He stood awkwardly at the door, just having moved to the side to let an older lady walk up the stairs in the apartment. He rang the doorbell a fourth time but no avail; Nico made it look like he wasn't home. 'Well, he really couldn't be,' Jason thought, 'but where would he be?'. He wanted- needed- to talk to the Italian, and a feeling of guilt submerged his insides before he felt his heart sink down into his stomach like a lost anchor in the vast sea.
The blonde sighed and prepared to leave, when he heard a crash from inside. Or a his. Or someone falling. Not knowing what else to do, Jason pulled out his Swiss Army knife; his father had always required his children to carry around a form of defense/offense, and his stepmother had never objected. More like didn't care, Jason thought sarcastically. He picked the lock (quite easy once Leo Valdez taught you the exact mechanics of a household lock) and opened the door. He expected to see a sick, pale teen someone in sight but 'alquid'. There was nobody in the living room, or the bedroom, as far as he checked. The bathroom was too far from the front door for Jason to have heard a crash, so that left the kitchen.
Hesitantly walking into the vicinity, he softly called the pale Italian's name, hoping to get an answer. Instead, he found broken shards of glass near his feet and stared at it. The litter seemed to be from several cups, and he only found one intact, although it was heavily cracked on one side. He stared at it. It was the exact mug that he had drunk hot chocolate from, on the first day he had visited the house. The open window sent a soft breeze in and steadily raised his nerves instead of gently calming him down. He felt something soft press against his calf and then slid past him, moving towards the window.
"Nico's shadow..." He reached out to pet the albino cat when the mammal danced out of his reach, almost tauntingly. "So, where's Nico at?" Jason asked. He looked at the cat with curiosity and desperation in his voice. He knew it was crazy to be talking to an animal that most likely did not understand him, but the knowing different colored eyes gazed up at him and meowed. It turned back and jumped out the window; when Jason looked outside it was on top of a trash bin, staring right back at him and shook it's tail, as if it wanted the blonde to follow it. Feeling curious, Jason quickly left the apartment. Then he noticed something.
Nico's shoes were still here.
The Italian would've been here...but he isn't. Filled with worry, Jason hurried after the albino cat while trying to convince himself that nothing bad was going to happen. That nothing bad did happen. He didn't do a very good job of it.
The cat had twisted from left to right, up to down, but once Jason seemed to lag behind, the animal stopped and looked back at him; it meowed when he got too far, and he hurried up to catch up. The blonde chuckled to himself, jogging a bit to keep up. It was strange, like in an adventure film. But didn't the animal usually lead to the damsel in distress? His mouth dried as he thought of Nico being held captive but chuckled humorlessly to himself again. He was watching too many fantasy films.
He turned a bend, and did a double-take when he couldn't see the pale white fur against the dull, lifeless gray of the walls and floor. He heard a slight meow so he looked up, only to see the black tip of the tail disappear from view. He counted the windows up from the bottom; the fourth floor. Thoughts rushed through his head as he climbed the stairs, looking sad and rotten. He was glad that he had daily physical practice; he wasn't sure he would've been able to walk up the stairs this fast if he didn't. He also wondered where he ws being led, or if the cat was just trying to get him off it's tail. He thought about what he would say if he met Nico, if he sees him. Should he act natural, all calm? Should he apologize? Should he avoid him?
Jason wondered why he was so self-conscious when he was around Nico. He remembered that it was like this the first time that he had met the pale teen, worrying about how he was first going to present himself. Love did weird things to you sometimes. The blonde looked up and opened a door with wood decayed even more than the stairs that he had just climbed; the pipes jutted from the walls as if they were trying to escape the plaster confines.
Actually, make that all the time.
Entering the desolate place, Jason could practically hear the crickets chirping. Except, there were no crickets. He quickly looked over the place for the albino cat; it must've brought him for a reason, not just to ditch him here. His question was soon answered as he heard a slight purr-meow. "Hey, um, boy. Good boy," simply because he had nothing else to say. A groan made him turn his head.
"J-Jason..." The small teen's body was shaking and his voice dry and crackling, as if he hadn't used it in weeks. His limp body seemed to be accessorized heavily with bruises and cuts; Jason could've gladly killed someone in that moment, especially the one who did all of it to Nico. His complexion had an unhealthy glow to it then ever before and whitewashed, his eyes dark and haunted. "L-leave...He'll catch...yo-" he was unable to finish as a coughing fit made his whole body quiver and Jason, using his Swiss Army knife, proceeded to cut the wire from the smaller teen's wrists; it seemed to be composed of a strong metal, and it looked like it could cut easily. It did. He grabbed it and sawed away with his knife, and a trail of blood slowly dripped down his forearm. He vaguely felt Nico's vain attempt for him to stop but he didn't stop his efforts until the wire was cut completely. He gently massaged the feeling back into Nico's thin arms. In all this work, neither had noticed the cat jumping out the window nimbly, leaving them to their own problems.
"Here," the blonde held the other one up, and it seemed like he had a new-born fawn's legs, with no balance and strength. Jason resolved to holding Nico in an embarrassing bridesmaid-hold, but the latter was too tired and worn out to protest. Jason walked out of the room. The sound of dripping water echoed from the wooden floor, and dimly lit lightbulbs illuminated their way. The walk was safe and dry, for the most part, and Jason wondered who had made Nico like this, who had treated him this way. Whoever it was, Jason was sure that he would personally ruin his/her life; he was guilt-racked that he had treated Nico similarly. Nevertheless, he would get Nico out of here, and then deal with his consequences later. No matter how painful; it was the least he could do. He eased out of the room and slowly walked down the stairs, both worried that too much sudden weight could take the place down and that even the most smallest of twists would hurt the Italian's body.
When they were outside, the smaller teen inhaled slowly and deeply, as if he didn't get enough ai in the last few day; if he really did or not, Jason didn't know. "I can walk myself, you know," Nico mumbled almost to himself. "It's just minor cuts and bruises."
"Minor? You look like you've died and come back," Jason replied.
"Please, just..." Jason sighed as he perceived Nico's puppy eyes. He hadn't fully experienced it himself, but enough talk from Hazel explained all about it. The motion created a full-blown effect that added a pout and doe-eyes, with a slight flush to his face. The fact wanted Jason to make out with Nico right then and there, but instead, he merely sighed and carefully let him down, who wobbled for a bit before getting back on his feet. "I'm fine, really," He was too adorable for his own good, Jason thought wistfully.
They walked (or hobbled) their way out of the deserted alley and into the outskirts of the town. There was the occasional ca or so, with even fewer pedestrians. Still, they earned less than a couple glances as Jason quickly told Nico where they were: almost a mile south from his house, there was little to see, except the drastic neighborhood-mood change and the beautiful colors the sunset was creating, a palette of yellow, red, purple, and blue. It was majestic.
It was silent, until they heard the honking. At first, neither had given a second thought about the annoying noise, They simply accepted it as everyday life when the traffic got bad. It wasn't until ten seconds of it that it hit them. There was no traffic, and no cars around either. So where was it coming from. Jason felt the hair on the back of his neck and shivered because a cold spread through his body, and in a bad way, not the 'I'm-freezing-my-ass-off' kind, either.
"Let's get out of here." The sentence had barely left his mouth when the unnatural glare hit his peripheral vision. The lights, in contrast to the quickly darkening sky. His natural instincts came in kick before his lone brain cell came into the picture. He grabbed the smaller teen's shoulder and with all of his strength, which is saying a lot, The truck came full force as the lethe teen went sprawled onto the concrete sidewalk. Curse words hurriedly left the Italian's mouth as he looked up annoyed and confused and the last thing he saw was windswept blonde hair framing handsome, rugged features, lips curled into a grin that seemed to display all their emotions. His mouth twisted, and Nico couldn't hear him over the sound of the horn, but caught it anyways: Sorry. Jason turned his head just before the impact. Sorry. His eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks with the bright lights flaring at him from the front of the vehicle. Sorry.
The pain. The light. The rushing tempo of things. The spinning of the world. The dirt floor. Everything seemed to slow down but moved too fast for the blonde-haired teen to recover. His chest felt unbearable pain as he heaved for breath. It felt as if a truck hit him. Darkness started to engulf Jason's mind and sight as his thoughts came in short bursts. A warmth seemed to be grasping tightly to his hand, as if worried that he might leave. That was ridiculous. Don't worry, I'm still here. I'm not gone, he wanted to say, but his voice failed him, and his tongue felt as dry as sandpaper. The last thing he could remember before falling completely out of his misery was that the sun started to give way to rain, the almost taunting blue sky giving way to beauty of a whole other kind. He smiled as he felt enough energy to mouth a couple words.
Sorry.
I love you.
Sorry.
Goodbye.
/
tbc... *evil smirk*
~E.B. out~
