#me like: Jase would be the type to panic after the first 'i love you'

[sibillascribbles08]

15. “I’m in love with you and it’s terrifying.”

Donatello always thought, even as a kid, that people in movies would say “I love you” too fast. 

Even barely having a grasp on romance he would try to figure out how any of it made sense. To say you love someone you’d known for only a few days. Could they actually mean it, or did something else cause the words to spring from their lips?

“It’s just movies,” his father would tell him. “A lot of things are exaggerated for film.” 

“Have you been in love?” 

“I think I have, yes.”

“You think?”

“It sadly did not end well. But, I do love you. And I love your brothers.”

“But that’s different.”

“Of course, but all love is different, for every person you feel it for.”

Truthfully, it’d been one of the wisest things his father had ever told him. Donatello took note of it, took note of how he felt toward his brothers, toward April, toward his father.

And now, how he felt toward Jase. 

He was right, it was all different, but not in a way that Donatello cared to analyze or define. Explaining how he felt always felt like an impossible task. He knew he felt things, but putting it into words? An impossible translation. Like trying to illustrate to his brain what the color yellow actually looked like. 

Lucky ass shrimp. 

Still, he began to wonder if maybe five months of dating was long enough to say something like “I love you.” 

That wouldn’t be too forward, right?

He did love Jase, didn’t he? Or was it still sitting in an attraction phase? He tried to muddle through it, pick through the details, but once again it turned into garbage noise. 

He didn’t really know. Maybe he should just try it and see if it felt right. 

The opportunity presented itself after a phone conversation. It’d just been a quiet evening. Donatello felt idle, none of his jobs or inventions keeping his attention, so he called Jase for a quick conversation. Jase didn’t want to stay on long, still having an essay to finish, but he still wound up prattling on about all the research he was doing into the topic. A paper about all the accurate scientific descriptions in I, Robot. 

Donatello soaked in every word, leaning back in his chair with a smile on his face that he didn’t even notice until the conversation wrapped up. Gods, most days he could listen to Jase talk like this for hours. All the smiling made his cheeks hurt, but he kept doing it. His chest kept buzzing, and he felt so light he wondered if he’d start floating off his chair. 

“Anyway,” Jase finally said. “I better get back to finishing it.”

“Yeah,” Donatello agreed. “Um, Jase?”

“Yeah?”

Now, he should say it now, right? Because what other word was there for this kind of feeling? “I love you.” 

The silence that followed was deafening. 

Donatello could hear the very faint line of static from the phone. He held his breath the entire time, and it lasted so long he almost gasped for air when his lungs started to hurt. 

“Um, Jase?” He finally asked, wondering if the line flat out disconnected. 

“I…” His voice shook. “I’m gonna get back to work.”

“Jase?”

This time the line did cut off. Donatello stared at his phone in disbelief, watching it return to the home screen. 

What just happened?

He swiftly opened his texts, typing as fast as he could. 

>Did I say something wrong??

No immediate reply. That was… fine. It was fine. Jase was busy with homework, after all. Maybe he put his phone far away. 

He decided to do the same thing before his anxiety ate him alive. He left the device on his work desk and headed to the kitchen for a snack and some water. 

When he returned, an hour later, there was still no reply. 

Anxiety made him want to throw up the cheese puffs and beef jerky he just ate. 

>Jase?? Are you still working on stuff? >Please just reply when you can. 

Donatello took a few deep breaths, tried to put it out of his mind. Jase would reply when he was less busy, and ready, it’d be fine. 

But sitting there idle didn’t make him feel better, so Donatello did the only thing he could think of.

“I might have ruined everything.” He said the second he slammed open the door to his father’s room.

Splinter shouted in surprise. One of his slippers flew into the air as he stumbled off his bed, the noise of the TV blocking out the sound of him hitting the floor. 

“Purple, what?” Splinter forced himself up, popping his back as he did. “What is going on?”

“I might have ruined everything.” Donatello rambled as he paced back and forth, hands on his head. “Was he just not ready to hear it? Did I say it too soon? But five months is a decent amount of time, right?”

“Purple!” His father shouted. “What are you talking about?” 

“Jase.” He turned to look at him. “I… I told him I love him on the phone earlier and he just ended the call and won’t reply to my texts.” 

His father’s expression became serious, his ear twitching. “Perhaps he is just feeling overwhelmed?”

“I did say it too soon, didn’t I? Ugh, I knew I should have tried to do some more calculations to—”

“My son, this is not something you can calculate.”

“Then when am I supposed to say it?” He failed to stop himself from shouting. “I don’t…” 

Splinter approached him, hand out, but he didn’t grab Donatello. “Did you say it because you felt that way, or because you assumed it had to be said.” 

“I did feel that way. I do.” The buzzing in his chest from earlier returned, but somehow it hurt. “But I… I must have upset him. I shouldn’t have said it.” 

“Hmm,” Splinter’s ear twitched again and he lowered his hand. “These are not things you can calculate or predict, Donatello. You were being honest with your feelings. All you can do now is wait for Jase to be honest about his.” 

“What if he never wants to talk to me again?”

“Hmph, I highly doubt that is the case.” Splinter nudged him toward the door. “Try not to worry so much. You surprised him. He needs some space. I am sure he will reply to your texts soon enough.” 

----------------------

Two days.

No response. 

Donatello didn’t know what to do. He left a few more texts, all of them going unanswered. He tried to leave an apology. An explanation. But maybe both of those were useless because he had no idea what upset Jase in the first place. 

He tried to focus on his work but he couldn’t. Holly Blue noted how distracted he was. He told her what happened, but she didn’t have any good advice. Her own words. 

“Love has never been good to me, Donatello. My experiences are too far removed from yours.”

He tried to distract himself with movies, but that failed. Tried to help Mikey with one of his murals, with letting Leo practice some magic tricks on him, with way too much extra training with Raph to the point he badly pulled a muscle in his shoulder. 

“Donnie,” Raph said during a massage session to undo the damage. “What is going on?”

“I don’t know.” He tried not to cry. “I don’t know.” 

It was pathetic to be panicking this much, wasn’t it? His father was probably right. Jase just needed space to think.

But what if…

What if. 

His anxiety made him stressed. His stress made him lash out. 

So finally he sent one more text. 

>If you want to break up then just say that.

He stared at the text, at the colored background. His head screamed at him on loop that he shouldn’t have said something like that.

Finally, those three flashing dots appeared. Finally, he got a reply. 

>I don’t want to break up

Donatello glared at the screen, past the blurriness of the tears lining the bottom of his eyes.

>Then SAY SOMETHING ! >U know I can’t stand being left in the dark !

>I just needed some space

>For what???? >U can’t even tell me u need space?

He wanted to say so many other things. He even started typing them, fingers darting across the keys. “How DARE you.” “That’s so unfair.” “Why are you doing this to me?”

In the end, he deleted all of it and tossed his phone on the bed to wipe his eyes and try to clear the lump out of his throat. 

It buzzed.

He ignored the urge to chuck it at the wall and instead read what was on screen. 

>Do you want to come over?

Donatello glared again as he typed.

>Do you even want me to come over?

>I don’t hate you or anything

>Then why are you doing this?

>Just come over>I’ll try to explain 

The temptation to ghost his boyfriend out of spite sat in the back of his mind, but he ignored that. It would absolutely make things worse. 

So he grabbed his shell and his jacket, and flew out of the lair. 

When he got to Jase’s house, the window was already open. Donatello pulled himself inside, finding Jase sitting on the bed. He had his sleep shirt on, eyes tired and mouth twisted like he was trying not to vomit. 

He glanced in Donatello’s direction, but couldn’t hold his gaze. 

Donatello straightened up, dusting off his jacket. “So, what’s the explanation? Any particular reason you decided to ignore my texts for two whole days while I’ve been utterly losing my mind worried that I upset you to the point you never wanted to see me again.” 

Jase curled up, wrapping his arms around his knees. “Donnie…” 

That didn’t sound like an explanation. “Did me saying ‘I love you’ upset you that much? It’s not like I expected you to say it back.” 

“It didn’t upset me.”

Donatello shouted, “Then what’s wrong?”

Jase shouted back, “I got scared, okay?” 

Donatello flinched, reminding himself to not scream. It’d just frighten Jase more, then they’d never get to the bottom of this. He paced around for a few moments before finally sitting on the floor and picking at the carpet. “Does the thought of me loving you scare you that much?”

“No it’s not you it’s—I mean it’s not just you it…” Jase sighed and hid his face in his knees. 

Donatello tried to be patient and wait for him to finish, still pulling the fibers out of the rug. It really needed to be replaced. Just how old was it? He could practically see the layers of dirt if he squinted hard enough. 

“Donnie.”

He glanced back up. “Yeah?” 

Jase let out a long breath. “I… I’m in love with you and it’s terrifying.” 

Donatello’s eyes went wide. His chest buzzed and his cheeks burned, but confusion still sat at the forefront of everything. “What?” 

Jase kept hiding his face, nails digging into his arms. “You said you love me and I realized that I love you too and I got… scared. I know it was a jerk move for me to go radio silent but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want you to think you did something wrong, because you didn’t, but I just…”

Donatello pushed himself up off the floor and got closer to the bed. “Why does it scare you?” 

“Because…” Jase’s voice wavered and he sniffed. “Because I keep thinking it’s not going to last.” 

Donatello narrowed his eyes and put his hand on the mattress. “Jase, I told you—”

“I know.” His boyfriend snapped, finally looking up. “I know. You tell me all the time, but it’s not that simple. It constantly feels like I’m just another big screw up—like ghosting you for two days—for you to decide I’ve been nothing but a waste of time.” 

“Jase, if your last major screw up didn’t scare me off what makes you think—”

“Don’t pretend you aren’t mad.”

Donatello groaned. “Fine. Yes. I’m mad. But it’s still not enough to make me leave. I’m here. I’m talking about this. Because that’s all I wanted from the start, was to talk about it. And like I said, you could have at least told me you need space but you didn’t say anything.” 

“I know.” Jase rested his chin back on his knees. “I’m sorry.” 

Donatello sat down on the bed, but still kept a fair distance between them just in case. “Jase, I’m bad with feelings. I don’t often know how to identify my own and when other people try to talk about theirs I always try to treat it with logic instead of… well, feeling.” He shrugged and rolled his eyes. “And it’s true, I don’t get it. I don’t get how your brain works sometimes. But just because I’m bad at understanding doesn’t mean leaving me in the dark makes it better.” 

His boyfriend let out a long sigh. “I know.” 

Donatello pressed his lips together. There really wasn’t point in another lecture. Jase already knew what he did wrong. He pulled his legs up onto the bed as he turned to face his boyfriend. “Would… you like a hug?” 

Jase looked up at him, his expression just a bit brighter than it had been for this entire conversation. He finally left his guarded position and scooted over. 

Donatello opened his arms, ready to pull his boyfriend into a hug, so he was very unprepared for Jase’s hands to grab his face and tug him into a kiss instead. Not a short one either, as Jase’s hands moved to the back of Donatello’s neck. Donatello’s eyes fell shut as his arms wrapped around his boyfriend and pulled him onto his lap. 

Still, Jase pulled away before it got too deep. “You really love me?” 

Donatello’s eyes fluttered back open. He reached a hand up, brushing away the stray tears he found clinging to Jase’s eyelashes. “I really really love you. Two reallys.” 

Jase sighed, leaning close so their foreheads touched. “I really really love you too.”

[thegirlwhowrotefanfiction]

Dating the Enemy Part 2

Word Count: 1,643

Summary: Reader remembering how she met Jason, and the Liars saving the reader

Pairings: JasonxF!Reader

Warnings: Some cussing, mentions kidnapping. Rest is fluff

Requested: Yes. (mentioned on part 1)

Author's Note: Here's the long awaited Part 2 of Dating the Enemy! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

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*Sunday Morning: Your POV*

   Rolling away from the small stream of light shining in your eyes, you blink the blurriness away, confusion clouding your thoughts. You looked around the small room you were trapped in seeing a couple of sleeves of crackers and some water. Piecing together the memories from Friday night, you came to the conclusion that -A has got you hidden away somewhere.

   Standing up, you stumbled a little, before getting your bearings and walking to the boxes you found pushed into one of the far back corners . You were rummaging through the boxes, trying to find some kind of clue as to where you were, when you came across your favorite sweater. “I lost this almost a year ago, at Noel’s... That's where I'm at.” You mumbled to yourself.

   Flashing back to that night 11 months ago, you smiled, even though given your current situation you shouldn't be. That really was a great night. The girls had dragged you to Noel Kahn’s cabin for his annual New Year's party, when all you wanted to do was curl up and watch Grey's Anatomy. You had finally given in after all the relentless begging, and that's how you found yourself sat in a circle playing 7 minutes in Heaven.

   Spinning the bottle, you watch does it slow down coming to a stop. Looking up, you found the bottle landed on Jason. The loud sound of whistling and hollers drowned out the sharp and take a breath you took As you stood up and followed him to the attic. Nervous butterflies fluttering in your stomach as the latch will shut and the only light was from the moon shining through the small window. The light illuminated his face in all the right places making him look even more beautiful. Your heart sped up and you prayed he couldn't see the slight blush coating your cheeks. “Fancy seeing you here Y/N.” Jason grinned

   You giggled slightly, “Yeah, I'd rather be at home watching Netflix, but the girls dragged me here.” He nodded in acknowledgement before continuing, “Same here. I'd rather be at home but my friends bugged me until I gave in.” You both chuckled as an awkward silence filled the small space of the attic. Thoughts drifting, you looked around avoiding eye contact when a slight cough caught your attention.

   Head snapping back towards Jason, you quirked an eyebrow at him, urging him to continue. “Can I confess something? I don't want to make things awkward between us, but I really need to get this off my chest.” “Sure Jase, what's up?” You shrugged off your sweater and threw it on one of the boxes behind you, waiting for him to continue. “Well... he paused, “for as long as I can remember, I've had this huge crush on you. And I know it's wrong because you're my sister's best friend but I can't help it. I really like you Y/N.” He ranted, pacing around the room.

   Catching his arm in your hand, calming him down slightly, you spoke. “Whoa, whoa Jason slow down. I like you too. Have for like forever.” Looking at the ground shyly, you felt Jason's hand glide up your arm and towards your face. Tilting your chin up, Jason grinned at you. “Really?” His grin grew brighter as you nodded bashfully, watching as he slowly lean down towards you. With confidence surging through your veins, you reached up on your tiptoes and met him halfway. When your lips met, it was like everything made sense. You understood everything those sappy romance movies talked about. It was in that moment, you knew your life had been changed for the better.

   Coming back to your senses, you realize you don't even know what today is. You could have been out for a week for all you knew. All you knew was you had to get out of here. Pushing and kicking at the latch on the door, you hoped it would magically drop open; but instead it didn't even budge. Realizing -A must have locked it from the outside, you looked for anyway for you to let your friends know where you were. They had to know you were missing right?

   Remembering you had your cell phone with you when you were abducted, you rush back to your makeshift bed hoping to find it. Throwing blankets behind you, searching for your jacket, you finally found it under the last blanket. Shaking out your jacket, your phone clatters to the ground. Sign and relief, you pick it up and turn it on, praying you have at least some charge left. Seeing the time and date, you're shocked to see it's 11am on Sunday. You've been missing for over 40 hours!

   You panic seeing your phone only has a 15% charge and only one bar of signal. You only have enough charge to send a small message, but what the hell were you supposed to send that they would understand and know where you were? Finally deciding on what to send, you click on the last girl you texted, which was Aria, and slowly walked around the room trying to find a better signal.

   Stopping abruptly in your tracks, you saw all five bars. Quickly typing out your message, you press send. As soon as it sent, your phone died, ‘just my luck’ you thought. Hoping Jason was with the girls to decipher the message, after you missed your weekly breakfast with him, you sat back down on the pile of blankets with a pack of crackers just waiting to be found. You hoped they would get there soon.

   Meeting back up at Spencer's house, it was obvious they had no luck in finding you. The longer you were missing the more worried that got. Not knowing if you were even alive sent the feeling of ice through their veins. They need to find you soon! Where the hell did -A stash you?

   “Okay, so where all have we looked?” Emily was the first to speak. Thinking out loud, Hanna replied, “Well we've looked in all the abandoned houses and nothing.” “There was no sign of life at Noel's cabin.” Spencer spoke up. “I even drove out to Lookout Point to check the shack to see if she was there, and nothing.” Jason sighed becoming more and more worried about you. “Where the hell could she be?” Aria piped up.

   Before anyone could reply, Aria's phone chimed, lighting up with a new message. Jumping for the phone, she was surprised to find a text from you. “It's Y/N guys!” She exclaimed. “What’d she say?” They all asked. “All she sent were three emojis. The number 7, a clock, and an angel.” “What does that even mean?” “I don't know Hanna, but it's obviously some kind of clue as to where she is.” Jason let his thoughts wander, trying to solve your clues, as the girls bickered in the background. That sequence of emojis seems oddly familiar to him; and that's when it hit him.

   “Wait, was the emoji a clock or a stopwatch?” he questioned. “I guess it could be a stopwatch. Why?” Aria answered. “Because I know what it means. The emojis stand for the game 7 Minutes in Heaven. She's in the attic at Noel’s cabin!” He rushed out. “How did you figure that out?” Spencer spoke. “It's where and how her and I got together 11 months ago. Now let's go save Y/N!”

   Arriving at Noel’s cabin, they could feel the hope washing over them. Hope that you were here, and alive and well . Hanna slid a bobby pin out of her hair and started picking the lock. After what felt like hours to them, but was probably only 2 minutes, they were finally in.

   Rushing through the door, Jason sprinted to the back room with the girls hot on his heels. “Y/N, we're here! Hold on and we'll get you out!” Spencer yelled out as the rest looked for something to bust the lock with. Jumping to your feet, you breathed out a long sigh, thankful your friends found you. Stepping back just in case they broke it open, you prepared yourself for the flood of light that was to come. After a few minutes, you finally hear what sounds like a rock hitting the lock that keeps you from your friends and boyfriend.

   With one last slam to the lock, it breaks and falls to the ground. Light flooded the small space of the attic and you see a ladder appear at the entrance. Stumbling towards it with your things, you clumsily make your way down. Feeling several pairs of hands guide you down, you reach the ground and get pulled into a group of crying girls. All you heard was a cluster of “thank God, you're okay”, “Never do that again”, “We're so sorry!”, and “We love you!” as you hugged your best friends. Hugging them a little tighter, you let go and turned to your boyfriend.

   “Hey.” you smiled. Rushing forward, he swept you into a hug, mumbling about how worried he was. Running your fingers through his hair, you apologized, “I'm so sorry for worrying you. I needed air that night. I didn't think -A would kidnap me.” Pulling back slightly he stroked your cheek lovingly, assuring you it wasn't your fault. “It's not your fault -A is a sadistic bastard and likes to hurt you guys. I'm just glad you're back in my arms.” Snuggling back into his chest, you enjoyed the nice moment until the rumbling sound of your empty stomach filled the room.

   Breaking apart everyone chuckled. “Let's get you out of here and get you some food.” Agreeing you walked hand-in-hand out the door with your favorite people. You were all thinking the same thing; ‘thank God you were okay.’

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Tags: @fightme-brendon @aunicornmademedoit

[xthis-rebelle]

Don’t Let Go.

So I entered the PJO Secret Santa 2017 ( @pjosecretsanta2k17) and here’s my piece for my giftee; @basic-volk ((if you have an ao3, please give me your username so that i can gift it to you there, thanks))

Hope you enjoy it! Special thanks to @rosyredlipstick for beta’ing this for me.

title; don’t let go.

pairing(s); solangelo (Nico di Angelo//Will Solace), jasiper (Jason Grace//Piper McClean); percabeth (Percy Jackson//Annabeth Chase); reynabeth (Reyna Arellano//Annabeth Chase).

rating; general//teen.

notes; you didn’t ask for anything specific and this was gonna be a series, but I didn’t have the time to write it, so here’s 4.8 k words of solangelo angst and fluff instead :) also, nico calls will ‘amore’ (love) and things are implied, but not shown. This also set in a mortal a/u. Read it on the AO3.

Will Solace knows when his boyfriend is keeping a secret. For all the years they’d been together, (eight years, they’d gotten together when they were seventeen, exactly two months after Nico and him went on their first date: an annual Christmas fair that Nico knew Will badly wanted to go to) Nico has kept a secret exactly three times.

The first time, when he was nineteen, he told Will he was fine. In fact, he wasn’t. It had been his first Christmas since his mother and sister died. They were out shopping, and a drunk driver lost control of his vehicle, ran a red light and slammed into the car they were using, and they both, along with the di Angelo’s driver, Jules Albert, didn’t make it. Nico didn’t tell Will that it was eating him up inside. That he felt guilty, because he constantly questioned himself: how could he enjoy himself with his boyfriend and his mother and Bianca weren’t there anymore?

Another time, when he was twenty-one, he kept the fact that their close friends, Percy (who Nico liked at one point) and Annabeth had broken up and Annabeth was now together with Reyna, someone who Nico considered a second sister.

And finally, when he was twenty-three, he hid from Will the fact that he’d quit his job after graduating from college and was going to start to work at the DA’s office. The DA’s office had approved his application as soon as they saw he’d graduated at the top of his law class. Will, a medical prodigy, was going to start residency soon. Nico felt as if that would take a toll on them both and their already tight finances and so he wanted to be able to pick up whenever they fell short. They barely had any funds left for themselves after they paid rent, bills and bought monthly necessities, such as groceries. The drastic increase in salary for Nico would be able to comfortably cover it all, plus there would be enough left over for them to actually start saving properly, instead of depositing some money at random times only to have to withdraw it for some financial emergency, like the time when their rent had raised unexpectedly and they had to dip into the savings pool.

So Will knows when Nico is keeping a secret. He sees the signs. Nico is even more quiet than usual and he avoids looking Will in the eyes. In the aforementioned instances, Nico eventually caved and told Will everything. After talking through them, after letting Nico know that he could trust Will and he shouldn’t hide anything because effective communication was the key to a healthy relationship, all was good again.

But this time, Nico isn’t only keeping a secret, he’s lying. Even though Will gets a bit ticked off when Nico has his secrets, he respects Nico’s privacy, so he doesn’t push it, but something rubs him the wrong way when he knows Nico is lying and keeping secrets.

It’s almost seven o'clock when Will sits on the couch, thinking about all these things, waiting for Nico to come home. He has the night off for the first time this week. His week so far has been really hectic; working in the E.R. is no child’s play; all doctors were always busier during Christmas time, and honestly? He just wants to relax with his boyfriend.

His exhausting fifteen hour shift yesterday also adds to his exhaustion, doing nothing but giving him baggy eyes, a lethargic, sluggish feeling and dull, but normally brilliant blue eyes.

Outside is snowing and the couch is so warm and he has his favourite blanket wrapped around him. The news broadcast plays softly in front of him and the fire in the fireplace blazes bright.

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep.

When he wakes up, he groans and stretches his hand, grabbing his phone from the night stand next to his bed. Blurred numbers meet his eyes for a few seconds as he turns it on, but he gasps when his vision clears. It’s almost nine in the morning. Then, he realizes that he’s in his bed. The other side smells of Nico and the sheets are wrinkled. Nico was there, and it seems as though he’s already left for work.

Will starts to panic when work crosses his mind, and quickly checks the hospital roster he keeps on his wall. He doesn’t have a shift today, thank God, but he does have a twelve hour tomorrow morning at eight.  

He goes to the kitchen, sleepily pushing his blonde hair away from his forehead and makes a cup of coffee, black, just the way he likes it. After, he pours some Frosted Flakes into a bowl. He sits and has breakfast alone on a small dining table meant for two, his heart sinking in further into his chest.

He misses Nico so damn much.

They knew it was going to be hard when Will started residency and when Nico started working. They promised each other to face their obstacles together and to talk to each other if it was becoming too much for them to handle. But now, they were doing the exact opposite, and it feels like Nico is slowly drifting away. The distance and lack of communication between him and his boyfriend is slowly taking its toll on him. He can’t help the wobbling in his lower lip. One of the things he was always afraid of was watching their relationship slowly crumble, and Will feels like that’s exactly what he’s doing. He doesn’t have the emotional energy to deal with this so he goes back to bed after, and cries softly into his pillow.

His phone vibrates and there’s a tiny hope that it’s Nico.

Instead, it’s his best friend and fellow resident, Jason Grace.

Hey Will, I’ll drop by in half an hour with Piper to pick up the stuff for the annual hospital children’s Christmas party.

Will drags himself out of bed again, does his usual morning routine of brushing his teeth again after breakfast, showering, then changing into his at-home favourites: a plain, round-neck t-shirt and black sweats (it was too cold for his usual cargo shorts), and then brushing back his unruly hair, only for it to fall over his forehead again.

Finally, he puts on his happy face, smiling at himself in the mirror. The smile looks believable, so he leaves his bedroom.

Will knows outside is still cold and snowing, so he starts to prepare some hot chocolate for Jason and Piper to warm them up when they get to his apartment.

Then, he sits on the couch, picks up the novel he’d begun to read a week ago from the small table next to him, opens it to the bookmarked page and lets himself be taken into a different world for a while.

True to his word, Jason arrives within half an hour after the text within half an hour of the text being sent, Piper at his side.

“Hey Jase,” he greets them both with a hug, “Pipes.”

Will ushers them inside, since Piper is shivering in Jason’s arms.

“Do you guys want some hot chocolate? I just made it, so it’ll warm you up,” Will offered.

Piper gratefully accepts the offer. Will goes into the kitchen while they hang their coats and settle in and he comes back with two tall, steaming mugs of hot chocolate, which he places on the center table for them.

“How are Annabeth and Reyna?” Will asks.

Piper is close with the couple. They hang out every other week, even though Annabeth and Reyna married two years ago. Will never found out the whole story, but from what Nico told him, the whole thing between Percy, Annabeth and Reyna was really, really messy and they didn’t want anybody involved, so it was kept secret. Nico and Piper were the only ones who knew the actual story because they were the closest to the three.

Although Will should have been mad at Nico for keeping the secret (he was, for a few days, until he found out Piper hadn’t told Jason anything either), he let it go because he knew when not to pry. And that was a no-go zone. Whatever happened was so bad, Percy and Annabeth don’t even talk anymore.

“They’re fine. They’re actually starting to consider adoption,” Piper says to Will, a large smile gracing her lips as her eyes sparkle, excitedly.

“Wow, that’s a pretty big step,” Will’s eyes widen.

“It is,” Piper coos, sipping her chocolate, “They think they’re ready to start a family. I might be an aunt this time next year!”

“That’s really good, I’m happy for them,” Will says, with a small smile, “They’ll be really great parents.”

“And what about you? And Nico?” Jason asks innocently, unaware of the couple’s inner turmoil, or rather, Nico’s obliviousness to Will’s inner turmoil and insecurity.

Will sighs, his smile leaving his lips, “We’re fine.”

Jason narrows his eyes in suspicion. Will isn’t acting like his normally bright, bubbly self. He gets the feeling that Will isn’t telling him something, but he feels as though it isn’t his place to point out his observations. They make more small talk while Piper and Jason are finishing their hot chocolate, and the couple doesn’t stay too long after.

Will’s left all alone again when they leave.

He receives a text from another co-worker, Kayla, shortly after. The words makes his heart drop.

Hey Will, don’t mean to alarm you, but I wanted to let you know that I saw Nico walking past the hospital with a dark-haired, surfer-type of looking dude.

Will’s breath catches in his throat.

Dark hair, huh?

Percy.

Although he tries not to think about it, there’s a tiny voice in the back of his head that keeps nagging at him, keeps asking the one question that he’s trying to avoid.

Was Nico cheating on him? Was Nico finally bored of him, like he’d worried?

No. He wouldn’t, Will thinks firmly, silencing the voice in his head, Nico wouldn’t lie to Will without a good reason for doing so. And he definitely wouldn’t cheat. He’s a good person.

Against his better judgement, Will lets it go, picking up his novel again.

He doesn’t know Throne of Glass could be so interesting. Or distracting.

It’s about six o'clock when Nico gets home. Will is in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

“Will?” Will hears his voice call as the apartment door opens.

“In the kitchen!” Will replies.

Will sees Nico walking into the kitchen. He hugs Will from behind, pressing his lips to Will’s cheek as Will cuts carrots on the island. He’s making stir-fried vegetables and, not to toot his own horn, it smells heavenly.

“Percy stopped by, wanna come say hi before he goes home?” Nico asks, burying his face in the curve between Will’s neck and shoulder, arm still around his waist.

Will shoves away the unpleasant, green eyed monster that threatens to unleash itself when Nico lets him go. He turns off the stove and turns in the direction of the living room to tell Percy hi. What kind of person would he be if there’s a guest in his home and he doesn’t say hello?

Percy leaves after saying goodbye to them both and Will goes back into the kitchen to resume making dinner.

Nico follows Will into the kitchen, noticing his cold and detached attitude. It’s not the type of attitude he usually has, and they both know this.

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” he asks Will, frowning, “What did I do?”

“What?” Will’s eyebrows knit together, “Look, can you please let me enjoy my day off and make dinner? I don’t have the mental capability to get into this right now.”

“Will,” Will can see the hurt in Nico’s eyes as he says this, “You’ve been acting strange all week. Just talk to me, please.”

“Okay, fine!” Will finally raises his voice a tiny bit, not full-on shouting, but just enough to allow some of the frustration he’s been bottling up free, “You wanna talk, Nico? Let’s talk!”

Will’s phone rings, startling both him and Nico, and they jump in shock. Will looks at the caller I.D.

It’s the hospital. He answers the call.

“Will Solace,” he says.

“Oh thank God,” Will recognizes the voice of his supervisor, Dr. Chiron Brunner, “Will, I need you down at the E.R. stat. We need all hands on deck right now.”

“Is everything alright?” Will asks, keeping his own tone calm, despite the underlying hint of panic in Dr. Brunner’s voice.

“I have the other residents busy with a patient who suffered a stroke and caught a seizure when he was rushed in and victims of a four way crash on an intersection due to a driver skidding on some ice. The ambulance just went for a pick up and we need the help,” Dr. Brunner says in a rush.

“Dr. Brunner, it’s my day off. I’ve been pulling over twelve-hour long shifts all week,” Will responds, while rubbing his forehead, his frustration at it’s maximum point, “Plus I have some personal issues right now that I really have to work out. I don’t think I’m fit to be working at the moment.”

“I understand, Will I really do, but we really need you here. Our hands are really full. Even Jason and Kayla are here,” Dr. Brunner says.

“Dr. Brunner,” Will starts, but he’s cut off.

“Please,” Will can hear the desperation in his superior’s voice.

Will feels upset and agitated, because there are lives that are at stake here and saving them is supposed to be his priority as a future doctor. But at the same time, he needs to talk to Nico, he needs to deal with his own issues, their issues. Will realizes that he has to make the choice he knew he had to make eventually, but was dreading to make.

It’s either his job or his relationship.

“Okay, I’ll be on my way,” Will says and disconnects the call.

Dinner is forgotten as he explains the situation to Nico while grabbing his phone, wallet, keys, hospital I.D. and coat. It’s a good thing he lives almost five minutes away from the hospital.

“We’ll talk as soon as I get home, okay? I promise,” Will says to Nico before he rushes out of their shared apartment.

He doesn’t kiss Nico on the cheek this time. Nor does he tell him he loves him.

The hospital lights shine brightly above him, in the dark December night. Inside the hospital smells of bleach and disinfectant.

He catches his breath, tired from running. He dusts the bits of snow off his hair and clothes. The weather had thankfully held up until he’d gotten to the hospital; it was lightly snowing, unlike this morning. He hurriedly puts on his scrubs in the residents’ office and goes into the main E.R., where, he meets Dr. Brunner. Together, they wait for the ambulance to arrive as Jason and Kayla and two others try to save another patient.

Will is functioning purely on caffeine now. Ten hours have passed since he came to the hospital and he’s on his fifth cup of hospital brewed coffee. It’s cheap coffee and it tastes horrible. Dr. Brunner takes Will into his office after everything settles and asks him if he’s okay. Will mentally adds that to the list of questions he doesn’t know how to answer, ut laughs Dr. Brunner’s question off, telling him he’s okay.

Within those ten hours, however, they’ve saved multiple lives.

The man who had caught a stroke and had the seizure, a teenaged boy, which was the one the ambulance went to pick up, and so far, two of the persons involved in the accident.

Dr. Brunner sends him to talk to the boy, since no one else seems to have any luck.

The boy’s name is Brandon, he notices, glancing at the chart in his hand, and he’s reminded of Nico. Brandon has black hair and blue eyes whereas Nico’s was brown, and whatever they were lacking in height, they more than made up for in attitude. Will looks at the chart in his hand.

He’s reminded of his boyfriend again, of how they’d met. Nico had been hospitalized at fifteen, too, for the same reasons as Brandon. Will’s dad was his doctor and he brought Will to see Nico, to keep him company, so that he wouldn’t be as lonely and he’d have someone his age to talk to. They went to the same school and Will made sure Nico was up to date with all of his work. While they talked, they discovered they  both had lots of things in common and a friendship was born. Will had even been there when Nico’s dad had broken down at the thought of losing any of his family (completely unaware of the tragedy that would later befall the di Angelo’s) and even though he never fully accepted it, which was the reason why Nico had ended up in the hospital in the first place, he tried to come to terms with Nico’s sexual orientation.

Two years later, after being close friends and lots of mutual pining, Nico asked Will out, and soon after, they got together. Nico’s dad was still trying his best to accept it, but he was genuinely happy for both his son and Will.

The world beneath Will’s feet spins uncomfortably. He presses his fingers to his temple and finishes Brandon’s chart. He gets the hell out of the room right after.

He’s sitting in the waiting area, eating a pack of potato chips when Jason finds him.

“Are you alright?” He asks Will, biting his lip worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Will smiles, the lie slipping easily.

Will knows he’s not. God, he must look like a hot mess. He’s too exhausted, he hasn’t had a proper meal for the past day, and his brain feels like it’s being fried inside his head.

Half an hour later, he passes out in the residents’ office.

The rest of the night is a blur. He’s vaguely aware of Nico’s voice arguing with Dr. Brunner. Someone helps him to Nico’s car and then he’s in their apartment.

When he comes to, for good this time, he can hear Jason and Nico talking. It takes him a moment to gain his bearings. He’s in his bed, in his room.

“— Hasn’t been taking care of himself. Something, and my instincts tell me it’s related to you two, is off. So you better man up and talk to him,” Will hears Jason say seriously, “It’s been bothering him all week.”

“I knew it,” Nico sounds frustrated with himself, “I knew that something was bugging him. We were going to talk before he was called to work.”

Will doesn’t want to get out of the bed. He rolls onto his side, yawning. He feels like he’s been hit by a train.

“Dr. Brunner cancelled all his shifts for the next week,” Jason says, after a heavy pause.

“Oh. I’ll let him know,” he hears Nico reply, and then a door closes.

Nico comes into their room. Will see his mess of black hair first, followed by his lithe, small body. Will turns, facing Nico as he lies next to Will, on his side, and runs his fingers through Will’s soft curls.

“How’re you feeling, babe?” Nico asks, pressing his lips against Will’s forehead.

“You want the honest answer or an answer?” Will responds, relishing the small touch.

“Honest answer, always,” Nico answers, furrowing his eyebrows, pursing his full, rosy red lips, “Are you implying something?”

“Do you think I’m implying something?” Will whispers.

“Damn it, Will,” Nico says, “If you have something to say, just say it—“

“Are you cheating on me?” Will blurts, looking him dead in the eye.

Nico looks taken aback, as though that’s the most ridiculous thing Will has ever said.

“What?” Nico still looks shocked as he stares at Will.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Will feels like he’s about to cry.

“No, Will. Babe, why would I do that?” Nico asks, grabbing Will’s hand, not breaking eye contact, not even once.

“You’re keeping something from me. You’re hanging out with Percy all the time and you’re lying to me,” Will mumbles, letting a few tears escape his eye, “And I know how you felt about him. So I..I don’t know. I just thought.”

Nico reaches out, hesitantly, and wipes the tears away from Will’s cheek, his pale hand standing out nicely against Will’s evenly tanned skin. Nico’s touches are warm and comforting, and Will wants to do nothing but lean into them, but he resists the urge to do so.

“Amore, what I felt for Percy is nothing compared to what I feel for you. Percy was nothing but a stupid crush,” he tells Will, still maintaining eye contact.

Will feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulder. His heart is not as heavy. He lets out a broken sob, nodding in relief and Nico just shakes his head before he wraps Will in his strong embrace. Will buries his head in Nico’s chest and inhales deeply, taking comfort in his familiar, earthy scent. Just like that, Will is grounded. He’s home.

Don’t let go, he silently pleads.

Instead, Nico holds on to him as he cries, the ugly, loud gasping, hiccupping, snotty type of crying, finally snapping and letting go of all the pain and frustration. Nico runs his hands through the taller man’s hair, rubbing soothing circles into the small of his back. His touches silently reassure Will; I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you. Let it out, babe. I’ve got you.

They stay like this until nightfall, Will safe and tucked away from the world in Nico’s arms, until Will hears his stomach growl loudly, breaking the tension in the room. His face heats in embarrassment and Nico lets go of him with a small smile, gently pulling Will up to a sitting position with him.

“Wh-What are you doing?” Will realizes that throat is sore from all the gasping and sobbing as he asks this.

“Come to the kitchen, I made us lunch. But I guess it’s dinner now,” Nico tells him, furrowing his brows, “We’ll talk more over a proper meal. The only reason you got to come home was because your supervisor pulled some strings. I never realized how badly this was affecting you, amore.”

Will realizes he only remembers bits and pieces of that night as he allows Nico to lead him to the kitchen. He doesn’t care about what he remembers and doesn’t remember anyways, all that matters right now is food. His stomach lightly growls again as he inhales the aroma of whatever Nico cooked.

Nico tells to him not to sit yet, and Will watches curiously as he shuffles around in the kitchen, definitely out of his element, running his hands through his hair and swearing in frustration in soft Italian.

He places a tablecloth on top of their small dining table. Then, he adds silverware, and he places a small candle in the middle of the table.

Will’s curiosity doesn’t diminish as Nico pulls the chair out and motions for him to sit. He does so, and Nico pushes the chair in.

Then, he brings around a plate of what looked like fettuccine alfredo with chicken and places it in front of him.

Will’s favourite Italian dish.

“I, uh, meant to do this on Christmas morning, but that’s, like, two days away,” Nico rubs the back of his neck, “And it seems that now would be the more appropriate time.”

“To do what?” Will asks, totally confused as he takes a bite of the alfredo, but Nico ignores him, going into their room.

He comes back with something in his hand.

“What’s that?” Will questions, looking at Nico, who looks a bit paler than usual.

Nico doesn’t answer, but sits opposite him and sets the small velvet box in front of Will.

Will gasps, his heart beating faster. The tips of his ear tinge red. Oh God. Did Nico get him some kind of jewelry? He never did like jewelry–

“It’s custom made,” Nico explained, “This is what I’ve been keeping from you. Percy was with me when I went to pick it up. And he was helping me come up with a special way to give it to you.”

“Wh-what?” Will gasps.

“So no, I wasn’t cheating on you. In fact, I wanted to ask you if you would give me the honour of calling you my husband,” Nico says, his voice calm. He gets out of his chair and goes down on one knee in front of Will and his hand shakes ever so slightly as he opens the box.

Inside it is a silver band, inlaid with garnet, sapphire and amethyst patterns. A line of amethysts ran in a circle on the outside of the ring, sapphires below the amethysts and garnets above them. It took Will a moment to realize the meaning behind the stones. It was their birth stones; January, Nico’s month, were the garnets and September, Will’s month, were the sapphires, and month they’d gotten together, February, were the amethysts.

“See, I love you, and I’m sure now that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Only you. You’ve seen me at my worst and you’ve seen me at my best and you’ve always accepted me for who I am. You’ve been there for me at my lowest, and you’ve helped me overcome some of the biggest challenges in my life; especially when my mother and Bianca died. You helped me with my depression and my insomnia. You helped me overcome my insecurities, but I wasn’t there to help you with yours. I wasn’t there to reassure you that were my sun and my stars and I wasn’t there to make sure you were taking care of yourself. I wasn’t a good boyfriend over the past few weeks and I’m so, so sorry for that. But I promise, I’ll do better, because I don’t plan on letting go of us, of you, anytime soon. So will you make my year?” Nico asks, softly, “Will Solace, will you marry me?”

Will is in awe. Of all the things he expected, this was not one of them. He put his hand over his open mouth, tears of pure joy running down his face this time. He nods. Nico takes his hand and slips the ring onto his finger, almost reverently, tears of joy streaking his own face.

Perfect fit.

Will looks at it in the candlelight. It’s beautiful. A warm feeling blossoms inside Will’s chest as he looks at his boy—no,  fiancé. The love of his life. The man he was going to marry.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, getting up from his chair, going down to Nico’s level (he’s still on the ground) and throwing his arms around the smaller man, “I knew you wouldn’t cheat on me but seeing you with Percy so often just made me think about all of these.. possibilities and everything just… kind of spiraled out of control.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Nico tells him, tightening his hold on Will’s waist, “You were putting yourself under unnecessary stress because of me. Will, you don’t know how frightened I was when I got the call from the hospital. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I was part of the reason as to why something happened to you, mio amore.”

“You’re forgiven, darlin’. I love you, so much, Nico di Angelo,” Will sniffs and although his words are muffled into Nico’s shirt, he knows that Nico hears him use the pet name he loves.

“I love you too. You are my universe,” Nico gently pulls Will from the hug and kisses him on the lips, softly, sweetly and passionately, despite the stickiness left on his face from happy tears, “My sun, my stars, my entire galaxy. Merry early Christmas, Will Solace, soon to be di Angelo.”

Despite the cold December, the couple spends the night on the couch in their apartment, their love keeping their souls burning bright and warm, warmer than their fireplace ever could, wrapped up in each other’s loving embrace. There are no barriers between them; everything is out in the open. There are no more secrets, only a sense of love, understanding and blissfulness.

And Will Solace would not trade it for the world.