WPOV

My mind has tumbled and turned like a lost sock in a washing machine and as I stand before the white ebony door of the last apartment in the entire town that I ever thought I'd go to, I'm not sure if it ever stopped turning at all. 

There is something disturbingly neat about the way everything is placed in and around this building and I'm not sure I can explain. On first sight it seems to be a clean little house but if you come closer to it, you notice more and more mistakes to it; the flowers have started withering, the paint is flaking on some sides of the walls and some tiny bursts have worked their way through the bricks. 

It's not perfect, so why does it give the appearance from afar?

My heart is beating impatiently in my chest. On the way towards here, I had considered turning back for over a hundred times but somehow I still ended up being here. 

I smooth out the folds in my clothes and bounce back and forth on my heels as I hear hurried footsteps rush towards the front door. There's some loud clattering inside and two muffled voices go back and forth against each other. I try to peek through the dark tinted, little window but I see nothing more than blotches. 

The sound of a key turning open the front door has me quickly back on flat feet. More muffled arguing. I swallow away the nervousness, going one last time over the words I had practiced on my way to here. 

The door slowly opens to a crack only to reveal a mess of disheveled black hair. My heart skips numerous beats as one brown eye lands on me and widens. 

"Will?"

He slips through the door but holds it closed behind him, shielding the inside of the house entirely from my view. 

Nico.

"What are you doing here? How did you find my adres?" he cocks his head to the side a bit, "are you stalking me?" 

"What?! no, no! Piper gave it to me."

He sighs deeply, his leg bouncing slightly in that nervous manner of his.

"How helpful of her," 

His voice sounds absolutely shredded, it's just a rasp of hoarse squeaks and low whispers. He has a scarf loosely wrapped around his neck and now that I'm standing close to him, he does look a little pale. 

"Yeah it was... I see you're still battling that nasty cold of yours." 

He frowns, "what?"

I gesture wordlessly at the knitted, red scarf adoring his neck. He glances down before his eyes widen in realization. 

"Ohw!" he looks kind of silly like this, a faint smirk takes its way on my face, "Yeah I'm- I'm still trying to get better but we'll- we'll euhm," he pulls the scarf a bit tighter, and clears his throat "we'll get there." He tries a tired smile my way and I frown. 

"It must be pretty bad if you have to wear a scarf inside." 

he waves my worries away, "I'm easily cold, don't worry about it."

"You do sound like absolute shit, it's honestly a bit difficult to take you seriously."

"When have you ever?" 

He grins while leaning back against the door. I roll my eyes at him while desperately trying to ignore the warm, tingly feeling in my stomach. He looks immorally handsome in the glow of the  sunlight.

It's just not fair.

"Why are you here Will?" 

With difficulty, I drag my eyes off of his face and instead stare behind him at the rough surface of the ebony door. All those words I had practiced in my head collapse like a jenga tower at one glance at him. He moves back in my vision, hiding the opening of the door with his body. 

"I-it's a long story." 

"Probably, if it involves you." he ads dryly, his voice giving out on half of the sentence.

I ignore him, "can I come in and explain?" 

I already take a step towards the door but he moves right in front of me, blocking my way but never releasing his fingers off of the doorknob behind his back. 

"Euhm you know what, today really isn't the greatest time." 

He perches his lips on each other while granting me an apologetic smile. 

I frown at him, "what do you mean? You're at home how can you not have time?" 

His eyes dart back and forth in an attempt to figure out an excuse and I scoff

"If you feel too good about yourself to be hanging out with me, you can just say so."

"No! no, I mean... it's just," his eyes reflect a tiny flicker of desperation, "Nath is really sick at the moment and he sort of needs me to take care of him right now." 

A surge of sudden anger boils up at the mentioning of that name and I absolutely hate myself for it but I just can't help it.

"Really?" I cross my arms over each other, "because when you were sick from falling into the pool, I didn't see him sticking around that much." 

Nico's jaw clenches but he stays quiet. 

"Now let's have a chat." 

My arm reaches for the door a second time but again, my attempt is cut off by Nico. We're standing so close to each other right now that my angered huff makes his hair flutter a bit. 

"Solace, this is a really bad time." He's completely butchering his throat by trying to lower his voice. It might have been intimidating if he didn't sound like a drowned cat. 

"Just tell me here." 

He clutches onto the doorknob as if a horde of zombies is waiting on the other side of it. I groan in frustration and rub my hands through my face. 

"Nico what's taking you so long?!" 

Nath's voice shouts from somewhere in the house. Nico's shoulders tense up at the sound of it and his leg bounce increases. 

"I'll be right there!" He yells back through the crack of the door before closing it again. I wince at the roughness of his voice, it just sounds plain painful at this moment. When he turns back to me his face is another shade paler, the familiar scowl making its way again.

"Okay so either you tell me right now or I'm heading back inside." He jabs a slender finger in my chest. I wish that little touch didn't bring so much electricity with it as it does. But it's blooming through my entire body and it kills me that I can't stop it. 

"Well?" he wraps his arms over each other and arches a brow up. 

I sigh deeply, staring into his eyes while considering my options. 

"Fine." it comes out weakly.

There's no other person that seems to know me the way that Nico does, if anyone knows an answer to the question, it must be him. I aim my eyes at the floor beneath us while scratching the back of my neck.

"I think... I think I had a lover," his raspy breathing stops for a moment but I don't dare to lift up my eyes. 

"I think I had a boyfriend or girlfriend and that I... that I forgot." my voice is impossibly quiet. It hurts so terribly much to think about. Voicing it out loud only makes my insides churn with guilt and regret. 

How can I forget an entire person? 

I shyly glance up at Nico who clasps at the door now more desperate than ever. 

How can I forget you?

It whispers into my ear and for a moment the image seems to flicker in something darker before returning to normal again. His hands are digging into the door and he's turned into a shade that glue fabricants would be jealous of. 

"Omg you're not going to throw up again, are you?"

my hands automatically grasp for his arms but he seems to be standing well enough on his own. He shakes his head and my mind registers in horrifying detail how his hair bounces with the movement. 

"Will that's insane, you have Steve." 

It might be the cold, but his voice cracks with every word. My stomach pulls together like a ball of stone.

"I know okay, I know but..." I grasp at my hair, struggling for words. 

"Why me?"

I look up at him

"Why me and not someone of the roman room or your mom or Steve or... anyone else?"

He seems so distracted by the idea, that the door behind him is forgotten for a moment, his fingers slide off the gold-colored knob and he blinks up at me with those ridiculously long lashes. The look he gives me is so full but empty at the same time that it makes my knees buckle a bit. 

I swallow thickly.

"Because you know me better than anyone else. If I had a special person walking around here somewhere, you'd know the best how to find him or her." 

He already shakes his head before I can even finish that sentence. 

"You have the wrong person Solace, go back to Steve and get that nonsense out of your head." 

It feels as if somebody jabbed a sharp pin between my ribs. 

"Nico please." 

I grab his hands and hold them tightly. He can't even look back at me. Instead he just keeps shaking his head while mumbling something in Italian to himself.

"Hey hey come on." 

I try to catch his eyes but they keep darting away. 

The voice from inside finds its way to us again.

"Nico! Either you get back here in five minutes or I come and get you myself!" 

I huff out a breath of air through my nose. Annoyance bubbling up in my stomach.

Who does he think he is?

"You heard him," Nico says as he pulls his hands out of my grasp. I ignore the way my heart clenches at the lost feeling of slender fingers in mine.

He sniffles before wrapping his arms over each other to shield him from the cold air. 

I mimic his posture and look at him throughly. He raises his eyebrows in expectation but I stay still. He groans while clenching his fists.

"Will this is not funny anymore, please leave." 

I don't budge. 

"Will!" he yells outrageous. 

"Will move!" his voice barely makes any sound anymore. 

He pinches the bridge of his nose. 

"Will don't make me high kick you off of Nath's property." 

For a moment nervousness creeps up through my nerves as I see him considering his own threat for a second but then drops his arms to his sides with an absolute tired expression. 

"Fine," he takes a step back towards the door, "I'll come by tomorrow and we'll talk." 

I grin at my little victory and ignore the way venom drips off his last word.

"But don't go all boo-hoo on me when you realize prince or princess charming isn't real." 

I watch him turn from me and I glance his posture up and down quickly.

Oh he's real alright.

"Perfect see you then!"

Nico just flicks me off as he carefully disappears through the crack of the door again. 

"Go home Solace!"

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Yo it's about to begin guys, I'm so excited!