"Thanks, Kayla," I smiled, calling Bianca. "Hey, Bi!" I chirped.

"Nico, have you been crying?" she asked, gasping.

"No time for that!" I blurted. "We called the police!"

She clapped her hands, once, sharply, her phone falling to the seat beside her. "Yes!" she shirked extatically. "Soldatino, thanks so much!"

I smiled, glad my sister was truly happy. "It's no problem, Bi. Kayla got a creepy-ass text message, so I decided to call. Oh, all we have to do when we want them to watch outside the house with a police cruiser… their offer, not my suggestion… we just call the non-emergency hotline and tell them that they can come 'steak out' our house. All we gotta do is tell them that we told Dad."

She chuckled. "Ah, of course, Soldatino. Anyway, I've gotta go: Monopoly's waiting."

"Four hours of your life you'll never get back," I quipped. "Don't murder anyone!"

I could literally feel her rolling her eyes. "Nico, that's ridiculous. We all know that you only ever murder someone over Scrabble!"

I burst out laughing. "See ya, sis."

"See you, Soldatino."

I sighed with relief, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest and I could breathe freely again. I leant back into the old, sagging couch, allowing the Realm of Dreams to claim my mind, if only for a brief time.

I woke to Will crouched in front of me, his warm breath dusting my cheeks. "Angel," he whispered softly. "Angel, wake up."

I rubbed at my eyes blearily. "Su… Sun… Sunshine?" I stuttered, sitting forward.

He smiled, taking my hands and helping me up. "Oh, sorry," I murmured. "Lou Ellen and Cecile are here?"

He nodded in excitement, eagerly grabbing my wrist and pulling me out of the room.

We slowly headed to his room after grabbing a whole bunch of sweets, chips, and chocolate from his kitchen that I most certainly wasn't going to eat. As we walked up the stairs Lou, Will, and Cecile were blabbering senselessly about whatever random shit came to their minds, bit I stayed decidedly quiet, contemplating just how badly I had fallen for my best friend, and how much I loved him.

"What's this about police?" Lou asked once we had settled in Will's room.

"So, just after I met Solace here, this guy, who we think we know, was taking photos of our house…"

When I was done, all eyes were on me, even Will's and Cecile's jaw was almost touching the ground. Will jokingly reached out and pushing it shut, grinning ruefully.

"Bullshit," Lou Ellen blurted finally.

"What?" I exclaimed back, incredulous. Why would I lie about something like that, exactly?

"I call bullshit," she finally repeated, despite the fact I had heard her the first time.

I stared at her with a raised eyebrow and she finally gave in. "I… Fine I believe you."

"So you should," I spat back.

I heard a familiar pattern of knocks on the door and a sweet chattering voice thanking Apollo as the owner of the voice charged up the stairs. Soon, one of my best friends was waving and grinning at the bedroom door. "Hey!" she chirruped.

"Ciao!" I grinned.

"Sup!" Cecile called.

Lou Ellen spoke up next. "Hey!"

"Hi!" Will replied.

She sat down on the couch next to Lou, smiling like the carefree and cheery person she was. "What'd I miss?"

I smiled at her, as it was hard not for her amazing personality to make me cheery and kind. On the outside, anyway. "Nothin' much. SO, are we gonna FaceTime Perce and Jason for truth or dare?"

We had talked about this during the times when it wasn't our turn in 7 Minutes in Heaven. Will pulled out his laptop and I took out mine, getting Percy and Annie onto the screen. They had it on the coffee table in the lounge, placed on a stack of various books to bring it roughly to their eye level. I had to send Jason a few irritated text messages before he accepted Will's friend request, but we soon got him up on the screen. While Will and Jason desperately tried to fix the sound settings so they could actually hear each other, I chatted to Perce and Annie.

"Hey, Perce, how are you?" I asked. "Annie, you?"

"Good," he chuckled. "We'll have enough spare food to last us years."

"Ha ha, Perce, very funny. Yeah, we're good. You?"

"Decent," I replied. "We're trying to get Jason up on Will's laptop right now. Somethings fucked in the sound settings and they're tryna fix it right now."

Eventually, we got the sound right. "Hey, guys," Jason yawned.

I smiled and raised a hand to him. "Hey," I chuckled along with everyone else. We were sat around in a circle and the laptops were opposite each other, which was a weird set-up, but, whatever.

Then, he suddenly began distracted, looking over Will's shoulder at the window. Suddenly, realisation dawned on me. The window. His eyes widened in fear and he pointed over Will's shoulder. "What the bloody fucking Hades below?!" We all leant towards him a little. "The window!" he shrieked.

Solace and I had to actually turn around to see the window, but Cecile and Lou screamed as soon as they looked to where Jason was pointing. I was too shaken up to ask Jason what happened, or what he saw. "It's that creep," Will hissed.

"I'll kill him," I growled angrily.

Jason looked at me, confused. "What?"

It. Was. Him. Hermes Castellan. "I'm alright," I murmured, despite the fact my heart was shattering. "Just… give me a moment."

I knew who it was. How had he not been arrested yet? A few tears fell down my cheeks and soon I was sobbing, my entire frame shaking. "Oh, Angel," I heard someone murmuring.

I looked up and my heart swelled when I saw Will. "Su… Sunshine?" I murmured.

He sat down beside me. "I'm right here, Angel," he whispered.

I couldn't contain it anyway. I fell into Will's lap, crying and crying. He gently lifted me up and sat me in his lap. "Oh, Angel, you're going to be alright. I'll be with you every step of this battle, I promise."

"Why? I'm such a… problem," I coughed out. "It would be so much easier to… leave me, I guess." 'Well worded, Nico,' I thought.

He reached out and tucked some of my hair behind my ear. "We'll talk this over tomorrow, yeah?"

I was scared to hear what he had to say tomorrow, but I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks. He gently helped me up and took me back into his room. We messed around, playing truth or dare and telling daft stories from when we were little. My personal favourite was one about when Bianca was knocked into the canal in Venice by a cow. Mama fell in trying to reach her, then I jumped in as a joke and Bianca pulled Dad in by the feet. We turned on The Incredibles and they began to eat all the sweets, while I concealed every packet I was given under the duvet on my mattress.

I can't remember when I fell asleep. I just remember Will catching me in his arms and picking me up. Then, something horrid invaded my dreams. It was Mama's dead body in the plane I had snuck into when I was only eight. Then, she stood up and whispered, "Nico." I tried to reach her, but, then, all the other occupants ran to her and beat her down, while the cops beat me and told me I was a failure.

"…eeks, wake up."

I shifted, registering the tears falling down my face, my shaking limbs, and Will's hand gently resting in my hair. "Angel, it's alright, I'm here for you. Just wake up and you'll be outta there!"

I gently shook my head, shaking away the visions of my Mama, Bianca, the voices yelling that I was a failure. I felt the voices suddenly get louder, and I muttered "No…" and choked on my tears. He twirled my hair around his long, tanned fingers, and it was suddenly impossible to stay upset with the comfort of my friend enveloping me, making me feel safe. However, when I felt him move away from me, I reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Stay with me. Please."

I instantly curled around his body for protection when he edged back onto my mattress. I heard an almost inaudible gasp come from his mouth as his arms landed around my waist. I knew he had realised that I was still starving myself, just on-and-off this time. He accidentally found the food I hadn't eaten. He didn't seem angry or shocked, putting it up on his bed and pulling the covers up to my neck. "I'm going to help you, Nico. I promise."

I nodded, unsure of what to say to him. I muttered a few thanks, but I was not ready for his next question. "How long have you been doing this to yourself?

It took me a few seconds to remember, but I said, "For almost ten weeks when I was twelve, then on and off since the…"

I just couldn't bring myself to say 'stalker'. Will seemed to understand. "Hey, hey. I'm not ashamed of you, Angel, and I never will be. You're a strong person, but you've been put down. You're a miracle for surving all of this, you know that, right?"

I was awfully embarrassed, yet touched at the same time. "You're not too bad yourself, Solace," I replied.

He laughed quietly and took two sour fizzy sweets from the packet. I held out a hand, a little shy. "Erm, can I try?"

"You did say on-and-off, didn't you?" he muttered.

I nodded, beginning to explain. "Yeah, I was really happy toady, so it kinda took my mind off… it, y'know?" I murmured, losing my train of thought.

"I get it," he smiled, giving me a sweet. Knowing how sour they could be, I was kinda hesitant to put it in my mouth, but, when I did, my tongue fizzed and tingled. My face was probably hilarious.

We passed around all my spare sweet packets between the four of us, telling stories until Lee yelled from across the hall, "Shut the fucking hell up and go to fucking sleep!"

"Love you too, Lee!" Will laughed.

I instantly begged to share the bed with Will, as I was horribly terrified of the stalker and afraid of the nightmares to come and get me again. Will was somewhat hesitant, but Lou and I eventually convinced him, as Cecile was already conked out on the couch underneath a blanket. When I clambered under his duvet, he took my hand. When I thought he was asleep, I pulled him closer and wrapped my body around him for comfort. He laughed and kissed my neck, just pressing his soft lips against mine. I turned bright red, but he just laughed a little and pulled my body closer to his.

I crawled back to my bed at around five, and we woke up around nine. Cecile woke up, shouting "FOOD!" and generally scaring the living fuck out of all of us. Then, Austin scared the shit out of all of us by looking around the door and going, "Food?" in possibly the funniest voice known to man.

Lou threw a bag of marshmallows into his face "Chubby Bunny?" he asked.

Austin set up a camera by the table in their garden and we all sat down. Left to right as you looked at us, it would be Lou, Cecile, Austin, Will, then, finally, me.

Lee started the video and Austin blabbered an introduction. "Wassup, YouTube? Austin Online here, and today we're going to be doing the Chubby Bunny Challenge! I'm here with…" I knew he'd expect me to introduce himself. Considering I had done a few videos with Reyna, I already had a decent introduction, but, because I was so nervous, I accidentally blurted the start out in Italian.

"Hey-ya, I'm Solace Shine!"

"Sup, everyone? Ceclery Styx here!"

"Greetin's world, I'm Mist Girl!"

"Ciao, ragazzi, ragazze, e tutto il resto! Death Boy here!" Oh, by the way, what it translates to is: 'Hello guys, girls, and everything in between!'

Will rolled his eyes and I stuck my tongue out at him. Austin gave us a 'seriously?' look and we both shut up. He grinned nastily and I got an uneasy feeling. "So, once these two immature morons have finished flirt-fighting, we'll get on with the challenge!"

"Hey!" Solace and I moaned, but he said nothing else.

"Cazzo tu, Stronza," I muttered, irritated.

Solace snorted and I realised that he understood it.

"My 'editor' – aka Will here – is going to edit a counter at the bottom of the screen for each person."

"If you're nice to me," he replied, jokily folding his arms.

We all laughed at him and Austin turned back to the camera. "Okay, Nico, you first."

Irritated, I took the bag. "I don't eat too much, so don't be surprised if I throw up," I told them, before shoving one in my mouth. I already felt my anorexia telling me I shouldn't be eating that, as everything I ate brought me further away from the dead therefore my Mama. "Chubby Bunny," I mumbled, ignoring the voice in the back of my head.

They all snatched it from my hands and gave it to Lou. Apparently her mouth was tiny, because one in her mouth looked like twelve in Austin's. "Chubby Bunny," she mumbled, finding it hard to get her words around the marshmallow.

When I got to my ninth marshmallow, my stomach flipped and I gagged, making one marshmallow touch my uvula. I jumped up and sprinted to the bin. I expected just to spit out all the marshmallows, but I threw up everything I'd eaten the day before. Austin told the camera to "Hold up!" in a cheery voice and then Cecile ran behind the camera and paused it.

Will handed me some water and I took a huge gulp, before spitting it out into the sink, laced with thick, sicky saliva. I took little sips after that. "I don't need meds, don't worry. I'm just not used to having that much in my mouth," I said, leaving out the part about my anorexia.

"What happened, then?" Lou Ellen asked me.

I put down the cup on the side and took the barley sugar from Will's fingers. "I'm fine, honestly. I put too many in my mouth and one touched the back of my throat, so I threw up."

Lou nodded, satisfied, and walked back outside with Austin and Cecile, who was blatantly not listening. Will filled a water bottle for me and Austin turned the camera on, saying we could edit out whatever we didn't want. "So, we're back, and Nico's fine, right?"

I nodded, sucking on my barley sugar. "Yup, I'm cool."

"What did happen?" Cecile asked, and I sighed.

"So, a marshmallow touched the back of my throat, my body thought I was choking and inflicted the natural reaction: throwing up. Nothing major."

Austin won, with twelve, for fucks sake! "I win!" he yelled after spitting the sugary mouthful into the bin.

"Vaffanculo!" I shouted, covering my mouth, as I had just told Austin to go fuck himself in Italian.

We finished the video and Austin took the video to watch it through so he could add markers where Will needed to edit the video.

When Cecile and Lou Ellen left, Will got a phone call, from someone I assumed was Rachel or Calypso. I went to play pool with his siblings while he took the call. I thought I was decent at pool, but, apparently, they could enter in the Olympics for the fucking game! Twice, I accidentally slammed the end of the stick as it rested across the pool table, making the stick whack me between the eyeballs, as I had wanted to hit the edge of the pool table but missed by a few inches.

Will walked in looking cheery, but as if it was sort of forced. I wondered what Rachel/Calypso had said to him, but I was too concentrated on trying to pot at least one ball against Lee, who was effortlessly crushing me.

I sank to my knees on his bedroom carpet. "Hey, hey, are you alright, Angel," he asked in low tones.

He held out his arms, his tanned fingers steady as he waited for me to come to him in my own time. I slowly shook my head and edged across the floor, sliding into his lap. His strong arms wrapping tight around me, instantly making me feel safe and protected. Horrible ideas of what the stalker could do to me filled my head, and began to sob. "He… he could hurt me… and Haze, Bi, and Rey… the stalker… he could do much, much worse…" I was shrieking and yelping, gasping between my sobs and I grabbed fistfuls of the material of his hoodie, twisting it and yanking at it with blind anger and terror.

He rocked me gently and stroked my back. "Hey, Angel, it's gonna be alright," he whispered into my ear, tracing hearts and 'it's okay' onto the back of my hand with his light fingers. "If something happens, I'll be there for you, Neeks. I promise."

I leant into his warmth and he gently circled his arms around my slim waist. I was still tense all over, unable to relax with the horrible, burning question hammering around inside my head, making the front of my head pound painfully. I sobbed with raw anguish into my best friend's shirt. He gently ran his hands through my silky hair and murmured in my ear for me to take my time talking to him.

"Why do you put up with me, Sunshine?" I asked in a terrified raspy voice, still crying. "I've got depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and anorexia! Not to mention that I'm creepy, I look like a goth, and I'm the weirdest person ever!"

Will rocked me gently, whispering "Shhh, Angel, shhh," before saying something that made my heart swell and I it made me the happiest I'd ever been. "You've had a hard life, Angel. You're a strong, beautiful person. Your doctors called you a sociopath because you were just a little bit more different than they were used to. You have serve emotional break-downs every week, yet you're still going strong. You're managing to beat an eating disorder and you're on the road to recovery. You're interesting, unique, fascinating person with an amazing personality. I've fallen for you hard, Angel. All of that and more is the reason why I stick around."

Will. Liked. Me. Back. My eyes filled with shock, pleasure and raw happiness. I rested my forehead against his and began to talk. "Ti amo, Sunshine."

He smiled the most beautiful, genuine smile I had ever seen. I reached up to his sharp jawline and rested my fingers there, a most innocent gesture nowadays. "Sunshine," I began, slowly. "I've never had a relationship with, well… anyone before, so… could we take it slow, perhaps?"

He nodded kindly and pulled me closer to me. He shifted his position to laying down on the homely, tattered couch. I mirrored his every move, so I was lying opposite him, my back to the door. We had our arms drawn tight around each other, with our legs twined together and I buried my face into his chest, a common practice for me. He threaded his fingers into my hair and gave it a gentle tug. "You alright, Angel?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Good. I don't want you to ever get hurt."

I turned my face towards him, and was shocked to see him crying. "Will you're crying!"

He tried to stop his tears, but they flooded down his cheeks. I wiped away his tears with my thumbs. "Oh, Sunshine, don't worry. I promise that I'll protect you."

We locked eyes once more and I finally brought myself to ask a looking question. "Will… Can I kiss you?"

"Yes…" he mumbled.

He leant forwards, but hesitated, and I assumed he thought it was wrong, as I was getting that sudden pull-back as well, but I blocked it out. "Oh, Sunshine," I mumbled, before kissing him. Our kiss was pure and simple, but perfect in every way. "Ti amo," I whispered.

"Ti amo," he replied, and my heart fluttered again.

When we finally broke up the kiss, we were both smiling. I buried my face in his chest, utterly embarrassed. He traced 'I love you' and 'It's alright' onto my hand.

We broke away from each other's arms, finally. "Thanks, you're a great help," I smiled at him.

"No problem," he replied, helping me to sit up. "I always want to help you. I always will."

I blushed, awfully embarrassed, so I buried my face into his chest and whispered, "Ti amo," over and over into the material.

He ruffled my hair and kissed my forehead lightly. "Shall we watch that 'Show 'em What You're Made Of' thing?" he asked.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, jumping in my seat with excitement.

He turned on the TV. "Hang on, I'm gonna go get us some candy and stuff."

I knew I would only eat very little, but it was sweet of him. When he came back in, he had the look of fear on his face that only Kayla could inflict on him. "Sunn-y!" she moaned, pounding on the door. "I wanna watch to-o!"

"Gods, she's so babyish when she wants to be!" Will muttered to me, making me laugh.

He hugged me from behind (I was on his lap) and I nuzzled my head under his chin.

Austin began to talk, saying, "Kayla, we're not going to get our way if we…"

I think Kayla slapped him across the face or forcefully covered his mouth, because he coughed harshly. "Can. We. Come. In?" Kayla asked us slowly.

I gently slid from his lap and Will called for Kayla to come in. They exploded in and Austin sat beside me. "So, what's this show, then?" Kayla asked.

I instantly explained to them, lighting up. Kayla was laughing and Austin was smiling a little. I kissed Will happily on the cheek and he blushed, smiling at me. I took a deep breath, and I got a feeling that my life was going to be okay.