Will didn't believe what he was hearing. Had he heard him wrong?
"What?" Will said, in disbelief.
"You heard what I said."
Stay calm. Stay calm.
"But why? Why would you say that?"
"Well, I don't want to date you anymore."
Don't cry. Don't freak out. Stay calm.
That didn't make sense. Nico had wanted him to stay, because it was just better that Will was there, rather than being alone. "I don't believe that."
"Look, I've thought this through, okay?" Nico told him.
Take a deep breath. Don't. Freak. Out.
"Nico, that doesn't make any sense. This is really out of nowhere."
"No, it's not. I....I don't want to date you anymore." He said again.
Relax. Will, relax.
Will took a deep breath. "Will you at least look at me?"
He didn't turn around.
"Nico."
"I don't want you to die!" He yelled. He turned around, and his face was pained. Will couldn't tell if he was crying or if it was the rain.
"What do you mean?"
"So many people I care about die! My mom, my sister, my best friend! I don't want any more people to die!"
"Nico, I know a lot of people die around you." Will said softly. "But breaking up with me won't change whether I die or not."
"Yes, it does! It does! Because for whatever reason, the fates hate me! They want to hurt everyone I care about! So this....this is the best way to keep you from dying. You don't want to date a murderer anyways."
"What do you mean?" Will asked, confused. "If you're talking about Octavian-"
"No, I'm not talking about Octavian!"
"Well, whoever you killed, I'm assuming it was self-defense. Am I right?"
"Kind of."
"Will you tell me what happened?"
"It was when me, Reyna and Coach were trying to get the Athena Parthenos to Camp. Reyna....she admitted something to me. I can't tell you about it though, because she didn't want me to tell anybody. Lets just say, in her eyes, it was bad. Anyways, one of Octavian's buddies found us and overheard. He said he was going to take her back to Camp Jupiter to get tried and executed and kill me and and Hedge. I don't really remember doing it, but I released my powers on him and I turned him into a ghost and sent him to the Underworld. So yeah. I have blood on my hands."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"We were so busy dealing with other stuff. And when there was time....I couldn't tell you. I didn't want you to look at me differently. So I'm telling you now, now that it doesn't matter anymore."
"That's okay. I don't see you any differently. He was going to kill you and your friends."
"It works out anyways. You don't have to spend all that time taking care for me. You can do things that you want to do. You're better on your own, I don't want to weigh you down. You've done so much for me, and I can't give you that in return. You won't have to worry about me anymore. I'll leave. And you can be happy."
Will started laughing. It sounded a bit crazy. He started crying, and he did NOT want to cry twice in one day. "You really don't get it, do you? You are my happiness. You make me happy. You don't weigh me down, either. Not at all. Don't you understand? You are enough. You don't have to do anything, just be yourself. That's enough for me. And anyways, you do things for me everyday. And being with you is what I want to do. If that means helping you get better, then I'll gladly do that, for as long as I need to.
Nico's eyes widened.
"You talk about how you need me. Don't you understand that I need you, too?"
"I-"
"Nico, I need you. I really do. You can't do this again. Whenever something bad happens, you push people away! That's just going to make things worse. Don't push me away. Please. I can't stand it if you leave."
Nico looked down again. He shook his head. "I just really don't want to lose you. I care about you too much. I can't lose you."
"I can't promise that I won't die. Nobody can promise something like that. But I do promise that for as long as I'm here with you, I'll do everything I can to make you feel happy. To make you feel loved. I'll never stop caring about you. I can promise you that."
Nico hugged him, digging his face into Will's chest.
"I'm sorry, Will. I really really don't want to break up with you."
"I know."
"I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough."
"Hey, look at me." Will held Nico's face with his hands. He touched his forehead to his, both of their faces and hair wet from the rain.
"You are strong. But it's alright to be weak, too. I can be strong for you. For once, let me be the stronger one, okay?"
Nico took a shaky breath. "I just don't know how I'm going to get through this."
"I'll help you. I'll help you every step of the way. Because you're not alone anymore."
They stood outside like that, hugging in the rain.
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Inspiration from the art piece by Alessio Trunfio at the last part, if you know what I mean.