A Beautiful Demise [Solangelo]

9. Oh.

An update? On this story? From me? Could be more likely than you think... 

Will shoved his bag to the back of the compartment above his seat. People pushed passed him, and on more than one occasion he almost fell into his seat, his legs pressed against the cold, hard arm rest. Probably bruising. No one apologised. 

Finally he slid into his seat, the aisle one in the centre of the plane, and closed his eyes. In seven hours he would be back in New York, ready to see his mother for the last time. Until then, he hadn't realised how much he missed her. He hadn't seen her for about a year - he had just been so busy and until she moved it wasn't a short trip to see her - and now he was going to say goodbye. 

He had seven hours to figure out what he was going to say. Whether he was going to tell her the truth. He probably would. He loved her too much to leave her wondering why. But it wasn't going to be easy. 

Someone sat in the seat next to him, but Will didn't open his eyes. He just wanted to fall asleep and pretend for the next few hours that this was all a dream, and he was going to wake up in his cabin and everything was fine. That he wasn't going to die in the next few days. 

"I'm sorry I ran." 

Will's eyes shot open. There, sitting next to him like a ghost returned to haunt him, was Nico di Angelo. His eyes were bloodshot like he had been crying, and he looked especially pale. 

"Did you shadow travel?" Will asked accusingly, not yet acknowledging Nico's apology. 

"No. Jason drove me." 

"How did you know this was my flight?" 

"Piper hacked your booking account." 

Then, Will finally asked, "why are you here?" 

Nico fiddled with the skull ring on his finger. 

"I'm sorry I ran," he repeated. "I didn't mean to. I just panicked." 

"It's," Will took a deep breath. He had not been expecting this conversation, much less this explanation. "It's okay." 

"No, it's not." 

Will didn't understand. 

"No one's ever," Nico waved his hands wildly, "confessed like that to me. Hell, no one's ever told me they loved me."

"Nico," Will choked, feeling the petals creeping up his trachea. 

"I'll get to the point," Nico said quickly, running a shaking hand through his hair. Will, pushing  aside the instinct to follow the movement with his own hand, realised that Nico was nervous. But that made no sense. 

"I panicked," Nico continued. "Piper smacked my head for that, and Hazel told me I was an idiot." 

Panic settled in Will's stomach and he had the sudden need to throw up.

"You talked to Piper and Hazel?" What had they said? Had they told Nico about the disease? About the curse? Was that why Nico was here? 

"Yeah, after I realised running away from you probably wasn't a very good decision." 

"Look, Nico," Will tried, but his words were swallowed by a cough that when started wouldn't stop. It tore his throat, and blood-stained petals tumbled to his lap. Nico stared, then turned to face the seat in front of him. Will didn't meet his eye, scrambling to hide them in his pockets. 

"I, uh," Nico stammered, "I like you too." 

Wait, what? 

"But, I thought--" 

"Like I said before," Nico said. "I'm not very good at this kind of thing because no one's... no one has ever liked me back." 

Will's brain couldn't keep up. Wait, had Nico said he liked him? Like, like like? 

"So could we just... take this slow?" 

Will didn't think he'd ever get to take it anywhere, so yes, of course they could take it slow. He nodded. 

That's when the petals retreated from his lungs. He felt them curl and shrivel and die. Will had thought the curse was to do with unrequited love, when it was really to do with the fact that they were both really, really bad at this communicating thing. 

Will had thought that Nico didn't like him back. But Nico just wasn't ready for a relationship. 

"Always wanting what isn't theirs." 

That had been the curse. To want what he couldn't have, to want something he had no control over. Nico's feelings were not his to control, so of course Will thought that he was to die hopeless and alone and in a pile of angsty petals. 

Nico reached for Will's hand and gave it a small squeeze. 

"Can we get off the plane now?" Nico asked. "Flying doesn't really agree with the whole son of Hades thing." 

Will laughed, full of glee and health and the idea that he wasn't going to die and that Nico wanted to take it slow, and his head fell onto Nico's shoulder. 

"Sure."