Soulmate Little Mermaid AU- Solangelo

| 17 |

Nico POV

Sunset. 

One more day left. Actually, only a few hours now. At sunset I will be a merman again. No more spending the day with Will. No more laughing with him. No more happiness. I sighed and smoothed my Greek robe down. It went down to my knees and it had gold edges and black fabric. One shoulder was bare while the other was holding the outfit. Human fashion was weird. I also had the pearl "necklace" Will had bought me and put it on properly this time. Bia had given me a silver accessory to put on my head. She said it was called a laurel and was a common accessory in Delphi and other neighboring areas. A knock sounded at the door and I instantly knew it was Bia. Her and Will's knocks were very different, hers were more lighter and were fewer while Will's were slightly loud and quicker. I opened the door for her and she came in. 

"How're you feeling?" She asked sadly. I shrugged, but it was pretty obvious. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wish I could do something with Aphrodite interfering." 

I know you do, but it's not possible.

I didn't want anyone's sympathy. What I wanted was Will. But that wasn't possible. We haven't hung out all day after breakfast because he had to get ready for the ball and make sure everything was set how he would like. The only time we'd be able to see each other is at the ball. It was over. Officially. 

"We should get going. It's starting in a few minutes." She gave me a small sympathetic smile and I nodded in agreement. Together we walked out the castle and into the gardens near the back. There were fairy lights hung up on the bushes and gates and the flowers seemed to be glowing despite it not being dark yet. 

I had only 2 hours til sunset. 

There were about 30 long tables set up with at least 10 seats each, which was surprising. No one in the Underworld Sea cared so much to go to my birthday parties outside of my cousins and more recently my father. 

I had two hours until I saw them again. 

Will's family were sitting at one of the nearby tables, waiting for everyone to show. There were only around 60 people, at least half of which seemed to be related in some way to Will, all of them either having his blond hair, blue eyes, or freckles. 

"Hey, Nico! Come 'ere!" Kayla shouted and gestured for me to come over. Everyone turned to look at me and I blushed under the attention. I quickly scurried over to the table they were sitting at and sat down next to Austin. Will still wasn't there and I assumed he was getting ready still. The guards opened the gate to the gardens to let someone in and my eyes widened. 

Silena and Piper. They were humans. Our eyes locked and they both winced and walked away to their own table, avoiding my eyes. 

"Are you okay?" King Apollo asked. I quickly nodded and relaxed my face, hoping it didn't look too panicked. What were they doing here?!

The garden gate opened once again and this time my eyes widened in a much better way. Will looked stunning. I honestly didn't think a person could be that attractive. He had carefully drawn-on eyeliner, light blush, and eyeshadow. I didn't know much about makeup, but I did know he looked different. A good different, though of course. He had on a robe close to mine, but instead of it being black, it was white. A gold laurel sat on top of his head, almost blending into his blond hair. He had combed his curls, but they were still a bit messy. Good. I liked it like that. 

Our eyes caught each others and he smiled, coming over, ignoring everyone trying to talk to him. He came up so he was right in front of me and blushed. "Hey. You look good." I smiled, but tried to hide it, not really liking other people knowing my emotions other than Will. I grabbed the notebook and pen from the tabletop. 

You too.

"Thanks." He laughed lightly. The people who were trying to talk to him tried to speak louder to get him to turn around. 

I think some people want to talk to you. I pointed behind him. He turned around like he didn't even notice them and looked back to me with an apologetic expression. 

"Oh. Do you mind if I...?" He gestured behind him. "I'm really sorry. I promise we'll talk later." He assured me. I nodded and smiled at him, showing it was okay. I wanted him to be happy, even if we were losing some of our short time together. "Thanks, Death Boy. See you later." He started chatting with the dozens of families wishing him a happy birthday, getting trapped in more conversations after just ending one. His family started getting up and doing the same thing, which I guess made sense, as this was basically their job. Soon a good 30 minutes went by and I just stared at the sky which was slowly darkening. 

Less than an hour and a half. 

I can't say the party was boring, there was way too much in my head for that, but it definitely did not help my nerves. I tried to keep my eyes on Will, wanting to savor being close to him, but after a while I lost him. Luckily, I heard his voice somewhere close to me and I turned to see him talking with...Silena and Piper. I quickly got up and walked over to them, but stopped short when I realized what they were saying. 

"I'm actually hoping to find my soulmate at this party. It's been long enough." Will said. Why were his eyes...pink?

"I was just talking to your sister and she said you were getting cozy with this boy you rescued?" Silena said, almost accusingly.

"Nico?" Will let out a small laugh, which pretty much broke my heart right there. "He's nice and all, but he's not my soulmate. I told him I liked him, and I did until he became so...clingy. I mean, he thinks I would marry him. As if." He scoffed as if he was disgusted. I let out a small sob and quickly covered my mouth as I ran away to the garden balcony, overlooking the ocean and the slowly setting sun.