Hey, guys. Here it is. The last episode, the final chapter of Shaped By Life. God, this is making me emotional. I hope it lives up to what this story and all of you readers deserve. Thank you so much for inspiring this in me and reading what I wrote, every one of you. To Stygian Stapler and JPBBX ftw for inspiring this. To Festus Lives for being one of the kindest people I've ever known. To all the people reading this now and every single one reading it ten years from now. Thank you.
Enjoy.
And those happy endings would last forever…
Nico was trying to enjoy some alone time in his cabin.
Emphasis on trying.
Even though it was a cold January morning; even though all of Camp Half-Blood was dead quiet, covered in the blanket of sleep; even though everyone knew he wasn't a morning person, his peaceful morning just had to be interrupted.
Nico hadn't been able to sleep last night. He'd had a strange feeling that he had forgotten something, but he wasn't able to recall what it was. It was important, he knew. Probably some crazy big event that he'd gone ahead and forgotten, and would regret later. It wasn't Will's birthday, because that was way ahead on July 23. It had nothing to do with the rest of his friends, because Nico had a little brown notebook where he wrote down all that important stuff. He'd consulted it at least fifty times and repeatedly come up empty. There were no major events for weeks. But Nico was sure he had forgotten something else.
The son of Hades had even asked around. He'd gone to all of his famous friends from the Seven, as well as Reyna, Coach Hedge, Will, and a few of his newer friends at Camp Half-Blood (Mainly Will's siblings in the Apollo cabin). They all had mixed reactions- ranging from Leo and Percy erupting into laughter to Hazel and Will's sudden nervousness to Reyna and Piper's cool, unshaken demeanours- but all of them had replied with a resolute no.
Well, not all of them. He'd decided to ask the smartest person he knew, but the reply had been just as frustrating.
"What do you think, Nico?" Annabeth had said calmly, looking at him expectantly.
Needless to say, Nico had walked away extremely conflicted about his answer.
Because, no, it was not him being more paranoid than usual. Something was up, because all of Nico's friends were here in the ice-cold month of January for no clear reason. Will had said that they were probably just having some kind of reunion, like the monthly Argo II parties. But he'd been a little pink and his words came out just a smidge too fast. And while it wasn't a bad attempt, Nico knew a secret when he heard one. He had felt more than a little suspicious by then, but he trusted his friends far too much to suspect them. Or to at least accuse them of something bad.
Meaning only one thing: whatever was going on had to do with him.
Nico had slept fitfully that night. He hated not knowing things with a passion, and he abhorred forgetting them most of all. The idea of sleep was to get some rest and ask around again in the morning, but at this rate, Nico might as well have been an insomniac. Every time he felt even remotely relaxed, the same stupid question would flit through his mind like a firework: loud, unnecessary, and far too bright to sleep with. He finally managed to drift off at one in the morning, only to wake up half an hour later and repeat the horrid cycle for the rest of the night. Every time he came up with a new explanation as to what he'd forgotten, only to be roused too soon and have his conscience tell him 'That's not possible, it's something else'.
Now, it was five thirty, and Nico was lying down and contemplating whether or not banging his head into the obsidian wall hard enough would help. He had a stupid headache that was probably going to kill him, and the soft stream of morning sunlight reflecting off the icy white grass was murder on his eyes. Whatever today brought, Nico was fairly sure he already hated it.
On another day, he might have thought it beautiful. The light dusting of snow and the gentle sunlight filtering through icicles was breath-taking. It was almost like Camp Half-Blood was enchanted to look pretty on purpose. The lake was frozen over but the ice transparent, so that they could see the fish and naiads swimming within. Chiron had promised them that a few days from now they would all be allowed to go ice-skating during their free time, but not until the ice was stable. Nico had seen many campers stare longingly at the makeshift rink- incredibly pretty, what with the milky white trees and crisp frosty grass surrounding it- and quite a few more glare at Percy the last few days, since he was the sole demigod able to tread it. Even though the thin sheen of ice was horribly unstable, it was still partially water, which Percy could walk on.
The best part about the view, though, if Nico had been in the mood to romantically stare at it and sigh in content (The way a certain annoying son of the sun god did), was the memories it brought. Will being Will had marked down the night they kissed for the first time (August 4) as their dating anniversary, and ever since they had taken turns planning dates every month. Although Nico found it sweet and warming, he was fairly sure that they were almost a competition. Will had started the first date by taking Nico out for the first ice cream he'd had in years. A month later, Nico bought tickets to a small concert by a rising artist Will loved to listen to. On November 4, his boyfriend showed Nico his first-ever cinema movie. Nico retaliated by taking them star-gazing. Finally, three weeks ago- the fourth of January- had been, at least to Nico, the best one yet. They hadn't left camp that time, but instead Will had woken him up really early and brought a picnic basket to the Hades cabin rooftop so they could have breakfast while watching the sunrise. They only came back down for lunch, and once more for dinner, but those hours on the rooftop had been one of the best things Nico had experienced: just talking with his boyfriend and watching the colour of the sky change.
Nico smiled as the memory came to him. In about a week, it would be his turn, and his plan for this month depended a great deal on the ice and his (hopefully) good relationship with the naiads. Nico liked how they treated these monthly celebrations like a silly little contest - 'Last month was great, but can it top this?'- and he was determined to win, no matter how hard Will made it.
The thought felt fuzzy and sweet. Nico moved the curtains so that the light would disappear, his heart was as warm as the blanket. Maybe he could get some sleep after all; and shove his stupid worries away for more than a few minutes. Nico closed his eyes, and they stayed shut out of sleepiness, he was finally going to rest, thank the gods-
Suddenly, he heard the door to his cabin groan open. Nico internally groaned as the piercing noise roused him from the bliss he'd been in just moments ago. He wanted to get out of bed and yell, but he didn't want to open his eyes, lest he lose all ability to sleep. Nico hoped it was just the wind, and sent a silent prayer to Hypnos.
Clearly, Hypnos was too busy sleeping to respond, because Nico was roused again. This time, far too awake to go back to sleep. He kept his ears trained so that he might find the stupid prick who snuck into his cabin and get them back later.
He heard light footsteps treading the floor, and a slight rustling coupled with muffled breathing. Although Nico's mind was screaming intruder, it was probably a demigod- a monster would have killed him in seconds. Most likely a Hermes kid or one of the few other pranksters who enjoyed annoying others.
More footsteps, and then a whisper.
"See? Nico sleeps like the dead. We're good to go," a familiar voice said. It was calm and sweet, a little musical, and it always calmed Nico down. An image came to mind- wavy blond hair and kind blue eyes and a constant grin.
Will? What the heck was his boyfriend doing here?
"Oh, thank the gods," another, more feminine voice said. It was like honey- sticky, sweet and hard to let go of. Piper. "I thought I saw his curtain moving. Come on, then."
Nico was about to get up and demand to know what was going on, but Will talked and he fell back into pretend sleep again.
"Wait! I've got to leave the note!" Will whispered. "Nico normally gets up around ten, so we've still got plenty of time."
"Alright. Be quick!" Piper warned.
Nico heard more footsteps, and he felt Will's body heat glide over him as his boyfriend placed whatever note he was talking about on his bedside table. Nico was more than a little confused- why the Hades was his boyfriend being so secretive?- and the moment Will and Piper left and the door clicked shut, he bounced out of his bed like he was on fire. He grabbed at a small folded piece of paper he saw on his bedside table. He nearly ripped it apart; his curiosity burning, and wasn't that surprised to see Will's handwriting.
However, he was quite surprised to read the contents:
Hey, Nico,
I want you to head over to Rachel's Cave after you read this. It's nothing bad, I promise. Just come over quick as you can- I'll be waiting.
-Will xx
Nico frowned at the note in confusion. He wasn't sure what was stranger: the fact that Will wasn't acting like the open book he usually was or that he'd signed his name with kisses. The writing had taken quite a while- nearly ten whole minutes- to decipher, since Nico was just as dyslexic as his friends and Will, like all doctors, had a horribly messy scrawl. Nico shuddered to think what would have happened to him if he'd written like that back in his old military school, Westover.
He wanted badly to head over right now, but Will clearly thought that he would still be asleep for a quite a while. He'd told Piper ten o'clock. By now the clock read a little after six. That was four more hours Will and Piper expected to have free. He could try and wait. There was no purpose in scaring them today (Although he'd done it on quite a few other days).
Still, Nico didn't want to wait whatsoever. He wanted to race out of his cabin and find his boyfriend as soon as possible and demand for an explanation. While Nico trusted Will more than anyone in the world, he still couldn't help the paranoia and fear that bubbled in him whenever he didn't know the exact details of the world around him. Scary scenes would often come to mind, and though they made no sense, they still would keep Nico up with nightmares. Nico tried hard to be an optimist, and his friends encouraged it ever since he'd been diagnosed with depression. Although he had improved drastically- you've done so well, just fight it a few more weeks, Will had told him a few days ago- he still couldn't block occasional awful thoughts that invaded his head and messed with him nearly every day. And those thoughts became so much worse when Nico didn't have a good comeback to fight them off.
Shut up, Nico told himself. He sank into his bed and shook his head as hard as he could without making the headache worse. Will isn't stupid. Don't take things out of proportion. There's always a good explanation and you can't always be impatient.
That settled it. Nico checked the clock and read six fifteen. He would wait until ten, like Will intended, and find out everything he wanted to know later. Will had never lied to Nico or kept secrets from him (Unless you counted his patients' information and little surprises, which was perfectly fine with Nico). There was no reason for him to begin now.
It was time to be more patient than usual, and Nico was up to the challenge.
…
Nico certainly lasted longer than expected. By the time he could take the wait no longer, the clock read 8AM.
Nico had spent the last hour and forty-five minutes coming up with the strangest ways to ignore the ache of not knowing. Will had told him many times in the past to try and always be occupied with something, because it was easier to feel happy when your mind was focused on a healthy activity. Since sleep was out of the picture, Nico decided to focus on the (many) things he'd been meaning to do for months but never gotten to. He got started on the book Hazel had given him during Christmas (She was one of the few demigods who still celebrated it), translated into Ancient Greek for easy reading. He wrote down all the things he had to get done in the next few days. He tried hard to clean up his already tidy cabin, and ran over the details for his date with Will three more times.
Sadly, all that hadn't even amounted to two hours. Nico had a lot of time left to kill and no weapon to use. He tried to fall asleep yet again, and came to the same results as before.
Nico was draped across the wooden chair in the corner of his cabin, when he came to the realization that he was starving. He'd been awake for nearly three hours now without breakfast, and his stomach seemed to be knotting itself. In fact, it growled. Like a hungry animal. That had never happened before. He needed a serious meal right now.
It was Saturday, though. Breakfast wasn't until nine on weekends, since almost everyone liked to sleep in. Meaning Nico would have to sneak out and get his own food from the dining pavilion.
He didn't mind, not really- he'd done this thousands of times before, after all- but it was still annoying. There were no shadows to hide in during the daytime, and he was supposed to not intrude on whatever Will and Piper were doing. Nico didn't feel like being the cause of anyone's freakout, not when he had a horrible headache and was hungry enough that he felt lightheaded.
Still, though, he couldn't exactly allow himself to starve. So Nico grabbed his leather jacket (This one had been a Christmas present from Piper, who told him it would add character and look cool while being something he liked) and pulled on his sneakers.
He had just turned the door-handle and stepped outside when he heard a sudden gasp.
Nico flinched back, looking wildly around to see who it was. To his complete confusion, it was Piper of all people, who was standing to his left; all wide eyes and tense limbs. She was dressed up a little fancier than she usual in the mornings: a denim jacket with strange little drawings covering it over a fancy white top and black jeans. Her hair was braided with green feathers, and she was a wearing a necklace- probably a gift from Jason, since she never wore jewellery. Piper only ever dressed up this fancy for something important. Her jaw was slack with surprise, but she was the one who spoke first.
"Nico," she breathed. "What are you doing up this early today?"
As usual, she was compelling without trying, and Nico couldn't resist telling her.
"I couldn't sleep last night," he replied. "I felt hungry, so I thought I could go eat at the pavilion."
"I see," Piper agreed, nodding. "No sleep? Then you must be extremely tired. Am I right?"
Nico could already see what she was trying to do to him, but he could do nothing to stop it. If Piper had been compelling without trying, now her command was irresistible. All Nico could do was agree and mentally curse himself and his friend. He could already feel the effects of her charmspeak; his eyes were heavy and his every step was like sinking into quicksand. A warm feeling spread through his arms and legs. Nico did want to sleep, more than anything. He would give anything to dose off.
"I'm really tired," he slurred. "I wanna sleep."
"That's right!" Piper exclaimed with a small smile. "I'm so sorry I'm doing this, Nico, but it's important. It'll make sense later. Now, let's get you to bed."
Nico could barely remember why he wanted to leave in the first place. All that mattered now was getting his well-deserved rest. He went along with Piper, who gently pulled him by his arm back into his cabin, her words alternating between sleep reminders and apologies for using her charmspeak. Nico got into bed willingly enough, and Piper stood back as he pulled the covers up to his chin. Finally, he could relax. There was a vague notion in the back of his mind that he shouldn't be allowing this to happen, but Nico couldn't bring himself to care.
He heard Piper say sweet dreams softly and the click of a closing door.
Then, at last, Nico sank into his much beloved sleep.
…
"Hey, Nico."
Nico groaned as he felt a hand lightly shake him awake. The voice was talking in a whisper, but he could already tell it was Will.
Oh, now he was supposed to wake up? Nico didn't think so.
But Will clearly thought otherwise when he shook him again and softly said, "Nico, it's time to get up."
"I wanna sleep," he slurred into his pillow. "Go away, Will."
"But you've already slept! Come on, you have to get up. Please?"
"Later."
Nico wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Will sigh exasperatedly. It wasn't the first time his boyfriend had entered his cabin to wake him up, but Nico's reaction was the same every time.
"Nico, do you even know what today's date is?"
"No, and I don't care. Let me sleep, Will," Nico groaned.
"Sorry, but not today," Will replied with finality. "You're going to get up right now, please."
"Shut up and let me sleep."
Nico only groaned again as he felt Will's hand wrap around his wrists. It lingered there for a few moments before Nico suddenly felt bursts of light course through him. Suddenly, all the problems he'd had earlier were gone. His headache disappeared, the heaviness in his limbs became lighter, and his grogginess was gone. He still felt a little sleepy, but now getting up seemed like a very likely possibility. After about a minute, Will's hand left him, a little shakier than earlier.
"Gods, you are tired. Did you even get any sleep last night?"
"No." Nico couldn't help but notice that his voice came out a great deal clearer.
"Ugh, of all days?! Come on, you should feel better now. Please get up."
At first, Nico contemplated being difficult and just saying no because his bed felt incredible, but Will had just used his healing powers solely for this purpose. Unlike most Apollo kids, Will didn't flaunt his talents unless he had to, since every use of his healing powers took a little away from him. He wouldn't have forced the energy into Nico unless it was important. Also, there was still the matter of that note. Nico felt curiosity bubble up in him again as he remembered it all.
"Okay, fine. Just give me a minute."
Nico grunted as he pushed himself off the mattress. The whole place was freezing, now that he wasn't wearing his blanket anymore, but he pulled on his leather jacket and felt just fine. Nico blinked the tiredness out of his eyes and saw Will smiling at him, albeit a little paler than usual. Will nodded at him, his smile growing a little wider, and said, "Finally. Come on, then, you'll see why I woke you up."
"Does it have anything to do with that note?"
Will's eyes widened in surprise. "You read that?"
"Earlier, right after you left it here. You have awful handwriting, Will."
"Oh, shut up. At least you know what this is all about. I cant believe you don't know about today!" Will exclaimed.
"What about today?" Nico asked, a little desperately. "I know today's important but I can't remember why!"
Will actually laughed in his face. "You'll find out soon enough. Come on, then, let's go."
"We're heading to Rachel's Cave?" Nico asked, a little miffed that Will had avoided his question.
"You know it."
They strolled out of his cabin, and somehow accidentally held hands. Along the way Nico had to do his best to ignore the goggling campers and also trick Will into telling him what was up. Neither worked, and by the time they arrived, Nico was more than a little irritated. Will's face lit up in excitement when he saw the massive expanse of rock. The inside seemed a little more colourful than usual, and… was there light coming out from the inside?
"Okay, wait right here," Will said excitedly. "I need you to promise to count to thirty and then walk in, okay?"
"Why?" Nico asked. "What's hidden in there?"
"You'll only find out if you wait thirty seconds and then walk in."
Nico was tempted to just bolt into the cave, but Will looked so adorably excited. He couldn't ruin that. So he grudgingly agreed (Will squealed and ran in) and closed his eyes, counting to thirty. He thought he heard a few whispers from inside, but he couldn't be sure because it was so quiet.
Finally, half a minute later, Nico called into the cave, "Alright, I'm coming in! This better be really good!"
Nico leisurely walked in, expecting to find Will (And possibly Piper) standing there with some kind of crazy news. Instead, the inside was completely dark. He couldn't see a thing except for small patterns against a grey wall.
"Will?" Nico called out, a little worried.
Suddenly, the cave lit up, nearly blinding him. Nico nearly jumped out of his skin as a whole chorus of voices yelled, "SURPRISE!" at the top of their lungs. Nico looked wildly around, his sword in his hand. His first instinct was to run as fast as possible.
"Woah, Nico, calm down!" a voice shouted. Nico recognised it as Percy's somewhere to his right. He looked in that direction, and saw Percy's head poking out from behind a velvet red couch, a satisfied grin on his face. Annabeth was next to him, looking a little bewildered at the sword in his palm. "It's just us. We didn't mean to scare you."
"What's going on?" Nico asked. The question was directed at no-one in particular, but it was Will who answered from behind him. Nico turned around at the sound of his voice.
"Let me tell you," Will replied, his tone proud and his expression ecstatic. "It's January 28th, and you're a forgetful dingus."
"January…?" Nico was about to ask what the hell was different about January 28th, before his jaw fell open and the realization dawned on him. "Oh my gods, you mean-"
Nico fell silent at Will's excited nod. His boyfriend was biting his lip, out of nervousness, it seemed.
However, Nico was fairly certain he was the most nervous one of all.
Because today was a day he hadn't celebrated in three years. A day he'd nearly forgotten about, because the girl who made it important was gone.
Today, January 28th, 2011, was Nico's birthday.
Nico stared at the cave he was in with new vigour. The walls were freshly painted, and, Nico realized in shock, not just any paintings. They were all scenes from the last few months, ever since August. There was him and the Seven posing for a picture after the Giant War. Him and Will on their first date, and all the dates that came after. There was Christmas with Piper, Hazel, Annabeth, and Percy- the few people who celebrated it with him. Nico, Will, Calypso and Leo, from just a few weeks back, before they'd had to go on their quest with Apollo. There was him and Mrs. O' Leary, him in a snowball fight with the Apollo cabin in the woods, where the snow was thickest. All around there were paintings of all the memories he had made ever since he'd stayed at camp, and dozens of his newfound friends. Some of them were from pictures people had taken, but most seemed to be imagined. Only one person Nico knew could paint that beautifully. This was Rachel's work.
The lighting was the result of lamps strewn all over the place- and while they had been far too bright at first, now the light was gentle and pretty, hues of different colours melting into each other. There were a few balloons and streamers milling around- not nearly as much as he knew his friends would have wanted. They were all in simple shades: blue, purple, grey and milky white, enough so that you knew it was a celebration but not so much that they put Nico off. Most people knew he wasn't a big fan of crazy decorations and exaggerated colours. Piper's work.
The rest of it looked just as fantastic- the couches and arcade games that Rachel had looked vintage in the light, and Nico could see a small pile of presents in the corner and what looked like a cake on a lunch table. There were beanbags near a giant white sheet that Nico didn't know the purpose of just yet, but he didn't care. This was one of the best- no, the best moment of his life. And he hadn't even said a word as all of his friends (Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Rachel, and of course, Will) stared at him hopefully.
"Oh my gods," he finally choked out. "You guys- you- you did all of this?"
"I've been planning it for nearly two weeks," Will admitted, looking at him shyly. "Hazel and Reyna helped out with the details of what you liked and what you didn't. Annabeth was like the manager. She made sure we had it done on time."
"Piper and I did the decorations," Rachel said, looking a little wild with big eyes and messy red hair. "Your incredible boyfriend here gave us all the details on what to put in. It's the most fun I've ever had painting, and it was a great way to decorate my walls!"
Will blushed, and Percy spoke. "Mom and I made the cake, by the way. I couldn't make it blue, obviously, so we made extra blue cookies instead! Jason and Frank helped us get all the things we needed. What do you think?"
Nico's eyes were misty, the lump in his throat thick. He swallowed it down and said quietly, "I think it's one of the best things anyone had ever done for me. Thank you all so much. It's beautiful."
And then he started crying.
Everyone hurried to him at once- Reyna and Will were saying that people shouldn't smother him all at once- but Nico wasn't sad. He wasn't scared or angry. These were happy tears. Nico felt like his insides were going to burst in joy. He laughed as they all asked if he was okay, and the laughs came out like hiccups. And suddenly Will was in front of him, holding his face and asking if he was okay, and Nico smiled and laughed again because everything was so blurry and beautiful and he had the best friends in the world and he didn't feel like he could be sad ever again because he was on fire and he was so crazy and godsfreaking happy and he just didn't know how to show it-
"Nico? Nico, what is it?" Will asked for the third time, ad Nico finally answered, "You gu-guys- you are amazing!"
His voice was giggly and punctuated by hiccups and choked tears, so unlike any version of himself. Nico breathed in and wiped the tears away, to reveal Will staring at him in surprise and the rest of them all standing there and looking at him worriedly.
"You're all amazing- I can't believe you did all this just for me, and I can't even tell you how happy I am right now."
"So, you're truly happy?" Will asked hopefully.
Nico thumped his ridiculous boyfriend on the head. "Of course I'm happy! This is perfect! I haven't celebrated my birthday like this since…"
Nico trailed off, and a momentary silence filled the room. Everyone knew about the name he had been about to say. Percy and Annabeth visibly paled a little, looking just a tiny bit ashamed.
That made Nico mad at himself. This was his birthday party. He wouldn't be the annoying one to shut down all their hard work. Blaming Percy had been a mistake, and so had been drowning in his grief so long that he'd forgotten happiness. He wouldn't be this person anymore. Bianca's death had been a horrible chapter of his life, probably the worst part of his book, but the worst parts had to get better. However, they couldn't improve unless he let them.
"Since Bianca," Nico continued with a smile. "She always made my birthdays incredible. But you guys have made this day the best of my life. She'd be great friends with all of you if she was here."
Percy sighed in relief and the rest of the people in the room let out their baited breath. Annabeth grinned, and said, "She was a great person for the few minutes I knew her. And trust me, Nico, she'd be so proud of you now. Most people are."
There were nods and quiet murmurs of agreement. Reyna and Will were staring at him in pride. Hazel had tears in her eyes. Nico felt a little wistful, too.
The strange thing was, though, Nico didn't feel any of the bitterness he was used to anytime someone talked about Bianca. In fact, it just made him all the happier. For the first time, Nico truly associated his late sister with joy. And he loved that, he loved that feeling. It was a lot better than sinking into a bitter cocoon.
However, there still was a party to be held. Nico was going to hold it back no longer.
"Thank you, Annabeth. Now, I'm sure we're all starving. Since this is my party, I say we all start with cake."
The words elicited a huge cheer from all of them, confirming what he suspected: they hadn't had any breakfast, either. They all crowded around the table, and soon everyone was singing him happy birthday and fighting to blow the candles and get the best bit of the cake the great Sally Jackson had cooked. Nico was a little sad that Leo couldn't come at first, thanks to his quest with Apollo; until Will pulled out another magical scroll with a rushed apology and a congratulation for turning fourteen. It warmed Nico's heart and made him laugh quite a few times.
The rest of the day went in a blur. There was an insane food fight- Percy and Piper versus Reyna and Rachel- and quite a bit of dancing by the rest of them. Hazel had chosen the music, and somehow found tracks that were slow and soft while being good enough to dance to. A few demigods who heard the commotion joined in, and Nico was more than happy to let them. There were dance-offs and slow dances and eating contests. Reyna and Rachel, being the sole singles of the group, teamed up to wow everyone else with their dance moves. Percy won a staring contest against Will but then lost against his girlfriend. Piper put on a slow song and charmspoke Jason into dancing with her after he told her he was too embarrassed (It was adorable). Frank gave the others quite a few rides on his (eagle) back. Hazel and Nico enjoyed a lot of the party together; just a brother and sister sharing an incredible day. When it turned dark and everyone was sweaty and tired, they all sank into the beanbag and projected a movie onto the white sheet. Apparently, the whole system was engineered by Leo, so that it could be demigod-friendly.
When they all finally considered the possibility of sleeping, it was an hour away from midnight. Hazel and Frank had dozed off next to each other. Annabeth had to gently rouse Percy, who seemed to be in that state between wakefulness and sleep. Reyna, Jason and Piper were wide awake but exhausted. Rachel was on the brink of sleep, but her eyes were still open. Will looked like he was about to drop dead the moment he saw a bed. Nico felt the same way.
"I think we should all go and sleep now," Nico said tiredly. A crazy grin was still plastered on his face, and he wasn't sure it would ever come off.
Slowly they trickled away, all hugging Nico and murmuring goodnights and happy birthdays. And when they left and it was just Nico and Will, Rachel sleeping in a dark corner they couldn't see, his heart still felt like it was soaring. He was tired, sure, but his entire soul was crackling with energy that would hopefully never run out.
"Goodnight, then?" Will asked, a faint smile decorating his beautiful face. Nico giggled a little.
"I guess so. Thank you so much for everything. You're the best person I've ever known, Will."
At that, a glow of pride seemed to light up his boyfriend's face, and Nico felt even happier.
"You deserved it more than anyone."
Nico couldn't even find a reply within himself. He just leaned into Will and kissed him, soft and sweet, and though it lasted for barely a second, it froze all the time in the world. Rather than the electric shock he knew and loved so well, this kiss was warming and lovely. It wrapped Nico like a blanket; and he wanted to never take that blanket off. It was beautiful and safe and familiar.
The kiss ended, and Will came out of it grinning and a little mad, a joyful twinkle in his eyes. Nico was pink and warmhearted and he probably looked like a horrible mess, but he honestly couldn't care. The fact that they would go to bed with messy hair and bad breath was just proof that they hadn't enjoyed today, they had lived it. And that was the best part of it all.
"Its gone, by the way," Will said quietly, his voice heavy with pride.
"What is?" Nico asked in confusion.
"Your depression," Will said, glad. "I'm so so proud of you, Nico. What you've done is incredible."
"You helped."
"But it was your recovery. And you've done an incredible job. We should go and sleep now, and we'll get all the pictures printed tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Will."
"'Night."
It was only at the last second that Nico turned around and decided to say the one thing on his mind that still made him blush.
"Will Solace, I love you so much."
Will didn't even hesitate. He simply grinned and said, "I love you too."
Nico, now fourteen, powerful, a hero, with dozens of friends and a boy he was in love with, went to bed.
He felt content.
And those happy endings would last forever, because life was there to be loved and it was incredible. And it was far better to exist and suffer than to never have lived at all. Because with every sadness came joy, and you soon learned that pure joy was priceless and worth everything it took to acquire. Life was chosen for the lucky few who deserved it with all its sadness and beauty and joy, and no matter how long it took to find that joy, it would be worth it.
Because Life shaped us, and it was a lot kinder than most people imagined.
And this, right here, is all I've been building up to. If you're someone reading to enjoy Nico's story, I hope it captured the character well. To the few of this reading this as an escape or for strength or emotional reasons, first off, thank you more than ever, and second, I hope I made it right. I hope I gave everyone- including me- what they wanted and deserved from this tale. It's been a blessong and a joy to write this. I'm kind of sad there isn't more to the story. I want to leave the later years up to all of you. Imagine Nico in your way, because that's the beauty of loving a character that isn't real.
And to all of you pessimists out there, happy endings do exist- you just have to let them happen.
This is me signing off now. I'll be back in a month with a whole new story. Watch out for Barely Living in a few weeks!
Goodbye and all the love in the world,
Mariam.
