Me, bringing back your childhood nostalgia with a fairy au and also loading it full of angst. Also, I have some announcements, so read the a/n below for those!

Nico's POV

"Tell me again how you broke it?" Will sighed, wrapping gauze around my arm. I winced, almost yanking it away from him before he tugged it back over to him, finishing with gauze and beginning with the tape. 

"I went outside of the tree," I muttered, avoiding his piercing blue eyes. 

"And what happened out there?" 

"A bird knocked me out of the air."

"This is why I always tell you not to go outside of the tree," Will lectured, his hand hovering just beside my wing. "Bad things always happen to fairys when we go outside of the tree. And you're sure your wings are alright?" He brushed a hand against the papery surface and I turned away from him, sliding off of the stretcher and standing up.

"I've told you, they're fine," I snaped. "Can I go now?" Will gave me one last once-over, and I could see the crease between his brows deepening. 

"Yeah, you can," he said. "I would say I hope I won't see you here again but knowing your recklessness, you'll be here a few hours ago."

I didn't look at him as I stormed out of the infirmary, earning a few concerned looks from the other healers. Sun streamed through the holes poked in the thin branches we lived inside, warm on my back. I passed kids playing in yards, parents watching them in cute little acorn chairs that seemed to be everywhere I looked. I could feel their gaze on me as I marched back to my house, parents leaning down to talk to their children once they thought I was out of earshot. I knew what they were saying. Don't be like that Nico Di Angelo they would say. You'll get yourself killed one day if you act like that Nico Di Angelo. I didn't care what they said about me, what they whispered about me behind my back. Once I found Bianca after all these years, they would know I was right.

I slammed the door to my house, cursing as my arm gave a throb. I didn't want to say that Will was right about anything, especially not about my behavior, but maybe he was right about taking it easy for a few weeks. I flopped down on my bed, reaching over to the bedside table and picking up the twig frame, a time beaten photograph sitting inside. Even after three years Bianca's smile still shone through the picture, her beautiful black hair swept over her shoulder and her shimmery wings glinting the light that was making her glow like an angel. I smiled at the image and although it had been three years since I had seen her, talked to her, I felt like I was with her again, still young and happy. I could still remember that stormy summer day, when Bianca had stared out at the world beyond the tree and had turned to me, her face alight with hope. I'm going to do it, Nico she had said. Even though they all tell me that it's dangerous, that it's only for the strongest trained professionals that there are, I'm going to go beyond our tiny world. That had been the last thing she had said to me, the last I had seen of her before she had disappeared. The memory was making me sick so I set the picture back by my bed, burying my body underneath the covers, staring up at my bare ceiling. I could feel a tear coming to my eye and I blinked it back, dabbing at it with the sleeve of my shirt. Somewhere outside of the tree Bianca was still alive, trying desperately to get back. I needed to get her back.

I ran into Will the next morning. He was walking out of a coffee shop with a friend, laughing about something and holding a hot cup in his hand. I tried to duck away from him but I heard him calling my name and I turned around, groaning inwardly. He waved goodbye to his friend, jogging over to me. "Hey, Nico!" he grinned. "Hows the arm?"

"Fine," I shrugged, averting my eyes. His smile dropped clean off of his face. I did that to him a lot. 

"You're doing okay, right?" he asked. "You're not thinking about going out there again, are you?" I didn't say anything. "Nico, you of all people know how dangerous it is out there, right? We're too small for out there. Remember that time some high schoolers thought you were a mosquito and almost knocked you out of the sky? You barely got away. And remember that time it hailed? And the time that frisbee came flying at you? You broke your arm yesterday, shouldn't that do something to make you realize that you can't go out there anymore?"

"I know that it's dangerous, alright?" I said. "I just need to find Bianca. Once I find Bianca I'll stop, okay?" Something in his face changed, almost like pity. 

"You know Bianca would want you to be safe, right?"

"Bianca would want me to find her," I shot back. "She's somewhere out there, suffering, and I need to find her. I'm not going to let you tell me what to do." Will opened his mouth, but shut it again after nothing but air came out. "I have to go," I said, my eyes downcast. I brushed past him, and I could feel his eyes on me until I looked back and he wasn't there anymore.

That night I could hear rain beating down on the leaves, the thin branch I lived inside of shaking in the wind. No one was outside these nights, always tucked inside of their homes as they tried to survive the quaking. It would be perfect to look for Bianca. I braced myself on the wall, the floor vibrating underneath my feet. I dressed warm and thick, imagining the way I would have to dodge the thick drops, a single one able to send me spiraling toward the ground. But it would be perfect conditions to look for Bianca. There would be no humans outside, and no pesky healers out to stop me. Tonight would be the night I found her. I could feel it. 

I almost fell over ten times as I made my way to the nook in the tree, the only way in or out of our community. Water pooled inside of it and I stared out into the darkness, nervousness collecting in the pit of my stomach. I had never been nervous before but something about the way the raindrops looked like bullets hurtling toward the group put a feeling of uneasiness inside me. But one thought of the smile on Bianca's face when I found her spurred me on and I leaped out of the tree, my wings beating hard against the wind as they carried me further and further away from the tree.

I had always been a strong flier but as the night progressed I could feel myself getting more and more tired. As I relentlessly called out Bianca's name I found that it was more difficult to dodge the raindrops, my face flushed from the effort. I stopped, hiding underneath the canopy of a tree to catch my breath. I thought that I was safe underneath the leaves, I thought that I was protected but I knew that I was wrong when I looked up to see a raindrop spiraling toward me.

It caught me before I could react and I was trapped underneath it, falling to the ground with it on top of me. I hit the ground, the raindrop splattering on top of me and drenching me in frigid water. I was shivering, my wings useless, plastered to my back. I stood up on trembling legs, my body freezing as rain poured over my head. I was finding it more and more difficult to remain standing, every step feeling like a thousand. The tree wasn't far away and I knew that if I could at least get underneath, I would be protected until I could fly again. But as a strong raindrop pushed me to the ground, I knew I wasn't going to make it. I couldn't even pick my head up as I laid on soaking wet leaves, letting my consciousness fall away as the sky dumped buckets of rain over my body. 

I wasn't sure how it happened but I woke up next to a fire, wrapped in a thick blanket. Even as I opened my eyes I wanted to close them again, to fall back into the peaceful sleep I had been in before finding myself in the unfamiliar place. But curiosity beat exhaustion and I stood up, supporting myself on the wall as I stared around at my surroundings. The house was nicer than mine, my driftwood chairs paling in comparison to the ornately carved furniture that surrounded me. The ceiling was low, meaning that we were in one of the skinnier branches, the branches found at the top of the tree. There was only one group of people I could think of who made enough money to live at the top of the tree, and who could afford such beautiful furniture. Healers. 

Someone cleared their throat behind me and I turned around to see Will standing in the doorway, holding a bowl, steam rising off of the top. "I made you soup," he said, holding it out to me. 

"How did I get here?" I asked, wrapping the blanket tighter around my body. Shivers were running up and down my spine, and I could feel the dampness of my wings against my back. I wouldn't be flying anytime soon. 

Will sighed, setting the soup down and rubbing his face with his hands. He looked tired, like he had been awake for days. I immediately felt guilty; how long had I been sleeping on the floor of his living room. "You should sit down, you're going to make yourself worse. You need to heal." 

"I'm fine, Will, just tell me what's going on."

"Sit down, Nico." The kindness was gone from his voice, replaced with what sounded like a command. His eyes followed me as I sat down where I had woken up and even though I didn't want to admit it, I was grateful for the warmth. 

"Will, how long have I been here?"

"Three days, Nico." My mouth dropped open. 

"I was asleep for three days?" I gasped. Will sighed again, sitting on the couch next to you. 

"When we found you, you were almost dead. You almost lost your wings, you had hypothermia and you wouldn't wake up. You couldn't be left alone, so I took you back here." He reached behind him, handing me the soup. "Eat this. I'm not asking you." I ate the soup. It was warm, and it tasted like home. I could feel his eyes on me as I ate in silence until he exploded, standing up and turning away from me. "How many times did I tell you not to go out there?"

"A lot," I said quietly. He turned back around and I could see anger on his face. "Will, I'm sorry, but I have to find Bianca! She's out there, alone, and I need to bring her back home." The anger dropped from Will's face, replaced with a strange sort of pain, a mixture of pity and guilt. 

"There's something I should tell you." He sat on the floor next to me, staring into my eyes. "There's something I should have told you a long time ago." My heart plummeted. "Listen, I knew Bianca. She was curious like you, but she was never as reckless. She knew that she could die out there, and she knew that it would be stupid to try. But one day I guess she couldn't help it, and she went outside of the tree." He paused, looking away from me and I thought I could see a tear glistening in the corner of his eye. He flicked it away. "She went out at night, just like you did. They found her the next morning just like they found you, freezing and almost dead. They brought her to me and I tried, Nico, I did but I wasn't as good a healer as I was then. I was good, sure, but I was a teenager, Nico, I was your age. You have to understand that I tried, but it wouldn't have mattered if it was me or the best healer in the world." 

"What are you saying?" I knew what he was saying. 

"Bianca's dead, Nico." I watched as a tear splashed out of his eye. "She's been dead for three years. We meant to tell you but you were so full of hope that she was still alive and I knew that I should have but I couldn't take that away from you. This is my fault, and I'm sorry." I couldn't remember when but I had started crying sometime while he was talking, tears spilling out of my eyes. Will was biting his lip, his hand rubbing circles in my back. "I'm so sorry, Nico." I shook my head, wiping the tears from my cheek. It did nothing, and they kept coming. "Do you want me to leave?" I nodded and I heard him stand up, leaving me alone by the fire. At some point I laid back down and eventually I fell asleep, my dreams plagued with the sound of Bianca calling my name. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to find her.

I woke up to Will setting another blanket over my shivering body. When I sat up he froze, the color draining from his face. "Don't bother with that, I'm leaving." I stood up but my legs were like jelly underneath me and Will had to catch me, supporting my body. 

"I know you probably hate me right now, but I can't let you do that," he said. "You're still too weak to be on your own." I wanted to argue with him but I knew he was right. I couldn't fly and I couldn't even stand up without falling over. There was no way I would make it back to my house. "Do you need anything?" he asked. "I can get you anything you need." Bianca came to my mind and I was crying again, my head buried in my hands. Will sat down next to me and despite everything that had happened, his presence was strangely comforting. "I know it hurts," he said, his hand on my arm. "I should have told you, I know I should have but everything's going to be okay." I rested my head on my shoulder, my eyes stinging. 

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"For what?" 

"For taking care of me," I responded. "And for tr

ying to save Bianca. And for telling me."

"You're welcome," he said, a small smile spreading across his face. There was a pit inside of me, and my head throbbed from the crying and my wings hurt and my body was cold. But as rain thundered down from the sky onto the top of the tree and Will's hand rubbed mine, I had the feeling that everything was going to turn out right in the end.

So that ended up longer than most of my one shots (2.5k words) but I honestly had a ton of fun with it. I'm not sure if any of you saw the amazing new cover by ssaturated (wattpad wasn't letting me actually tag) but if you didn't see it go check it out because I really like it! The second announcement is that I'm going to have a new book coming out this Sunday night, and I'm super excited about it! It's going to be called Ever Since New York, it's going to be Destiel and it'll deal with more mature topics than this one but if you like that stuff you should read it, because I think it's going to be pretty good. Anyway, I hope you liked this one!