Bad beginnings make good ending

Will's pov

I sit on a wooden bench, eating an ice cream cone, gazing over lake that was in the park, the water shimmering purple and blue in the setting sun. I look over, aware that someone was next to me. It was Nico, his black hair was softly billowing in the warm breeze as he gazed at the water, his ice cream almost finished. 

I smile at him, pure happiness flowing through my veins. The scene starts to fade and when I blink, I was standing in a hospital room, tears flowing from my eyes as me and a beautiful girl with curly brown hair and caramel skin look down at the limp body of Nico. Me and the girl talked, but I don't know about what. Suddenly, Nico lurches forward, gasping in pain.

I sit up, gasping for breath. Were those more memories? Why can I just barely remember Nico?

Nico's pov

I can't believe it! Will is starting to remember me! I look up at Mrs. Solace, happiness in my eyes. 

"Can- can I please see him?" I plead, just wanting to see Will again.

"I- sure." She said, sighing. "I don't see why not." 

I leap out of bed, quickly following Mrs. Solace out of my room. I look around, seeing that there wasn't that many people around the hospital. Just some nurses, a doctor or two, and a janitor.

But none of that mattered. Will was starting to remember me and I can see him. That's all that mattered. I can see Will again. 

When we got to the room, Mrs. Solace told me to wait where I was standing. I nod, ushering her to hurry up. I rock back and forth as Mrs. Solace goes into Will's room, talking to him about something. I tap my foot, impatient.  

Mrs. Solace opens the door again, nodding her head, motioning me into the room. I walk in, my eyes landing on a tired Will. His hair was a mess, it was as if he had just woken up. I smile as I make my way over to where he laid. He looks up at me, his beautiful eyes flashing with many emotions. Confusion, happiness, and then sorrow. 

Will's pov

Is-is this Nico? He looks a lot different than my dreams. He has a huge scar on his cheek from his lips up to his cheek bone. His eyes also looked a lot happier than they did in my dreams. He also has bruises on his arms and scars there too, but in my dreams, he always wore long sleeves, so I don't know if those were there before. He seemed to have a flicker of doubt, fear, and sadness flash through his eyes before he replaced it with a warm but strained smile.

"Hey Will." He whispers as if he's gonna break me with his words. 

"Hi. You must be Nico." I respond.

Hurt and fear filled his eyes but he still had a smile on his face. I watch as his shoulders deflate a bit. Was this normal for him? "Yeah. I'm- I'm Nico." 

A tear fell from his eye. I motion him to sit on my bed and he does. I wipe away the tear away from his face. "Hey ma, can we-"

"Yeah. I'll leave you two alone. Press the 'help' button if you need anything." With that, she left me and Nico.

I turn back to the raven next to me, a small smile on my face. He was messing with the blankets, refusing to meet my eyes. "Is this normal for you? Refusing to make eye contact, the fidgeting, the forced smiles?" I ask, genuinely concerned for the boy that sat in front of me.

He just looks up and gives me a lopsided grin. "Well...yeah, but you've never noticed it before..." he trails off, sadness taking over his features. He quickly looks away from me, shaking slightly. I sigh, pulling his small frame into a hug. He tenses up at first before melting into my warmth.

"Well, then something else must have distracted me." I say, rubbing circles into his back. "Can-can you tell me about what we were like before all this? Maybe it- maybe it can bring up more memories?" I stutter, not wanting to hurt the frail boy in front of me.

He nods. "Y-yeah... I c-can." He mutters, still not meeting my eyes. He casts his surprisingly beautiful eyes toward that ground, concentrating on something in his head. "Where- where should I start?"

"Wherever you want to start. I-I remember how we met, you know, with the fight, but not much after that except for little bits and pieces."

Nico nods. "Then I'll start after first period of that day." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

Nico's pov

I close my eyes, trying to remember what happened that day.

"We, uh, had second period together, which was science, and we just got to know each other a bit better. Like, I know that you love to wear bright colors, your favorite colors are baby blue and yellow, you have many half siblings but you didn't want to explain, and that sort of things. When we got to science, you met my half-sister, Hazel. You both then bonded together, despite Hazel being Susan's 'bestie' by that time." I roll my eyes at this, and Will chuckles.

"We didn't have any other classes together, but we did ride the bus in the mornings together. I didn't rise the bus back home because...." I trail off, not knowing if I should tell him. I decide  that now was not the best time. "... because I don't like the bus. The next morning, you insisted on talking to me at every chance and sit with me whenever you could." I smile fondly at the memory, the feeling of being cared about still fresh in my mind.  

I suddenly felt a warm hand on my arm. I look up through clouded eyes to see Will smiling at me. "I-I remember what happened next, Nico." He whispered, his voice cracking from the tears that still ran down his face. 

I nod, letting my own tears flow down my face. I lean into him, letting his arms wrap around me protectively. I sob into his shoulder, feeling Will rub slow circles into my back. I slowly get less tense the longer Will rubs the calming circles into my back. I nuzzle into his shoulder, a small smile forming on my lips. 

"I, uh, also remember some other things." Will muttered. "Most of them are pleasant, which is a good thing." He chuckled again, causing me to let out a giggle myself. 

Will just hugged me tighter and I held on to him just as tightly.

This may not be how I wanted us to be with each other once we got out of that hell-hole, but that's how life can be sometimes. You don't always get what you want, but you have to adjust to what you get. Will and I will just have to learn to heal from our wounds and start over fresh. Yes, we will have to start our friendship all over again, but we've both changed so much from our experience, that it is a good thing for us to start over once more.

Yes, in the future, our relationship will blossom into love and we will get married and adopt two girls and name them after my older sister and my mom(biological). We will adopt two dogs and a cat. We will own a house and have good jobs. Will will be a doctor and I will be a tattoo artist.

But that's in the future. All I can do is live in the moment and heal from my past. That's all we can ever do in this hectic train-wreck that is called life, and right now, I'm being held by one of my best friends in a hospital room, trying to help both of us heal from what we had endured together.  Right now, I am letting myself heal. That's all I can do right now. The future can wait until then. 

Yes, this is the end of this book. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you want, I can rewrite this book and change up a bit of the things in it. Until then, I love you all and hope you guys stay safe and healthy.