SEVENTEEN

"Nico!" Will shook him awake. "You need to get up."

"What's going on he mumbled." But then he clued in to the noise and realized they needed to get their butts downstairs immediately. "Where's Nyx?" Nico asked, grabbing a hoodie off the floor and his phone. People always say when the alarm goes off you leave without grabbing anything. That was crap. It was the middle of the night, he wasn't going outside without a jacket, and he needed his phone. He couldn't afford another one.

"Aww! You do care about her. Don't worry, I got her." Will said, unzipping his hoodie where her head popped out. "Let's go." They headed down the stairs together, along with all the other residents in the building.

"I don't see any flames or smoke." Nico said, standing out in the park across the street, staring at the building. He hoped to the gods that nothing had happened and that it was simply a false alarm. Wouldn't be the first time. There were a lot of smokers in the building and they didn't always listen to the 'no smoking indoors' rule. It also could have very well been another person stumbling back drunk and deciding it would be fun to pull the alarm.

"You okay there?" Will asked Nico, leaning closer to him so that they could hear each other over all the commotion.

"Yeah, why?"

"You just sort of...give off the impression that you want to murder everyone here, That's all." Will smiled at him.

Nico frowned. "I do not." He denied. "I am a perfectly pleasant person, thank you very much."

"Yeah. Uh-huh." Will agreed sarcastically, laughing before shivering. "I really should have brought a warmer jacket.

"Well hopefully this will be over soon enough. I need sleep." Nico grumbled. "Also, I can't miss classes again tomorrow, so if I can't get my stuff-"

"Wait, again? What happened yesterday?"

"I just forgot." Nico lied. "Got caught up in something else." He shrugged it of. Truthfully, he spent all his energy just getting out of bed and make Will breakfast. He couldn't even eat anything himself. He had laid in bed until Will came home again and he forced himself to go make dinner.

It was an hour before the firefighters came and gave the building the 'all clear'. Just as Nico had suspected, there was no fire and the alarm was just triggered by some dumbass. They waited until most of the masses had made their way into the building before attempting to fight their way through the crowd to get to their own flat, completely exhausted.

Will went to the kitchen to put Nyx back in her bed while Nico headed straight for his room, flopping on the bed and shutting his eyes. It was no use though, as the same nightmare woke him up ten minutes after he had fallen asleep.

Nico changed his shirt, as his last one was soaked through with sweat, and he stared out his window for several minutes, staring at the lights and traffic, distracting his brain from dwelling on the images.

He went into the living room and turned on the telly, but there wasn't anything good on. That was how Will found him in the morning, watching infomercials while only half awake.

Will left for his run, and Nico went to get started on breakfast, but he seemed to be unable to fully open his eyes or get off the couch, sleep lulling him in. When He finally woke up again and got off the couch, Will was in the kitchen.

"I made us cereal because it's the only thing I don't burn. And extra strong coffee, because you look like you need it."

"Grazie." Nico said, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, grabbing the mug Will was handing to him. He sat and started eating the cereal. "What classes do you have today?" Nico tried to make conversation.

"My morning lecture was cancelled because the prof is sick, so I don't have to be at school until noon." Will smiled. "We should do something! That is, unless you have work?" He asked.

"Not today, I have Mondays off now, because I go see Nala before classes, but that isn't until four. What were you thinking?"

"Well we could go to the Yellow Piano, or we could head downtown and walk around, or we could commit a felony, or we could go to the bookstore..." Will listed several options.

"You are incapable of breaking the law, Solace. I'd like to see you try." Nico laughed at the mere thought of it.

"Well, I have always wanted to either graffiti something or steal a street sign, but I don't think I'd have the guts to do either." Will shrugged, finishing his breakfast.

"I'd be your lookout if you needed." Nico offered.

"Wait, really?"

"I have spray paint in my closet."

"Are you actually serious right now?"

"Dead serious, but I mean, if you're too chicken..." Nico teased, knowing there was no way Will would ever agree to it. Will had a lot of qualities, but going against the rules and being rebellious weren't among them.

"Shouldn't we do that when it isn't light outside?"

"Nah, as long as you have a lookout, it isn't too bad. I know some streets that are out of the eye of the public. Realistically though, what did you want to do today?"

"Well what if I was being serious about the spray paint?"

"I would ask 'who the hell are you and what have you done to Will?'"

"I want to do it. I already have a tattoo, why not go out and paint the town."

"You are literally such a dork. This is going to be so great." Nico smiled. He headed to his room to grab his backpack full of canisters, and when he came out, he saw Will in black pants, black hoodie, and black hat. "Well we will get caught if you dress like that. Go put your normal clothes on. Five minutes."

Will came back out in a normal pair of jeans and a hoodie. "This better?"

"Immensely. Let's go." They headed to Nico's car and drove downtown. Nico parked in a side street and they got out and walked a few blocks. There was a giant wall, Will wasn't sure what store it belonged to, that was already covered in art.

"Just so you know, I've never used spray paint and I suck at art." Will warned the darker haired boy in front of him who was holding out a yellow can.

"Just draw a smiley face or something." He grabbed his own can and a stencil and started spraying several feet away from Will.

Will took Nico's advice and drew a smiley face, now being able to check graffiti off his bucket list, he walked over and put the can away, watching Nico work. He had finished one wing on the corner of the building before moving the stencil to the other side, working on the second one. He didn't get very far because a loud "Hey!" came from the street.

"Run." Nico told Will as he grabbed his bag and followed after. Will had unsuccessfully led them into a dead end, and soon the policeman had caught up to them. Nico knew when to accept defeat, dropped his bag and turned around. Will followed suit.

The officer led them to his car and drove them to the station. Nico could see Will was beginning to freak out, so he placed his hand on his arm as best as he could with cuffs on, trying to calm him down. "Look, it's fine. He's just going to stick us in a holding cell and we call someone to bail us out. Won't take more than an hour." Nico assured him quietly, walking him through the process, and Will gulped, nodding. "Besides, they didn't see you do anything, so I'm sure it will all be on me." Will tried to rub the yellow paint smudge on his hand, not very successful.

The police station was a very nice looking building, and the insides were impeccably clean. They got led through a door and placed in a room with a table and a few chairs bolted to the ground. The police officer left them alone after they gave him their names and they sat quietly until he returned. "di Angelo, it's been awhile since we've seen you in here." The officer said as he opened the door. Will gave Nico a funny look at this, but Nico didn't make eye contact with him.

"Well, if you guys weren't so good at your jobs, Ledger, I wouldn't be here." Nico smiled at officer Ledger, and they laughed.

"Thank you, but flattery will get you nowhere. Though, I haven't seen your friend in here before." Officer Ledger said, eyeing Will.

"My fault, I dragged him along." Nico shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "He's a good kid, med school. He didn't do anything."

Ledger nodded. "You know the drill," and handed him a phone, which Nico took and punched in a phone number.

"Alice, hey." Nico greeted. "I kind of need your help, can you please come bail Will and I out? I would eternally be in your debt and I'd bring you coffee everyday for a week." He paused. "Thank you thank you thank you." Nico hung up and handed back the phone.

"How many times have you been in this situation before?" Will asked Nico curiously. If he was on first name terms with the officers, and they were treating him like a regular...

"I used to do a lot of tagging. I stopped once Winona took me in and I started getting all my creative energy out the proper, legal way."

"That woman sure is amazing." Officer Ledger said, shaking his head in amazement. "We used to pick him up every other week at least. Didn't have anyone to bail him out so he'd spend a night or two here, and repeat it all over again in a week."

"I had no idea. Wait, who did you live with before Winona?" Will thought he knew a lot about Nico's past, but something new would come up all over again and bring him back to feeling like he never really knew the dark haired mystery, despite living with him for half a year.

"I slept in my car. I was better off than a lot of people, so I didn't mind. At least I had a car, even if it didn't always have gas in the tank." A buzz sounded on the intercom. "And that," Nico stood up "is probably Alice."

Officer Ledger left, and returned with a very livid looking Hazel. "What on Earth do you think you were doing, Nico? You said you were better, and then you go and do this? How could you just throw away your future like this? Do you even know how worried I was when Alice phoned and said you were in jail?" Hazel yelled at him. Then she turned to Will. "I'm not upset at you, don't worry. I know you are perfectly capable of handling yourself. It's this idiotic brother of mine." She glared daggers at Nico.

"What are you even doing here? I didn't call you. Alice had no right."

"Alice was in the middle of a shift. She figured that you guys would have rather been bailed out sooner rather than later, so she phoned, and for good reason. I stop looking after you for a few weeks and you land yourself in jail. What does that say, eh?"

"Look. Thanks for coming, but I didn't call you. If you are just going to stand there and yell at us, leave and we will wait for Alice."

Will knew he probably shouldn't interject, but he had to. "Um, he's speaking for himself. I would really appreciate if you could get me out of here, even if this guy wants to wait a few hours."

"Of course. Will, let's go."

"Fine." Nico grumbled, following them out of the room. "But only because I have an appointment that I can't really miss. Don't think I've forgiven you yet." The ride back to the flat was awkward, to say the least. Hazel didn't get out of the car when she dropped them off, and Nico didn't say anything to her. He didn't say anything until they got back into the safety of their flat. "Can I borrow your truck? I have therapy and my car is still downtown." Will tossed him the keys, and after grabbing himself a drink of water and throwing his bag back into his closet, he left.

He walked up and rang the doorbell for Nala's office. They always kept the front door locked, just for confidentiality and safety purposes, so he stood outside and waited. She opened the door. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up after all."

"Sorry, I was kind of in jail." Nico mumbled as he followed her in, closing and locking the door behind him. He took the same chair he chose the first day, and they got started.

"You were in jail? Should I ask why?" Nala smiled.

"Well it obviously wasn't for murder, because then I would still be locked up. It was just graffiti." Nico shrugged.

"Well I'm glad to know you aren't planning on killing me anytime soon." Nala laughed at her own joke, and Nico cracked a smile. "I was thinking today we could talk more about your family and your life in Italy."

"What did you want to know about it?"

"What were you parents like?" Nala started and Nico shrugged.

"I know that my mom's name is Maria, and I couldn't care less about my dad."

"Have you ever tried to find your mom? I'm sure it wouldn't be impossible if you really put your mind on it." Nala asked, staring intently at Nico, but he just looked away.

"I have no memories of her. As far as I'm concerned, my only connection to her is biological. She wanted nothing to do with me, I want nothing to do with her. Besides, do you even know how many Maria di Angelo's there would be in Italy?"

"What about your father? What was he like growing up."

"He was always at the office. I never saw him much. When he wasn't working he was out. I was eight when he got the promotion that moved us to America, and if anything, he just worked even more. I see his name in the news every once in a while, but I don't really keep tabs on his life."

"What do you think would be different about you if your parents had been around more?" Nala asked, and Nico honestly had no idea how to answer that question.

"I'm not sure." He wringed his hands together, not wanting to get the answer wrong or to disappoint her.

"Well there we go." She wrote something down on the bottom of the paper, tore it, and handed it to him. Nico saw the question she had just posed him and he stuck it in his jacket pocket. "Try to have an answer for next week."

- - - - -

Hazel was on the couch, Nyx sleeping in her lap. "Where have you been?" She asked as Nico entered the flat.

"I had an appointment." Nico shrugged, and walked to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. "Where's Will?"

"He had class, but he said I was welcome to wait here until you got back. He wouldn't tell me where you were though." Hazel came into the kitchen as well so she could talk to her brother better. "Are you sick?"

"No, look, it was just an appointment." Nico hopped up and sat on the counter as Hazel sat at the island.

"If you have cancer, I swear-"

Nico raised his hand, cutting her off. "I'm not sick. If you must know, I started going to therapy." Nico admitted. If Will could be honest about it, he could to.

"What?" Hazel wasn't sure she heard him right. "Therapy? Why?"

"Because you were right. I'm not capable on my own." Nico shot at her.

"I didn't- I'm sorry. I was upset, and when I got the call that you were in the hospital was one of the worst days of my life. It was unfair of me to say that, because you are so unbelievably strong, Nico. You've gone through so much, and the fact that you are going to therapy just proves how strong you are for seeking help and dealing with it. You aren't the same person you were, you have improved tremendously." Hazel stood and pulled Nico down into a hug, squeezing him tight, trying to show him how much she cared. "You're so strong." She whispered in his ear.

"Then why don't I feel strong?" 

(A/N I won NaNoWriMo! But don't worry, the story isn't over yet. I don't know how much I'll be able to update early December, because I'll be travelling, but once I'm back in Canada updates will be more regular. Picture at the top is the wings Nico was in the middle of sticking up. Props to whoever noticed any of the three other fandom references in here. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and comment :)