What If Three Days Meant Forever?

Goodbye

Nico's POV

I'm not excited.

I know I've been acting like I couldn't wait to do this and see Will's choice, but it's suddenly dawned on me that I would basically have to come out too. Or more likely, he'd be outing me.

It's not something I'm all that worried about - why should I care what his mother thinks of me?

Oh, well probably because family dinners are a thing normal families do and they could be catastrophic if she hates me, I think to myself.

Deep down, I know that if things get ugly, Will won't want to come back here ever again and he certainly wouldn't want to drag me into it. However, if Naomi were to welcome Will back home, I would have to insist that I come so that he'd be okay because that's what you do in relationships - you're supportive of the other person, right?

I am in no way afraid of Naomi.

I have faced countless different monsters, I am a child of the Underworld, I'm the Ghost King - if anything, she should be afraid of me.

It's just that Naomi holds this sort of power over Will and I's relationship that just makes me feel really unstable and-

Oh.

Suddenly, familiar words and phrases from what feels like so long ago are racing through my mind, almost giving me mental whiplash.

A hardship is coming...

Make or break...

Son of Apollo...

"Holy Styx..." I mutter quietly to myself.

"Hm?" Monique hums in question from the other side of the room but I just tune her out as I let my thoughts envelop me in a firm embrace, squeezing out the truths bouncing about in my mind.

Bianca.

She'd warned me of this trip and I'd completely forgotten.

According to what my sister had told me in that dream I'd had months ago, this trip and Naomi are the hardship I'm supposed to be facing. She is the maker or breaker of our relationship and I can't do anything about it, except sit back and watch as Will handles the entire ordeal.

Trust each other and have faith.

Easier said than done.

I trust Will, of course, but I can't help but wonder if he would really break things off with me because of his mother...

It's already a quarter past eleven and my palms are beginning to sweat excessively and I don't know what I'm going to say if Will wants to hold my hand. You could just say no, a part of me says and I agree wholeheartedly, but after going over that scenario in my head, I realize that Will knows me too well and would immediately pick up on the fact that something is wrong, and something can't be wrong because it's going to add unnecessary weight to Will's shoulders.

I have to be strong for his sake.

As I'm wiping my palms on my dark blue jeans for the umpteenth time, Monique stares at me quizzically. Everyone has gone back to their respective rooms to finishing packing if they haven't already and they're also going on little goodbye-to-California dates. "Are you okay over there?"

"Hm?" I answer, knowing full well what she said, but my brain seems to be working in overtime, processing information way too quickly for me to possibly grasp anything before it moves to the next thing. "Oh! Yes. Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

She raises an eyebrow at me. "Well, you've only been pacing for five minutes now." I make a conscious effort to stop my motions and take in a deep breath. "What's wrong?"