look at a stark white wall. There is a thick chair rail about waist level along the wall with a chair sitting in the corner. Everything reeked of bleach and antiseptic.

A hospital. That's where I am.

Finally gaining control of my body, I flex my fingers against the stiff, scratchy sheet laid across my hips. I lay still for another minute before looking around again. Beeping machines sit on either side of the bed I'm in. Someone is sleeping on the uncomfortable couch positioned under the window.

"Cecil?" My voice comes out quiet, sounds scratchy and it hurts my throat to speak.

Immediately the head snaps up and brown eyes meet mine, disbelief clear in the bloodshot orbs.

"W-Will? You're- please tell me I'm not dreaming." He says, half standing.

"Uh... You're not dreaming?" I say, confusion lacing my words.

"Oh, thank God!" Cecil says loudly, causing my head to pound against my skull. He jumps up from the couch and throws his arms around me in a hug.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I yell, my body screaming in pain at the added weight of my best friend.

"Shit, sorry." Cecil says, pulling away from my chest. I see tears fill his eyes and my eyebrows draw together.

"Cecil... What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No... Last thing I remember was leaving Nico's house. We had a fight and I went for a drive. How did I get here? Why am I in the hospital?"

"You... A drunk driver t-boned you. The car was total and you were almost killed. You had severe internal bleeding, four broken ribs, your left arm and leg were all but shattered... They rushed you into emergency surgery as soon as you got here. You've been asleep for three weeks. We didn't know if you were going to wake up..."

"Three weeks?! How the hell have I been asleep for three weeks?!"

"They put you in an induced coma after the surgery to guarantee you would stay asleep. Said it would help your body heal and keep the pain to a minimal. The doctor said you would be awake whenever your body was ready to be awake."

"Still... Three weeks, Cecil. That's a long time."

"Not in there terms of a coma, it isn't." Cecil smiles sadly. "Here, I need to call a nurse to let them know you're awake. When they come in, I'll go get everyone."

"Okay." I relax against the bed the best that I can. "Who is everyone else?"

"Mom, Lou Ellen, Leo, and Hazel."

"My mom hasn't come?"

"She... Couldn't get James to let her..." His voice goes quiet as he pulls lint from the hospital blanket.

"I didn't expect he would've..."

"I'm really sorry, Will. I know how sucky this is. I'll be right back, okay? Don't die while I'm gone." Cecil's lips tilt up in a half smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

I smile gently back at him. "I won't, promise."

With that, he head out of the room and a team of nurses bustle in, checking my vitals and asking me so many questions I lose count. They bring me flavorless hospital food that I scarf down in hopes that I won't taste it too much.

When the nurses leave, a woman comes in and introduces herself as my doctor. She brings another tirade of questions that leave me exhausted and ready for another two week nap.

As soon as she leaves, I hunker down on the bed and drift back to sleep.

~~~

"Really, Will, get over yourself." Hazel's golden eyes roll playfully. "You're not the only person I fret over. You certainly won't be the last. I'm not missing school for you so really nothing is wrong with me being here."

"I know, I just don't want you falling behind on homework or anything." I smile down at the blanket wrapped around me, picking fuzz off of it.

"School's out, Will. Ended almost a month ago."

"Oh. Still! I don't want you getting in trouble or anything." I shrug, trying to look casual.

"Am I correct in assuming the 'or anything' means you don't want my brother to get mad?"

"Well... Yeah. I know he's really the only family you have."

"If he wants to be a piss baby and get mad about me seeing you in the hospital, then he can go find another sister. I'm doing no harm in seeing you."

My eyebrows scrunch momentarily as I think about my next question. I know I shouldn't ask, but I can't help it. I haven't heard anything since I woke up; I'm worried. I worry my lip between my teeth.

Fuck it. I think. Might as well.

"How is he?" I ask tentatively. "I haven't heard anything since I woke up..."

"He's alright. He's trying to act like you being here isn't killing him. I'm surprised he hasn't come to see you with how much of a mother hen he's being." Hazel laughs quietly.

My smile returns full force as I think about Nico. He's quite cute when he worries. He gets frustrated and snappish, but a little crease forms between his eyes and he frets like a worried mother. I remember once when I sprained my ankle at soccer practice. I couldn't play for a month and Nico did nothing but fret over me, even at school. It was adorable.

"Will?" Hazel questions softly.

"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" I blink at her.

"Just wondering how you're feeling."

"I'm sore and my head hurts. Other than that, I just want to get out of the hospital." I shrug.

It's not entirely true. My head does hurt and my body is sore, but my leg still hurts, I'm having trouble talking and eating because I hit my throat on something when I crashed and so my esophagus got bruised up, from what the doctor told me. I'm still having trouble breathing because of my broken ribs, I have bruises in the shape of my seatbelt all across my chest and hips, my arm is still in its sling, and whatever happened to my shoulder is still wrapped up tightly.

Simply put, I could be doing much better.

"Not what I meant, Will." Hazel says gently.

Oh.

Emotions are not something I'm too focused on right now and it's not just because I'm hurting. I'm focusing on healing and visiting with people and all of that stuff. I don't have time for emotions. Especially when all I can think of is pain when I prod that part of my brain.

"I'm doing as well as I can be, I guess." I reply, not wanting to broach the subject too much.

"Okay, I can respect that."

"Thank you."

She smiles at me and makes her way over to the door. "I have some calls to make. I'll see if I can get him up here, yeah?"

With that, she's gone. Gone faster than I can reply with a weak 'yeah'.

See, the thing is: I don't know if I want to see Nico. Yes, I love him and I miss him. I want to see him and know how he is handling all of this, but actually seeing him? That would open a whole can of worms I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with...

---

I really just want to leave. I've been awake for five days at this point and I'm no closer to leaving than I was when I was in the coma.

My days consist of watching TV, sleeping, getting visited by a nurse or doctor every couple hours, seeing Lou, Cecil, Leo, or Hazel when they're available, and sleeping. It's really boring and I'm getting sick of trying to find something to watch on daytime TV.

"They could at least give you Netflix." Lou Ellen pouts as she drops the remote next to my casted leg.

"Yeah, I know. I already made that complaint but they said they can't." I roll my eyes, looking up from the game I'm playing on my phone.

"Do you at least have it on your phone?"

"Nope. Not enough memory."

"Well that's lame."

"Yeah, I know." I laugh quietly.

"I'm sorry, y'know..." Lou mutters out of the blue, picking at her nail polish.

"What?" My eyebrows scrunch in confusion.

"I'm sorry I was so awful to you and Nico. I don't know what got into me. I was listening to everyone else and what they thought about him without actually talking to you or him about it. I thought I was helping you and keeping  you safe from getting hurt."

"I mean, you were kind of right. At least, a little bit. He did screw up and he did hurt me. But... I still love him. I was willing to forgive him and move past it after a few weeks of processing. I just haven't gotten the chance to tell him that, yet."

"That doesn't excuse what I did, Will. Don't ever tell him this, but I kinda deserved that broken nose. It was hell explaining that to my mom, though."

Her and I laugh at the thought of that scene. Lou's mom would've freaked out and gone on a hunting trip for Nico's head if she had her way.

"I just want to see him. It's been five days since I woke up. He won't even bother with dropping by for five minutes." I shake my head, trying to keep the pain out of my voice and failing miserably.

"He's been doing that since Cecil called him. He says it's too hard to see you like this and keeps blaming himself for it happening. Says you deserve better than him."

"He's an idiot. I just want to have a conversation with him."

---

Slowly, my eyes peel open against the florescents above me. I hadn't even realized I fell asleep.

Carefully, I stretch as best I can with my whole body wrapped in a cast one way or another. I wince and a quiet, pained groan escapes my mouth as I stretch my arm too much.

"Will." A breathless voice sounds across the room from me.

My head snaps toward the familiar voice, causing my vision to go black as pain shoots up my spine and through my skull. I drop my head back onto my pillow, wincing heavily and willing the pain to leave.

"Will?" The voice is closer, definitely next to my bed this time.

"What are you doing here?" I mutter through clenched teeth, still waiting for the pain to leave my head.

"I- came to see you. Cecil told me you-"

"It's been a week, Nico." I glare at him, my vision finally clear of those damned black spots. "I've been awake for a week."

"No one told me." He lies, giving himself away by rubbing the back of his neck, something he only does when he's worried about being caught in a lie.

"Bullshit." My voice comes out rough and cold.

Nico's eyes snap to mine with a glare on his face. "Excuse me?" He demands.

"That's fucking bullshit, di Angelo. I know for a fact that your sister has spent the past week trying to get your sorry ass up here. Don't you dare try to lie to me about this."

Nico tries his best to glare at me, but quickly deflates, slumping against the wall.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles, not looking at me.

"'I'm sorry'? That's all I get, 'I'm sorry'? After everything you've out me through? Everything I've put up with from your sorry ass! I've been nothing but loving and supportive for six months. Six months! You've been there for everything life has thrown at me and I've done the same and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'? You know what, fuck you, Nico di Angelo. Fuck you." My jaw clenches as I cross my arms over my chest.

"I didn't tell you to stick around, William!" Nico yells, throwing his hands up. "I told you from the beginning that I was no good for you! You said you didn't care. You put yourself in this situation, not me."

"So you're still going to ignore everything you've done to me? I get that you told me to stay away. I get that you didn't want to hurt me. I get that you were scared of a relationship with me. But guess what? You broke my damn heart! You cheated on me, whether you physically did anything or not. You told me you wanted nothing to do with me, Nico! You really fucked me up and I'm still in love with you! But you don't care, right? All you care about is that you told me not to stick around; you told me to fuck off, so that makes everything okay, right? Well, guess what? I'm 'fucking off'. Get out."

"I- what?" Nico's voice is full of pain and hurt.

"You heard me. Get out. You want nothing to do with me, right? You wanted me to get out of your life, right? Well this is me doing exactly that."

"No."

"Excuse me?" I glare at him. How dare he tell me no like that after all of this shit.

"No." Nico says slowly, as if I was stupid and couldn't understand.

"What the hell do you mean, no? You have no right to tell me no!" I shriek.

"I have every right to tell you no." He says calmly, telling me exactly how upset he is right now. "This involves me just as much as it involves you. Yeah, I've fucked up and done a lot of shit you should hate me for, but I refuse to let you end it like this. If we're going to end this, it'll be after we've gotten all of our shit out in the air and told each other everything."

"No. I'm not listening to you spew more of your fucking bullsh-"

"I'm in love with you, Will." Nico interrupts, voice steady and clear as day; no lie or deception possible. "Just as much as you love me, I love you; more than you love me. I know I messed up by talking to Jason the way I did. I know I was an idiot for hiding it, but I mean it. I love you, more than you could ever fathom. I let Jason get into my head and I let Jason keep talking to me because I was terrified of what that meant. I've never loved someone before and I was afraid that I would do something to hurt or lose you. I didn't want the responsibility of caring for your heart because it scared me. So I threw it away. I was scared, and when I got that call at one in the morning that you were on an operating table..." Nico's voice broke and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes.

"I thought I was about to lose my whole world, Will. I was so afraid. I knew you wouldn't want me back, though. I just needed to see you one more time. One last time to be sure you were okay. And you were. So I promised myself I wouldn't come back; I would leave and let you find someone that would know how to take care of your heart the way you deserve. Hazel kept badgering me about coming here now that you were awake... I finally caved. I'm here to say goodbye, Will. That's why I came back."

I blink, trying to hold back the tears burning at my throat. "You can't just leave like that. You can't just confess something that... that real and expect me to let you walk away. I've been in love with you for two years, Nico. I I was too much of a coward to tell you before this year, but now that I have? I feel more free than I bet have in my life. You bring me more joy than I have felt since I was seven years old. I lied. I lied when I said I want you to leave. I've never wanted something less in my life. If you walk away... If you walk away from this, from us, I don't know if I'll ever love anyone again."

"You will. We're seventeen, Will. We're almost seniors in high school. In a few years, I won't even matter to you. I'll be a blip in your timeline. A fling you had in school. As soon as you hit university, you'll find someone better than me. Someone more than me."

"What if I don't want more than you?"

"You should."

"I don't." I look him straight in the eye, wanting nothing more than to just kiss him and stop the trail of self hatred running through his mind. "I want this. You. Even if it ends after high school. I don't care. I want you. I want this love as long as it will last. This feeling is something I've been yearning for since I was ten and my mom told me I would find love one day. This is what she was talking about."

"I can't, Will. I can't hurt you anymore."

"Well I'd rather you hurt me than the next person! I don't want to feel this much pain at the hands of anyone else, Nico."

Silence follows my statement as it sinks into his skin. I watch as he processes my words slowly; the gears during and words filtering through his thoughts. Finally, his eyes meet mine, his mouth open the slightest bit.

"You mean that?" He whispers, sounding awed.

"Every word." I declare.

A rush of air leaves his chest as he rushes me, pulling my face against his in a gentle kiss.

The kiss feels both familiar and different than any other kiss we've shared. This one feels like coming home. Like stress rolling off your back after a long day and home cooked meals and movie dates and love and a future. This is what love is supposed to be; fighting and anger and pain and love and hope and  safety. Love is choosing each other even through the mess.

---

=Nico=

Two weeks later, Hazel and I show up at the hospital after a call from Lou. She refused to tell me what this was about, but said we needed to get here as soon as possible.

A thousand possibilities roll around in my head as I approach the doors to the building. Will has been doing really well in the past week. He's started eating on his own again, he only needs the ventilator at night to help him breathe now, and his arm has been removed from the cast.

Even though he's been doing well, my brain only gives me worst-case-scenarios as I think about what this could possibly be about.

Walking in the door, Hazel grabs my hand and squeezes it. "He'll be fine, Nico. I'm sure it's just about an early discharge or something."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just- I worry." I say, rubbing my hands down my jeans to get rid of the sweat.

"Yeah, I know. It'll be fine."

Walking in the door, the first person I see is Mrs. Markowitz. Next to her are Lou, Leo, and Cecil. They all have varying looks of shock on their faces, but what really catches my eye is Mrs. Markowitz. She's crying.

It's not a relieved cry like that first night here, either. This is an earth shattering, heartbroken cry. Her face is blotchy and her eyes are red, her hands shake as they hold a tissue against her mouth.

I stop dead in my tracks.

No. This isn't happening. It's not possible. No. Is all that's repeating through my head, over and over. Just the word 'no'.

Gently, Hazel grabs my arm and pulls me closer to the group. She herself has become worried, her hand drumming insistently on her thigh.

"Lou?" Hazel questions, her voice coming out as no more than a whisper as we get closer to them.

"Nico..." Lou's eyes immediately focus on me.

My eyes fill with tears at her tone, my chin trembling as I try to hold them back.

"What happened, Lou?" Hazel asks, her voice still weak.

"It happened in his sleep... No one could've predicted it. It- his brain hemorrhaged. They said they had been watching his head injury for the past couple of days... No one was expecting this." Lou explains, her voice getting thicker and thicker the longer she speaks.

"Where is Will?" I ask, trying my best to blink away the tears blurring my vision.

"He... There was nothing they could do. He was gone by the time the nurse went to check on him." Leo tells us, his voice sounding weak and hollow.

"No. No, that's not possible. He was fine! I just saw him yesterday! No! He was fine! I want to see him. Take me to him, someone. Please. This isn't real. I refuse to accept this. He was fine!" I double over before I know what's happening, a pained half scream, half sob wracking through my body and forcing its way out of my mouth. The tears burn as they fall, huge and hot, down my cheeks. I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest and crushed under someone's shoe, still beating. I clutch my shirt over my heart, rocking slightly as I sob, weak whimpers and whines escaping me as I do my best to cry quietly.

Hazel drops to the floor next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and holding me as I sob harder than I have in my life. She cries, too, though hers is far quieter and more tame than my body will allow from me.

"Nico, we can't. He's gone." Cecil whispers, voice somewhere off to my left.

Nothing I have ever experienced has been as painful as this.