I tried to forget about Will, and I almost did, until he ran up to me in school the next morning.

"Hey Nico," he smiled, as though yesterday hadn't happened.

I bowed my head and tried to walk away from him, but he followed me, bombarding me with questions I was never going to answer.

"You got home safe, right? You missed the group yesterday, are you okay? The principal wants to talk to you, do you know how to get there? How are you?"

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the small smirk when I realized he was asking me the kind of questions Bianca used to ask me. She used to be so worried but she stopped asking questions after about a few weeks of my not responding.

I felt someone grab my hand and pull me around a corner. I pulled away as soon as I could and looked up to meet Will's face. His face was actually very beautiful I noticed as I held eye contact. He smiled and touched my cheek, causing me to blush. When I realized what was happening, my eyes went wide and I stepped back. 

"O-oh I'm s-sorry. I wasn't..." Will sighed, "Sorry."

I gulped and tried to calm my heart. There was no way I wanted anything to do with Will. You can't get a crush on someone that annoying that quickly. I looked away and cursed at the universe. Why was it so insistent on Will? I didn't want him.

"I'm sorry," Will whispered again.

I ignored him and stormed away. I didn't need another boy in my life. I'm going to be gone in twelve days and I'm not going to let Will change that.

"Nico, please," Will ran up behind me.

I shook my head and kept walking.

"Just be there today," he whispered before disappearing.

-----

I was left alone for the rest of the day, just the way I like it, but when it came time for the group, I had to make a decision. Do I go, or not? I don't know why, but in the end, I pushed the door open. It was almost like Will's words had done something to me.

"Hey, Nico," Percy Jackson smiled at me.

I rolled my eyes and sat down in one of the four seats that were set up in a circle today. Seconds later, Will walked in. It almost looked like he was happy to see me for a second. He sat down in the seat on my left. He smiled at me and I looked away.

"So," he sighed, "How are you?"

I shrugged and Percy spoke, "Pretty good."

What felt like an eternity later, Percy stood up and waved goodbye, exiting the room. I tried to get up and do the same, but Will grabbed my wrist. Pain shot through me and I whimpered. Will quickly let go and tried to apologize, but I just wanted to go home.

"Nico, please..." 

I shook my head, clutching my stinging wrist. I wanted to apologize but I couldn't bring myself to talk. I hadn't used my voice in two days and I didn't think I'd ever wonder if it would still work, but here I was. I wanted to talk to Will, explain to him that it wasn't his fault. Before I could think twice, I dropped my bag on the floor and pulled out the notebook I had taken from Will.

I opened to a fresh page and clicked a pen open; It's not your fault.

Will read the page and looked up at me, "Then why are you ignoring me."

I wrote one last thing before grabbing my bag and running out of the room, leaving Will alone with the notebook; twelve days.

-------

"Nico?" Binaca knocked on my door later that night, "There's someone at the door for you."

I groaned, not even wondering who it was. I followed Bianca downstairs and stopped short when I saw Will in my living room. He was at my house. Is that considered an invasion of privacy? 

"Nico," Will whispered clutching the same notebook I had handed him only hours prior.

Bianca looked between us and walked to the front door, grabbing a jacket before stepping outside. Will got up and walked over to me.

"You don't have to do this," he whispered.

I shrugged.

"Please don't do this. You have so much to live for."

I swallowed my tears and shrugged again.

"Just give me a chance to help," he whispered desperately.

I took the notebook and opened it to the page I had written on, pointing at the words.

Will sighed shakily, "T-twelve days?"  

I nodded. 

"And you'll really give me a chance?"

I knew it would be difficult, but I nodded again.

He took my hand and sighed, "Can you tell me what happened?"

I hesitate, but nod again, taking the notebook back and grabbing a pencil from the coffee table as I sat down.

Do you know Octavian?

He nodded.

He and I used to be best friends. I had a crush on someone and he told, I paused, her. Octavian used to be a good person, but now I can't look at his face without feeling nauseous. I punched him on the first day I came to the group. He was being really annoying.

Will put his hand on the paper, stopping me from writing more, "C-can you tell me?"

I gestured to the paper, confused.

"With words," he whispered.

Oh. 

I swallowed my fear and took a deep breath. I opened my lips and thought back to a few days ago when my vocal cords had no problem forming words. But for some reason, I couldn't. It's not that I couldn't make noise, it was like I had told myself I wasn't ever going to speak again, that my brain didn't even want to.

I shook my head and bit my lip as tears started to fall. I wanted to say sorry. To tell Will that none of this was his fault.

Will took my hand, which he had been doing quite often lately, "It's okay."

I gripped his hand, falling onto him. 'I'm sorry!' I wanted to scream. I wanted him to know how I felt. It was like I needed him to know how quickly you could get a crush on someone that annoying.

I wanted Will in my life, no matter how much longer it was.

I cried in his arms for what felt like forever, but it was almost like I needed it. I needed Will's arms around me and his voice telling me it was going to be okay. I needed someone I could trust. And I got it. 

I think I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up in my bed, Will's arms around me, at 3 am. I waited for my body to freak out. I waited for the panic attack to set in. But it never came. It was like even my subconscious felt safe with Will.

I reached for Will's hand, which was resting on the bed beside my chest. I clutched the callused fingers and sighed in content. 

I finally understood what the universe had been trying to do. It knew. Yesterday I would have hated the fact that the universe was beginning to prove me wrong, but for some reason, I felt like I was beginning to have a reason to stay alive and it felt good. 

For those few minutes I was awake in my darkroom, Will by my side, my life felt perfect.