Request for BWhite_280 , so I hope you like it!
TRIGGER WARNING: Fairly descriptive car crash, so just be warned. I'm not sure what your triggers are, so just to be safe I'm putting this in.

Nico's POV

"This isn't going to work."

"Nico, come on, you're overreacting." Hazel crosses her arms over her chest, arching her eyebrow and giving him the stink eye she's been giving him as he sets up the apartment, whining and complaining throughout the entirety of the process. "The apartment looks beautiful, Will loves you, he's going to say yes. And a few months later you'll get married and live happily ever after." Nico frowns, his eyes sweeping over the apartment. There are rose petals scattered over every surface, covering the apartment in a thin sheen of light pink. The candles burning on every surface send the faint scent of a rose into the room, and the shadow of the flickering flame is cast onto the wall, bigger than life. It's simple, he knows, even though it'll take hours to clean up, but it looks nice, at least.

"You think so?"

"Yes, idiot, stop freaking out, he'll be here soon. Then we'll all pop out of the kitchen, and we'll go to dinner. It'll be perfect, I promise." She wraps him in a tight hug and he squeezes back, his heart skipping a beat in his chest. His clothes feel like they're burning his skin as if they've just come out of the oven and there will be welts on his arms and legs and stomach when he takes them off but he hears footsteps in the hallway outside of the door and his heart stops. He doesn't have time to think about anything but Will. "Shit. Okay, I'll see you once you're engaged, okay?" Hazel gives him one last quick hug before darting into the kitchen, and even though she's disappeared around the corner he can still hear her whispers.

As the footsteps draw closer he slowly picks up the single rose laying on the table next to him, the simple silver band looped around the stem, stopped by a thorn. Its petals are bright red; brighter than the pale pink petals around the rest of the room. Like those petals times a thousand.

He grips the stem hard when he hears the key in the lock, the thorns digging into his skin, but he doesn't feel the pain, only the dull sensation of something slicing into him. He's sure he's white as a ghost when Will steps into the room, and a look of benign happiness turns into complete shock as his eyes travel across the room, pausing to watch the candles flicker, the rose petals shift lightly in the breeze wafting in from the ajar window. He should have closed it, he thinks to himself as he watches a petal drift to the floor, but there's no time for that now. "Nico, what-"

Nico is shaking when he gets down on one knee, holding up the rose with the ring on the stem. Will's sentence hangs in the air and for a second Nico is too nervous to fill the silence so he lets the sound waves of Will's words drift out the window before he clears his throat, giving Will a smile that must look more like a grimace. There's a speech planned in his head that he's been rehearsing for the past month but at that moment, with Will's blue eyes shining down onto him, his mind is a blank sheet of paper, and he stutters trying to come up with the first sentence. "Will," he says, fighting for the words. "Will, Will, uh-"

"Yes."

"What?"

"That's what you're doing, right?" Will asks, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "Because if you're not proposing I feel really stupid right now." Nico feels as if he's been hit by a truck, like he's frozen in his spot, still unable to make a sound. He's scared his voice won't come out, that he'll push and push and he won't be able to say anything, won't be able to tell Will how much he loves him but when Will is sweeping him up, their lips smashing together, words don't matter. Will is the first one to cry and the tears mingle with Nico's as their faces press together, Nico's arms looped around Will's waist, Will's lips still on his. Nico is shaking as he takes the rose, shaking off the silver band and slipping it onto Will's finger. It looks so right there and for a second he can't talk and he stays in Will's arms until he hears screaming and their friends leap out from behind the corner, their faces alight. "It's a real party, huh?" Will says, wiping a tear from his cheek and giving their friends a watery smile. "Hey, guys."

"It was Hazel's idea," Nico says, running his sleeve across his face, and letting it drop back down to his side with moisture seeping through. "She helped me plan this whole thing, actually. They want to take us out for dinner." He wraps his hand around Will's giving it a light squeeze and staring into his eyes. They're bluer than the sky and he feels as if he could get lost in them for hours, examining each and every fleck of green splattered across, the way the light hit and shone like glass. With Will's hand in his the chaos of the room around him, the yelling, clapping, the pats on the back feel like nothing more than the hazy memory of a dream. But when Hazel is pulling him towards the car, her smile splitting her face in half, he has to break apart from Will.

"Come on, lover boy, the reservation is for eight. We don't want to be late." Nico laughs as she pulls him but just before they leave he latches onto Will's hand, pulling him out with them.

It's cool when they get outside, stars glittering in the sky like drops of melted silver backed against a sheet of black. There's a light breeze and it picks up pieces of Will's hair, waving strands in the air for brief seconds before letting them flutter back down to the top of his head, letting them curl. Nico brushes the strands of hair back into place as they walk to Reyna's minivan, just barely big enough to fit the ten of them. Will and Nico squeeze into the very back, into the popup seats bordering the trunk. Normally Nico would complain, insist on shotgun, but this time it was different. He'd be able to spend a couple of minutes with Will, away from the prying eyes of his friends.

"Hey," he says, resting his head on Will's shoulder as the car gives a jolt, creeping out of the parking lot. "Sorry if this is too big. I wanted to keep it simple, but Hazel thought you'd like it."

"I do like it," Will says, smiling softly. His cheeks are flushed light pink, the glow of the moon reflecting in his eye. "I'm looking forward to dinner with everyone. I'm also looking forward to spending some time with just you later on. First night as fiancés, what are we going to do?" He tilts Nico's chin up slowly, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Nico's heart flutters in his chest and he loops his arms around Will's neck, their bodies pressing together so hard it feels as if they'll meld into one.

"Hey, keep it pg back there," Hazel says, resting her elbow on the chair and turning back to throw them a look, a sparkle in her eye. "No one cares that you're engaged."

"Hey, I care," Nico says, coming up for air just long enough to throw his friends a glare. They're beginning to attract more attention, quiet giggles filling the silence.

"Yeah, so do I. And I'll make out with him all I want, and you can't do a thing about it." Will pulls Nico closer, kissing him hard just to prove a point but Nico enjoys it, more than anything. There's a distinct sense of happiness in the car as they drive, a shared sense of overflowing joy that bubbles in Nico's chest every time he looks at Will, every time his eye catches the glint of the engagement ring in the dull light of the car. For a split second, everything feels perfect. But it takes a split second for everything to go careening so sharply downhill it's impossible to stop the chain of bad events.

Nico couldn't be sure what the initial cause was; he was busy looking at Will when it happened but as they zoomed down the highway he can distinctly remember the roar of an engine behind them, like a giant's voice through the sky. That didn't phase him, though; he was too busy looking at Will. But he can remember coming up for air just in time to see an eighteen wheeler on their heels, and he can remember feeling a shot of panic through his heart. He can remember breaking apart from Will, glancing behind him. The truck is swerving, the tires sweeping over the yellow line. "Reyna," he says, frowning. "Does something seem off to you?"

"Huh?" she glances back at him, her eyebrows creasing. "What are you talking about?"

"That truck, it looks-" he doesn't have time to finish his sentence because he feels a crash and all of a sudden they're spinning, the tires squealing on the asphalt, the world a blur around him. He can remember his vision going black for half seconds at a time, the feeling that his breath had been taken, the feeling of reaching, searching for Will's hand, not being able to find it anywhere. He could remember feeling completely lost in a world of screams and blurred lights.

The careening car was stopped by the cold metal of a guardrail and Nico's head snaps against the seat in front of them as they come to an abrupt stop in a shallow ditch off the side of the road. The car trembles for a brief second as if holding in a breath and when it lets the breath go Nico is brought spiraling back to reality, his head pounding. Something wet is trickling down from his forehead and he wipes his hand against his skin and when he brings it away, it's stained with red. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He scrambles to unbuckle his seatbelt, his hands trembling. The car landed on its side and it still teeters as if it's about to fall over, and Nico feels as if the world has tipped over.

He hears groans as his friends lift their heads, and he whips his head around, the world blurring before him. He can see the shadow of a man stumbling towards them, his steps uneven and he feels white-hot rage fill his body for a split second before he remembers his friends. "Guys? Is everyone okay?"

"Okay." Annabeth.

"I'm here." Percy.

"Fine." Jason.

"Here." Piper.

"I'm fine." Hazel.

"Here." Frank.

"I'm okay." Leo.

"I'm here." Reyna.

"Will?" Nico asks, his body sighing in relief. His head is throbbing and the world looks pixelated, but at least they're not too seriously injured. "Will? You good?" His hand reaches over, covering Will's and he's expecting at least a squeeze in return but there's nothing, only Will's hand limp in his. "Will?" Nothing but silence. He can hear the car rocking in the wind, the strange buzzing in his head, the wailing of sirens far off in the distance. The other driver must have called them.

"Nico?" Hazel pops her head out from the row in front of them. Her hair is a cloud of frizz above her head, her face three shades too pale, but she's unscathed. "Is everything okay?"

"Hazel, he's unconscious." A fat tear falls out of his eye and he doesn't bother wiping it away, letting more fall as he shakes Will. "Come on, Will, wake up."

"Nico, hey, hang on," Hazel says, climbing over the seats. "We should get him out of the car." He feels her hand on his back, but he's too busy looking at Will to care. "Nico, come on." He doesn't move so she takes action, grabbing onto Will's wrists and pulling him gently out of the car as the rest of their friends rock the car so that it tilts over to its side, standing upright on its wheels. She lays Will out across the grass of the ditch, the pale glow of the moonlight illuminating his face, bouncing off of the wedding band. His mouth is parted slightly, his eyes closed, his face white. Nico's tears fall onto his face and Hazel takes charge, pressing her fingers to his wrist, chewing on her lip. The sirens are drawing closer and out of the corner of his eye, Nico can see the hint of the lights as if they're shining through a rainstorm. His head throbs at the sharp sounds of the sirens, but he's glad to hear them.

"Hazel?" She looks at him and there's a spark of fear in her eyes. "Hazel? He's okay, isn't he?" His clothes feel hot and sticky on his body despite the chill in the air. Will's body is spread out against the green backdrop of grass like an angel, his hair mingling with the blades. "Hazel, please, tell me he's okay." His cheeks are wet, his hands shake as he inches closer to Will, wrapping his fingers around Will's wrist. "Will. Will, come on, wake up. Please." Hazel pulls him away when Nico begins to shake Will's body, tears falling everywhere; the grass, Will's shirt, splashing onto the engagement band and sliding down onto the ground. Flashing lights surround him and he hears voices as if they're underwater.

"Nico, come on, let's go." He feels Hazel's arms on him, her hands curling around his arms. "Let's let the paramedics take care of him, okay? He's okay." He can hear the lie in her voice but he listens to her, standing up and curling into her, her arms hugging him tightly as he sobs. He can hear footsteps around him, rumbling like thunder but he can't bear to take his head out of Hazel's shoulders. He hears small wheels rumbling and paramedics rush to the car, to Will's body, but they leave Hazel and Nico alone, letting him sob into his shoulder, his body trembling as the pain shakes him to his core.

"Time of death: 7:53 P. M."

Hi guys, I wanted to start out by saying how sorry I am for skipping last week, there's a lot going on right now but it won't happen again. Also, sorry if the story kinda got spoiled at the beginning by the tw, but I hope you liked it!

Nina