Out Of The Shadows: A Solangelo Fanfiction Chapter 18: Distracted

   Will could hardly sleep the 8 days Nico was passed out. He couldn’t stop thinking about how cold his skin was, how he had stopped breathing, his heart stopped beating. He had held him, tears streaming down his face. He desperately needed him to live.

   Will loved how peaceful his face looked when he was sleeping. You couldn’t tell how sad and broken he was. He looked younger, too. Like the years of grief disappeared. He even smiled in his sleep once, and it was the most genuine smile he had ever seen Nico have.

   When Nico finally woke up for good, it had been 12 days since the lava wall incident. And Will had only left his bedside to go to the bathroom. His siblings brought him food. He didn’t need anything else.

   Nico had been in pretty bad shape when Will brought him into the infirmary. His vitals were low, and he was still pretty cold. It was probably the fact that even if the shadows didn’t kill him, fatigue would. Will worked tirelessly into the night to get him back to normal, and he had tried not to worry when he didn’t wake up, because that happens when he shadow travels. When Nico finally did wake up, he was very sore, and had aching and sharp pains everywhere, and he could barely lift his head to do anything. Will had to help him eat his food. On the day he left was the first day he could actually walk again. Will thought that that was the worst physical pain Nico had gone through. At least, that Will knew of.

   Once Nico had left the infirmary, Will took a very long shower and went to his cabin so he could actually sleep. He slept for 24 hours, not even waking up once.

   After he was all rested up, Cecil came to visit him in his cabin.

   “That was quite the show, huh Will?”

   “What do you mean?”

   “I mean with you and Nico on the ground. How you were crying and holding him and how you stayed in the infirmary afterwards.”

   Will blushed.

   “Don’t worry! To everyone else, it just seems like you were upset over a friend. But for those of us who know.” Cecil pointed to himself. “We know.”

   “Good.”

   “So how’s di Angelo doing?”

   “He’s fine. I think he’s really fine now, though. When I touch him I don’t feel the darkness anymore. He’s not in any current risk of fading.”

   Cecil nodded. “That’s great. When will you tell him?”

   “I don’t know! I don’t want to ruin our friendship!”

   “Come on, Will. Don’t be such a coward.”

   “Says the one who won’t admit his crush.”

   Cecil’s face turned bright red. “That’s different!”

   “Is it?”

   Cecil stuck his tongue out at him and left.

   Cecil did have a point, though. He just didn’t know how to do it.

   At lunch, his siblings kept on bothering him with whispers. “Ask him out!” whispered Kayla. “Come on, Will!” Whispered Austin. “You want me to do it for you?” Whispered Brooke.

   Will shushed them all. His siblings could be so annoying sometimes.

   During afternoon activities, Nico caught him staring. Which was strange because Will was always good about making sure Nico didn’t see him stare.

   “What?” Nico demanded.

   “Huh? Nothing. I was just seeing how well you’re doing.”

   “I’m fine, Solace.”

   Another time, Will was so distracted thinking about Nico, he accidentally shot an arrow into the sky.

   “Are you feeling okay today? You’ve seemed really distracted all day.” Nico told him after that.

   “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.”

   Then, when he was leading camp sing-a-longs, he completely missed his cue at one point. That resulted in a lot of snickering. Will was never good with music anyways, but he felt embarrassed about messing up the song.

   Why was he getting so distracted over Nico lately? Will had known he had a crush on Nico for a long time now, so why was it so bad today?

   As he was heading to bed, Nico stopped him. He was surprised because it was usually Will who approached Nico.

   “Hey, Will? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

   “Uh, sure Nico. What’s up?”

   “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been acting strange all day.”

   “Really, I’m fine.”

   “Hmph.”

   “Really, I should be asking if you’re okay.”

   “Why?”

   “Um, maybe because you slept for 12 days?”

   “I’m fine. A bit sore and groggy, sometimes a little dizzy, but fine.”

   “Well, head to bed, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

   “Okay.”