Bruises | Solangelo | Mortal AU

Chapter 7

"I'm going."

"Will... You really don't have to do that."

I pulled a yellow t-shirt over my head. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. Luke... He..." My voice trailed off but Nico nodded and looked at the floor. He knew what I had meant. I sniffled and rubbed my hands nervously on my pants even though my hands weren't dirty. 

"Why do you do that?" Nico leaned against the doorframe of my room with his arms crossed. 

I sighed. "Do what?" 

He pointed at my hands. "Sniffle and then wipe your hands on your pants."

"I... I don't... I don't know," I stammered and put my hands in my pockets. "Let's get breakfast before we go to the shelter."

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, sounds good." He gave me a small smile. 

I walked past him and gave him a kiss. "Let's do this thing."

;;;

I leaned forward and turned up the radio. Nico was driving. He was gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white. I reached over and put a hand on his thigh. "Hey. Pull the car over for a minute."

He steered the car towards the side of the road and put it in park. I shifted in my seat so I was facing him with a leg under me. I tilted his head towards me. "Nico di Angelo. I can tell you're stressed about this and that's... so... valid. This is scary. It's scary for me too, however, if we don't do something you could die, and Luke would walk free. That's scarier for me than... Anything else. We have been roommates and friends for a long time. Recently, we have been more, but no matter what our relationship was-is I always love you and that will never change. I know you've lost a lot. Bianca, your mom, your dad peacing out when you were 10, but you'll never lose me. I'm your family now. So is Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Leo. All of them love you too." I moved my hand away and took his cold hand in my warm one. "You're mine, Nico."

I could tell by the look on his face that he liked it when I called him 'mine'.  He moved his hands so they were resting on my chest for just a minute before his hands balled my shirt in his fists and he bit his lip. His breathing hitched and became unsteady. As soon as I wrapped my arms around his neck he pulled me towards him by the yellow cotton shirt I put on that morning and we connected at our lips. I felt the same shock of cold through my body. Nico's lips were soft and smooth. His kiss was rough and hungering but delicate at the same time. I felt my lips part and his tongue was tracing the inside of my mouth. He pulled me closer, still holding me by my shirt. I learned that I should hold him behind the neck and by his face instead of by his hips where his injuries are. 

I pulled away from him and our foreheads rested together. We were both breathing heavily from the drawn-out makeout session. Nico's hands fell away from where he was holding my shirt and he smoothed it out. He sighed a shaky breath and sat back in his seat. "Thanks," he whispered. 

I raised an eyebrow and gave him a confused look. "For kissing you? You made the first-"

"No," he laughed. "Well... Yes, but also, for everything. You could have trusted me to solve it on my own. You could've just walked out of that bathroom and apologised. Hell, most people would have walked out the front door. You didn't, you insisted that I tell you and you insisted that you go with me today. You didn't have to do that. So... Thanks."

"Oh... Well, you're welcome."

Nico put the car back into drive and pulled out into the road. We got McDonald's and went through the drive-through. We drove to the shelter as we ate. "You know? Wendy's is shit. McDonald's is the shit," he said through a mouth full of chicken nuggets. 

I laughed and shook my head. "You throw so much shade towards anything that's not McDonald's. I could take you to a five-star restaurant and you would shit on it the whole time complaining that's it's not Mickey D's." I sipped my ice coffee through the thin straw. 

"Okay. Not true, you took me to that place yesterday. The one with the candles? I didn't say anything shit."

"But you thought it."

He smirked at me. "Beside the point.''

;;;

We pulled into the parking lot of the shelter. I looped my fingers through Nico's. "Ready?"

He tightly nodded. "Yep."

We walked together but as soon as we got inside Nico pulled his hand away from me. I looked at him and he said sorry, not out loud, but through his eyes. I nodded, telling him it was okay. Nico led me to where he usually works. A room filled with mostly teenagers and lots... And lots of pillows. 

A bulky blonde with an awful scar walked over to us. "Nico! Buddy! I'm glad you came." He looked over at me. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged. "Protecting what's mine. Let me tell you something, Luke." I moved a little closer to him, sizing him up. "Look at Nico again, and we are going to have a problem. Trust me, you don't want to have a problem with me."

Luke took a step back and looked... Confused. "What?" Luke whispered. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you seriously acting like you don't know?"

"Don't know what? Do you..." Luke had a concerned look on his face. "Do you think I... hurt him?"

I looked at Nico and he had a worried look on his face. I turned my attention back towards Luke and raised an eyebrow. "Are you playing innocent?"

"What... No, I... Look, I'm a lot of things but I'm not an abuser."

"So you're telling me Nico is lying to me?" 

"No, just that he misunderstood." Luke looked at Nico. "Nico, I'm really sorry about anything I did to hurt you."

"Wait for a second, you're telling me you never beat Nico unconscious?" 

"What? No, no I would never do that."

I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Luke, for clearing that up."

"Yeah, sorry for the confusion." He nodded at Nico. "I am sorry that you think I would ever do that to you. I can't even imagine the stress that that must have put on you. I hope you stick around."

I nodded and led Nico out of there. When we got outside he looked at me with tears in his eyes. "He... He was lying, Will. I... I never-"

"Hey, Nico. I know." I took his hands in mine. I pressed my lips against his a quick minute then looked at him. "You're quitting."

Nico nodded and opened his arms for a hug. I pulled him close to me and looked into one of the windows of the shelter and saw Luke watching us. I locked eyes with him and he turned away. 

I led Nico to the car and took him to a movie to make him feel better. He cuddled close to me in the dark theatre and I held him gently. As we watched the movie, for the first time, I let silent tears fall down my cheeks as Nico laid his head on my chest drifting off for most of the movie.