(Not edited yet, so please ignore any mistakes. I'll go through and edit at some point this week, I just wanted to get this up this week for you guys)

TWENTY FOUR

"William Solace." The speaker finally called. Nico watched his roommate walk across the stage from the audience, seated beside Naomi. Will was smiling as he shook hands with the dean and a professor before returning to his seat. Nico got out his phone and sent him a text, 'You good?'

'I think so. I'm still alive so that must mean I remembered how to breathe.'

'Well the hard part is done, now you just have to party ;)'

'Pretty sure the party is the hard part...'

Naomi elbowed him softly in the side and raised an eyebrow. "Tell my son to stop texting during his graduation. Why is his contact 'Stronzo'?"

Nico's face was flushed, not wanting to explain to her that he called his son asshole, even if he meant it endearingly. "It's an inside joke." Which seemed to be a sufficient enough answer and she dropped it, turning back to watch the ceremony.

Two hours later, someone jumped on Nico's back, almost toppling him over before he managed to stand up again. He saw Naomi snap a picture with her fancy camera. "That's definitely going on the wall."

"Mom-" Will protested, but she was having none of it. He slid back onto the ground, leaning against Nico instead.

"I'll even get a copy printed out for each of you, and I can-" Her phone started ringing, and after checking the screen her face paled. "It's the hospital, William I can't-"

"It's okay Mom." Will grabbed the phone from her hands and hit answer "Will Solace speaking... Family... Okay, we can have her there within the hour... Yeah... Alright, thank you so much...Bye."

"She's okay?" Naomi's voice was laced with anxiety, and she was wringing her hands, but they stopped when Will nodded.

"I have to call Victor, but they just received a match for her, and they will operate in three hours. After I call we can go back to the flat and we can drive down. We can be there in time for them to put her under."

They walked to the car as Will talked to Victor. Nico wasn't sure what he should say, wasn't sure there was anything he could say to help make them feel better, so he just drove. The walk to the fourth floor was agonizingly long, Nico falling behind to give them space.

While Naomi was in Will's room, Will stopped and faced Nico. "Look, I know that my stepdad is the last person you would ever want to be around," his voice was shaking and he kept running a hand through his hair.

"Just let me pack my bags and text Hazel to check up on Nyx at some point this weekend." Nico finished for him, and Will nodded, noticeably relieved. Even if it had been awkward between them after Will's confession for a bit, it hadn't drastically changed anything. They were still best friends who needed each other to get through hard times.

"I promise that if Victor so much as looks at you funny I will kick him out of the hospital."

"You can't do that." Nico smiled. "You do realize that it's his daughter going into surgery? I don't want to cause problems, but even if I have to wait outside, I'll be there for you."

"Thank you." His eyes welled up with tears and he took a jagged breath. "I should check on my mom." He turned and walked away.

It wasn't any longer than ten minutes before Nico was behind the wheel of his own car, following Naomi, so that after he and Will would have a vehicle to get home in. He was alone so he played his music as loud as he wanted, starting his playlist. Lemminkainen Suite came on and he focused on that and the road instead of his thoughts. He knew that in order for Aurora to have a heart, some other family's child had to die.

The drive felt much longer than the two hours it was, and soon they were pulling up in the hospital in the city nearest Will's town. The city was large and the hospital looked like a work of art in and of itself. The walls of most of the floors were glass. If Nico had been stuck in the hospital for long periods of time, he definitely would appreciate the view. The lobby was crisp, with light grey walls and laminate floor.

Will walked up to the front desk to get the room information, and they headed up the stairs to the operating room waiting area, Will leading the way. Victor was seated in the corner farthest from them, so that where they headed.

Victor stood up and faced turned to Will. "Why did you bring the fag? I told him that if he so much as came anywhere near me-"

"Did you honestly just say what I think you just said? Are you honestly trying to pick a fight while your daughter is in there fighting for her life? Nico is twice the man you are and he's staying, so deal with it or leave. The door is that way." Will gestured angrily towards the door, but Victor just growled low in his throat before sitting as far away from Nico as possible.

"Will," Nico whispered "I told you not to do that."

"I don't care. I don't care who he is, he could be the president for all I care, but if he insults my friends, I'm not just going to stand by and watch." That ended the conversation, but Nico reached his hand over and grabbed Will's squeezing it tight. Will squeezed back, holding onto Nico like a lifeline.

- - - - -

Four hours isn't a long time. Nico spent twice that in class and twice that in work. Four hours is the length of watching two movies. Four hours is the time it takes to read a short book. Compared to the rest of your life, four hours passes in a blink of an eye.

Until those four hours are spent in the waiting room of a hospital. Waiting for any news of how things are going. Looking up, a hopeful expression whenever a doctor walks by, but hearts heavy when they just keep walking by without stopping.

"Victor and Naomi?" A woman in a white coat steps into the room, and they stand up. Will had mostly drifted off on Nico's shoulder, but he perks up and watches the doctor. "I'm Dr. Riayn, I performed the transplant on Aurora. As far as we can tell, there haven't been any complications, but she is being transferred to the ICU so we can monitor her more closely and see whether or not her body accepts the heart. Once we transfer her to another ward in a few days I'll walk you guys through her new medications. In half an hour you guys can feel free to go upstairs and stay in her room with her, but I ask no more than two or three people at a time, just to be courteous to everyone else in the ward."

"Thank you, doctor." Naomi said, and then turned to Will and Nico "I booked two hotel rooms, so if you guys want to go ahead and get settled in, feel free. You guys can stay in the room for an hour or two later this evening while Victor and I get settled in and cleaned up. Does that sound fair?"

"Yeah," Will went and gave his mom a lingering hug, kissing the top of her forehead. "Under your name?" She nodded.

Will and Nico walked quietly together to his car, and besides Will giving directions they were quiet. Nico grabbed their bags as Will checked in and they headed up to their room. "I'm going to take a shower, pick whichever bed you want."

Nico was left in the room alone. He threw his bag on the floor by the bed farthest from the door and flopped down, ready to go to bed as it was nine pm and his entire had been an emotional roller coaster. Instead, he simply turned on the TV to a channel playing some old crime movie because that was the best thing on. He heard the shower turn off, and shortly after Will came in with a towel around his waist to grab some clothes before retreating back behind the closed door.

He was taking so long that Nico was about to go check on him when he heard crying. "Will?" He had gotten up and knocked softly on the bathroom door, and it swung open to reveal Will leaning against the counter with his arms wrapped tightly around his body.

"Sorry, sorry." Will sniffed and wiped his eyes before straightening up and taking a deep breath. I'll get out of your way."

"I think it was you who told me it's okay to not be okay, was it not?" Nico raised and eyebrow.

He saw Will take another deep breath. "You're right." He paused. "Nico, I'm not feeling alright, and right now I could really use a friend."

Will stepped forward and Nico wrapped his arms around him tightly. They stayed there for a long time before Will finally pulled away. "Okay. I'm ready to go back now. Did you want to shower or anything first?"

"I can do that after, right now let's go to the hospital and be there for Aurora and your parents. One thing at a time, we can do it." Nico smiled softly and Will nodded.

"One thing at a time."

- - - - -

Aurora looked tiny in the bed she was on. She was hooked up to a million different wires, and Will calmed himself down by explaining each of the different parts on the heart monitor, and what all the machines and wires did. They stayed there for half an hour, the room feeling dead silent despite the constant beeping and movement in the ICU. One of the machines started increasing the beeping and Will got up to call a nurse.

"Her fever has spiked considerably." The nurse explained. "At this point, it could just be infection; we can't know whether her body is rejecting the heart unless we do an endomyocardial biopsy. What I can do is adjust her immuno suppressants. Once your parents get back they can decide whether the biopsy is the direction they want to pursue, as it's quite an invasive test. I'm not too worried yet, with it being just a fever, but if she starts showing any other flu-like symptoms, flag me down and we can discuss options." The nurse explained, but it didn't do much to ease the worry on Will's face.

Will moved his chair beside the bed and sat rubbing Aurora's arm and stroking her hair, talking quietly. Her body began jerking, and vomit ran down her chin. Several nurses rushed into the room, having seen her heart rate change from the seizure she was in the middle of. They steered Will and Nico out of the room, so all they could do was watch through the glass as the life left in Aurora's frail body disappeared.

(A/N: So I'm really sorry there wasn't an update last Wednesday, life was incredibly crazy and I couldn't write. If you haven't already, please go check out my Oneshot book, for all things Solangelo so you guys can get your fix of these two nerds when I'm an awful person who leaves you hanging :) But seriously, as far I know, I won't be missing another update I hope, and this story is starting to wrap up, but I've still got a couple more chapters planned, so don't worry)